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. 06, 2009
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2004
Vincent C. Moyer, Milpitas, CA (US);
Mark M. Butterworth, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Michael J. Brosnan, Fremont, CA (US);
Roopinder Singh Grewal, San Jose, CA (US);
Paul Michael Welch, Cupertino, CA (US);
Marshall T. Depue, San Jose, CA (US);
Tong Xie, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Vincent C. Moyer, Milpitas, CA (US);
Mark M. Butterworth, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Michael J. Brosnan, Fremont, CA (US);
Roopinder Singh Grewal, San Jose, CA (US);
Paul Michael Welch, Cupertino, CA (US);
Marshall T. Depue, San Jose, CA (US);
Tong Xie, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte., Singapore, SG;
Abstract
A contaminant-neutralizing cradle comprises a base and a support surface configured to removably receive a coherently-illuminated mouse. A neutralizing element is disposed on the support surface for alignment with at least one exposed surface of an optics module of the mouse and is configured to neutralize the optical effect of a contaminant on the at least one exposed surface. A method of neutralizing contaminants for an optical mouse comprises providing a mouse containing an optics module having at least one surface exposed to an opening of the mouse and interposing a barrier in the mouse between a contaminant and the at least one exposed surface. A method of detecting contaminants comprises aligning an optics module of a mouse with an imaging surface, obtaining a first image of the imaging surface, via application of coherent illumination from the optics module to the imaging surface, analyzing the first image to identify an interference pattern associated with a contaminant, alerting a user if a parameter of the interference pattern exceeds a threshold value.