Hand-held optical scanner and computer mouse

• US 4,804,949 A
• Filed: 05/27/1987
• Issued: 02/14/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Everex TI Corporation
• Original Assignee: Everex TI Corporation
• Inventors: Faulkerson, James L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Caldwell, Sr, John W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FATAHI YAR, MAHMOUD
• Application Number:
  US07/055,162
• Time in Patent Office: 629 Days
• Field of Search: 382/11, 382/59, 340/710, 340/709, 250/221, 250/566, 358/294, 358/293, 235/472
• US Class Current: 345/166
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/107 with manual scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/1077 Arrangements for facilitating movement over the scanned medium, e.g. disposition of rollers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0063 Constructional details

Abstract

A hand-held peripheral device for a computer system or terminal having a video display is disclosed. The device is adapted to operate one of two user-selectable functional modes. In a first mode, the device functions as an optical scanner for image acquisition. In a second mode, the device functions as a computer mouse for controlling the position of a cursor on the video display.

Claims

1. A combined hand-held optical scanner and X-Y movement transducer apparatus, comprising:

(a) a housing suitable for hand-held use by an operator;

(b) means contained within said housing for selectively optically scanning images appearing on a surface and providing electrical image signals representative of said images for image acquisition in response to a first enable signal;

(c) means for selectively sensing the relative motion of said apparatus and providing electrical movement signals indicative of the relative motion of said housing relative to an X-Y coordinate system in response to a second enable signal; and

(d) operator controlled function control means for selectively generating said first or second enable signal for selectively actuating only said optical scanning means or only said motion sensing means to selectively operate said apparatus in a first state wherein said hand-held apparatus is employed only in an optical scanning function or in a second state wherein said hand-held apparatus is employed only in an X-Y motion sensing function.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said optical scanning means comprises:

(i) a light source;

(ii) an imaging array of light sensitive detector elements for providing an electrical representation of the incident light intensity over said array; and

(iii) means for optically directing the light produced by said light source to said surface and directing the light reflected from said surface onto said imaging array.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said X-Y motion sensing means comprises a rotatable ball for frictionally engaging said surface, means coupled to said rotatable ball for providing an X axis movement signal in dependence on the relative rotation of said ball along a predetermined X axis, and means coupled to said rotating ball for providing a Y axis movement signal in dependence on the relative rotation of said ball along a predetermined Y axis.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said motion sensing means comprises:

a processor responsive to said function control devices and said electrical image signals, said processor comprising means for processing said electrical image signals to provide said electrical movement signals when said hand-held apparatus is employed in said second state.

5. A hand-held optical scanning apparatus, comprising:

(a) a housing suitable for hand-held use by an operator;

(b) optical scanning means contained within said housing for optically scanning a planar surface and providing a sequence of electrical signals representing successive images of said surface for image acquisition;

(c) operator controlled function control devices for selectively actuating said apparatus in a first state for optical character recognition of said image data or in a second state for relative X-Y movement indication; and

(d) a processor responsive to said function control devices and said electrical signals, said processor adapted to process the electrical signals to provide only OCR signals representative of recognized characters comprising said images when said apparatus is actuated in a first state, or to process the electrical signals to provide only movement signals indicative of the relative X-Y movement of the apparatus in relation to said surface when said apparatus is actuated in a second state.

6. A combined hand-held optical scanner and computer mouse device for use with a utilization device, comprising:

a housing suitable for hand-held use by an operator;

optical scanning means contained within said housing for optically scanning images appearing on a work surface adjacent a first housing surface and providing electrical image signals representative of said images for image acquisition;

X-Y movement transducer apparatus contained within said housing for providing electrical movement signals indicative of the relative motion of said housing relative to an X-Y coordinate system, said apparatus comprising a rotatable ball disposed along a second surface of said housing, means coupled to said rotatable ball for providing an X axis movement signal in dependence on the relative rotation of said ball along a predetermined X axis, and means coupled to said rotating ball for providing a Y axis movement signal in dependence on the relative rotation of said ball along a predetermined Y axis; and

operator controlled function control devices for selectively enabling only said optical scanning means or only said X-Y movement transducer apparatus to selectively operate said hand-held device in a first state wherein said hand-held device is employed only in an optical scanning function or in a second state wherein said hand-held device is employed only in an X-Y motion transducing function.