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:
Apr. 21, 2009
Filed:
Jan. 15, 2004
Takatoshi Ono, Kyoto, JP;
Takefumi Inoue, Nara, JP;
Takatoshi Ono, Kyoto, JP;
Takefumi Inoue, Nara, JP;
Panasonic Corporation, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A trackball device including (i) a sphere, (ii) a support for rotatably supporting the sphere, (iii) a rotation detector for detecting rotation of the sphere, and (iv) a controller. The controller generates a specific output signal responsive to a signal from the rotation detector. The trackball device further includes an informer for generating auxiliary information that gives feedback of the situation to an operator according to how the sphere rotates. This structure can provide a trackball device having excellent user-friendliness. Because this trackball device gives feedback of the position of a pointer on a display to the operator, the operator doesn't have to look at the display. Thus, this trackball device is especially preferred for incorporation into a vehicle.