Pushbutton optical screen pointing device
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer for an electronic device having a display screen, the apparatus comprising:
- a pushbutton for selecting an item displayed on the display screen, the pushbutton including an imaging surface against which a portion of the tip of a human digit may be placed;
a light source for illuminating that portion of the tip of the digit that is placed against the imaging surface, thereby generating reflected images;
a motion transducer; and
a lens for receiving the reflected images and directing the reflected images onto the motion transducer, the motion transducer generating digital representations of the reflected images, the motion transducer generating a first set of movement data based on the digital representations of the reflected images, the first set of movement data indicative of motion of the tip of the digit across the imaging surface.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer for an electronic device having a display screen includes a pushbutton for selecting an item displayed on the display screen. The pushbutton includes an imaging surface against which a portion of the tip of a human digit may be placed. A light source illuminates that portion of the tip of the digit that is placed against the imaging surface, thereby generating reflected images. The apparatus includes a motion transducer. A lens receives the reflected images and directs the reflected images onto the motion transducer. The motion transducer generates digital representations of the reflected images. The motion transducer generates a first set of movement data based on the digital representations of the reflected images. The first set of movement data is indicative of motion of the tip of the digit across the imaging surface.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer for an electronic device having a display screen, the apparatus comprising:
-
a pushbutton for selecting an item displayed on the display screen, the pushbutton including an imaging surface against which a portion of the tip of a human digit may be placed;
a light source for illuminating that portion of the tip of the digit that is placed against the imaging surface, thereby generating reflected images;
a motion transducer; and
a lens for receiving the reflected images and directing the reflected images onto the motion transducer, the motion transducer generating digital representations of the reflected images, the motion transducer generating a first set of movement data based on the digital representations of the reflected images, the first set of movement data indicative of motion of the tip of the digit across the imaging surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
13. A method of controlling the position of a screen pointer for an electronic device having a display screen, the method comprising:
-
providing a pushbutton for selecting an item displayed on the display screen;
placing a portion of an appendage of the human hand against the pushbutton;
illuminating a portion of the appendage that is against the pushbutton;
focusing images reflected from the portion of the appendage onto an array of photo detectors;
digitizing output values of the photo detectors, thereby generating digital representations of the reflected images;
correlating at least one version of a first one of the digital representations with at least one version of a second one of the digital representations to generate a first set of motion data indicative of motion in orthogonal axes across the pushbutton by the appendage; and
adjusting the position of the screen pointer in accordance with the first set of motion data.
-
-
20. A portable electronic device comprising:
-
a display screen for displaying a plurality of selectable items and a pointer movable by a user to identify particular ones of the selectable items;
a motion sensing pushbutton for sensing movement across the pushbutton by an imaging surface, the pushbutton configured to generate a first set of movement data indicating a first movement of the imaging surface across the pushbutton, and configured to generate a selection signal when pushed by a user; and
a controller configured to move the pointer based on the first set of movement data to identify a first selectable item, the controller configured to select the first menu item based on the selection signal generated by the pushbutton. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification