Silicon cap for use in the pointing stick device

Details Silicon cap for use in the pointing stick device Silicon cap for use in the pointing stick device

1999-11-03

2002-04-30

Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)

Typewriting machines

Key-board or key lever-actuating mechanism

Key-cap or key-stem structure

C400S490000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06379061

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention relates to a removable silicon cap mounted on the top of a pointing stick device.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The traditional cursor controller, e.g. joystick or mouse, is not suitable for the notebook type computer system due to its size. As shown respectively in
FIG. 1
(A) and FIG.
1
(B), a keyboard
10
with a pointing stick
12
has been widely used in the notebook type computer due to its miniature structure. The state-of-art cursor controller device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,521,596 and 5,640,178.
Typically, a resilient removable hollow grip cap is mounted on the top of the state-of-art pointing stick. The resilient hollow grip cap may be the silicon cap. During operation, by exerting force onto the tip of the pointing stick
12
, a sensor (not shown) deforms accordingly and a corresponding signal change is received by a controller (not shown). The controller then controls cursor movement.
Through the silicon cap's resilient property, the user can obtain a good feedback feeling from the stick during cursor movement operation. However, the silicon cap's surface is easily contaminated by the dirt or skin oil on user's fingers after extended use. The dirt or skin oil residing on the silicon cap's surface may cause the surface to become slippery. This undermines the sensations fed from the cap's surface to the user, and good sensory feedback is required to precisely control the movement of the cursor.
To solve the drawbacks mentioned above, as shown in FIG.
2
(A) and FIG.
2
(B), U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,754 discloses a silicon cap. The cap has multiple short fibers adhered to its outer surface and extending outwardly from the surface of the cap. When making the silicon cap, a liquid adhesive is applied on the outer surface of the cap. By way of an electrostatic fiber planting process, the fibers are planted into the adhesive. Afterwards, a protective coating is applied on the fibers to enhance the detachment-resistant capability of the fibers. It is observed that two processes and two material layers are required during the above-mentioned process.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
A removable silicon cap mounted on the top of a cursor control device is provided. The silicon cap has an outer surface and an inner surface. The outer surface is covered with an adhesive layer and multiple fibers are adhered on the adhesive layer. The silicon cap characterizes in that each fiber has a column portion and a base portion, and the base portion is embedded in the adhesive layer to enhance the detachment-resistant capability of the fiber.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4188429 (1980-02-01), Braconnier et al.
patent: 4568590 (1986-02-01), Iwai
patent: 5134008 (1992-07-01), Alm
patent: 5746302 (1998-05-01), Bowman
patent: 5754166 (1998-05-01), Baba
patent: 5798754 (1998-08-01), Selker et al.
patent: 6171677 (2001-01-01), Oikawa

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