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:
Sep. 16, 1997
Filed:
Jul. 25, 1994
Philip D Chidester, Austin, TX (US);
Martin Melendez, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Dell USA L.P., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A trackball enable/disable system is disclosed for use in a personal computer to permit selective activation and deactivation of a trackball or mouse device. The system includes a keyboard controller that detects the selection of a hot key (or combination of keys) by the operator, and in response either enables or disables the trackball. In one embodiment, the controller includes an associated flag, and sets or reset a the flag in response to hot key selection. Signals from the trackball are received by the keyboard controller and assembled in preparation for transmission to the CPU. Before the trackball data is transmitted to the CPU, the status of the flag is checked to determine if the trackball is enabled or disabled. If disabled, the trackball data is not sent to the CPU. In an alternative embodiment, a pair of switches are provided between the trackball and the controller. If the hot key is selected, the keyboard controller connects or disconnects the trackball by an appropriate control signal to the switches on a control line.