JP2001290599A - Method and ball for cleaning rotating roller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a ball for cleaning rotating rollers which can easily and securely remove dust sticking on rotating rollers for a pointing device in rotating ball type structure. SOLUTION: A rotating ball is taken out of a device 1 whose rotating rollers 4, 5, and 6 have sticking matter and replaced with a cleaning ball 8 having an adhesive sticking-matter removing means on the top surface, and the device 1 stored with the cleaning ball 8 is operated similarly to an ordinary device, so that the sticking matter removing means of the cleaning ball 8 coming into slide contact with the rotating rollers 4, 5, and 6 peels the sticking matter 7 from the rotating rollers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointing device having a rotating ball structure such as a mouse or a trackball used as input means of a computer.
The present invention relates to a method of cleaning a rotating roller and a cleaning ball for removing extraneous matter such as dust and dirt adhered to a rotating roller that is rotationally driven in sliding contact with the rotating ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case of a mouse, for example, in the case of a mouse, a pointing device having a rotating ball structure is operated by moving a mouse case in a desired horizontal direction on a mouse pad to impart rotation to the rotating ball. By directly operating the rotating ball with the palm or fingertip to give a rotation, the pointer on the display can be moved to a desired position in conjunction with the rotating ball to control the position.

In these pointing devices, dust and dirt scattered on a mouse pad adhere to a rotating ball (mouse ball) in the case of a mouse, and dust and dirt adhere to a palm or a fingertip in the case of a trackball. Adheres to the rotating ball (trackball), and the adhered matter adheres to the rotating roller via the rotating ball and accumulates, so that smooth movement of the pointer is impaired or malfunction occurs.

Accordingly, it is necessary to remove these deposits in a timely manner. However, most commonly, the rotating ball and the rotating roller are opened by opening the lid of the case, and the rotating ball is taken out, and ethyl alcohol or the like is removed. Means for wiping and removing deposits on the rotating ball using a cloth or the like impregnated with a cleaning liquid, and wiping and removing deposits on the rotating roller with a cotton swab or the like impregnated with the cleaning liquid are employed. ing.

[0005] With this general removing means by wiping, it is not possible to completely remove the adhered matter firmly adhered to the rotating roller. To improve the problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-160415 has been proposed. And "Mouse Cleaner" by JP-A-2000-89909.

The former proposal has a configuration in which a spherical body having a fibrous or porous spherical surface formed in the axial rotation direction of the handle is locked at the tip of the handle, and the spherical body is provided inside the socket from which the mouse ball is removed. Is inserted and the handle held by the hand is rotated obliquely, thereby removing the fibrous or porous spherical surface of the rotating spherical body by wiping off the adhered matter of the mouth roller.

[0007] The latter proposal proposes a ball having a sphere removed from its entire surface, a driving device for rotating the ball, a ball mounted on the tip and an elevation angle of 3 mm.
It comprises a shaft for transmitting a rotational motion to a ball extending from the driving device at 0 to 50 degrees, and a housing for accommodating the shaft.

In the latter case, a mouse case is placed on the upper part of the housing so that the ball is inserted into the socket, and the ball of the ball is rotated via the shaft by rotating the motor of the driving device, thereby obtaining the surface of the ball. The knurling, flocking or sticky material processed as a whole wipes off the attached matter on the mouth roller.

[0009]

According to the former proposal,
Compared to general wiping using a cotton swab, etc., it is possible to remove adhering substances more efficiently, but when wiping, adjusting the rotation direction and pressing force to rotate the spherical body against the mouse roller Done in

Therefore, it is difficult to apply a uniform and proper pressing force to each mouth roller, and there is a possibility that an excessive pressing force may be applied to damage the internal structure of the mouth roller including the supporting member.

The fibrous or porous wiping member is liable to be clogged by the removed deposits, and it is difficult to remove the clogged deposits. is there.

According to the latter proposal, since the ball body is driven to rotate by a motor via a shaft, the removal of extraneous substances can be performed more efficiently than a general wiping method using a cotton swab or the like. The adjustment of the rotation direction and the pressing force for rotating the ball in contact with the mouth roller during wiping is determined by the inclination angle of the shaft.

Therefore, it is difficult to apply a uniform and proper pressing force to each mouse roller in a state adapted to various mice having different shapes, and to apply an excessive pressing force to the mouse roller and its supporting member. There is also a risk of damaging the internal structure including.

Further, the drive device including the motor and the power supply is large in size and costly, and requires a mouse mounted on the housing and an on / off operation of the power supply. In addition, it is difficult to apply the same rotating ball structure to a pointing device such as a trackball having a form different from that of a mouse.

Further, in both the former and the latter, when the spherical body or the ball body is worn out in a long-term use and cannot be used, it cannot be replaced alone, or when applied to a mouse roller. However, there still remains a problem that needs improvement, such as the inability to clean the mouse pad at the same time as the mouse roller.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. A main object of the present invention is to provide a rotary ball type pointing device which can easily and surely remove deposits on a rotary roller. A roller cleaning method and a cleaning ball are provided.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a rotating roller, comprising: in a pointing device having a rotating ball structure, which is an input means of a computer, removing a rotating ball from a device having a substance attached to the rotating roller; The cleaning ball is replaced with a cleaning ball provided with a sticky substance removing means, and the same operation is performed on the device in which the cleaning ball is accommodated as in a normal device. This is to remove the attached matter of the rotating roller by the attached matter removing means.

According to this method of cleaning the rotating roller, the cleaning ball removes the adhered material on the rotating roller by performing the same operation as that of a normal device, so that the cleaning operation is easy and the rotating roller and the rotating roller are cleaned. Since no excessive pressing force is applied to the support member, there is no danger of damaging the internal structure.

In addition, the sticky substance removing means can effectively remove the substance sticking to the rotating roller and remove not only the mouse but also other pointing devices such as a trackball. Can also be applied.

The pointing device in the method of cleaning the rotating roller may be a mouse, and the mouse may be operated on a mouse pad in a state where the cleaning ball is housed.

In the method for cleaning the rotating roller according to this embodiment, the mouse pad on which the mouse is operated can be cleaned at the same time as the foreign matter on the rotating roller is removed by the cleaning ball attached matter removing means.

The ball for cleaning the rotary roller according to the present invention is used for removing a deposit on the rotary roller by exchanging the rotary ball of the rotary ball type pointing device which is an input means of the computer with the rotary ball of the device. The core portion and the attached matter removing means provided on the surface thereof are formed in a spherical body having at least the same diameter or a slightly larger diameter as the rotating ball of the pointing device, and the attached matter removing means is provided with the attached matter. Is an adhesive member that strips off and removes.

According to the cleaning ball of the rotating roller,
A simple and inexpensive cleaning means using only the cleaning ball is formed, and the rotating roller is rotated in a safe state without damaging the internal structure of the pointing device by the same simple operation as that of the normal pointing device. Can be removed.

In addition, a sticky member as an adhering material removing means can easily and reliably peel off and remove a strong adhering material from the rotating roller. When the removing ability is reduced, replace with a new cleaning ball. can do.

The adhering substance removing means in the cleaning ball of the rotating roller may employ a form using a pressure-sensitive adhesive member which, when washed and dried, recovers its adhesiveness.

In the cleaning ball of the rotary roller according to this embodiment, when the removal ability is reduced during use, the durability life can be extended by washing with water and drying, so that it is economical. is there.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a method for cleaning a rotating roller and a cleaning ball according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In this embodiment, a mouse used on a mouse pad will be described as an example of a pointing device having a rotating ball type structure. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a trackball mounted on a computer body and used. it can.

FIG. 1 shows a bottom view of the mouse 1 with the back cover removed, and a mouse ball (rotating ball) 3 and mouse rollers (rotating rollers) 4, 5, 6 in a mouse case 2. Are accommodated, and each mouse roller 4, 5,
Reference numeral 6 is slidably in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the mouse ball 3 while being rotatably supported.

The mouse 1 is a mouse pad (not shown).
When placed on the top, a part of the outer periphery of the mouse ball 3 protrudes from the opening provided in the back cover and comes into contact with the mouse pad, and when the mouse case 2 is held in hand and slid in any horizontal direction, The mouse ball 3 rolls to rotate the mouse rollers 4, 5, and 6.

Accordingly, dust and dirt on the mouse pad are sequentially transferred to the mouse rollers 4, 5, and 6 via the mouse ball 3, and adhered matter 7 is formed on the outer periphery. Since a proper contact state with the mouse ball 3 cannot be maintained, smooth operation and accurate position control are hindered.

In order to remove the attached matter 7, the mouse ball 3 is once removed and replaced with a cleaning ball 8 whose surface is provided with a sticky attached matter removing means as shown in FIG. The operation of sliding horizontally on the mouse pad is repeated as in the case of a normal mouse.

As a result, the deposit 7 on each of the mouse rollers 4, 5, and 6 is transferred to the cleaning ball 8 and removed, and at the same time, dust and dirt on the mouse pad are also transferred to the cleaning ball 8 and removed. Therefore, if necessary, the separately cleaned mouse ball 3 can be attached to the mouse again to restore smooth operation and accurate position control.

The cleaning ball 8 is obtained by applying a sticky adhering substance removing means 10 to the surface of a core portion 9 which is a nucleus formed of a spherical body. Same diameter or slightly larger (for example, 0.2
mm), and the core portion 9 and the adhesive deposit removing means 10 can take various forms as shown in FIGS.

The core portion 9 may be a solid body or a hollow body, and can be formed of a synthetic resin material or other various materials. It is desirable that the core section 9 be easy to manufacture and can be provided at low cost. However, the surface on which the adhesive substance removing means 10 is applied may have an uneven surface as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, and a mouse ball may be used for the core portion 9.

The adhering substance removing means 10 has a core 9
The outer surface side is formed of an adhesive member having an adhesive property for peeling off the adhered matter 7 of each of the mouth rollers 4, 5, and 6, for example, a member such as a double-sided adhesive tape, washing with water and drying. Then, it is possible to select and use a pressure-sensitive adhesive member from which the adhesive strength is restored, and other adhesive members such as an acrylic resin-based or silicone-based adhesive. Depending on the properties of the material including the core portion 9, coating, The core portion 9 is integrally joined with the core portion 9 by selectively soaking, spraying, pressing, or bonding.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning ball 8 has a core portion 9A formed of a spherical body having no irregularities, and is provided with an adhering substance removing means 10A on the entire peripheral surface thereof. Alternatively, as shown in a cleaning ball 8B shown in FIG. 4, a core 9B having a plurality of locking grooves 11 provided at appropriate places in a spherical body is partially buried in the locking grooves 11 so as to cover the entire circumference. A form in which the attached matter removing means 10B is provided on the surface can be adopted.

Further, like a cleaning ball 8C shown in FIG. 5, a locking hole in which the locking projection 12 fits into a core 9C having a plurality of locking projections 12 provided at appropriate positions on a spherical body. 13
The core portion 9D in which a plurality of mounting concave grooves 14 are provided in a dispersed state in appropriate positions of a spherical body, such as a form in which the attached matter removing means 10C provided with the hologram is provided substantially all around, or a cleaning ball 8D shown in FIG.
On the other hand, it is possible to adopt a form in which the attached matter removing means 10D is locally applied while being buried in the mounting concave groove 14.

Further, like a cleaning ball 8E shown in FIG. 7, a core portion 9E in which linear and / or concentric linear grooves 15 are provided in an appropriate position on a spherical body in a dispersive state is provided. Various forms can be adopted within the scope of the gist, such as a form in which the attached matter removing means 10E is locally applied by being fitted to the body.

When these cleaning balls 8 are inexpensive, they can be replaced with new ones when the adhesiveness is reduced by use, and when the adhering substance removing means is washed with water and dried, the cleaning balls 8 become sticky. In the case of a pressure-sensitive adhesive member that restores force, it can be used continuously. In the case of a cleaning ball 8D or the like, a spare adhering matter removing means 10D is prepared in advance, and if necessary, Can be exchanged accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a mouse to which one embodiment of the present invention is applied, with a back cover removed, showing a state in which a mouse roller has attached matter.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the mouse accommodating the cleaning ball of the present invention with the back cover removed, showing a state in which the attached matter of the mouse roller has been removed.

FIG. 3 shows a cleaning ball 8A according to an embodiment of the present invention;
A part is shown in a plan view in a cross section.

FIG. 4 shows a cleaning ball 8B according to another embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, and (b) is a sectional view.

FIG. 5 shows a cleaning ball 8C according to another embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, and (b) is a sectional view.

FIG. 6 shows a cleaning ball 8D according to another embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, and (b) is a sectional view.

FIG. 7 shows a cleaning ball 8E according to another embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, and (b) is a sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mouse (pointing device) 2 Mouse case 3 Mouse ball (rotating ball) 4,5,6 Mouse roller (rotating roller) 7 Attached matter 8,8A-8E Cleaning ball 9,9A-9E 10,10A-10E Attached matter Removal means 11 Locking groove 12 Locking projection 13 Fitting hole 14 Mounting concave groove 15 Linear groove

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a pointing device having a rotating ball structure as input means of a computer, a rotating ball is taken out of a device having an attached matter on a rotating roller, and a cleaning ball having a surface provided with a sticky attached matter removing means is provided. The same operation as a normal device is performed on the device in which the cleaning ball is accommodated, and the adhesion of the rotation roller is peeled off by the adhesion removal device of the cleaning ball slidably in contact with the rotation roller. A method for cleaning a rotating roller, comprising removing and removing the roller. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pointing device is a mouse, and the mouse is operated on a mouse pad in a state in which the cleaning ball is stored. 3. A rotary ball type pointing device, which is an input means of a computer, is used for removing a deposit on a rotary roller by exchanging with a rotary ball of the device. The adhered material removing means is formed of a spherical body having at least the same diameter or a slightly larger diameter as the rotating ball of the pointing device, and the adhered matter removing means is an adhesive member for peeling and removing the attached matter. A cleaning ball for a rotary roller, wherein the ball is for cleaning. 4. The cleaning ball for a rotating roller according to claim 3, wherein said adhered substance removing means is a pressure-sensitive adhesive member whose adhesiveness is restored by washing with water and drying.