WO2003010648A1

WO2003010648A1 - A pointing device

Info

Publication number: WO2003010648A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/000973
Authority: WO
Inventors: Maclean Sinclair
Original assignee: Horne, Desmond John
Priority date: 2001-07-23
Filing date: 2002-07-22
Publication date: 2003-02-06
Also published as: AUPR652901A0

Abstract

A hand-held pointing device (10) for use with an external device, such as a computer, the pointing device (10) comprising a body (11) having a hand grippable stem (13) and a head portion (12); the hand grippable stem (13) able to be gripped by a hand of a user; the head portion (12) associated with the stem (13), and rotatably mounting a ball (15); at least one control button (16, 17) mounted on the body (11); a sensor to produce electrical signals by movement of the control button (16, 17) and/or ball (15); and a communication channel to communicate the electrical signal to an external device.

Description

TITLE A POINTING DEVICE FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a hand-held pointing device for a computer. In particular, the hand-held pointing device has been developed for use by a physically disabled person and therefore will be described in this context. However, it is understood that the hand-held pointing device may also be used by an able bodied person.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Disabled persons often suffer from arm impairment. Arm impairment may be temporary, such as injury caused by sports, or may be chronic, such as caused by .arthritis or a birth defect. Arm impairment causes persons to have limited or no movement of the shoulder, elbow and/or wrist. A standard computer mouse has a body with buttons located on its top and a ball rotatably mounted to its underside. The mouse is moved left and right and up and down causing the ball to rotate which, in turn, causes a corresponding computer pointer on a screen to move left and right, and up and down. The buttons are depressed to make selections on the screen.

To operate this mouse, a user needs to place their palm on the mouse which involves rotation of their wrist to cause their palm to move to a substantially horizontal position. To move the mouse left and right, a user must move at least their elbow. To move the mouse up and down, a user must move at least their shoulder. A person having arm impairment has great difficulty in using this type of mouse.

In an advancement from the standard mouse, a track ball has been developed. A track ball has a body with buttons located on its top and a ball also rotatably mounted to its top side. The track ball is located on a flat surface and remains stationary. The track ball typically operates by rotating the ball by a thumb of a user to cause corresponding movement of a computer pointer on a screen. Buttons are depressed to select elements on the screen.

The track ball eliminates the need for movement of the shoulder and elbow once a user's hand is positioned on the body. Unfortunately, the wrist still needs to be rotated and, normally, movement of the shoulder and the elbow needs to take place in order for a user's palm to be placed on the body. Thus a person having arm impairment normally has difficulty in using a track ball.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of this invention to overcome or alleviate at least one or more of the above disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, in one form, although not necessarily the only or broadest form, the invention resides in a hand-held pointing device for use with an external device, such as a computer, the pointing device comprising: a body having a hand grippable stem and a head portion; the hand grippable stem able to be gripped by a hand of a user; the head portion associated with the stem, and rotatably mounting a ball; at least one control button mounted on the body; a sensor means to produce electrical signals by movement of the control button and/or ball ; and a communication channel to communicate the electrical signal to an external device. The stem can be contoured to assist in effecting placement of the hand so that the control button is readily accessed by a user's fingers and the ball is readily accessed by a user's thumb.

The head portion may provide a flange that extends at least partially around the body to contact an upper portion of the hand of a user. The head portion may be integrally formed with the stem. The flange may assist in preventing the pointing device from falling from a user's hand.

Further, the flange may assist in effecting placement of the hand so that the control button is readily accessed by a user's fingers and the ball is readily accessed by a user's thumb.

Normally, there are either one or two control buttons. The control buttons may be mounted to the stem. Preferably, the control buttons are located on substantially opposite sides of the body to that of the ball. The sensor means may be of standard type as used in computer mouses or track balls. Preferably, the sensor means is optical.

The communication channel may be in the form of a cable, infra red beam, radio waves or the like. BRIEF DESCRIBTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pointing device according to a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the pointing device according to FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pointing device according to a third embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a hand-held pointing device 10 comprising a body

11 that is formed from integrally formed halves which are fastened together via fasteners 5. The body has a head portion 12 and a stem 13. The same numerals have been used to describe like parts throughout the description. The head portion 12 is located at the top of the stem 13. The head portion 12, at its maximum size, has a greater transverse cross- sectional dimension than that of the stem. A flange 14 is therefore provided by the head portion 12 adjacent to where the head portion 12 connects with the stem 13. When in use, the flange 14 abuts against an upper portion of a user's hand (not shown). More specifically, the flange 14 abuts against the index finger and the area of the upper palm between the index finger and the thumb.

A ball 15 is rotatably mounted by the head portion 12. The ball is of a relatively large diameter of approximately 3 to 4 cm. The size of the ball 15 makes the ball 15 easy to rotate regardless of the size of a user's hand.

The stem 13 is grippable by a hand of a user. The stem is ergonomically designed due to the stem 13 being contoured. The contouring of the stem 13 has been designed so that a user can grip the stem 13 without the need to exhibit considerable force to hold the stem 13 securely. Further, the stem 13 has a relatively large transverse cross-sectional diameter of between 5 and 7 cm to allow persons with limited movement of their fingers to grip the stem 13. Further, the stem 13 can be gripped with either the left or right hand without affecting the operation of the pointing device 10.

Two buttons 16 and 17 are mounted adjacent to the top of the stem 13. The buttons 16 and 17 are positioned on a substantially opposite side of the body 11 to that of the ball 15.

A user operates the pointing device 10 by gripping the stem 13.

The contours of the stem 13 and the flange 14 of the head portion 12 decreases the possibility of a user dropping the pointing device 10. Further, the contours of the stem 13 and the flange 14 of the head portion 12 cause a user to grip the stem 13 such that a thumb of a user is adjacent the ball 15 and an index finger of a user is adjacent the buttons 16 and 17.

FIG. 3 shows yet another embodiment of the hand-held pointing device. In this embodiment, scroll wheels 18 and 19 have been added to opposites side of the head portion 12. This allows both left and right handed operation. The other functional aspects of the pointing device remain substantially the same.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the pointing device 10. The pointing device 10 has sensors 20 that sense movement of the ball 15 and control buttons 16 and 17. The sensors 20 used for the ball are LED encoders 21 used for standard mouse and track balls. The LED encoders 21 are connected to a computer chip 23. A micro-switch 22 is connected to each of the control buttons 16 and 17. The micro-switches 22 are also connected to the computer chip 23. The computer chip 23 forms part of a circuit board 24. An 8-pin connector 25 is connected to the circuit board 24 to transmit the electrical signal produced by the sensors 20 by a cable 26 to an external device such as a computer (not shown). Movement of the ball 15 normally causes corresponding movement of a pointer on a display unit (not shown). Operation of the control buttons 16 and 17 normally causes selection of an object on the display unit.

It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that certain software could be used in conjunction with the hand-held pointing device 10 to enable words to be written by movement of the ball 15 and control buttons 16 and 17.

The pointer device 10 provides distinct advantages over a standard mouse and a track ball. A user can rotate the ball 15 with minimal movement of their thumb. Also, minimal movement of a finger is required to depress the buttons. Hence, once the device is located in the hand of a user, the device can be used with only minimal movement of the fingers and thumb. No movement of the wrist, elbow or shoulder is required. As the device is hand-held, it can also be used at any angle, such as vertical.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the invention described without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A hand-held pointing device for use with an external device, such as a computer, the pointing device comprising: a body having a hand grippable stem and a head portion; the hand grippable stem able to be gripped by a hand of a user; the head portion associated with the stem, and rotatably mounting a ball; at least one control button mounted on the body; a sensor to produce electrical signals by movement of the control button and/or ball ; and a communication channel to communicate the electrical signal to an external device.

2. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the stem is contoured to effect placement of the hand so that the control button is readily accessed by a user's fingers and the ball is readily accessed by a user's thumb.

3. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the head portion provides a flange that extends at least partially around the body to contact an upper portion of the hand of a user.

4. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the head portion is integrally formed with the stem.

5. The hand-held pointing device of claim 3 wherein the flange may assist in effecting placement of the hand so that the control button is readily accessed by a user's fingers and the ball is readily accessed by a user's thumb.

6. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the control buttons are mounted to the stem.

7. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the control button is located on substantially opposite sides of the body to that of the ball.

8. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein the sensor is optical.

9. The hand-held pointing device of claim the communication channel is in the form of a cable, infra red beam or radio waves.

10. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein there are either one or two control buttons.