Computer pointing device
First Claim
1. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprisinga computer housing,sensor means arranged within said housing and includingat least a pair of transmitters for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing, andat least a pair of receivers for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area,said detection area being disposed a pre-selected height above said housing, said at least a pair of receivers configured to reject waves originating from outside said detection area,vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, andcontrol means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A compact computer pointing device without moving parts detects the movement of objects, typically an operator'"'"'s hand, in a detection area at a pre-selected height above the device. In an ultrasonic embodiment, the device includes two ultrasonic transmitter-receivers mounted at an appropriate position on the computer housing or keyboard. These transmitter-receivers use the Doppler effect to sense the vector velocity of objects moving in front of them. In an optical embodiment, the device consists of two optical emitters-receivers mounted at an appropriate position on the computer housing or keyboard. These emitter-receivers sense the vector velocity of objects moving in front of by cross-correlating the light reflected from the object with the incident light. In both the ultrasonic and the optical embodiment, the velocity vector thus determined is used to generate signals for corresponding movement of a pointer on the computer display. The device is particularly suited for compact computers in which space is limited.
31 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least a pair of transmitters for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing, and at least a pair of receivers for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, said detection area being disposed a pre-selected height above said housing, said at least a pair of receivers configured to reject waves originating from outside said detection area, vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer.
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15. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least two ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing and for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, said at least two ultrasonic transducer means being mounted on said computer housing at an azimuthal beam axis intersection angle (α - ) other than 0 degrees and being capable of transmitting and of receiving directive ultrasonic signals into the space in front of them and from that space respectively, each of said ultrasonic transducer means being characterized by a directivity function having an axis and being mounted below a portion of a wall of said housing at a depth such that a movement of an essentially planar wave reflecting object, which is leaned against the portion of the wall and which is translated at an essentially constant distance from said transducer means, is measured along the axes of the directivity functions of said transducer means
vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer, wherein lines formed by projections of the axes of the two ultrasonic transducer means on a plane parallel to and spaced apart from said detection area intersect at a non-zero angle (α
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- ) other than 0 degrees and being capable of transmitting and of receiving directive ultrasonic signals into the space in front of them and from that space respectively, each of said ultrasonic transducer means being characterized by a directivity function having an axis and being mounted below a portion of a wall of said housing at a depth such that a movement of an essentially planar wave reflecting object, which is leaned against the portion of the wall and which is translated at an essentially constant distance from said transducer means, is measured along the axes of the directivity functions of said transducer means
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16. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least two ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting waves to a detection area being disposed at a pre-selected height above said housing and for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, each of said ultrasonic transducer means being characterized by a directivity function having an axis and being mounted below a portion of a wall of said housing at a depth such that a movement of an essentially planar wave reflecting object, which is leaned against the portion of the wall and which is translated at an essentially constant distance from said transducer means, is measured along the axes of the directivity functions of said transducer means vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer, wherein each of said directivity function axes are tilted at an elevation angle (φ - and τ
) at a point in said detection area.
- and τ
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17. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least two ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing and for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, each of said transducer means being characterized by a directivity function having an axis and being mounted below a portion of a wall of said housing at a depth such that a movement of an essentially planar wave reflecting object, which is leaned against the portion of the wall and which is translated at an essentially constant distance from said transducer means, is measured along the axes of the directivity functions of said transducer means vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer, wherein said directivity functions of said two transducer means are achieved by making their dominant surface dimensions larger than the wavelength of the generated ultrasound.
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18. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least two linear light emitting means, each characterized by a transmission directivity function having an axis for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing, and at least two pairs of focused light receiving means each characterized by a reception directivity function having an axis for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer, wherein said graphic pointer means within the graphic screen of said computer has an address generator, and said vector velocity measurement means comprises electronic circuits for calculating the cross correlation of the signals obtained by said at least two pairs of focused light receiving means, for calculating the quotient of the distance between the at least two pairs of focused light receiving means and the characteristic delay at which an extreme occurs in said cross correlation function, and for vector sum data from at least two of said quotients and submitting them to the address generator.
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19. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen, said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means disposed in a recess of said housing, said recess having a recess bottom on which is mounted an optical device having two essentially linear light emitters with essentially cylindrical lenses at their transmitting faces for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing, each light emitter being characterized by a directivity function having an axis, and at least two pairs of light receivers for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, said light receivers each having a directivity function having an axis and each having receiving faces with focusing lenses mounted thereon, said receiving faces arranged such that lines connecting said receivers forming a receiver pair are essentially parallel to said corresponding linear light emitters, vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer.
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25. A computer pointing device for a computer having a graphic screen said pointing device comprising
a computer housing, sensor means arranged within said housing and including at least a pair of transmitters for transmitting waves to a detection area located outside of said housing, and at least a pair of receivers for receiving waves reflected by an object disposed in said detection area, vector velocity measuring means for measurement of components of velocity of said object within said detection area, and for providing vector velocity signals representing the velocity of said object, and control means responsive to said vector velocity signals for varying a memory address corresponding to the position of a graphic pointing means within the graphic screen of said computer, and including electronic circuitry which generates a vector sum of the velocity components obtained by said vector velocity measurement means and uses the vector sum to generate a signal for generating a change of the position of said graphic pointing means by changing its memory address.
Specification