JPH10307680A - Pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the operability of a pointing device from decreasing under desk-top environment by constituting a slide pad provided on the top surface of a mouse so that it can be mounted in front of the keyboard of electronic equipment through a connector and making it possible to connect the mouse to the electronic equipment through a cable. SOLUTION: The mouse 1 consists of the slide pad 2 on its top surface, click buttons 3, and a connector 4 provided on the flank of the mouse 1 on the side of the click buttons 3. When this mouse 1 is put in the electronic equipment, the connector 4 is connected to the connector in the electronic equipment and only the slide pad 2 is usable as input equipment for data, etc. Thus, the pointing device is usable as the slide pad when mounted on the electronic equipment, and also usable as an external mouse through the cable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the structure of a mouse which is often used as an input device for data such as electronic equipment, particularly for a computer system.

[0001]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there are a slide pad, a track point, and a track ball as a built-in pointing device of an electronic device such as a portable personal computer. These are convenient when the electronic device is used in a portable manner, but are not always easy to use when used in an office or the like as a space-saving desktop device.

When the built-in pointing device is used on a desktop, the operability is inferior. To prevent this, a separate pointing device for the desktop is required.

[0003]

In the prior art,
When a portable personal computer is used on a desk, a mouse frequently used in a desktop personal computer must be purchased separately in order to improve operability.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pointing device for both internal and external use of electronic equipment.

[0005]

A pointing device according to the present invention is characterized in that a slide pad is provided on an upper surface of a mouse which is a mainstream input device. Further, the built-in slide pad of the present invention can be mounted in front of a keyboard of an electronic device via a connector. Furthermore, the mouse of the present invention is characterized in that it can be connected to an electronic device via a cable.

By mounting a mouse with a slide pad in front of a keyboard of an electronic device, transmission with the electronic device can be performed via a connector. Further, by removing the mouse with the slide pad and connecting the cable, transmission with the electronic device can be performed.

As described above, since it can be used both as a built-in slide pad and as an external mouse, it is possible to ensure operability in accordance with the usage form.

[0008]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mouse which forms a pointing device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a mouse 1 of the present invention has a slide pad 2 on its upper surface,
It comprises a click button 2 and a connector provided on the side of the mouse on the click button side.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the mouse 1 is housed in the electronic device main body, the connector 4 is connected to a connector in the electronic device main body, and only the slide pad is used as an input device for data or the like. It becomes possible.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the mouse 1 is used on a desktop, the connector 4 is connected to a cable 7 for connection to an electronic apparatus main body.

As described above, the pointing device of the present invention can be used as a sliding pad when mounted on an electronic device, and can also be used as an external mouse by using the cable 7.

As a modification of this embodiment, the mouse does not detect the movement information of the ball from the connector on the main body side so that only the slide pad can input data when housed in the main body of the electronic device. A mode signal for supplying a mode signal can be supplied. In this way, even if the ball in the mouse moves due to impact or the like when the electronic device is housed, this movement information can be invalidated, and the operability can be further improved. In addition, since the mode signal is not supplied at the time of connection with the cable 7, in response to the non-supply of the mode signal, the slide pad input information is invalidated so as not to be transmitted to the electronic device main body. Even if you accidentally touch the pad, incorrect data entry will not occur.

[0014]

The first effect is to provide an optimal pointing device according to the use form because it can be used both internally and externally.

The second effect is that, even when used as a space-saving desktop electronic device in an office or the like, it is not necessary to purchase a separate mouse as in the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a pointing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the pointing device of the present invention is housed in an electronic device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the pointing device of the present invention is used on a desktop.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mouse 2 Slide pad 3 Click button 4 Connector 5 Electronic device 6 Pointing device 7 Cable

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pointing device detachable from an electronic device, a pointing device having a mouse unit, a slide pad provided on an upper surface of the mouse unit, and a connector provided on one side surface of the pointing device. The pointing device is connected to a connector in the main body of the electronic device when the pointing device is mounted in the main body of the electronic device, and a connector connected to a cable connectable to the main body when the pointing device is not mounted. Characteristic pointing device. 2. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the connector is provided on a side surface of the mouse unit on a side on which a click button is provided. 3. A connector in the main body supplies a mode signal to the pointing device, and the pointing device disables detection of ball movement information of the mouse unit in response to the mode signal. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The pointing device according to claim 3, wherein the pointing device invalidates input information from the slide pad when the mode signal is not supplied.