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Fiber optical mouse

  • US 4,922,236 A
  • Filed: 04/25/1988
  • Issued: 05/01/1990
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1988
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. In a relative-motion cursor control system havinga motion detector,an electronically passive surface bearing a static referent image over which image said motion detector operates to detect motion, anda receiving meanswhich receives information from said motion detector so as to drive a cursor or other video image on a video display,an optical mouse comprising said motion detector, said optical mouse comprising:

  • (a) an elongated body dimensioned to be hand-held and used in the manner of a pen;

    (b) a tip at one end of said body for bearing against said surface, with said tip having a nib oriented said referent image when said tip so bears; and

    (c) a plurality of individual sensory optical fibers operating as independent light guides and extending through at least a portion of said body, with(i) the proximate ends of said fibers fixed in said nib to sense a pattern of light from a small area of said referent image immediately beneath said nib, and(ii) the distant ends of said fibers fixed so that each sensory fiber illuminates a photodetector cell to produce an electronic signal for said receiving means.

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