Integrated input roller having a rotary mass actuator
First Claim
1. An input roller device, comprising:
- a roller;
an eccentric rotating mass within the roller;
a drive mechanism causing the eccentric rotating mass to rotate within the roller; and
a processor coupled to the drive mechanism.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An input roller device (50) includes a roller (58), an eccentric rotating mass (59) within the roller, a drive mechanism (54, 56 and 57) causing the eccentric rotating mass to rotate within the roller, and a processor (52) coupled to the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism can also optionally include a drive link (57) if not directly driven by the shaft of the motor. The input roller device 50 can further include a rotary encoder (60) coupled to the roller such that the rotary encoder can provide data to the processor on a rotation of the roller. Note, the processor can be programmed to cause the input roller to provide a varied tactile feedback to the user to correspond to different events or to cause the input roller to provide a rolling resistance that varies in coordination with inputs from a user interface.
44 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An input roller device, comprising:
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a roller;
an eccentric rotating mass within the roller;
a drive mechanism causing the eccentric rotating mass to rotate within the roller; and
a processor coupled to the drive mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An electronic device having an input roller device, comprising:
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a roller;
an eccentric rotating mass within the roller;
a drive mechanism causing the eccentric rotating mass to rotate within the roller; and
a processor coupled to the drive mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of providing user feedback using an input roller device, comprising the steps of:
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responsive to movement of the input roller device, causing an eccentric mass to rotate within a roller of the input roller device;
varying a tactile feedback to a user using the eccentric mass to correspond to different events occurring at an electronic device having the input roller device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification