BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing aspects and many of the accompanying advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the structure of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus of the first type in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the structure of the third-type circuit switch in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the structure of the optical-mouse apparatus of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the structure of the circuit switch of the first type in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the structure of the circuit switch of the first type in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the structure of the circuit switch of the second type in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the structure of the main surface structure of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the structure of the main surface structure of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a side view of the structure of the main surface structure of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus during the operation in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the structure of the main surface structure including a plurality of keys in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the third type of the circuit switch, in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the first type of the circuit switch, in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the second type of the circuit switch in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 14 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus of the second type in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is to provide an inverted mouse apparatus, the users can precisely control the position of the cursor by way of moving the movable plate which is attached on the finger on the top of the main surface structure. The present invention can be applied to the displacement detector of the optical mouse apparatus and the rolling-ball type mouse apparatus.
Such as shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention, is a schematic side view of the structure of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus of the first type, in accordance with the present invention. The present invention includes a movable plate 2, a main surface structure 4, and an optical displacement detector 6. Wherein, the movable plate 2 has a first adsorptive element 22 on the top surface and a first sliding surface 24 on the bottom surface with an elastic flange 25 surrounding in its four edges. Wherein the elastic flange 25 is utilized to keep a gap between the movable plate 2 without being pressed down and the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4, so as to have the space to hold the portion of the main surface structure 4 which is above the second sliding surface 44 under the movable plate 2 and to keep the optical displacement detector 6 in the stand-by mode. In regard to the operation of the movable plate 2 without the elastic flange 25, the movable plate 2 need to be lifted up to make the optical-displacement detector 6 enter into the stand-by mode. A concave 28 with the shape matching the finger and the skidproof material are disposed on the upper surface of the movable plate 2; an attaching element 26 is set on the surface of the movable plate 2 in addition, wherein the attaching element 26 is a strap loop or a third adsorptive element which has a long lasting sticky surface or a sucking disk so that the movable plate 2 can be attached on the finger and can be controlled to move in three dimensions; the main surface structure 4 is set under the movable plate 2 and set on the top of the housing 49. Wherein the main surface structure 4 has a second adsorptive element 42 and its upper surface is a second sliding surface 44; the optical-displacement detector 6 set right under the main surface structure 4 is utilized to detect the horizontal displacement and direction of the movable plate 2 relative to the main surface structure 4. A restricting flange 46 which surrounds the main surface structure 4 is utilized to limit the moving area of the movable plate 2, and a see-through opening 47 is set on the central position of the main surface structure 4.
Wherein the first adsorptive element 22 is the magnetic layer; the second adsorptive element 42 is the permeance layer, and both of them can attract with each other and are interchangeable so that the movable plate 2 can be attracted and attached on the main surface structure 4. In another embodiment, the first adsorptive element 22 also can be a sucking disk with controllable inflating and flatting function, and the second adsorptive element 42 is then a transparent and airproof smooth layer on the top of the second sliding surface 44. When the movable plate 2 is pressed down against the main surface structure 4, the sucking disk turns on the inflating and flatting function, so as the adsorptive force is released and the movable plate 2 can be moved around freely. On the other hand, when the pressure on the movable plate 2 is removed, the inflating and flatting function of the sucking disk is turned off, and so that the movable plate 2 can be held still on the main surface structure 4 by the adsorptive force generated from the resilience of the sucking disk.
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the structure of the strap loop-type movable plate and the third-type circuit switch, in accordance with the present invention. The second sliding surface 44 and the second adsorptive element 42 of the main surface structure 4 are constructed as a vertically movable plate inside the housing 49, and a third spring device 48 and a third circuit board 41 disposed thereunder are utilized to support it. An elastical force circuit switch 43 is made of the third spring device 48 and the third circuit board 41. When the vertical movable plate of the main surface structure 4 follows the vertical-movement of the movable plate 2, the third spring device 48 will be pressed or released accordingly and result in the on-state/off-state of the elastical force circuit switch 43. FIG. 2 shows the on-state condition; FIG. 1 shows the off-state condition.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the structure of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus of an embodiment, in accordance with the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 1 at the same time, the optical-displacement detector 6 is set on the first circuit board 62, and the optical-displacement detector 6 is made of a light emitter 64, a light-guide and lens module 66, a light sensor 68, and an identification/encoder/controller circuit 67. When entering the cursor operation mode of the mouse, the light emitted from the light emitter 64 passes through the light-guide and lens module 66 and the see-through opening 47 of the main surface structure 4 and then is irradiated on the first sliding surface 24 of the movable plate 2 via that the light is reflected to and received by the light sensor 68. As the first sliding surface 24 of the movable plate 2 slides closely on the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4, the intensity of the light reflected from the movable plate 2 and received by the light sensor 68 changes according to the different characteristics of the surface of the movable plate 2. The change of the position of the movable plate 2 can be obtained by identifying the change of the light, and so as to achieve the goal of controlling the cursor position of the mouse. The detail of the operational principle and techniques for the optical displacement detector is well known, so it won't be further described here. When the movable plate 2 with an elastic flange 25 doesn't be pressed down or is lifted up, there is a gap formed between the movable plate 2 and the main surface structure 4. The gap can make the optical-displacement detector 6 inactive and stay in the stand-by mode. At the same time, the circuit switch 43 is also turned off by the third spring device 48, and so as to terminate the cursor-controlling operation and also enter into the power-saving mode. By utilizing this mechanism, the cursor-controlling operation can be continuously repeated within the same area of the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. As the movable plate 2 is stationary, it can be firmly kept in the same position by the attractive force between the first adsorptive element 22 and the second adsorptive element 42. In this way, the drifting and waving problem of the cursor caused by the tilted placement or careless touch of the mouse apparatus can be avoided.
Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, which are the side view and top view of the structure of the circuit switch of the first type, in accordance with the present invention. The second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and the second adsorptive element 42 are fixed within the housing 49 and pierced through a first spring linkage structure 52, and a first spring device 54 and a second circuit board 51 are set thereunder. The first spring linkage structure 52 is a thin plate 522 with a plurality of short pillars 524 disposed thereon. The short pillars 524 penetrate through and expose over the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. And an elastical force circuit switch 53 is made up of the first spring device 54 and the second circuit board 51 set thereunder. When the short pillars 524 are pressed down by the movable plate 2, the first spring linkage structure 52 can force the first spring device 54 to be pressed and switch on the circuit switch 53.
FIG. 6 is a side view of the structure of the circuit switch of the second type in accordance with the present invention. The difference between the first type and the second type circuit switch is that the first spring linkage structure 52 of the first type circuit switch has been replaced by the second spring linkage structure 56 which is supported by a plurality of elastical sustaining pins 562 thereunder, and the first spring device 54 of the first type circuit switch has also been replaced by the second spring device 564 which is set underneath the elastical sustaining pins 562 and on the first circuit board 62. Then an elastic force circuit switch 543 are forced jointly the second spring linkage structure 56, the elastical sustaining pins 562, and the second spring device 564. Similar to the function of the first type circuit switch, when the second spring linkage structure 56 is pressed down by the movable plate 2, the second spring device 564 can be pressed accordingly and switch on the circuit switch 543. The above-mentioned elastic force circuit switch 543 also can be replaced by a push-on switch, which is set on the first circuit board 62 and controlled by the second spring device 564.
Another embodiment of the present invention is about an inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, which are the side view and the top perspective view of the structure of the main surface structure of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus, in accordance with the present invention. A round aperture 58 is set in the central position of the main surface structure 4, and a rolling ball 582 made of a light-weight material in order to reduce the overall weight is set within the main surface structure 4. An elastically-supporting and positioning structure 584 consisted of a plurality of supporting spring devices are utilized to support the rolling ball 584, so that a small part of the rolling ball 582 is exposed over the round aperture 58 of the main surface structure 4. The rolling-ball displacement-measuring devices set in two sides of the rolling ball 582 perpendicularly include an X-axis displacement-measuring wheel module 586, a Y-axis displacement-measuring wheel module 588, and their corresponding displacement readers. All of the above-mentioned devices, including the rolling ball 582, the elastically-supporting and positioning structure 584, X-axis and Y-axis displacement-measuring wheel module 586, 588 and the their corresponding displacement readers are combined into a rolling-ball displacement detector 566. Additionally, the rolling-ball displacement detector 566 and an identification/encoder/controller circuit 67 are set on a fourth circuit board 662. When the movable plate 2 doesn't be pressed down, the elastic flange 25 is utilized to form a gap between the first sliding surface 24 and the rolling ball 582 so that the movable plate 2 can move freely and the rolling ball 582 keeps still; as to the operation of the movable plate 2 without the elastic flange 25, the movable plate 2 is lifted up to form a gap so as to keep the rolling ball 582 still. However, when the movable plate 2 is pressed down so that the first sliding surface 24 closely slides on the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4, the rolling ball 582 can be forced down and driven to rotate accordingly by the first sliding surface 24. The rolling ball 582 being pressed down just touches the wheels of the X-axis and Y-axis displacement-measuring wheel module 586, 588 with its horizontal ring-shaped surface where the ring has the largest periphery and hence brings along them into rotation. The rotation lengths of the two wheels can be transformed into displacements by the displacement readers and processed by the identification/encoder/controller circuit 67, by this way, it can be achieved to control the operation of the cursor position. Because the detail of the operational principle and techniques for the rolling-ball displacement detector is well-known, it won't be further described here.
A circuit switch 622, which is set above the fourth circuit board 662 of the rolling-ball displacement detector 566 and set right below the horizontally-mounted spring device 624 of the elastically-supporting and positioning structure 584 is a push-on circuit switch. When the horizontally-mounted spring device 624 of the elastically-supporting and positioning structure 584 is forced down by the rolling ball 582, the circuit switch 622 is pressed and activated to start the cursor-positioning function and the power-saving function. FIG. 9 shows the condition when the circuit switch 622 is pressed, wherein the push-on switch of the circuit switch 622 can be replaced by the horizontally-mounted spring device 624 and the fourth circuit board 662 having a plurality of properly designed contact points set thereon.
Please refer to FIG. 10, FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 at the same time. The housing 49 of the main surface structure 4 of the inverted optical and rolling-ball mouse apparatus further includes a plurality of keys to assist with the operation of the mouse apparatus. The keys include a left-key 8, a right-key 10 and a wheel-key 12, wherein the left-key 8 and the right-key 10 are symmetrically set on the left-top side and the right-top side of the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. The wheel-key 12 is set on the top side of the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and between the left-key 8 and the right-key 10, so that the inverted mouse apparatus can be conveniently utilized for left-hand operation or right-hand operation.
FIG. 11 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the third type of the circuit switch in accordance with the present invention. The differences between the second type and the first type (shown in FIG. 2) are described in the following. The second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and the second adsorptive element 42 are set on a vertical-moving plate within the housing 49′, and the movable plate 2 is set between the housing 49′ and the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. Besides, the aperture 59 of the housing 49′ is smaller than the movable plate 2, and the attaching element 26 of the movable plate 2 is exposed over the aperture 59 of the housing 49′. The attaching element 26 is utilized to move the movable plate 2 in horizontal direction and to lift up and push down the movable plate 2 vertically. The rest of the structure is the identical for both types.
FIG. 12 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the first type of the circuit switch in accordance with the present invention. The differences between the second type and the first type (shown in FIG. 4) are described in the following. The second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and the second adsorptive element 42 are set fixedly within the housing 49′, and the movable plate 2 is set between the housing 49′ and the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. The aperture 59 of the housing 49′ is smaller than the movable plate 2, and the attaching element 26 is exposed over the aperture 59 of the housing 49′. Additionally, the attaching element 26 is utilized to make the movable plate 2 move vertically and horizontally. The rest of the structure is identical for both types.
FIG. 13 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted optical-mouse apparatus with the second type of the circuit switch in accordance with the present invention. The differences compared to the first type (shown in FIG. 6) are described in the following. The second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and the second adsorptive element 42 are set fixedly within the housing 49′, and the movable plate 2 is located between the housing 49′ and the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. The aperture 59 of the housing 49′ is smaller than the movable plate 2, and the attaching element 26 is exposed over the aperture 59 of the housing 49′. Additionally, the attaching element 26 is utilized to move the movable plate 2 in horizontal direction and to lift up and push down the movable plate 2 vertically. The rest of the structure is identical for both types.
FIG. 14 is a side view of the structure of the second type of the inverted rolling-ball mouse apparatus in accordance with the present invention. The differences compared to the first type (shown in FIG. 7) are described in the following. The second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4 and the second adsorptive element 42 are set fixedly within the housing 49′, and the movable plate 2 is located between the housing 49′ and the second sliding surface 44 of the main surface structure 4. The aperture 59 of the housing 49′ is smaller than the movable plate 2, and the attaching element 26 is exposed over the aperture 59 of the housing 49′. Additionally, the attaching element 26 is utilized to move the movable plate 2 in horizontal direction and to lift up and push down the movable plate 2 vertically. The rest of the structure is identical for both types.
Accordingly, the present invention herein is to provide an inverted mouse apparatus, which can be utilized to control the cursor movement without the need of sliding on desk or sliding on pad. An attaching element set on the movable plate can be utilized to attach it on the finger that can operate and control the movable plate to slide on the working area of the main surface structure. This design can mimic the operation of the conventional movable-type mouse, so the user can control the position of the cursor more precisely. Besides, the adsorptive elements of the movable plate and the main surface structure can prevent the drifting and waving problem of the cursor caused by the tilted placement or careless touch of the mouse apparatus when the movable plate should be kept still. The structure of the present invention herein can let the user freely start or stop the cursor-controlling function of the mouse at any time, so that the movable plate can be used the limited working area of the main surface structure to continuously repeat the control of the cursor movement. In this way, the control accuracy of the cursor position can be greatly increased.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that other modifications and variation can be made without departing the spirit and scope of the invention as hereafter claimed.
Patent Application
20080001921
