Rotary cursor positioning apparatus

Cursor control apparatus for repositioning a cursor on a display screen of an electronic device in a selectively variable direction, and at a selectively variable velocity, along the display screen, said cursor control apparatus comprising:

• a support structure;
• a control member carried on said support structure for rotation relative thereto about an axis, said control member being manually engageable, at a selectively variable engagement location spaced apart a transverse distance from said axis correlated to a desired cursor repositioning velocity along the display screen, by a user of the apparatus and rotated relative to said support structure about said axis to a rotational orientation correlated to a desired cursor repositioning direction on the display screen;
• and
• position sensing means for sensing said transverse distance and said rotational orientation and responsively generating an output signal indicative of said transverse distance and said rotational orientation and being useable to reposition the cursor in the desired direction and at the desired velocity along the display screen.

A computer comprising:

• a housing structure having an exterior wall portion;
• a keyboard supported on said exterior wall portion;
• a display screen upon which a moveable cursor may be generated;
• a generally disc-shaped cursor control member supported on said exterior wall portion for rotation relative thereto about an axis extending transversely through a radially central portion of said control member, said cursor control member having an exposed outer side surface in which a radially extending depression is formed, said depression having radially opposite inner and outer ends and being configured to receive a portion of a finger of a user of said computer, at a selectively variable radial engagement location along said depression correlated to a desired cursor repositioning velocity along said display screen, to facilitate manual rotation of said control member about said axis to a selectively variable rotational orientation relative to said exterior wall portion and correlated to a desired cursor repositioning direction along said display screen;
• position sensing means for sensing said rotational orientation of said control member, and the radial position of said engagement location, and responsively generating an output signal having a first component indicative of said rotational orientation, and a second component indicative of the radial orientation in said depression of said engagement location;
• and
• cursor moving means for utilizing said output signal to reposition the cursor in said desired direction and at said desired velocity.

A computer comprising:

• a first housing structure having a first exterior wall portion;
• a keyboard supported on said first exterior wall portion;
• a display screen upon which a moveable cursor may be generated;
• a second housing structure having a second exterior wall portion;
• a generally disc-shaped cursor control member supported on said second exterior wall portion for rotation relative thereto about an axis extending transversely through a radially central portion of said control member, said cursor control member having an exposed outer side surface in which a radially extending depression is formed, said depression having radially opposite inner and outer ends and being configured to receive a portion of a finger of a user of said computer, at a selectively variable radial engagement location along said depression correlated to a desired cursor repositioning velocity along said display screen, to facilitate manual rotation of said control member about said axis to a selectively variable rotational orientation relative to said second exterior wall portion and correlated to a desired cursor repositioning direction along said display screen;
• position sensing means for sensing said rotational orientation of said control member, and the radial position of said engagement location, and responsively generating an output signal having a first component indicative of said rotational orientation, and a second component indicative of the radial orientation in said depression of said engagement location;
• and
• cursor moving means for utilizing said output signal to reposition the cursor in said desired direction and at said desired velocity.