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:
Jun. 09, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 31, 1995
Mark A Della Bona, Los Altos, CA (US);
Jonathan Dorfman, Berkeley, CA (US);
Jay F Hamlin, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for contacting a touch-sensitive cursor-controlling input device to generate button values simulating the button state of a mechanical button switch. This method and apparatus enable an operator to utilize the touch-sensitive cursor-controlling input device to change the value of a ButtonState variable (which simulates the ButtonState of a mechanical button switch) by (1) detecting contact intervals when the user contacts the touch-sensitive input device, (2) detecting gap intervals between subsequent contact intervals, and (3) moving the cursor on the display screen and changing the value of the ButtonState variable based on the duration of the contact and gap intervals. In turn, this button generation capability enables an operator to perform with a single touch-sensitive input device numerous control operations, such as cursor manipulation, click, multi-click, drag, click-and-drag, and multi-click-and-drag operations.