Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1 This application is a division oE co~pending appli-
cation serial number ~32,267 Eiled July 12, 1983.
BAC_~ROUND_OF TIIE INVENTIO_
1, Field:
The present invention relates to the field of display
systems, and more particularly to devices which can position a
cursor over selected locations on a computer controlled display.
2. Art Backyround:
In many computer controlled display systems, it is
desirable to allow the user to control the position of a cursor
or the like by means which are external from the main computer
keyboard. For example, a user may be required to repetitively
choose software options displayed on a cathode ray tube ~CRT), or
may destre to input data in a diagram format into the computer
system. In such situations traditional keyboard input systems
are not as effective as a cursor con-trol device commonly referred
to as a "mouse".
In a typical "mouse" system, a hand-held transducer
provides positional movement signals to the diplay system.
Traditionally, the movement of wheels within the cursor control
device are coupled to potentiometers to provide signals indicative
of an X-Y positton on the display screen (see U.S. Patent Nos~
3,541,541; 3,269,190; and 3r835,464~r Other mouse systems utilize
rotating balls on wheels which are in turn coupled to rotate
apertures interrupting beams of l~ght, thereby providing posltional
signals to the display system (see ~,S. Patent Nos. 3,892,962
and 3,541,521).
One common disadvantage of cursor control de~ices found
in the prior art is their cost. Typically, prior art cursor con-
trols include costly mechanical parts which require precisealignment for proper operation. Moreover, it is not uncommon for
these devices to exhibit a loss in accuracy over time as the
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mcchanism ~ears. ~s (.o~ t~r displcly c.~abil.i~ies h~vc ~(~come
more advanced in terms of user real-time graphic in~erackion,
cursor control devices have becorne a nc~cessity in many compu~er
s~stems~ Accorcl:;ngly, there e.c:ists a need to provide a cost
.~ e~fec~iver simple and highl~ reliable cursor control clevice ~or
providing signals indicative.oE X-Y positions on a computer
display system.
As will be disclosed belo~, the present invenkion provides
an improved cursor control device which overc~mes the
1~ disadvantages of the prior art by utilizin~ a unitary frame
structure ~or accurate alignment of all elemen~s and simple
assembly, as well as photo-optics to provide the required
positional signals. In addition~ a displ~y system and method is
disclosed for use in association with the cursor control device
~5 which permits a user to select command options simply by no~ernent
o, the cursor over a "pull-do~7n" menu bar~
~L~Q ~ ~ LQ~
~ cursor control clevice havin~ particula~ app~i~ation tG
co~.pu~er display systems is disclosed. The cursor con~rol
includ~s a unitary Erarne hav.ing a dorned.portion which houses a
ball which is ~ree to rota~e. T~o er.coder disc asse~nblies are
5 provi.ded, which include roller shaf~s disposed substantial.ly 90
degrees rela~ive to one another and ir contact witA tne ball.
Each roller shaft is coupled to an encoder disc having a
plurality or slots disposed radi.ally around th~ disc periphery.
~hese slots interrupt liyht beams wnich are provided by photo~
10 . emitters and directed at photo-de_ectors~ Each slotted disc
interrupts two light beams which are arranged such that when one
beam is fully transmitted~ the other is partially blocked. Beam
interruptions produce signal pulses representing increments of
motion, while the order in which the lighi beams are interrupted
'S indicates the direct.ion OL motion, thereDy resultir.g in an X-Y
position on a display system~ The ball is maintained in contact
with tha r~.oller shafts Dy a spring biased idler wheel The ball
is free to "floatr' in the vertical direc~ion within the dome~ and
ther~by maintain ~Ooa surface contact~ ~foreover, the ball may be
easily removed for cleaning to insure that ~ny build up of lint
or the like does not prevent ~he ball from rotating smoothly~ A
switch is provided within the cursor control housing in order to
.. signal the display system that a desired X-Y location on the
display screen has been selected~ Xn operation, a user may
selectively position a cursor or the like on a display system by
simply moving the cursor control device over a surface, such as a
desk, un~il the desired _ursor position is shown on the display
device. A display system ~nd me~hod is disclosed for use in
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con~unction with the cllrsor control d~!vice, w~lch permit~ u~;er t:o
select command options simply by movement o~ the displ~yed cursor
over a "menu bar ".
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Figure 1 i5 a perspective vie~ of the present invention.
FiguLe 2 is a perspective of the preGent invention
illustrating the cursor control clevice as it appc!ars without
the housing cover~
Figure 3 is a perspec~ive view of the unitary frame oE
the present inven-tion coupled to the printed circuit board
base, illustra~ing the pl2cement of photo-detectors and the
coupling connector~
Figure ~ is a fur~cher perspective vie~7 of the unitary
10 frame and circuit board of Figure 3 illustrating the position
ol a roller shaft and encoder wheel.
Figure 5 is a top view of the unitary frame and printed
circuit ~oard of the present invention.
Figuce 6 is a partial Yiew of the uni~ary frame in Figure
~, 3, illustrating th~ insertion of a detec~or aper~ure.
~ igure 7 is a persp~ctive view of the unitary ~rame o
Figure 3r~ illustrating the placement of resistors on the
printed circuit board.
Figure 8 is a per~pective view of khe coupling of the
~0 u~itary frame cage and printed circuit board combination to
the housing base of the prese~t invention.
Figure 9 is a perspeckive view illustrating the pl~cement
of the control switch ~7ithin the housing base~ :
Figure 10 is the perspective view of the final assemhly
of the present invention illustrating the coupling of the
cover and base portions of the housing.
~ igure 11 is a perspec'ive view illustrating the
insertion or removal of the floating and rotating ball.
Figure 12 is a diagrammatical illustration of the alignment
,0 o~ the photo-emitters in relation to each encoder disc.
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Figure 13 is a diagramm~t.i.cal. illu3tration o~ a ~ample
quadrature outpu~ oE ~he preserlt invention indicative oE X-Y
location~ on a d:ispla~ system.
~ igure 1~ is a diagrammatical illus~ration of a "pull do~7n"
menu bar display~
~ igure 1~ is a block diagram illustrating the sequence of
steps u~ilized by the present invention to dlsplay options and
- associated commands on a ~Ipull-down~ menu har display.
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~E~BIP~XQ~ Q~ 'C~ LQ~:
~ cursor control device havlny particular app]ication for
use in conjunctivn with a computer clisplay systern is disc]c)sed~
~n the Eollowin~ description for purposes of explanation,
specific numbers7 mzterials and configurations are set forth in
-~ order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
in~ention~ However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the
art that ~he present invention may be practiced without the
specific details. In other instances, well known syste~s a~e
shown in diagrammatical or bloc~ diagram form in order not to
obscure the present invention unnecessarily~
Referring no~,~ to Figure lr the present invention includes a
hand held cursor control unit 2~ which is coupled to a plug 22 by
means of a cable 24~ ~s best illustrated in Figure 2, cursor
control unit 20 includes a cover 25 and a ~ase 26 upon which the
internal workings of the present invention are disposed. As will
be apparent from the discussion which follows, cursor control
unit 20 is designed with ease of assembly in mind, while
providing ver~ close tolerances and high X-Y posi~ion location
accuracy.
~0 With reference to Figures ~, 4 and ~, ~ premolded unitary
frame 28 is provided which irlcludes a do~ed housing 30 presently
ha~ing three cuk-out locations 31, 32 and 33. As illustrated,
CUt-OULS 31 and 32 are disposed substantially at 90 degrees wit~
respect to one another, with ~ut-out 33 beinq oriented generally
symmetrically opposite the other cut-outs. ~n addition, frame 28
includes a plurality of bosses, slots and shaped stems of
material which when pertinent will be discussed in ~his
specification. In the presently preferred embodiment, the frame
28 is comprised of a plastic material (e.g. polycarbonate) which
is impregnated with a lubricant (e.g. teflo~. Thus, during
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operation and t~lrou~lout 1~s use~ul li~e, cursor ~ontrol unit 20
does not require the addition of either wet or dr~ lubricants.
Frame 28 is mounted on ~ p~inted circuit boc~rd 3~ to facilitate
electrical connection between the various elec~rical elcrnents
within the unit~ Electrical connector header 36 is mounted as
shown (see Figure 3) to the unitary rame 28 such that connector
pins 38 pass through a rectangular slot 39 through the frcme to
the circuit board below As will be discussed, cable ~4 is
electrically coupled to the cursor control unit 20 through
connector 36.
As illustrated in Figure 3, photo-emitters 40 are inserte2
into slots 42 such that the emitter portion is ~acin~ a~ay from
the dome 30 (no~e that one emitter 40 is shown in ~isure 3
partially inserted~. Upwardly extending clips 43 are snapped
-L5 over portions of each emitter 40r as shown, to prevent them from
being dislodged. Similarly, two photo-detectors 46 are inserted
facin~ the emitters 40 into slots 47 in each of tPJo detector
apertures~.50. As shown in Fi~ure 6, an outwardly extendin~
portion 48 of each detector aperture sn is aligned with guides 49
~0 formed integrally with the frame 28, and the aperture is then
snapped downward into place9~ Thus, eac~ d~tector aperture 50
houses two detectors ~6 which~face ~wo emitters 40, respectively.
In thè presently preferred embodiment, the emitter/detector
- combination operates within the infrared region. However, it
2S ~ill be appreciated that any suitable wavelength may be used in a
particular application. In addition~ presentlyl the detectors 4~
incorporate integral Schmitt triggers to provide detector outputs
which more closely approximate a digital signal~
Two encoder disc assemblies are provided to convert, as will
be described, the movement of the cursor control unit 20 into
signals indic~tive of X-Y locations defined on the display
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system. E~ch enco~er a~sembly 5~. lncludes an encoder disc 5~
axially coupled to a ~oller shaft 56. In addition, each encoder
disc S~ is provided with a pl~rality of radially disposed slots
57 which interr~pt the li~ht beams genera~ed hy ~he photo-
emitters ~0. A cylindrical contact member 58 surro-lnds each
roller shaft 56 at each respective cut out location, as
illustrated. Each encoder disc assembly 52 is mounted on the
unitary frame 28 ~y insertin~ the encoder disc 54 between the
detector a~erture 50 and emitters 40 and snapping an end clip 60
0 over the opposite end of the roller shart 56 (See Eigures 4, 5
and 7~, thereby allowing rotation of the roller shaft and encoder
disc with a minimum of friction~ As illustrated, each shaft 56
is slipped into and carried by a "U" shaped guide 59 formed from
upwardly extending alignment bosses 53 ~o maintain each roller
shaft 56 in proper orientation~ End 51 of the shaft 5~ i5
carried or rotation within a hollow portion of the detector
aperature 51 such that encoder disk 54 is disposed in close
proximity~to the aperture 50. The present inventionls use of
integral lub~ication within the frame materialf permits each
~0 shaft 56 to reely rotate about its longitudinal axisO
As a result o~ the above describ~ed~onfiguration~ ~he
radially disposed slots 57 o-f each encoder disc interrup~ ~wo
li~ht beams from photo-emittPrs 40. The position o-r the
emitter~detector combination and encoder disc is such -that when
~5 one ~eam is full~ transmitted, the other is partially blocked by
a slit on the encoder disc. As will be discussed~ in operation a
ball 62 is disposed within thedome 30 of the frame, and retained
such that it is maintained in contact with both cylindrical
contact members 58. The rotation o~ the ball 62 within the dome
30 in turn causes the rotation of each roller shaft 55 and its
respective encoder disc~ As will be discussed, the beam
9L;~228~L~
int~rruptions Erom the rotati.Orl o~ each encoder disc 5~ produce
signal pulses represen~ing incr2ments o~ rnotion, while ~he order
in which the li~ht beams are interrupted indicat:es the direction
o motion of the cursor control unit.
Ball 62 is retained agains~ the cylindrical contact rnc-mbers
58 by an idler wheel 64 mounted for rotation on a fixed sha~t 65,
as best shown in Figure 5~ The idler wheel 64 and shaft 66 are
inse~ted within a slot 68 formed by rectangular bosses 69 and 70
extending up~7ardly from the frame's ~ase.' Wheel 64 extends
through cut-out 33 into the interior o~ the dome 30~ ~he legs of
a staple shaped idler spring 72 are insertea chrough passages 73
passing perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the ~rame 2.8 and
circuit board 34, thereby retaining the shaft 66 within the slot
6g~
Referring now ko ~igure 7, resistors 76, which are required
by the specific electronics of the emitter/de~ector combination
of the present invention, are inserted into the printed circuit
board 34't~ The resistors 76 and associated leads from'the
connector 36, photo-emiLters 40, and photo-detectors 46 are then
electrically connected and soldere~ in place as is conventionally
don~ in the art~
With refer2nce now to ~igures ~r 9 and 10, the assem~led
~rame 28 and circuit assembly is mounted on the base 26 by means
2~ of a screw 78. As illustrated, base 26 includes an upwardly
extending switch retaining portion 80 and a generally circular
cut-out orifice 82~ ~s best shown in Figures 8, 10 and 11,
circular orifice 82 is disposed substantially below the opening
of dome 30, and includes outwardly extending locking ridges 84
which are designed to accommodate a lock cap 86 lSee Figure 11),
such that ball 62 may be retained within the dome 30~ Lock cap
86 includes outwardly extending tabs 88 arranged to .interleaf
8~
w.ith ridges $~ Xn opcrati.on, a lser deslrln~J to in~ert or
remove ball 62 ~rom thc cursor contro`l unit 20, may unlock and
remove the lock c~p 86 frorn the oriEic:e 82 hy simply rotating the
cap such that the tabs 8S and ric1~es 8~ no lon~er interleaf~
As illustratedr lock cap 86 ~ener~lly has a toroidal forrn
having a central orifice ~7 of smaller diameter than cutout
orifi.ce 82. X~ will be apparent, that once ball 62 is inserted
and retained by lock cap 86, Thus, ball 62 contacts the surface
below the cursor control unit 20 and rotates in response to the
~0 movement of the unit on the surface.
As shown in Figure 9~ cable 24 is coupled to cursor control
20 through a female connector 94 which is inser~ed over pins 38
A s~titch 90 is coupled to the eable 24 through electrical
connector 36r and is inserted within the retaining portion 80~ A
switch cap 91 orms part of the cove.r 25 ~see Figure 13, and is
disposed above switch 90 such that the depression of the switch
cap 91 forces . switch 90 to electrieally close, and.thereby signal
the comput~er display system that an appropriate X-Y location has
been selected. As shown in Figure 10, base 26 and cover 25 are
eoupled by securing both sections to one another using screws ~2.
Once the cover and base have bèen joined, ~a~ 62 is inserted and
lock cap 86 is attaehed as ~iscussea above to retain the ~all
wi-~hin t~e dome portion 30.
~ith referenee to Fi~ures 12 and 13, a sample quadrature
~5 output of the cursor control unit 20 is illu~trated~ As
previously described, photo-detectors 46 are disposed such that
if one detector is fully exposed by a slot of the encoder disc
54 f the other detector is only partially exposed~ Thusr in
addition to the increments of motion oL the cursor control over a
sur~ace, the direction o~ motion may also be determined. Assume
for sake of example that the cursor control 20 is moved. As
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~ str~tecl in ~lc~lr~ 13, a substantially diglt~l output ~1cJnal
is genera~ed by each p~loto- emitter/detector combination
associ~tec3 wi~i~ each encoder assern~ly. In the ex~lmple s'nO~n,
cursor control 2.0 wowid provide ~ xey~larly spaced output fr:om
j the ~ channel detectors:i~ khe control 20 is moved over a surEace
at a constant speed along the X-axis. Similarly, if there is
li,.tle movement of the control unit along the Y axis, little
change will occur on the ~ channels inasmuch as the Y encoder
disk is not being rotated signlficantly (see E~igure 13~ The
computer display system is provided wi~h ~ppropriate sotware or
hardware, for example edge detectorsr to detect si~nal state
transitions. Thus, the signals .rom each pair ~f channels may be
decoded such that the X-Y direction of motion may be determined
- ~or the particular order of transition changes froM each channel
i5 along an axis. ~nasmuch as the particular circuitr~ and software-
use~ for decoding the various signals and posit\oning the cursor
or the li~e on a display system wi'll be app~rent to one skilled
in the art~ the detai1s o~ such will not be recited herein.
Referring now to Fi~ures 14 and 15, a display system and
method for use in conjunction with the cursor control device ~0
will be described. As prev'iously'discus~ed, control 20 is
coupled to a display system w-hich is con~olled by a computer or
other e~uivalent circuikry. Appropriate programming o the
computer is provided such that a 7'menu" bar lO0 cornprisin~ a
variety of command options indicated by titles (for example, ~l-
T2, T3 ... Tn)~ is d.isplayed across the CRr~ screen or the like as
shown in Figure 14. If a particular title tfor example Tl) is
selected, one or more sub-command items lO4 a~e displayed by the
computer system below the primary menu title. As illustrated,
the sub-command items appear to the user to be ~pulled down~ from
the main menu bar lO0. ~he user then selects a desired item ~or "
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executlon by the cornpu~er h~ approprl~te movement o~ a ct~rsor
control, as will be describeclO Although ~he List of items l0~
~re sho~7n for il:Lustratlon below menu title options T~, T2, ~nd
, in the present embodiment o~l~ one rnenLl option may be pulled
down and displayed at a time.
The se~uence oE operations executed by the computer system
to permit the user to select a particular menu title and sub-
command item is shown in Figure lS. ~he computer initially
displays menu bar l00 on the display system as shown in Figure
14. ~ user desiring to select a particular title moves cursor
concrol unit 20 over a surface, thereby rotating ball 62 within
dome 30 and sending signals indicative of X Y locations to the
display system for corresp~ndin~ movement of a cursor or the like
on the display screen~ Once the cursor is positioned over (or in
proximity with) the chosen menu title selection, the user
depresses switch cap 91 on cursor control 20, thereby activating
switch 90, and si~naling the computer system that th~ particular
title has peen selected. The computer display system then either
executes the menu title if it is an immediate command, or
displays a set of sub-command i~ems ~or user selection~ If items
are displayed, the user continues to depr~es~ switch cap 9l, and
once again moves the cursor~control over the surface until the
displayed cursox lies ovex or in proximi~y with the item ~o he
executed~ The user then removes pressure from ~he switch cap 31
~5 thereby deactivating switch 90~ and indicating to the computer
which item is $o be executed.
The computer system then determines i further parameters
are required to be specified by the user~ If no further data is
required, the computer executes the itern indicated by the cursor
position on the display screen. However~ if parameters must be
specifiea by the user prior to execution a "dialogue box" is
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dcfine(3 on the displcly syste~ ich di~3pl~ys the va~ious data
selections which are re~uired ~or exarnple, a ~ser may be
req~ired to select pa~e forma~s, speci~y nurnerical vallles, etc.
Tn the present embodiment, a user inputs the desired data
selections by positioning the cursor over the selection, in for
example a multiple choice format, and morrlentarily activates the
switch 90 on the cursor controï unitO Once the required
selections are made, the compu~er proceeds to execute the chosen
menu item.
0 Accordingly~ it is possible for a user to select and execute
a variety ofcolQmands without the necessity o inputting
characters on a keyboard, as is commonly required in the art.
Rathe~, the present inven~ion permits fast entry and e~ecution of
commandsr such as for efample in a s~ord processing system or the
like7 wherein large Dlocks of text or other data may he
manipulated or operated upon simply by movement of the cursor
control 20 over a surface and the appropriate depression of
switch 90.~
Thus, an improved cursor control and display system has been
described~ The present inven~i~n permits a user to select
desired menu titles on a menu ~ar by movemen~of a ~ursor control
over a surface. Sub-commana ttems ma~ be specified f~r execution
by the computer control display system in the same manner, such
that the operator need not enter command characters on a keyboard
~5 or the like in order to access and execute most syste~ ~unctions~
Althouyh the present invention has been described with
reference to ~igures 1-15 and~ith emphasis on al'pull do~nh type
display systeml it ~hould be understood that the figures are for
illustration onl~ and should not be taken as limitations upon the
invention. ~t i8 contemplated that many changes and
modifications may be madeJ by one of ordinary skill in the art,
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to the matericll~, and arranycl,iellt~; of the elernent~3 of: the
invention without departm~nt ~rom t:he spirit and ~cope of the
invention as disclosed ~bove.,
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