AMBIDEXTROUS MOUSE

• US 20110012835A1
• Filed: 09/24/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brian Huppi, Steve Hotelling
• Original Assignee: Brian Huppi, Steve Hotelling
• Inventors: HOTELLING, Steve, Huppi, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 8,537,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0332 Ergonomic shaped mouse adjustable to suit one of both hands
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03544 having dual sensing arrangement, e.g. two balls or two coils used to track rotation of the pointing device

Abstract

An ambidextrous mouse is disclosed. The ambidextrous mouse is configured for both left and right handed use. The mouse may include right handed buttons on the front side of the mouse and left handed buttons on the back side of the mouse. The user may change the handedness of the mouse by rotating the mouse about a vertical axis of the mouse such that the left hand can use the left hand buttons and the right hand can use the right hand buttons. The mouse may include a handedness selection system for configuring the mouse for right handed or left handed use even though the mouse has the capability for both right and left hands.

Claims

1. A user configurable mouse, comprising:

a unibody housing having a touch sensitive surface divided into an array of independent and spatially distinct sensing regions wherein at least some of the sensing regions are positioned around a periphery of the unibody housing, each sensing region being configured to generate a signal when the sensing region detects that a portion of a user'"'"'s hand is touching the sensing region, the signal including information identifying a particular location of the sensing region in the unibody housing;

wherein signals from at least two sensing regions of the array of sensing regions are combined to form a hand signal that represents a contact produced by the user'"'"'s hand touching the unibody housing; and

wherein a first hand signal representing a first contact produced by the user'"'"'s hand touching the unibody housing is compared to a second hand signal representing a second contact produced by the user'"'"'s hand touching the unibody housing to generate a function signal for implementing a user-intended operation of the mouse.

2. The mouse as recited in claim 1, wherein the hand signal is compared to a plurality of baseline hand signals to determine an identity of the user touching the mouse, each baseline hand signal representing a unique user profile.

3. The mouse as recited in claim 2, wherein following the determination of the user identity, the hand signal is further compared to a baseline left-hand signal and a baseline right-hand signal associated with the identified user to determine whether the user is holding the mouse with the left hand or the right hand.

4. The mouse as recited in claim 3, wherein the mouse is configured for left-handed use if it is determined that the mouse is being held with the left hand, or configured for right-handed use if it is determined that the mouse is being held with the right hand.

5. The mouse as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensing regions are implemented with capacitance sensors.

6. The mouse as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensing regions are grouped into one or more touch zones, the hand signal indicates which touch zones were touched by the user'"'"'s hand, and an alternative function signal is generated based on which touch zones were touched by the user'"'"'s hand.

7. The mouse as recited in claim 1, wherein the signal generated by each sensing region further includes information indicating how much pressure the portion of the user'"'"'s hand in contact with the associated sensing region is exerting on the sensing region.

8. A method for operating a unibody mouse having a touch sensitive surface comprising a plurality of sensing regions, wherein each sensing region is configured to generate a touch signal in response to a touch detected in the sensing region and the touch signal identifies at least a location of the touched sensing region in the touch sensitive surface, the method comprising:

generating a first hand signal in response to a first touch detected in a first group of sensing regions amongst the plurality of sensing regions on the touch sensitive surface;

generating a second hand signal in response to a second touch detected in a second group of sensing regions amongst the plurality of sensing regions on the touch sensitive surface; and

comparing the first and second hand signals to generate a function signal reflecting a user-intended operation of the mouse;

wherein the first hand signal is formed by combining touch signals from at least two sensing regions in the first group of sensing regions, the first hand signal representing a pixilated image of the first touch caused by a user'"'"'s hand touching the house, and

wherein the second hand signal is formed by combining touch signals from at least two sensing regions in the second group of sensing regions, the second hand signal representing a pixilated image of the second touch caused by the user'"'"'s hand touching the mouse.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising determining a user identity based upon either the first or second hand signal.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the user identity is determined by:

storing a baseline hand signal, along with particular user settings, in a unique user profile for each of a plurality of users who have operated the mouse; and

comparing either the first or second hand signal with the baseline hand signal stored in each user profile to determine which user is currently operating the mouse.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising determining a user handedness based on either the first or second hand signal.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the user handedness is determined by comparing at least one of the first and second hand signals with a pre-stored baseline left hand signal or a pre-stored baseline right hand signal to determine whether the user is left-handed or right-handed.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising configuring the mouse in accordance with the determined user identity and user handedness.

14. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

monitoring a movement of the mouse; and

generating position signals in response to the movement of the mouse.

15. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

monitoring a hand action of the user operating the mouse based upon hand signals generated in response to touches caused by the user'"'"'s hand on the mouse; and

generating a function signal in accordance with the hand action.

16. A user configurable mouse, comprising:

a unibody housing having a buttonless touch sensitive surface divided into an array of independent and spatially distinct sensing regions,

wherein signals from at least two sensing regions of the array of sensing regions are combined to form a hand signal that defines a pixilated image of a contact patch produced by the portion of the hand in contact with the mouse.

17. The mouse as recited in claim 16, wherein the hand signal helps determine an identity of a user of the mouse, wherein determining the identity of the user comprises determining which user, of a plurality of user that have operated the mouse, is currently engaging the mouse.

18. The mouse as recited in claim 16, wherein the hand signal helps determine whether the user is holding the mouse with a left hand or a right hand, and wherein the operations of the mouse are configured for left handed use if the user is holding the mouse with the left hand or right handed use if the user is holding the mouse with the right hand.

19. A user configurable mouse, comprising:

a unibody housing having a buttonless touch sensitive surface divided into an array of independent and spatially distinct sensing regions wherein at least some of the sensing regions are positioned substantially around most of the periphery of the unibody housing, each sensing region being configured to generate a signal when the sensing region detects that a portion of a user'"'"'s hand is touching the sensing region, the signal including information identifying a particular location of the sensing region and a time at which the sensing region detected the portion of the user'"'"'s hand on the sensing region,

wherein signals from at least two sensing regions of the array of sensing regions are combined to form a hand signal that defines a pixilated image of a contact patch produced by the portion of the hand in contact with the mouse at a time that the portion of the user'"'"'s hand touches the associated sensing regions regardless of where the portion of the user'"'"'s hand contacts the touch sensitive surface, and

wherein a first hand signal corresponding to first positions of a user'"'"'s hand on the unibody housing at a first time is compared to a second hand signal corresponding to second positions of the user'"'"'s hand on the unibody mouse at a second time such that a comparison can be made between which portions of the touch sensitive surface are being touched at the first time and which portions of the touch sensitive surface are being touched at the second time, and whereby at least one function is implemented based upon the comparison of the first hand signal and the second hand signal.

20. The mouse as recited in claim 19, wherein the hand signals further help determine the identity of the user, wherein determining the identity of the user comprises determining which user, of a plurality of user that have operated the mouse, is currently engaging the mouse.

21. The mouse as recited in claim 19, wherein the hand signals further help determine whether the user is holding the mouse with a left hand or a right hand, and wherein the operations of the mouse are configured for left handed use if the user is holding the mouse with the left hand or right handed use if the user is holding the mouse with the right hand.

22. A user configurable mouse, comprising:

a unibody housing having a buttonless touch sensitive surface divided into an array of independent and spatially distinct sensing regions, each sensing region being configured to generate a signal when the sensing region detects that the sensing region is being touched by a portion of a user'"'"'s hand, the signal including information identifying a particular location of the sensing region and a time at which the sensing region was touched, wherein a function is generated by using at least a first signal corresponding to a sensing region at a first location being touched at a first time and at least a second signal corresponding to at least a second sensing region at a second location being touched at a second time;

wherein signals from at least two sensing regions of the array of sensing regions are combined to form a hand signal that defines a pixilated image of a contact patch produced by the portion of the hand in contact with the mouse at a time that the portion of the user'"'"'s hand touches the associated sensing regions regardless of where the portion of the user'"'"'s hand contacts the touch sensitive surface.