Substantially stationary pressure sensitive system for providing input to an electrical device, particularly a computer

• US 6,084,571 A
• Filed: 06/25/1998
• Issued: 07/04/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sergio Salinas De Gotari
• Original Assignee: Sergio Salinas De Gotari
• Inventors: De Gotari, Sergio Salinas
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US09/104,323
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/157, 345/158, 345/160, 345/162, 345/163, 345/166
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface

Abstract

A substantially stationary sensor for providing an input signal to an electrical device based on the mechanical force applied to a sensor includes first and second laminar springs. The deflection of the laminar springs caused by the force placed on the sensor is measured by opto-electronic systems associated with each laminar spring. The output of the opto-electrical systems on each of two orthogonal axes is an electrical signal which is transformed into a signal usable by the electrical device. One specific application of the system is for a mouse used to control the position of a cursor on a computer screen.

Claims

1. A substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system comprising:

a first laminar spring that deflects in response to a force applied in an x direction;

a second laminar spring that deflects in response to a force applied in an y direction;

a first opto-electronic system having a light emitting diode and a light receptor for generating a cursor position signal with respect to said deflection of said first laminar spring in said x-direction;

a second opto-electronic system having a light emitting diode and a light receptor for generating a cursor position signal with respect to said deflection of said second laminar spring in said y-direction, wherein the light emitting diodes of the first and second opto-electronic sensor systems are constructed and arranged to cause the light emitted by the light emitting diode to be reflected by the laminar springs into said light receptors so that the light receptors generate output representative of the received light; and

circuit means for converting the output of both of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to display the position of the cursor on the computer screen.

2. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 1 wherein:

said light receptor is positioned substantially orthogonally to said laminar springs.

3. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 2 wherein:

the electrical output of said means for receiving light is established by the angular position of said light emitting diode with respect to said light receptor.

4. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 3 wherein:

said circuit means for converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into an electrical signal further includes a comparison circuit.

5. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 4 wherein:

said comparison circuit generates an electrical signal determined by the distance between one of said light receptors and one of said laminar springs.

6. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said circuit means for converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals further includes a circuit for transforming the output of said comparison circuit into a digital signal.

7. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 6 wherein:

said circuit means for converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals further includes a circuit for transforming said digital signal into a signal usable by the computer.

8. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 7 wherein:

the transmission of said digital signals to said circuit for transforming said digital signals into signals usable by the computer is triggered by clock pulses.

9. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 8 wherein:

a signal relating to the position of said first laminar spring is conveyed on a clock pulse which is 90°

out of phase to the clock pulse conveying the position of said second laminar spring.

10. A method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen, said method comprising the steps of:

converting the component of an applied force in an x-direction into a small mechanical deflection using a first laminar spring;

converting the component of an applied force in a y-direction into a small mechanical deflection using a second laminar spring, said y-direction being perpendicular to said x-direction;

generating a first cursor position signal from said small mechanical deflection of the first laminar spring in an x-direction using a first opto-electronic system by

emitting light in the direction of said first laminar spring,

reflecting said emitted light from said first laminar spring,

sensing said reflected light from said first laminar spring, and

producing an output representative of said sensed reflected light;

generating a second cursor position signal from said small mechanical deflection of the second laminar spring in a y-direction using a second opto-electronic system by

emitting light in the direction of said second laminar spring,

reflecting said emitted light from said second laminar spring,

sensing said reflected light from said second laminar spring, and

producing an output representative of said sensed reflected light; and

converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to position the cursor on the computer screen.

11. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 10 wherein:

said sensing of said reflected light is done is a direction substantially orthogonal to said laminar springs.

12. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 11 wherein:

the axis for emitting of light is oriented at an angle of substantially 30°

to the axis for sensing of reflected light.

13. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 12 wherein:

said step of converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to position the cursor on a computer screen further includes comparing the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems to a reference signal.

14. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 13 wherein:

said step of comparing the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems to a reference signal, further includes the step of generating a voltage representative of the small mechanical deflection of said laminar springs.

15. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 14 wherein:

said step of converting the output of said first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals further includes the step of transforming the voltage representative of the small mechanical deflection of said laminar springs into a digital signal.

16. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 15 wherein:

said step of transforming the voltage representative of the small mechanical deflection of said laminar springs into a digital signal further includes transforming said digital signal into a signal usable by the computer.

17. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 16 wherein:

the transmission of said digital signal to the computer is triggered by clock pulses.

18. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 17 wherein:

the transmission of said signal relating to the component of the applied force in the x-direction is triggered by a clock pulse which is 90°

out of phase with the clock pulse which triggers the transmission of the signal relating to the component of the applied force in the y-direction.

19. A substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system comprising:

a first spring that deflects in response to a force applied in an x-direction;

a second spring that deflects in response to a force applied in a y-direction, the y-direction being generally perpendicular to the x-direction;

a first opto-electronic system that illuminates the first spring, detects the deflection of the first spring, and generates an output representative of the deflection;

a second opto-electronic system that illuminates the second spring, detects the deflection of the second spring, and generates an output representative of the deflection; and

an electronic circuit that converts the output of both of the first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to display the position of the cursor on the computer screen.

20. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 19 wherein:

the first and second springs are laminar springs.

21. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 20 wherein:

the first and second opto-electronic systems include a light emitting diode and a light receptor, the light emitting diode and the light receptor being constructed and arranged to cause the light emitted by the light emitting diode to be reflected by the laminar springs into the light receptor so that the light receptor provides an electrical signal representative of the received light.

22. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 21 wherein:

the light receptor is positioned substantially orthogonally to the laminar springs.

23. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 22 wherein:

the electrical output of the light receptor is established by the angular position of the light emitting diode with respect to the light receptor.

24. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 23 wherein:

the electronic circuit includes a comparison circuit.

25. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 24 wherein:

the comparison circuit generates an electrical signal determined by the distance between one of the light receptors and one of the laminar springs.

26. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 25 wherein:

the electronic circuit includes a circuit for transforming the output of the comparison circuit into a digital signal.

27. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 26 wherein:

the electronic circuit includes a circuit for transforming the digital signal into a signal usable by the computer.

28. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 27 wherein:

the transmission of the digital signals to the circuit for transforming the digital signals into signals usable by the computer is triggered by clock pulses.

29. The substantially stationary computer screen cursor control system as defined in claim 28 wherein:

a signal relating to the position of the first laminar spring is conveyed on a clock pulse which is 90°

out of phase to the clock pulse conveying the position of the second laminar spring.

30. A method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen, the method comprising the steps of:

converting a component of an applied force in an x-direction into a deflection of a first spring;

converting a component of an applied force in a y-direction into a deflection of a second spring, the y-direction being perpendicular to the x-direction;

generating a first cursor position signal from the deflection of the first spring in an x-direction using a first opto-electronic system to illuminate the first spring;

generating a second cursor position signal from the deflection of the second spring in a y-direction using a second opto-electronic system to illuminate the second spring;

converting the output of the first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to position the cursor on the computer screen.

31. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 30 wherein:

the first and second springs are laminar springs.

32. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 31 wherein:

the step of generating first and second cursor position signals using first and second opto-electronic systems further includes the steps of;

emitting light in the direction of the laminar springs;

reflecting the emitted light from the laminar springs;

sensing the reflected light;

producing an electrical signal representative of the sensed reflected light.

33. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 32 wherein:

the sensing of the reflected light is done is a direction substantially orthogonal to the laminar springs.

34. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 33 wherein:

the axis for emitting of light is oriented at an angle of substantially 30°

to the axis for sensing of reflected light.

35. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 34 wherein:

the step of converting the output of the first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals usable by the computer to position the cursor on a computer screen further includes comparing the output of the first and second opto-electronic systems to a reference signal.

36. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 35 wherein:

the step of comparing the output of the first and second opto-electronic systems to a reference signal, further includes the step of generating a voltage representative of the deflection of the laminar springs.

37. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 36 wherein:

the step of converting the output of the first and second opto-electronic systems into electrical signals further includes the step of transforming the voltage representative of the deflection of the laminar springs into a digital signal.

38. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 37 wherein:

the step of transforming the voltage representative of the deflection of the laminar springs into a digital signal further includes transforming the digital signal into a signal usable by the computer.

39. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 38 wherein:

the transmission of the digital signal to the computer is triggered by clock pulses.

40. The method for controlling the position of a cursor on a computer screen as defined in claim 39 wherein:

the transmission of the signal relating to the component of the applied force in the x-direction is triggered by a clock pulse which is 90°

out of phase with the clock pulse which triggers the transmission of the signal relating to the component of the applied force in the y-direction.