Capacitive mouse
First Claim
1. A rotary motion detector comprising:
- a rotating member, a capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pointing device some or all of whose elements are made from capacitive sensors. Such elements may include a rotary motion detector which includes a rotating member and a plurality of fixed capacitive detecting members; a rolling ball with patterned conductive surface and a plurality of fixed capacitive detecting members; capacitive touch sensors or capacitive switches to serve as mouse buttons; and a scrolling wheel, knob, or touch surface built from capacitive sensors. The pointing device further includes a capacitance measuring circuit and processor to measure variations of capacitance on the various capacitive elements and to determine the movement of and other activations of the mouse.
-
Citations
70 Claims
-
1. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, a capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
25. A motion detector comprised of a rotating ball with conductive patterns on or near the surface of said rotating ball, and a capacitance detector comprising a plurality of capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit.
- 31. A computer mouse in which motion of the mouse is measured by capacitive means.
-
35. A computer mouse in which scrolling commands are detected by capacitive means.
- 40. A computer mouse including a control member attached to a conductive member, operation of said control member by the user causing deflection of said conductive member, and a capacitance detector that measures said deflection of said conductive member by capacitive means.
- 43. A computer mouse including a touch sensor measuring the motion of a finger along an axis, said touch sensor operating by capacitive means.
- 60. A computer mouse including a touch sensor measuring the motion of a finger in two dimensions, said touch sensor operating by capacitive means.
- 63. A one-dimensional touch sensor measuring the motion of a conductive object along an axis, said touch sensor operating by capacitive means, said motion generating scrolling commands for a computer.
-
70. A capacitive touch sensor measuring the motion of a finger along an axis, and in response to said motion generating quadrature signals compatible with those from a rotary motion detector.
Specification