WO1997018529A1

WO1997018529A1 - A pad for a computer mouse

Info

Publication number: WO1997018529A1
Application number: PCT/EP1996/004929
Authority: WO
Inventors: Karl Hirsch
Original assignee: Karl Hirsch
Priority date: 1995-11-13
Filing date: 1996-11-11
Publication date: 1997-05-22
Also published as: EP0803109A1; DE19542278A1; CN1168184A; JPH11503259A; CA2209830A1

Abstract

In a pad for a computer mouse with a bottom foil (1) made from foamed material onto which a carrier layer (2) is laminated, and with a transparent top foil (3) which lies over the carrier layer (2) and which is welded together at the edge with the carrier layer (2) and the bottom foil (1), with a coloured liquid being situated between the carrier layer (2) and the top foil (3), which liquid does not completely fill the available space, there is arranged between the carrier layer (2) and the top foil (3) at least one bag (4) which is closed on all sides and has a transparent upper side and in which the said coloured liquid is disposed and is not completely filled by it.

Description

A pad for a computer mouse

The invention relates to a pad for a computer mouse with a bottom foil made from foamed material onto which a carrier layer is laminated, and with a transparent top foil which lies over the carrier layer and which is welded together at the edge with the carrier layer and the bottom foil, with a coloured liquid being situated between the carrier layer and the top foil, which liquid does not completely fill the available space.

Such pads are used for the convenient actuation of the computer mouse. The mouse or mouse device is moved back and forth by the user on the pad, with the ball of the mouse rolling on the top foil. The bottom foil made from foamed material holds the pad tightly on the working surface, allows the ball to roll smoothly and dampens vibrations which occur during the actuation of the mouse keys .

From EP 0 328 225 Al a mouse pad is known which is provided with an electrostatically non-charging upper layer, a deformation-resistant layer situated below the upper layer, and a lower slip-resistant layer. Such an arrangement of the mouse pad is to reduce both its electrostatic charging as well as the occurring deformations, and in addition decrease its production costs . An optically appealing design of this mouse pad is not the subject matter of this specification.

Moreover, in GB-PS 1 046 725 a finger painting device is described which is provided with a carrier layer and a transparent top foil which is welded together with the carrier layer. A coloured liquid is provided between the carrier layer and the top foil which does not completely fill the remaining space, so that it can be displaced by pressure on the top foil in the pressure zone and patterns and figures can be produced m such a way. The use of sucn a toy as pad for a computer mouse is not possible wi_thout additional measures because the maintenance of technical and functional features such as the formation of a continu¬ ous rolling surface for the ball of the mouse is not en¬ sured, for example.

In contrast to this, the invention is based on the ob_ject of improving the optical effects achievable m a pad for a computer mouse which is arranged in such a way and of increasing its number whilst simultaneously ensuring a fault-free rolling of the ball of the computer mouse and simplifying the production of such a pad.

This object is achieved ιr. accordance with the invention in a pad of the above kind for a computer mouse m such a way that at least one bag with a transparent upper side and closed on all sides is arranged between the carrier layer and the top foil, with the said coloured liquid being situated m the bag and with the bag not being fully filled by the same

A pad for a computer mouse arranged in accordance with the invention is provided, on the one part, with an appealing appearance and, on the other part, can be produced rela¬ tively simply. The liquid enclosed in the bag does not fill the same entirely and thus distributes in the form of streaks, with the distribution and, accordingly, the ap¬ pearance changing substantially in a random way by the actuation of the computer mouse. The image offered to the viewer therefore changes continuously, which makes it particularly interesting. As a result of the fact that the liquid is arranged in a bag which s closed on all sides, they can be prefabricated and kept in storage. Furthermore, the welding of the top fo l w th the carrier layer and the bottom foil can be made without having to take any interme¬ diately disposed liquid into account and therefore need not necessarily be leak proof. A faster reaction to customer wishes is also possible, because depending on the respec¬ tive order it is possible to produce pads with differently coloured liquids. It is only necessary to arrange the bag with the respective coloured liquid between the carrier layer and the top foil.

Preferably, the edge of the top foil is welded continuously with the carrier layer and the bottom foil. This measure further increases the security against any leakage of the liquid from the pad, because the coloured liquid is en¬ closed in a leak-proof manner m the bag and, on its part, between the carrier layer and the top foil.

An advantageous arrangement of the invention is also pro¬ vided in such a way that the space between the carrier layer and the top foil is accessible from the outside. In this way the bag with the coloured liquid can be exchanged, if required, against a bag with a liquid of another colour, which leads to a multiplication in the number of achievable optical effects. Furthermore, the production of a pad in accordance with the invention for a computer mouse is simplified even further, because the top foil can be welded with the carrier layer and the bottom foil without the bag with the liquid being situated between the carrier layer and the top foil. This means that, on the one part, the top foil, carrier layer and bottom fo l and, on the other part, the bag with the coloured liquid can be produced and, if necessary, stored separate from one another and that the pad can then be finished according to customer wishes by inserting the bag between the carrier layer and the top foil.

Particularly preferably, the edge of the top foil is welded continuously with the carrier layer and the bottom foil with the exception of a section thereof. The bag with the coloured liquid can be taken out or inserted between the top foil and the carrier layer through this open section. The bags can thus be exchanged in this way very easily.

It is also possible that the edge of the top foil is welded continuously with the carrier layer and the bottom foil and that mutually overlapping openings for inserting and remov¬ ing the bag are arranged in the carrier layer and in the bottom foil. It is also imaginable, for example, to arrange a slot in the centre or at the edge of the bottom side of the pad, through which the bag or bags could be taken out or also inserted.

Preferably, the bag is made of plastic material. Possible materials are, for example, the plastics polyvmyl chlo¬ ride, polyethylene or polypropylene.

The bag advantageously consists of two foils which are continuously welded to each other at the edges.

It is also possible, however, that the bag consists of one foil which is folded along a halving line and whose remain¬ ing edges are continuously welded to one another.

In a favourable further development of the invention the bag is subdivided by at least one leak-proof welding seam into at least two areas where a separate coloured liquid is disposed. This leads to particularly interesting optical effects. The rolling of the mouse ball on the top foil is not disturbed by this welding seam.

It is preferable if the top foil is provided on its lower side with a mirror-inverted image and/or letter imprint. The imprint is thus not scratched and the ball of the mouse is not soiled by any colour pigments. It is also intended to enclose plate-like solid bodies in the bag together with the liquid (s) . They can be provide_d, for example, with image and/or letter imprints.

The invention will now be explained in closer detail by reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a top view of a pad for a computer mouse in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a partial cross-sectional view through the pad in accordance with f g. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a top view of a further embodiment of a pad for a computer mouse m accordance with the inven¬ tion;

Fig. 4 shows a partial cross-sectional view through the pad m accordance with fig. 3.

The pad in accordance with figs . 1 and 2 comprises a bottom foil 1 made from ?VC foamed material, on which there is laminated a leak-proof carrier layer 2 made from PVC. Above the carrier layer 2 there is disposed a transparent top foil 3 (also made from PVC) which on its upper side is slightly grained in a manner not shown in closer detail in order to ensure the secure rolling of the mouse ball. A completely closed bag 4 with a transparent upper side is situated between the carrier layer 2 and the top foil 3, said bag containing a coloured liquid. The top foil 3 is welded together with the carrier layer 2 and the bottom foil 1 at three sides of the edge 3 of the rectangular pad.

Several small plates 5 are disposed in the bag 4 whose shape is random and which are substantially rectangular in the shown example. It is also imaginable that these small plates 5 are parts of a puzzle which, when combined, will result in an image and/or or a wording. The liquid is not shown separately in fig. 2 for reasons of better clarity. The quantity of the liquid is measured in such a way that the space which is available m bag 4 is not filled com¬ pletely. This leads to the consequence that the liquid distributes m form of streaks and that the streaks will change continuously during the rolling of the mouse ball. The streaks 9 indicated in fig. 1 therefore only correspond to a momentary condition. As can be seen from fig. 2, one side of the edge of the top foil 3 is not connected with the carrier layer 2 and the bottom foil 1, so that an opening 7 is arranged here through which the bag can be inserted between carrier layer 2 and the top foil 3 or can be removed from there again.

The pad shown m the figs. 3 and 4 corresponds principally to the one in accordance with figs. 1 and 2. Bag 4, how¬ ever, is subdivided into two areas by means of a leak-proof welding seam 6 which extends in an irregular line over the area of the pad and which joins the superimposed foils of bag 4. The areas can be filled with own liquid of different coloration. In this way the most diverse colour effects can be produced.

An image and/or letter imprint is attached in a mirror- inverted manner to the lower side of the top foil 3, with the optical impression produced by the streak-like liquid layers naturally overlapping with the imprint.

Claims

Cl aims

1. A pad for a computer mouse with a bottom foil made from roamed material onto which a carrier layer is laminated, and with a transparent top foil which lies above the carrier layer and which is welded together at the edge with the carrier layer and the bottom foil, with a coloured liquid being situated between the carrier layer and the top foil, which liquid does not completely fill the available space, characterized in that at least one bag (4) which is closed on all sides and has a transparent upper side is arranged between the carrier layer (2) and the top foil (3), said bag containing the said coloured liquid and not being completely filled by it.

2. A pad as claimed in claim 1, characterized m that the edge of the top foil (3) is continuously welded with the carrier layer (2) and the bottom foil (1).

3. A pad as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the space disposed between the carrier layer (2) and the top foil (3) is accessible from the outside.

4 A pad as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the edge of the top foil (2) is continuously welded with the carrier layer (2) and the bottom foil (1) with the exception of a section (7).

5. A pad as claimed m claim 3, characterized in that the edge of the top foil (3) is continuously welded with tne carrier layer (2) and the bottom foil (1), and tha_t mutually overlapping openings for inserting and removing the bag (4) are arranged in the carrier layer (2) and in the bottom foil (1).

6. A pad as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the bag (4) is made from a plastic material.

7. A pad as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the bag (4) consists of two superimposed foils which are continuously welded with one another at their edges.

8. A pad as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the bag (4) consists of a foil which is folded along a halving line and whose other edges are continuously welded with one another.

9. Pads as claimed in one of the claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the bag (4) is subdivided by at least one leak-proof welding seam (6) into at least two areas m which an own coloured liquid is disposed.

10. A pad as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the top foil (3) is provided on its lower side with a mirror-inverted image and/or letter imprint.

11. A pad as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that plate-like solid bodies (5) are disposed in the liquid (s) in the bag (4).