Ergonomic computer keyboard
First Claim
1. An ergonomic data entry device, comprising:
- a unitary housing defining a right hand member, a left hand member, and a thumb control surface extending between and opposed to the hand members, each hand member being formed with four finger groups, each finger group for receiving a respective finger of a user'"'"'s hand;
in each finger group, three pressure sensitive switches, each being separately operable by the user to generate a respective finger signal; and
a microprocessor for receiving the finger signals from the switches and for generating respective character signals representative of respective keyboard characters in response thereto.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ergonomic, efficient unitary pyramidal-shaped data entry device includes left and right hand members separated from each other by a thumb control surface. Each hand member is formed with four cavities for receiving the four fingers of the left and right hands, respectively, of a user, with the user'"'"'s thumbs being juxtaposed with the thumb control surface. Each cavity contains three switches, with one switch being operated when the user extends the appropriate finger, a second being operated when the user depresses the finger, and a third being operated when the user retracts the finger. Each switch generates a signal representative of a character of a character set, with thumb switches being operable by the user'"'"'s thumbs to invoke one of a plurality of sets. The sets include a character set that mimics the conventional QWERTY layout, and also include sets which represent language-optimized layouts. The device can also assume the function of a telephone and a cursor control pad.
16 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An ergonomic data entry device, comprising:
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a unitary housing defining a right hand member, a left hand member, and a thumb control surface extending between and opposed to the hand members, each hand member being formed with four finger groups, each finger group for receiving a respective finger of a user'"'"'s hand; in each finger group, three pressure sensitive switches, each being separately operable by the user to generate a respective finger signal; and a microprocessor for receiving the finger signals from the switches and for generating respective character signals representative of respective keyboard characters in response thereto. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An ergonomic, efficient data entry device, comprising:
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a unitary housing defining right and left hand members generally opposed to each other and a thumb control surface extending therebetween, the thumb control surface including at least one control key for generating a character set signal representative of one of plural character sets; twelve finger signal generating elements on each hand member, the twelve finger signal generating elements being arranged in four cavities on member for generating first, second, and third signals in response to the movement of respective human fingers along respective axes when the fingers are positioned in respective cavities; and means for generating a character signal representative of an alpha-numeric characters in response to the set signal and a respective first, second, and third signal.
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Specification