Pat5428369

United States Patent 9 Pranger et al. INNO ENON US005428369A. [11] Patent Number: 5,428,369 [45] Date of Patent: Jun, 27, 1995 [54] COMPUTER POINTING DEVICE [75] Inventors: Maarten R. Pranger, Morgan Hill, Cristian A. Fraenkel, San Mateo; Richard Pekelney, San Francisco; David C. Shafer, Menlo Park, all of Calif. [73] Assignee: Kensington Microware Limited, San Mateo, Calif. [21] Appl. No.: 255,320 [22] Fiied: Jun. 7, 1994 (51] Int. CLS G09G 5/08 (52] U.S. CL. 345/166; 345/163; 345/167 [58] Field of Search ..........-s::sssssscsssessscees 345/163-167, 345/172, 156-158, 161, 162 [56] References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 5,119,077 6/1992 Giorgio Primary Examiner—Jefiery Brier 345/163 Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Townsend and Townsend Khourie and Crew [57] ABSTRACT The present invention provides for an improved com- puter pointing device such as a trackball or mouse, for example. The improved computer pointing device al- lows a user to set a communications protocol for use with a particular computer system by using a user- friendly configuration program designed for operation on a different platform and by using a different commu- nications protocol. Additionally, the computer pointing device includes an LED encoder illumination control system to provide varying levels of LED intensities. During normal operation, an LED operates at a particu- lar intensity level. The intensity level is controllable in discrete steps: LED power is off for power up, LED power is reduced for testing to test for unacceptable signal levels, and LED power may be increased beyond normal levels to counteract diminution of light intensity as the LED ages. 12 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets 04 ! 48 Se “~ H I 1 H 108 | H 100 I H 106 102 I C-e 1 L 122 I 1 150 I 1 152 134 154 120 ! 42 | 130 wt al Mad | COMPUTER SYSTEM iia PORT wi—p CONTROLLER I 1 1 ! if 32 { | law tl I 1 MEMORY I J t { 1 U.S. Patent June 27, 1995 Sheet 1 of 3 5,428,369 a 22 20 — U Oad 12 OU 18 LAS mM rico re FIG_1 Sheet 2 of 3 5,428,369 June 27, 1995 U.S. Patent Z Ola ra os Aiowew a6e10}S Alowe-w JOyeJajN00 JOA ypolqo - | weibold 7 A abew| (Ag eBew| vy | soludeig 4 so1ydesD gy Ae\dsiq Jew, JOWUOW solydeisy JAG J pueoqhey og JeAud asnow re | 2a6eJo}S 810 ze | Wvd o€ (nd9) yun Burssesold jequeg Sheet 3 of 3 5,428,369 June 27, 1995 U.S. Patent AXOWAW ! I ! I 1 i | } t I I i OSL ooF I | } | I I I I I I ! oY oct iv vel och zl “xP l I 1 I | I I i 1 I | at et peer sine net ed NO GO SE RE SNE ey SY Se a ee SUSE SSL ED SO Sa MD GD ESR SOU SEND SR eet Se HN GN eT Me SA SE YATIOULNOD => LuOd <4-+- > WALSAS YALAdWOD iw) (a) 5,428,369 1 COMPUTER POINTING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to computer pointing devices, and more specifically, to computer pointing devices that are capable of communicating using several different types of protocols or to those that use light-emitting diodes to generate positional info…