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:
Jan. 03, 1995
Filed:
Apr. 25, 1994
Shinya Tanaka, Tokyo, JP;
Yoshiyuki Ito, Yokohama, JP;
ASCII Corporation, , JP;
Abstract
When keyboard 1 is set on the upper side, ball 10 is inserted between stopper 8 and the coordinate converting unit 4. As a result, the coordinate converting unit 4 is fixed by ball 10. When the user moves the pointing device on the flat surface, the ball 6 then moves according to the user's operation. Furthermore, when the user pushes keyboard 1, detecting switch 7 is pressed by protrusion 3, and then detecting switch 7 is switched to the ON state. On the other hand, when the pointing device is set upside down by the user, ball 10 moves to the opposite side via gravitation. The ball 10 is inserted between stopper 8 and keyboard 1 and, as a result, keyboard 1 is fixed by ball 10. When the user spins ball 6, the ball moves in all directions in accordance with the user's operation. Furthermore, when the user pushes coordinate converting unit 4, detecting switch 7 is pressed by protrusion 3, and then detecting switch 7 is switched to the ON state.