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. 22, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 01, 2004
Timothy T. Brewer, Seattle, WA (US);
Eric H Michelman, Seattle, WA (US);
Todd Roshak, Redmond, WA (US);
Ryan Kim, Redmond, WA (US);
Juha Niemisto, Mercer Island, WA (US);
Carl T. Hellings, Bellevue, WA (US);
Timothy T. Brewer, Seattle, WA (US);
Eric H Michelman, Seattle, WA (US);
Todd Roshak, Redmond, WA (US);
Ryan Kim, Redmond, WA (US);
Juha Niemisto, Mercer Island, WA (US);
Carl T. Hellings, Bellevue, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
An ergonomic pointing device, such as a mouse, is coupled to a computer having a visual display device. As a user rotates a roller associated with the mouse, the mouse generates computer signals that are interpreted by an operating system and software applications running on the computer. The signals generated by the roller, together with a given software application, can be used for spatial navigation. In spatial navigation, a user rotates the roller to cause the computer and the visual display to increase or decrease magnification levels of the document on the display. Other models of spatial navigation allow the user to activate a roller switch, depress special function keys on a keyboard and/or move the mouse to pant, automatically scroll or manually scroll through the document.