Abstract:
This invention describes an electronic device having a pointing device consisting of a first portion and a second portion. The second portion of the pointing device is separable from the first and is configured to be stored in an opening formed in the electronic device. The opening formed in the electronic device is configured to receive the second portion of the pointing device once the second portion of the pointing device is separated from the first. Additionally, a method for configuring the pointing device and storing the second portion of the pointing device inside of the electronic device is described.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an input device and more particularly to a mouse for an electronic device. 
     The first computers were introduced to the work place, in substantial numbers, in the early 1980&#39;s. Since then, the development and popularity of computers in the work place, especially desktop and laptop computers, have grown tremendously. Along side the development of these computers has been the development of pointing devices. One such pointing device is the computer mouse. 
     A computer mouse is a small hand held interactive input device that, when rolled over a flat surface, controls placement of a cursor displayed on a terminal attached to the computer. The mouse is typically attached to the computer by a wire, although in some modern designs, the mouse and computer are wirelessly coupled. The mouse is typically equipped with one or more control buttons. The buttons allow the user to interact with the computer by choosing various options, which typically appear in the form of icons displayed on the computer terminal. The mouse typically consists of a case which has a flat bottom containing a directional sensor for detecting movement of the mouse. 
     Various types of directional sensors for detecting movement of the mouse are commercially available including mechanical and optical sensors. A mouse containing a mechanical directional sensor (mechanical configuration) typically contains a rubber-coated ball on the underside of the case. As the mouse is moved, the ball contacts an electrical-mechanical sensor which detect the motion of the ball and converts this movement into electrical signals which are communicated to the computer. The mechanical configuration can be used on virtually any surface, although a smooth surface gives better results. 
     In contrast, a mouse containing an optical directional sensor works by registering the position of the mouse by emitting light onto the surface upon which the mouse rests. The light is reflected from the surface and captured by an optical sensor typically disposed adjacent to the light source. Movement of the mouse is electrically extracted from variation in the transmitted and reflected light and is communicated to the computer. Typically a special reflective mouse pad is used to reflect light more efficiently from the surface upon which the mouse rests, although in some modern designs a reflective mouse pad is not required. 
     A mouse is generally configured to be interfaced with both desktop and laptop computers. Laptop computers (“Laptop”), however, typically have a pointing device designed into an upper surface of the computer. Designs as such make the laptop more portable and allows operation of the computer in confined spaces. However, many operators of laptop computers enjoy the flexibility and comfort of using a “regular” mouse instead of the built-in pointing device (“laptop mouse”) because some users find a laptop mouse cumbersome to use and lacking in ergonomic design. To address this concern, some laptop computer manufactures have developed a miniature mouse that is affixed to a side of the laptop. This design, however, still limits the freedom the user has to move the mouse because the mouse is mechanically attached to the laptop. In this regard, there still remains a need for a mouse that can be used in conjunction with an electronic device such as a laptop computer that may be easily stowed, transported, and does not restrict the degree of freedom the operator has to move the mouse. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partial perspective of view of an electronic device, specifically a laptop computer, electrically coupled to a mouse. 
     FIG. 2 a  is a perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG.  1 . Here, a first mouse portion and a second mouse portion is revealed. 
     FIG. 2 b  is a bottom view of the mouse shown in FIG. 2 a  revealing the interface between the first mouse portion and the second mouse portion and a lever used to disconnect the first mouse portion from the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG. 2 a  where the first mouse portion has been separated from the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 4 a  is a close-up perspective view of the first mouse portion shown in FIG. 3 revealing rails for receiving the second mouse portion, fasteners for latching the second mouse portion and an electrical interconnect for electrically coupling the first mouse portion to the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 4 b  is a front view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 4 a.    
     FIG. 5 a  is a bottom view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 4 a . wherein both rails and fastener are clearly shown. 
     FIG. 5 b  is a bottom cross sectional view of the first mouse portion shown in FIG. 5 a  revealing a groove in which the lever is disposed. 
     FIG. 6 a  is a perspective view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 3 were grooves configured to receive the rails of the first mouse portion are revealed along side latch indentions to which fasteners attach. 
     FIG. 6 b  is a front view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 6 a  revealing symmetrical grooves formed on each side of the second mouse portion and a second interconnect which attaches to the first interconnect of the first mouse portion. 
     FIG. 6 c  is a bottom view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 6 a  revealing a mechanical directional sensor. 
     FIG. 6 d  is a bottom view of the second mouse portion shown in FIG. 6 c  revealing an optical directional sensor. 
     FIG. 7 is a flow chart describing the steps required to configure the mouse. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention wherein a wireless second mouse portion is inserted into a laptop computer that is configured to receive the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 9 is a process diagram describing a method for storing the second mouse portion in the laptop. 
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An aspect of the invention describes an electronic device having a pointing device consisting of a first portion and a second portion. The second portion is separable from the first portion of the pointing device and is configured to be stored in an opening formed in the electronic device. The opening formed in the electronic device is configured to receive the second portion of the pointing device when the second portion of the pointing device is separated from the first portion. The opening of the electronic device preferably has rails formed therein for guiding the second portion into the opening. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mouse  102  electrically coupled to a laptop computer (laptop)  100 . Although a laptop  100  is shown in FIG. 1, various electronic devices may be coupled to mouse  102  such as web appliances, palm computers and video games. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, mouse  102  consists of two parts referred to as a first mouse portion  106  and a second mouse portion  108 . 
     FIG. 2 a  is an enlarged perspective view of mouse  102  shown in FIG.  1 . Here, the second mouse portion  108  functions as a translational device for controlling the positioning of a cursor displayed on the laptop&#39;s monitor. The first mouse portion  106  is electrically dependent on the second mouse portion  108  whereas the first mouse portion  106  functions electrically independent of the second mouse portion  108 . The first mouse portion  108  functions preferably as an ergonomically designed hand rest or, alternatively, an auxiliary device such as a keypad, scanner, digital camera, video recorder, telephone, power supply or calculator. 
     FIG. 2 b  shows a bottom view of mouse  102  shown in FIG. 2 a . In this figure, first mouse portion  106  and second mouse portion  108  are connected. The second mouse portion  108  has a bottom surface  214  containing a sensor  208  used to detect movement of mouse  102 . The sensor converts the movement of mouse  102  into electrical signals, which are communicated to the laptop. The first mouse portion  106  contains a lever  210  that releases second mouse portion  108  from first mouse portion  106  when the lever  210  is pulled. 
     FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of mouse  102  previously described in FIG. 2 a  and FIG. 2 b . Here, the first mouse portion  106  has been separated from the second mouse portion  108 . Once mouse  102  is separated, the second mouse portion  108 , which is substantially smaller than the first mouse portion  106 , can still be used to control the laptop&#39;s cursor. The smaller size of the second mouse portion  108  makes for easy storage of the second mouse portion  108  within laptop  100 . 
     FIG. 4 a  shows an enlarged perspective view of first mouse portion  106  separated from second mouse portion  108 . In this figure, the first mouse portion  106  has an upper surface  409  and a slot  402  into which the second mouse portion  108  is inserted. The slot  402  has three lateral sidewalls as indicated by reference numbers  404 ,  406 , and  408  respectively. Sidewalls  404  and  406  are substantially parallel and are separated by width “w”. Sidewalls  406  and  404  are orthogonal to sidewall  408  and extend a distance “l 1 ” from sidewall  408 . Additionally, sidewalls  404  and  406  contain rails  400  that are used to guide the second mouse portion  108  into slot  402 . 
     Lateral sidewalls  404  and  406  also contain fasteners  410 , which are mechanically coupled to lever  210  (see FIG. 2 b ) that extends from sidewalls  404  and  406  inward towards slot  402 . The lever  210  has a fastener  410  attached thereto which firmly holds the second mouse portion  108  against side wall  408  once second mouse portion  108  is inserted. The fastener  410  extends from sidewalls  404  and  406  a distance approximately equal to distance d 1  of rails  400  (See FIG. 4 a ). The first mouse portion  106  shown in FIG. 4 a  has indentions  312  formed in upper surface  409 . The indentions  312  are positioned on the upper surface  409  such that the first mouse portion  106  will fit the natural curvature of the operator&#39;s hand and fingers. 
     Sidewall  408  shown in FIG. 4 a  contains a communications port  412 . The communications port  412  aligns with a complementary communications port located on the second mouse portion  108  such that when second mouse portion  108  is inserted into first mouse portion  106 , a continuous electrical path is formed. The communications port  412  allows the first mouse portion  106  and the second mouse portion  108  to communicate. In a preferred embodiment, the communications port  412  and communications link  104  are preferably coupled to a universal serial bus (USB). However, other standard communication interfaces such as an RS-232 or FireWire (IEEE 1394) may be used and still fall with the scope of the present invention. 
     The communications port  412  is also shown in FIG. 4 b , which is a cross section of FIG. 4 a . Here, both rails  400  are visible as well as fasteners  410 . From this view, the ergonomic design incorporating indentions  312  of upper surface  409  is also more visible. Additionally, Fig.4 b  illustrates the positioning of rails  400 . The rails  400  extend approximately length l 1  of lateral sidewalls  404  and  406  and protrude a distance “d 1 ” from lateral sidewalls  404  and  406  as shown in FIG. 4 b . The rails  400  are separated from fasteners  410  by distance “d 2 ”. This distance is sufficient to allow second mouse portion  108  to be easily inserted into the first mouse portion  106 . 
     FIG. 5 a  shows a bottom view of first mouse portion  106  shown in FIG. 4 a . In this figure, fasteners  410 , rails  400  and lever  210  are visible. FIG. 5 b  shows a cross-sectional view of first mouse portion  106  along the  5   b  perspective previously shown in FIG. 4 a . In this figure, the bottom surface  214  has been removed revealing lever  210  configured therein. The first mouse portion  106  contains, beneath bottom surface  214 , a groove  500  having inner walls  502  and outer walls  504  in which lever  210  is placed. In a preferred embodiment, lever  210  is made of wire although rigid plastic will work as well. The depth of groove  500  is greater than the thickness of the lever  210 , and the width of the groove is much greater than the width of lever  210 . Consequently, lever  210  freely moves within groove  500 . When the lever handle  211  is pulled forward as indicated by reference number  506  in FIG. 5 b , the fasteners  410  are force away from slot  402  by inner walls  502 . Once the fasteners  410  are recessed into the inner wall  502 , the second mouse portion  108  is released. 
     FIG. 6 a  shows a perspective view of the second mouse portion  108  shown in FIG.  3 . The second mouse portion  108  contains an upper surface  600 , bottom surface  602 , outer side walls  604 , a front end  606  and rear end  608 . A groove  610  is formed on outer sidewalls  604 . The groove  610  is configured to receive rails  400  of the first mouse portion  106  (See FIG. 4 a ). A latched indention  612  is formed on sidewall  604  below groove  610 . The latch indention  612  is configured to receive fastener  410  shown in FIG. 4 a . Upon sliding the second mouse portion  108  into the first mouse portion  106 , fastener  410  (see FIG. 5 a ) snaps into latch indention  612 . 
     FIG. 6 b  shows a planar view of second mouse portion  108  shown in FIG. 6 a . Here, front end  606  of second mouse portion  108  contains a second interconnect  614  which receives first interconnect  412  shown in FIG. 4 b . In a preferred embodiment, interconnect  614  is a female connector type and the corresponding connector  412  in FIG. 4 b  is a male connector type. A proper electrical connection is established between first mouse portion  106  and second mouse portion  108  when second mouse portion  108  is inserted into the first mouse portion  106  to the point where a snapping sound is heard. The snapping sound represents engagement of latch  412  and latch indention  612 . FIG. 6 b  further reveals groove  610  and latch indention  612  symmetrically formed on both sides of second mouse portion  108 . 
     FIG. 6 c  is a bottom view of second mouse portion  108  shown in FIG. 6 a . Here, the sensor  208  consists of a ball  600  which, upon movement of the second mouse portion  108 , engages circuitry disposed in the second mouse portion  108 . The circuitry converts mechanical movement of the ball  600  to electrical signals that are communicated to the electronic device through communications link  104 . In one embodiment of the present invention, electrical signals are bilaterally transmitted to the electronic device via wireless communication. Likewise, the laptop communicates wirelessly with the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 6 d  is a bottom view of another embodiment of second mouse portion  108  shown in FIG. 6 a . In this embodiment, the sensor  208  is an optical device which monitors movement of the second mouse portion  108 . The optical device contains a photo diode system that receives repeated images of the surface on which the mouse rests and extracts from those images movement of second mouse portion  108 . The extracted data is communicated to the laptop  100  wirelessly or via communications link  104 . In one embodiment, a rechargeable battery  616 , used to power electronics enclosed within second mouse portion  108 , is provided. 
     FIG. 7 is a process diagram providing steps for configuring mouse  102 . First, a first mouse portion is provided as illustrated by reference number  700  in FIG.  7 . Next, a second mouse portion is provided  702 . The first mouse portion is then inserted into the second mouse portion  704 . The first mouse portion and second mouse portion are pressed firmly together  706  until a clicking sound is heard  708 . The clicking sound indicates that the first mouse portion has properly engaged the second mouse portion. 
     FIG. 8 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention where the laptop  100  has an opening  801  for receiving second mouse portion  108 . The opening  801  contains storage rails  800  and a latch  810  analogous to the rails  400  and latch  410  shown in FIG. 4 a . The opening  801  is configured similarly to slot  402 . For example, opening  801  contains a male connector type interconnect configured to receive the female connector type interconnect  614  when second mouse portion  108  is inserted. Additionally, the rechargeable battery  616  contained within an embodiment of second mouse portion  108  is rechargeable upon inserting second mouse portion  108  into laptop  100 . 
     FIG. 9 shows a process diagram describing a method for storing the second mouse portion in laptop  100 . This process begins by providing a laptop as indicated by reference number  900 . Next, a first mouse portion is provided  902  followed by a second mouse portion  904 . The second mouse portion and first mouse portion are separated  906 . The second mouse portion is then inserted into opening  801  of laptop  100  shown in FIG. 8 by aligning storage rails  800  with groove  610 . This step is indicated by reference number  908  in FIG.  9 . The second mouse portion is pressed firmly into opening  801  until a clicking sound is heard  910 . The clicking sound indicates that the second mouse portion has properly engaged  912  the communications port located within opening  801 . With the communications port properly engaged, battery  616  is recharged.