Did You Know...
...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8094122 | Guides and indicators for eye movement monitoring systems A computer system aids user positioning of a pointing device by providing an animated post warp retro guide in conjunction with an eye tracking system, based on perceived user intent, to assist a user in maintaining continuity for pointer warps. An eye tracking appa... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8089457 | Image operating device, image operating method, and image operating program embodied on computer readable medium An image operating device which is inexpensive and capable of allowing a user to understand to what extent an image operation of movement, enlargement and reduction, rotation or the like is performed on an image. The image operating device that performs an operation... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8085242 | Input control device and image forming apparatus An input control device and an image forming apparatus capable of providing an easy-to-use operating environment even for a user having difficulties operating such conventional devices and apparatuses due to his/her height, color vision deficiency, weak vision, use ... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8077145 | Method and apparatus for controlling force feedback interface systems utilizing a host computer A method and apparatus for controlling and providing force feedback using an interface device manipulated by a user. A microprocessor is provided local to the interface device and reads sensor data from sensors that describes the position and/or other information ab... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8072423 | Input device for portable digital computers and portable digital computer with a multi-functional mouse The invention relates to a portable digital Computer with an in-built coupling device which is arranged in order to receive mouse Signals from a radio mouse provided with a battery and fed by said battery. Said digital Computer comprises an in-built current source a... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8068095 | Interactive video based games using objects sensed by tv cameras A method and apparatus for interactive TV camera based games in which position or orientation of points on a player or of an object held by a player are determined and used to control a video display. Both single camera and stereo camera pair based embodiments are d... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8068094 | Pointing device, information display device, and input method utilizing the pointing device A pointing device that can move an object in a desired direction on a display screen includes a control unit that switches between a first mode and a second mode in accordance with the contents of the display on the display screen. In the first mode, the pointing de... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8063881 | Method and apparatus for sensing motion of a user interface mechanism using optical navigation technology A method and an apparatus for determining displacement of a surface member coupled to a user interface mechanism, for example a joystick handle, using a fixed optical motion sensor. Using the displacement of the surface member, the method, and apparatus may determin... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8054291 | Pointing device A pointing device is provided which can reduce its size and height, reduce leakage magnetic flux density to the outside. Magnetic sensors are disposed symmetrically two by two on X and Y axes on a printed circuit board. A silicone resin is placed on the printed circ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8054622 | Portable computer A portable computer includes a main body casing including an upper plate and an opening formed on the upper plate; a cover pad which may be coupled to the upper plate and covers the opening, the cover pad having a plate surface and a rear surface; and a touch-pad co... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8044932 | Method of controlling pointer in mobile terminal having pointing device Provided is a method of controlling a pointer, such as changing between a pointer mode for activating the pointer and a search key mode for deactivating the pointer, in a mobile terminal having a pointing device. The method of controlling a pointer includes detectin... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8031173 | Computer switching device, computer switching method therefor, program thereof and computer system thereof The present invention provides a computer switching device that can easily monitor a plurality of computers for errors. A keyboard connection switch distributes the input operation information of keyboard over the plurality of computers in accordance with an instruc... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8026896 | Hand-held portable electronic apparatus A portable electronic apparatus including a main body having a display unit on a surface and a protruding holding unit. The holding unit includes a pointing device and switches that are operated by a same hand holding the holding unit. The pointing device includes o... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8023262 | Lid-closed detector In one exemplary embodiment, a portable computer having a display assembly coupled to a base assembly to alternate between a closed position and an open position. An input device disposed on the base assembly senses a contact with a portion of the display assembly t... | 09/20/2011 |
| 8018434 | Systems and methods for providing a haptic device Systems and methods for providing haptic feedback in a user interface are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a manipulandum, a rotor in communication with the manipulandum, an actuator in communication with the rotor, and a biasing element disposed... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8013839 | Methods for determining a cursor position from a finger contact with a touch screen display A portable device with a touch screen display detects a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display and then determines a first position associated with the contact area. The cursor position of the finger contact is determined, at least in part, based on:... | 09/06/2011 |
| 8013838 | Generating position information using a video camera A position determination module is described which receives image information from a video camera. The position determination module identifies at least one reference field in the image information to provide identified reference information. The position determinat... | 09/06/2011 |
| 8013837 | Process and apparatus for providing a one-dimensional computer input interface allowing movement in one or two directions to conduct pointer operations usually performed with a mouse and character input usually performed with a keyboard The apparatus and method help physically-disabled persons perform point-and-click activities or input text or control characters, which typically require the user to simultaneously control two independent dimensions to select options presented on a computer display.... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7995031 | Tongue-operated input device for control of electronic systems A method and apparatus for tongue-operated control of an electronic system is presented. The apparatus includes a sensor-mounting device secured in the mouth, a sensor that interfaces to the tongue and a sensor interface device that converts sensor outputs to sensor... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7995032 | Program for game apparatus, game apparatus, and recording medium storing program for game apparatus An object is to provide a program for a game apparatus for making a plurality of moving objects including a moving object operated by a player to compete in virtual space against each other, in which players are capable of fully using the stage effects specific to a... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7986302 | Function command system, function command device, function command analysis system, presentation system, and computer readable medium A function command analysis system includes an image input unit, a position information extraction unit, a function command specification unit and a function command output unit. The image input unit inputs an image containing an image generated by light emitted fro... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7986300 | Autonomic control of calibration for pointing device A computer system includes a computer, a calibration module, an event detection module, and an application interface module. The computer executes one or more applications and receives pointing device events generated by a pointing device connected to the computer. ... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7986301 | Handheld wireless communication device A handheld wireless communication device configured to send and receive text messages. The device is hand cradleable with an elongate body configured to be held in one hand by an operator during text entry. A display is located on a front face of the body and upon w... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7982712 | Handheld wireless communication device A handheld wireless communication device cradleable by an operator during text entry. A display, key field and trackball navigation tool are located on a front face of the device. Alphanumeric input keys include several alphabetic keys with letters arranged in a tra... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7978175 | Magnetic re-centering mechanism for a capacitive input device Various embodiments provide an enhanced mobile computing experience by providing an input device in a mobile electronic device that is configured to accurately and quickly re-center a button or other user interface while providing a sensation of enhanced tactile fee... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7978174 | System and method for interactive three-dimensional position tracking A system and method for tracking the x, y and z coordinates of a position of an input device in an interactive computer system is disclosed. An image sensor situated on the input device captures images of an electronic marker displayed on a display screen. As the po... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7978173 | Pointing device including a moveable puck with mechanical detents A pointing device includes a moveable puck that is capable of moving over a surface in a puck field of motion. The surface includes a detent feature defined within the puck field of motion for engaging with a detent feature of the moveable puck. ... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7973764 | Switching between input modes in a limited input device The present invention is directed to a method for switching a data entry mode, when editing data displayed on a limited input device. The method comprises evaluating a first input point, in relation to a second input point, positioned in an input window of the limit... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7973765 | Handheld wireless communication device A handheld wireless communication device configured to send and receive text messages. The device is hand cradleable with a body configured to be held in one hand by an operator during text entry. A display is located on a front face of the body and upon which infor... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7969417 | Multiple cursor system and method for vehicle An in-vehicle multiple cursor system properly provides information necessary for a user in case that the number of wirelessly connected portable devices increases to thereby cause lack of a memory space for drawing. A cursor operation for requesting a drawing occurs... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7932893 | Watch including a contactless control device for a computer cursor Watch (1) including time display means (8; 10) covered by a crystal (4). This watch includes an interface device for controlling a computer cursor. It forms a contactless watch-mouse. For this purpose, a plurality of touch sensitive sensors are ... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7924264 | Information processing apparatus and storage medium storing information processing program An information processing apparatus can communicate with an input device comprising an image capturing means for capturing an image of a target object, and calculates a pointing position on a screen of a display device based on the image captured by the image captur... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7924265 | System and method for emulating wheel-style, rocker-style, or wheel-and-rocker style navigation with an analog pointing device A pointing device includes a position determining mechanism and a control mechanism that has a field of motion associated therewith. The control mechanism can be an object a user moves with his or her finger or it can be the user's finger that he or she moves over a... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7920125 | Electronic apparatus According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a housing having an outer surface and an inner surface, a pointing device having a flat input surface and located in the housing with the input surface on the inner surface of the housing, an operation ar... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7911446 | Networked keyboard and mouse drivers In an embodiment, a method of controlling a computer in a network, includes: moving a cursor to a designated area of a screen of a first computer; receiving an input in a peripheral device associated with the first computer; transmitting the input as a packet across... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7889176 | Capacitive sensing in displacement type pointing devices A pointing device includes a sense electrode structure and a displaceable member. The sense electrode structure includes an arrangement of peripheral sense electrodes in a peripheral region surrounding a central sense electrode. The displaceable member is movable in... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7889177 | Computer input device and method of using the device A hand-held device includes a display, a position sensor, a communication port operable to receive screen image data, and a processor. The processor is operable to determine a new cursor position in response to a change of position detected by the position sensor. T... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7880721 | Wave receiving device and method of determining wave reception An ultrasonic receiver receives an ultrasonic signal having a period in which an amplitude thereof progressively increases as time elapses. A pattern matching unit determines whether a comparative pattern, which is generated as a result of comparison between the res... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7852315 | Camera and acceleration based interface for presentations Systems and methods for a camera and acceleration based interface for presentations are described. In one aspect, a handheld device is utilized capture optical information. The optical information is then used to identify the location of a cursor that is presented o... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7852316 | Image processing method of pointer input system The present invention relates to an image processing method of a pointer input system. In the image processing method, a color channel image is generated from an image pickup device, so that image processing capability, the image processing efficiency and the data t... | 12/14/2010 |
