Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
MOUSE PAD
This invention relates to a mouse pad and to a method using the
mouse pad of providing an input into a computer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The mouse pad has become an essential component of any
working desk utilizing a computer mouse.
Generally a mouse pad comprises a layer of a foamed rubber
material on which is applied a top sheet of fabric or plastic and the fabric or
plastic is often printed with a logo or other information. Such mouse pads are
relatively expensive and relatively bulky and therefore are conventionally sold
as a marketable consumer item carrying a significant cost.
Other types of mouse pad include a sheet of relatively stiff plastics
material having a thickness of the order of 0.125 inch. This is also expensive
as the sheet is relatively thick in order to avoid communicating surface
imperfections or bumps in the supporting surface through to the top surface of
the material on which the mouse runs.
A yet further type of mouse pad which is presently available is
formed by a layer of fabric which is adhesively attached to a desk surface.
This product is marketed at a relatively high price and is relatively thick so
again there is some ability of the product to prevent the communication of
surface irregularities to the mouse surface.
A yet further type of mouse pad which is presently available is
formed of a thinner layer of plastics material which is believed to be of the
order of 0.015 inch thick which is laminated to a layer of dense rubber so as tobe relatively stiff.
, CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved
mouse pad.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a
mouse pad comprising a sheet of plastics material having a thickness less than
0.01 inch with a layer of adhesive coated on a lower side of the sheet, the
layer being covered by a peelable covering sheet, the pad having an upper
surface which is arranged with surface characteristics, width and length to
allow the movement of a mouse thereon which is sufficient to cause rotation of
a ball of the mouse to provide input to a computer, the adhesive sheet being
substantially directly coated on the plastics material such that the mouse pad
when applied to a horizontal surface of a desk consists of substantially solely
of the adhesive layer and the sheet.
Preferably the sheet has the thickness and surface characteristics
of the material manufactured by G.E. at the date of this application under the
trade mark Lexan and the designation 8B35 Velvet Mat.
Preferably the plastic material has a thickness of the order of
0.005 inch.
Preferably the adhesive has a thickness lee than 0.01 inch.
Preferably the plastic material is flexible.
Preferably the plastic material is of constant thickness.
Preferably the plastic material has thereon printing which is visible
when viewing the plastic material from the side there opposite the adhesive.
Preferably the plastic material is smooth or textured on top and
flat.
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Preferably the adhesive is of a character allowing removal and
replacement of the sheet.
Preferably the plastic material is translucent.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a
method of providing an input to a computer comprising:
providing a mouse committed to the computer;
providing a mouse pad comprising a sheet of plastics material
having a thickness less than 0.01 inch with a layer of adhesive coated on one
side of the sheet, the layer being covered by a peelable covering sheet, the padhaving width and length dimensions to allow the movement of a mouse thereon
which is sufficient to provide input to a computer;
peeling the peelable covering sheet to expose the adhesive;
applying the sheet of plastics material directly to a horizontal desk
surface and moving the mouse on the mouse pad sufficient cause rotation of a
ball of the mouse to provide an input to the computer.
wherein the adhesive layer is directly coated on the sheet such
that the mouse pad when applied to a horizontal surface of a desk consists of
substantially solely of the adhesive layer and the sheet.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mouse and mouse pad according
to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross section along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a similar cross section of that of Figure 2 showing the
mouse pad player to application to a supporting desk surface.
CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Figure 1 is shown a conventional computer 10 which is shown
schematically as its is well known to one skilled in the art. The computer has
an input interface 11 which receives input data from a mouse 12 having a
cable 13 again of conventional construction.
The mouse is mounted on a mouse pad 15 which is shaped with a
length "L" and a width "W" which is sufficient in size to allow movement of the
10 mouse over a sufficient distance to provide an effective input into the
computer. In general a mouse pad is of the order of 8 3/4 X 9 3/4 inches
although this dimension can of course vary in accordance with requirements.
The mouse pad comprises a smooth or textured flat layer 16 of a
polycarbonate material which has a thickness less than 0.05 inch preferably
15 less than 0.01 inch and most preferably in the order of 0.005 inch. Thus the
sheet 16 is thin enough to be flexible and inexpensive. The sheet carries no
resilient covering material and in itself is insufficiently stiff to be self supporting
but instead requires the support of an underlying horizontal desk surface 17 to
hold the sheet at a horizontal orientation.
The use of polycarbonate is preferred as a plastics material which
is resistant to wear and resistant to scratching and of the damage. However
other types of plastics material may also be used provided they give sufficient
resistance to wear and damage to provide an upper surface which is smooth
and flat.
The sheet 16 is preferably translucent so that it is visible on the
desk surface since it is not transparent and thus provides an area which is
CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
visually discernible from the remainder of the desk. The sheet may however be
covered with a coloured layer which can be applied underneath the sheet or on
top of the sheet. The sheet is covered with printed indicia 18 which can
provide indicia defining a logo 19, various information 20, data 21 or other
5 material of value to the operator of the equipment. Underneath the sheet 16 isprovided a layer of a water based adhesive 21 which is of the replaceable type
which allows the sheet to be removed and replaced and that indicia remains
attached to the sheet without breaking away to leave patches on the support
surface 17 and which retains its tackiness allowing the sheet to placed at a
10 different location on the desk surface 17.
When supplied, the adhesive layer 21 is covered with a peelable
covered layer 22 which is divided along a line across the pad such that flexing
of the pad opens the layer away from the pad at one corner so that the layer
can be peeled as indicated at 23 to expose the adhesive.
The use of the very thin plastics sheet as a mouse pad is
surprising in that it is contrary to the normal practice of providing a relatively
thick structure which is thus resistant to transmitting surface imperfections tothe upper surface on which the mouse rolls. Up until now it has not been
appreciated that the surface of this type is suitable for receiving a mouse and
20 allowing the mouse to move smoothly while properly communicating the
motion of the mouse through the mouse ball to the input transducers.
The plastics material which has been found to be particularly
suitable for the present invention is that manufactured by G.E. in the United
States under the trademark Lexan and under the designation 8B35 Velvet Mat.
25 This Lexan film has a thickness of 0.005 inch and a mat upper surface so thatit is translucent. The conventional usage for this material is in covering
CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
electronics key pads. This material is at present the finished material which isavailable from G.E. and G.E. is the only supplier of polycarbonate films of thistype. The clear or gloss film available is unsuitable since it does not provide
the required surface characteristics.
The film identified above has particular surface characteristics or
texturing of the surface including a series of bumps, the height of which and a
number of which can be determined by measurement which is particularly
suitable for operation of a mouse in that it allows effective sliding action of the
body of the mouse while providing sufficient friction on the ball of the mouse
10 to roll the ball. The ball is indicated at 12A in Figure 2. The upper surface 30
of the sheet includes the bumps or texturing indicated at 31. The printing 18 issufficiently thin so that it does not affect the surface characteristics of the
surface 31.
In comparison with conventional mouse pads which are presently
15 available, the present device will typically have a weight of the order of 10grams which compares to a weight of the order of 50 grams for the foam
backed fabric product and a typical weight of 105 grams for the thick
polycarbonate backed by the dense rubber material.
The following table provides an indication of the coefficient of
20 static friction of each of the above mentioned types of product including the present invention.
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Table 1 - Coefficient of Static Friction Test Results
SAMPLE DESIGN~TION ¦ COEFFICIENT OF STATIC FRICTION
Cloth surface 1 5.67
mouse pad 2 14.30
with rubber back. 3 11.43
AVERAGE 1 0.47
Hard surface 1 1.04
mouse Dad with 2 0.90
rubber back. 3 0.87
AVERAGE 0.94
0.84
Present l;)evice 2 0.87
3 0.84
AVERAGE 0.85
The mouse pad of the present invention, it is submitted, is
5 advantageous that it is extremely inexpensive and therefore can be supplied asa promotional item rather than a commercially saleable item. For the first time,therefore, the supplier of software or other information can afford to supply the
mouse pad as a give away item solely on the basis that it acts as a promotional
item for reminding the user of the name and details of the supplier. The logo of10 the supplier can therefore be attached as indicated at 19 and other information
such as address and other details can be included together with data or
CA 02209~37 1997-07-04
information which is valuable to the consumer such as instructions for
particular program or otherwise.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein
above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same
5 made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such
spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying
specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
