Trackball device
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsYoshio Naka, Tamotsu Yamamoto
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Abstract
A trackball device of the present invention includes an operating ball, multiple rollers which rotate by contacting the ball while it is rotated, multipole permanent magnets which co-rotate with these rollers, and a reed switch disposed in a position where it turns on and off as a result of changes in magnetic flux caused by the rotation of the permanent magnets so as to provide tactile feedback when the ball is rotated. The trackball device is configured to make an attractive force generated between the reed switch and permanent magnet affect the rotation of the rollers.
Claims10
A trackball device comprising:
- an operating ball;
- a plurality of rollers which rotate by contacting the ball while the ball is rotated;
- a multipole permanent magnet which co-rotates with each of the rollers;
- a reed switch disposed in a position where it turns on and off as a result of changes in magnetic flux caused by rotation of the permanent magnet so as to provide tactile feedback while the ball is rotated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.