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:
Jul. 25, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 02, 1998
Walter Kodim, Nurnberg, DE;
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
For controlling a position indicator, e.g. a cursor, on a visual display, e.g. the monitor screen associated with a personal computer or a laptop computer screen, a position indicator controlling device (1) comprises an indicator position controller (6) in the form of a continuous membrane of elastomeric material (8) stretched, in wrinkle-free manner, around a solid form-keeping core (7) held captive in a housing (2) so that by applying finger pressure in a generally horizontal direction to an uppermost exposed, part-spheroidal, portion of the membrane, the membrane can slide on the core to produce a corresponding output signal from one or more motion detectors (11, 12). The indicator position controller gives the appearance to a user of a spherical ball device (such as is commonly used in a laptop computer), but the special shape of the form-keeping core is such as to reduce the overall height requirement and leads to a heightwise compact construction for the position indicator controlling device (1'). According to two modifications (FIGS. 5 and 6), the indicator position controller (6) is realized by a normally spheroidal thick-walled elastomeric ball (8'), or by a solid elastomeric ball (8') held in a deformed state by the housing (2). The position indicator controlling device (1) can be designed for use as a ball-type device for a laptop computer or as a mouse for a personal computer.