Visual display input device
First Claim
1. A visual display input device for producing a signal representing a direction of motion to be reproduced in said display comprising:
- sensing means adapted for hand-controlled motion over a plane surface, the sensing means being responsive to the texture of the surface during such motion in either direction along a selected axis to produce said signal consisting of a succession of unidirectional electrical pulses, the polarity of the pulses being indicative of the direction of motion; and
means for maintaining said sensing means in a fixed orientation with respect to said surface so that said sensing means is insensitive to pressure normal to said surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An input device for a computer controlled visual display enables an operator to instruct the shift of a display element in a chosen direction by hand movement of the input device sensor in an analogous direction over a plane surface. The sensor includes a conventional piezoelectric audio pick-up which produces a succession of unidirectional pulses when the stylus is drawn across a microscopically textured surface such as a sheet of paper, the polarity of the pulses being indicative of the direction of motion along a selected axis. A second pick-up is arranged to give a maximum response to motion along an orthogonal axis and for the component of motion on each axis a bi-directional pulse counter enables the direction of motion to be determined by a comparison of the counts held in successive time intervals.
32 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A visual display input device for producing a signal representing a direction of motion to be reproduced in said display comprising:
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sensing means adapted for hand-controlled motion over a plane surface, the sensing means being responsive to the texture of the surface during such motion in either direction along a selected axis to produce said signal consisting of a succession of unidirectional electrical pulses, the polarity of the pulses being indicative of the direction of motion; and means for maintaining said sensing means in a fixed orientation with respect to said surface so that said sensing means is insensitive to pressure normal to said surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of moving an image on a visual display in response to a signal representing a direction of motion comprising the step of:
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moving input means in either direction along a first axis over a textured surface, said means being responsive to said textured surface during motion for producing said signal consisting of a succession of unidirectional electrical pulses, the polarity of the pulses being indicative of the direction of motion; and moving said image along a second axis in response to said signal in a direction related to said polarity.
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Specification