The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 16, 1993
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1989
Charlie Garthwaite, Kirkland, WA (US);
Bridget Cameron, Seattle, WA (US);
Stuart Ashmun, Seattle, WA (US);
Allan H Stephan, Seattle, WA (US);
Michael D Nelson, Seattle, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A pointing device which is removably attachable to a keyboard is disclosed. The pointing device is coupled to an attachment assembly, the attachment assembly being removably and selectively attachable to the keyboard. The attachment assembly includes a clamp and a tilting assembly. The clamp includes a variable width clamp to permit the pointing device to be attached to any one of a number of different keyboards or in different positions on the same keyboard. The tilting assembly permits the user to select whether the pointing device is in a horizontal, vertical or other orientation. A rotatable ball of the pointing device is retained in contact with the rotation sensing encoders regardless of the orientation of the housing. The buttons for activating switches to enter commands into the computer overlap a top portion and a side portion of the pointing device. The switches are activated by a user pressing downward on the top region or inward from the side region.