Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Display in frame or transparent casing; or diorama including...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-08
2001-02-06
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Display in frame or transparent casing; or diorama including...
C428S013000, C428S072000, C428S076000, C428S178000, C428S192000, C428S218000, C428S315900, C428S318600, C248S118000, C248S118100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183823
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a support device for a computer mouse, a so-called mouse pad, comprising a lower foil made of foam material onto which a carrier layer has been laminated and including, disposed above the carrier layer, a transparent upper foil which is welded continuously along the edge to the carrier layer and the lower foil. According to one embodiment, a liquid is situated between the carrier layer and the top foil, which liquid does not completely fill the available space.
Such support devices are used for the convenient actuation of the computer mouse. The mouse or the mouse device is moved to and fro by the user on the support device, causing the ball of the mouse to roll over the upper foil. The lower foil of foam material holds the support device on the working surface, causes the ball to roll smoothly and damps the vibrations which arise during the actuation of the keys of the mouse.
The support devices are frequently provided with pictorial and/or written illustrations in order to enhance their appearance or to make them serve as an advertising means.
From EP 0 328 225 A1 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 colored liquid is provided between the carrier layer and the top foil which can be displaced by pressure on the top foil in the pressure zone and patterns and figures can be produced in such a way. The use of such a toy as a pad for a computer mouse is not possible without additional measures because the maintenance of technical and functional features such as the formation of a continuous rolling surface for the ball of the mouse is not ensured, for example.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based on the object of providing a support device for a computer mouse which has a particularly attractive appearance.
The invention is also based on the object of improving the optical effects achievable in a pad for a computer mouse whilst simultaneously ensuring a fault-free rolling of the ball of the computer mouse and simplifying the production of such a pad.
The solution concept in accordance with the invention is to provide at least one thin liquid layer below the transparent top foil in which the liquid, as it occupies the available space only incompletely, is distributed in a puddle-like pattern, with this distribution and accordingly the appearance changing in a substantially random manner by the actuation of the computer mouse. This affords a very interesting appearance to the support device, in particular in combination with a non-invariable imprint of pictorial and/or written illustrations onto which the at least one puddle-like liquid layer is optically superposed.
In one embodiment, a liquid layer is provided which is enclosed between the liquid-tight carrier layer and the upper foil. In another embodiment, at least two liquid layers are provided, more particularly between the liquid-tight carrier layer and a partitioning foil, between a partitioning foil and the upper foil, and optionally between adjoining partitioning foils. In one particular embodiment, a liquid layer is each provided between adjoining partitioning foils and optionally in addition between the upper partitioning foil and the upper foil. In this context the carrier layer need not be liquid tight.
The liquid layer may be subdivided quasi-vertically into two regions in the vertical dimension, each containing its own colored liquid, which provides particularly interesting optical effects. Liquid-tight welding seams between the adjoining partitioning foils arc used for the subdivision into these regions. These welding seams specifically do not extend to the carrier layer or the upper foil. A welding seam extending along the surface constituting the upper surface would interfere with the rolling action of the ball of the mouse. If a welding seam were to extend to the carrier layer the manufacturing conditions would cause along that location a compression of the lower foil of foam material, resulting in an unattractive appearance and likewise possibly interfering with the rolling action of the ball.
Any pictorial and/or written imprint is preferably applied to the underside of the upper foil in reversed mirror image form, which offers the advantage that the imprint will not be scratched and no dye pigments will soil the ball of the mouse. Alternatively, an imprint is applied to the upperside of the carrier layer.
Pure vegetable oil was found suitable for the liquid(s). If damage to the mouse pad were to give rise to leakage and the emergence of liquid, persons will not be subjected to any hazards e.g. by toxicity. Moreover, vegetable oil does not evaporate through the foil or carrier layer so that the optical effect of the liquid(s) and thereby the durability of the mouse pad is ensured in the long run.
Preferably, cosmetics are admixed to the vegetable oil for coloring purposes so that likewise no hazards to persons arise from the dye stuff if such persons were to come into contact with any liquid emerging from a damaged mouse pad. All foils and layers of the support device according to the invention are preferably manufactured of PVC and are accordingly fully recyclable.
According to another preferred embodiment, 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 liquid being situated in the bag and with the bag not being fully filled by the same.
The mouse pad is thus provided, on the one part, with an appealing appearance and, on the other part, can be produced relatively 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 appearance 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 is closed on all sides, they can be prefabricated and kept in storage. Furthermore, the welding of the top foil with the carrier layer and the bottom foil can be made without having to take any intermediately 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 respective order it is possible to produce pads with differently colored liquids. It is only necessary to arrange the bag with the respective colored 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 liquid is enclosed in a leak-proof manner in the bag and, on its part, between the carrier layer and the top foil.
An advantageous arrangement of the invention is also provided 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 a colored liquid can be exchanged, if required, against a bag with a liquid of another color, 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 laye
Alston & Bird LLP
Bahta Abraham
Hirsch & Partner GmbH
Jones Deborah
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