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:
Mar. 05, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 04, 2000
David L. Poole, Jay, IN (US);
Robert M. Vandenboom, Wells, IN (US);
CTS Corporation, Elkhart, IN (US);
Abstract
A pointing stick for controlling cursor movement on a display screen of a computer system that is mountable to a surface of a printed circuit board. The pointing stick has a base member and a shaft having mounted in the base member. Several sensors are mounted around the shaft for sensing the amount of strain in the shaft that is created in response to an applied force on the shaft. The sensors generate an electrical signal in response to the applied force. A pair of spaced electrical leads are located on opposing sides of the base member and extend partially through the base member. Each of the electrical leads has several inner terminal ends that are electrically connected to the sensors. Several outer terminal ends extend outwardly of the base member and are shaped for mounting on the surface of a circuit board. An electronic component is attached to the shaft or the leads and is electrically connected to the inner terminal ends. The electronic component receives the electrical signal from the sensors as an input and generates a conditioned electrical signal as an output.