Mouse and method for concurrent cursor position and scrolling control
DCFirst Claim
1. Mouse for interactive operation of a computer, said computer having display means for displaying information to an operator of said computer, said mouse comprisinga first transducer means for generating x-y position signals for controlling movement of a cursor on said display means in response to movement of said first transducer means by a hand of an operator, andsupplementary control means including a second transducer means for generating supplementary control signals for controlling scrolling operations for moving information entitles displayed on said display means, said second transducer means including a displaceable body and spring means connected to said displaceable body to spring-load said displaceable body so that said body is urged into an initial equilibrium position by said spring means but is displaceable from said equilibrium position in either of two directions by a digit of said hand of said user, said second transducer means being structured so that said supplementary control signals vary with a displacement amount and displacement direction of said body from said equilibrium position so that a rate of moving said information entities on said display means can be varied with said displacement amount and a direction of moving said information entities can be selected according to said displacement direction.
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Abstract
In a manual input device for controlling a cursor on a computer display (e.g., a mouse), a supplementary proportional control device including a spring-loaded lever displaceable from an equilibrium position in either of two directions and protruding out of the mouse housing is provided for concurrently controlling the scrolling operation. The supplementary control signal is generated in response to operation of a lever designed to be driven by the thumb of the same hand which holds the mouse. The control signal varies according to the discplacement amount of the lever from its equilibrium position and the displacement direction and thus is used as a scrolling rate and direction control. An associated method is provided for setting the scrolling direction in correspondence to the dominant axis of the cursor'"'"'s trail. Detecting an approximately circular movement of the cursor sets the scrolling axis perpendicular to the screen plane (i.e., in a third dimension).
163 Citations
17 Claims
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1. Mouse for interactive operation of a computer, said computer having display means for displaying information to an operator of said computer, said mouse comprising
a first transducer means for generating x-y position signals for controlling movement of a cursor on said display means in response to movement of said first transducer means by a hand of an operator, and supplementary control means including a second transducer means for generating supplementary control signals for controlling scrolling operations for moving information entitles displayed on said display means, said second transducer means including a displaceable body and spring means connected to said displaceable body to spring-load said displaceable body so that said body is urged into an initial equilibrium position by said spring means but is displaceable from said equilibrium position in either of two directions by a digit of said hand of said user, said second transducer means being structured so that said supplementary control signals vary with a displacement amount and displacement direction of said body from said equilibrium position so that a rate of moving said information entities on said display means can be varied with said displacement amount and a direction of moving said information entities can be selected according to said displacement direction.
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9. Mouse for cursor positioning and scrolling in interactive operation of a computer system said mouse comprising supplementary control means producing an electronic signal for scrolling and connected to computer means operated by an operator in an interactive manner, said computer means having display means and displaying data and/or program units on said display means during operation, said electronic signal being converted to scrolling commands in said computer means to move said data and/or program units on said display means, said supplementary control means including a movable body moveable in either of two displacement directions by a digit of a hand of the operator against spring means from an equilibrium position over a range of displacement amounts, no electronic signal being generated when said movable body is in said equilibrium position, said electronic signal has a signal strength varying with said displacement amount of said movable body from said equilibrium position at least over a portion of said range of said displacement amounts and said electronic signal also varies with said displacement direction so that a rate of moving said data and/or program units on said display means can be varied with said displacement amount and a direction of moving said data and or/program units can be selected according to said displacement direction;
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first and second X-Y motion detection means providing other electronic signals input to said computer in response to relative motion of said X-Y motion detection means across a plane surface in X and Y directions, said X-Y motion detection means being moveable by the hand of the operator moving said movable body and said other electronic signals being input to said computer to move a position and/or unit indicating means across said display means. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. Method of operating a computer in an interactive manner by a user, said computer including a display means and a mouse connect to said computer, said mouse comprising means for generating x-y incremental movement information for positioning a cursor at any of a plurality of positions displayed on said display means during interactive operation, binary control means for generating binary control commands for said computer, supplementary control means for generating a supplementary control signal of variable sign and magnitude under control of said user, and communication means for transmitting said movement information and said binary control information to said computer;
- programmable circuit means in said computer for generating said display means, said display means including display areas accessible by said cursor for triggering excecution of scrolling commands on receipt of said binary control commands while said cursor is positioned on said predetermined display areas;
said method comprising generating scrolling commands to move information items or characters displayed on said display means from said supplementary control signal by operation of said supplementary control means by said user, said method including generating of said scrolling commands including the steps of;a) analyzing a trail of said cursor at periodic time intervals; b) dynamically setting a status variable according to a dominant axis of said cursor trail at said time intervals; c) according to the status variable determined in step b), setting a scrolling axis to a direction option, said direction options including an up-down option;
a left-right option and a in-out option; andd) scrolling in a scrolling direction along said scrolling axis determined in step c) according to a sign of said supplementary control signal and the status of said status variable. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
- programmable circuit means in said computer for generating said display means, said display means including display areas accessible by said cursor for triggering excecution of scrolling commands on receipt of said binary control commands while said cursor is positioned on said predetermined display areas;
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17. Arrangement for operating a computer in an interactive manner by a user, said computer including a display means and a mouse connect to said computer, said mouse comprising means for generating x-y incremental movement information for positioning a cursor at any of a plurality of positions displayed on said display means during interactive operation, binary control means for generating binary control commands for said computer, supplementary control means for generating a supplementary control signal of variable sign and magnitude under control of said user, and communication means for transmitting said movement information and said binary control information to said computer;
- programmable circuit means in said computer for generating said display means, said display means including display areas accessible by said cursor for triggering excecution of scrolling commands on receipt of said binary control commands while said cursor is positioned on said predetermined display areas;
said method comprising generating scrolling commands to move information items or characters displayed on said display means from said supplementary control signal by operation of said supplementary control means by said user, said arrangement comprising;means for analyzing a trail of said cursor at periodic time intervals; means for dynamically setting a status variable according to a dominant axis of said cursor trail at said time intervals; means for setting a scrolling axis to a direction option, said direction options including an up-down option;
a left-right option and an in-out option according to the status variable determined; andmeans for scrolling in a scrolling direction along said scrolling axis according to a sign of said supplementary control signal and the status of said status variable.
- programmable circuit means in said computer for generating said display means, said display means including display areas accessible by said cursor for triggering excecution of scrolling commands on receipt of said binary control commands while said cursor is positioned on said predetermined display areas;
Specification