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US 6,147,679 AGranted
Mouse-type input device
AssigneeAlps Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorsTetsu Numata, Hiromi Chiba
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mouse has a ball, a rotation detecting section for detecting the rotation of the ball, and a casing for containing the ball and the rotation detecting section. A hole is formed at a position on the upper surface of the casing directly above the ball, and covered with a transparent acrylic plate. This structure allows the operator to make certain, during operation, that the ball is smoothly rotating. The ball is placed offset toward the leading end of the mouse.
Claims2
An input device comprising:
- a rotatable ball in contact with an operating surface and rotated by moving the input device on the operating surface;
- a rotation detecting section detecting an amount and direction of rotation of said ball and generating a signal corresponding to the detected amount and direction;
- and
- an opaque casing containing said ball and said rotation detecting section, said casing having a hole provided on an upper surface of said casing directly above said ball and a detachable transparent plate covering said hole, wherein said upper surface of said casing further includes a concave section shaped like an inverted cone, said hole being disposed in a center of the inverted cone,
- wherein a diameter of said hole is larger than that of said ball.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.