Combination mouse and area imager

• US 5,909,209 A
• Filed: 07/21/1997
• Issued: 06/01/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Dickinson, Alexander George
• Primary Examiner(s): Saras, Steven J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS, DAVID LEE
• Application Number:
  US08/897,535
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/157, 345/158, 345/163, 345/164, 345/165, 345/166, 358/473, 358/474, 358/479, 358/497, 358/906, 358/909.1, 235/472, 235/473, 437/54, 382/313
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0333 Ergonomic shaped mouse for one hand
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00236 using an image reading or reproducing device, e.g. a facsimile reader or printer, as a local input to or local output from a computer image input to or image output from a computer via a network H04N1/00209
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00241 using an image reading device as a local input to a computer input via network, e.g. network scanners H04N1/00225
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/107 with manual scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/195 the array comprising a two-dimensional array or a combination of two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0063 Constructional details

Abstract

A hand-held device such as a mouse is provided for inputting into a computer relative positional information during movement of the device over a generally planar surface and for inputting an optical image of an object located thereunder. The device includes a housing adapted to be grasped by a user and moved along the surface. A positional transducer is mounted in the housing for generating first signals representative of the amount of movement of the device over the surface. An area imager is located within the housing for recording an image of an object and for generating second signals representative of the image.

Claims

1. A hand-held device for inputting into a computer relative positional information during movement of the device over a generally planar surface and for inputting an optical image of an object located thereunder in a single step, said device comprising:

a housing adapted to be grasped by a user and moved along the surface;

a positional transducer mounted in said housing for generating first signals representative of an amount of movement of the device on the surface; and

an area imager of a predetermined size located within said housing for recording an image of an object in a single scanning step when said housing is positioned above the surface and for generating second signals representative of said image said device outputting the second signals without correlating the amount of movement represented by the first signals to the image represented by the second signals.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said positional transducer includes a track ball.

3. The device of claim 1 further comprising at least one finger-actuated input device that directs action on a computer screen.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a finger-actuated input device that actuates said area imager.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said area imager is a charge coupled device.

6. The device of claim 4 wherein said area imager is CMOS imager.

7. The device of claim 1 further comprising an illuminator that illuminates the document for imaging.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein said illuminator is an LED located on an underside of said housing.

9. The device of claim 1 further comprising an optical alignment device that orients the document within an image field of said area imager.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein said optical alignment device projects illumination markers denoting said image field.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein said area imager is capable of recording a business-card size image in a single scanning step.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein said area imager is capable of recording a 8.5×

11 inch document in a single scanning step.

16. The hand-held device of claim 1 further comprising an optical alignment device including means for manual hand-held alignment of the area imager relative to the image of an object to be scanned.

13. A hand-held device for inputting into a computer relative positional information during movement of the device over a generally planar surface and for inputting an optical image of an object located thereunder in a single step said device comprising:

a housing adapted to be grasped by a user and moved along the surface;

a positional transducer mounted in said housing for generating first signals representative of an amount of movement of the device on the surface;

an area imager of a predetermined size located within said housing for recording an image of an object in a single scanning step when said housing is positioned above the surface and for generating second signals representative of said image, said device outputting the second signals without correlating the amount of movement represented by the first signals to the image represented by the second signals; and

an optical alignment device located on a bottom side of said housing that emits light to allow a user to manually position the hand-held device, including the area imager, relative to a desired image on the surface.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein said optical alignment device projects illumination markers denoting said image field.

15. A hand-held device for inputting into a computer relative positional information during movement of the device over a generally planar surface and for inputting an optical image of an object located thereunder, said device comprising:

a housing adapted to be grasped by a user and moved along the surface;

a positional transducer mounted in said housing for generating first signals representative of an amount of movement of the device on the surface;

an area imager of a predetermined size located within said housing for recording an image of an object in a single scanning step when said housing is positioned above the surface, and for generating second signals representative of said image, said device outputting the second signals without correlating the amount of movement represented by the first signals to the image represented by the second signals; and

an optical alignment device for orienting the area imager relative to the image on the surface, said alignment device including a real-time transmitter that transmits a low resolution image to the computer in real-time so that the size and contents of the image to be recorded can be observed in real-time on a computer screen to aid in alignment of the area imager and image selection.