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:
Oct. 29, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 05, 2008
Marshall T Depue, Issaquah, WA (US);
David M Lane, Sammamish, WA (US);
Stephan C Klein, Bothell, WA (US);
Brian L Hastings, Fort Collins, CO (US);
David D Bohn, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Marshall T DePue, Issaquah, WA (US);
David M Lane, Sammamish, WA (US);
Stephan C Klein, Bothell, WA (US);
Brian L Hastings, Fort Collins, CO (US);
David D Bohn, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Architecture for managing clutch height in an optical navigational device such as a computer mouse. In one embodiment for a mouse, a feature can be molded into the bottom case that limits the clutch height by occluding the reflected light to the image sensor when the device is lifted from the tracking surface. Tracking is disabled when the clutch height threshold is exceeded, and re-enabled when the device is brought under the distance clutch height threshold. The device includes firmware controlled algorithm adjustments to one or more correlation parameters. When employing a D-shaped aperture, a threshold can be placed on the z-axis height tracking distance using dimensional characteristics of the shaped aperture, such as a knife-edge (the straight portion of the 'D' shaped aperture), to impose a shadow across the image sensor. The aperture can be custom designed to occlude a portion of the emitted light from an LED.