Abstract:
The present invention hides the mouse cord thus allowing for better desktop space management and greater use satisfaction. It also provides for easy integration of computer mouse capability with other devices to enhance portability. Sensing components other than optical and ball-based can also be used, as well as sensing components may also be hidden to increase durability. The present invention also enables using moving boards to be used as computer mouse by defining different operations base on combinations of keys being pressed and/or touched together with movement signals of the moving boards. Such approach also makes dual position encoder operations possible and allows for parallel computer screen operations.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a divisional of copending U.S. utility application entitled, “Position Encoder System” having Applicaion No. 09/694833, filed 24 Oct. 2000, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
         [0003]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    This invention is directed generally to input device for computer systems, and specifically to cursor control device for computers having interactive display screen.  
           [0005]    As more functions can be packed with new technologies, machines can be made more powerful while their sizes are conversely becoming smaller. However, more sophisticated operations often require more complicate inputs to accomplish. The ability of performing more functions will be influenced by the ability of providing inputs to designate those functions. More powerful methods for providing inputs are desired.  
           [0006]    Computer systems such as graphical display systems often require directional and displacement information to designate some operations. Computer mouse, joysticks, track-balls as well as keyboards are often used to provide directional and displacement inputs for computer systems. Joysticks are good for inputting directional information, but not displacement information. Track-balls are not responsive enough to conveniently represent long displacement information. Keyboard buttons such as the arrow keys are slow and inefficient to provide directional or displacement information. Joysticks, track-balls, keyboard buttons as well as some other input devices are difficult to provide inputs to designate some operations such as dragging and rotation both of which require moving the input device and pressing some buttons simultaneously. The present invention can perform most operations quickly and comfortably. And the present invention can provide for movement and button pressed signals at the same time easily.  
           [0007]    Conventional computer mouse are more capable of providing directional and displacement information than other types of conventional input devices. However, conventional computer mouse requires cords to link the mouse with computer systems. Such mouse cords often obstruct the movement of mouse and cause nuisance to the users during operation. Cordless computer mouse, on the other hand, require signal receivers to be installed properly. Because cordless computer mouse are not fastened, they may be damaged by falling over from the tables on which they operate. Cordless computer mouse are also more expensive. The present invention enables inexpensive solutions to make computer mouse that are fastened and do not have the problem of mouse cords obstructing the movement of the mouse.  
           [0008]    Conventional wheel base computer mouse suffer from difficult maintenance largely because they are affected by surrounding dirt. Wheel base mouse require moving the wheels over open surfaces, and in order to provide sufficient friction the wheels are often made with material that would easily pick up dirt as they roll. The sensitivity of the mouse would be severely affected by the dirt, as well as moving the mouse will become more difficult. Conventional optical mouse have similar less sever problem in that the mouse bottom surfaces have to be kept clean in order to move smoothly. On the other hand, the surfaces upon which conventional mouse both with and without cords move have to be kept clean all the time.  
           [0009]    The input devices made using the present invention are almost maintenance free, and are very durable. The sensors can often be built within close regions of the input devices, and many different types of durable sensors may be used. Besides, the present invention can easily exploit high sensitive sensors to provide accurate and responsive feedback.  
           [0010]    Computer systems may improve the computer operations if different set of directional and displacement signals can be provided. For example, the tasks of scrolling the display contents vertically and horizontally, moving a display objects on the screen from one position to another, selecting screen objects over a set of objects, and the like, all of these operations can be much quickly performed if each of these operations can be easily achieved by different set of directional and displacement signals. The present invention makes creative use of hand gesture to distinguish signals being generated. In this way, many distinguishable directional and displacement information can be produced simply by changing hand gesture, and thus many conventional computer mouse can be emulated quickly and easily. A particular emulated computer mouse signal can be designated for a specific operation. The present invention thus provides a convenient way for the user to quickly and easily select required operations by simply changing the hand gesture.  
           [0011]    Desktop space management is also important for work efficiency and user satisfaction. In some situations, desktop space requirement may turn a solution into impractical. For instance, a small table may not be sufficient to accommodate a computer screen, keyboard, mouse and joystick at the same time. Besides the bodies of these devices requires desktop space, a fair amount of desktop space is needed for the connecting cords to pass through. Moreover, mouse cords require considerable desktop space in order to let move freely. The present invention saves desktop space by allowing integration of computer keyboard, mouse and joystick into a single unit, and uses only a single cord which is also strategically hidden.  
           [0012]    The design of conventional computer mouse also makes difficult to integrate computer mouse with other device. The present invention makes innovative use of cavities to hide communication links while allowing to move freely. The fact that cavity naturally exists allows the present invention to be easily integrated with many device. In particular, the present invention enables seamless integration of keyboards with mouse without requiring additional space. The present invention may also be incorporated in strategic fix position, and thus can be easily accessed for operation. Arm movements would be almost eliminated, as well as eye, head and shoulder movements are also greatly reduced, thus increasing efficiency while lowering fatigue caused. The tight integration of the present invention with other devices also simplify the installation process required to correct these devices with the associate systems. Transportation and handling of the integrated devices would also be easier.  
           [0013]    Providing too wide a space for movement of an input device may not be as necessary as one would think. Longer movement can often be broken down into repetitive smaller movements. That is, instead of moving an input device such as a computer mouse over a long distance in order to move the mouse pointer from one location on the screen to another, user tends to move a short distance and then lifts the mouse back to the original position to move again. Moving over a longer distance requires arm movement and thus may cause fatigue of the arm. In particular, moving a mouse forward away from the user and backward to the user over a long distance is difficult. Indeed, an vertical and horizontal moving distances as small as 2 cm×3 cm, respectively, would be enough for most operations. The present invention makes innovative use of cavity to provide maximum moving distance while requiring minimum space for housing the present invention.  
           [0014]    Because most operations can be achieved mainly by using the hand, work load are thus concentrated on the muscles of the hand, and thus fatigue may be caused to the hand if the present invention is used continuously for a long period. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is a top view of a mouse station and bottom view of a tailless mouse taken away from a mouse station.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a rear view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a rear view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line  6 - 6  of FIG. 4.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is a side view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is another side view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 9 is a top view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 10 is another top view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 11 is a top view of the inside of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 12 is a section view of a tailless mouse module taken along line  12  of FIG. 9.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 13 is another section view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 14 is a top view of a conventional mouse on a mouse station.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 15 is a top view of a conventional mouse placed next to a mouse station.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 16 are views of several platform surfaces and mouse bottoms designs.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 17 is a diagram showing relative vertical movement of a platform hole with a mouse bottom design.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 18 is a diagram showing relative horizontal movement of a platform hole with a mouse bottom design.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 19 is a top view of one type of platform surface.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 20 is a section view of one design of a link member.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 21 is a section view of another design of a link member.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 23 is a section view of a tailless mouse module taken along line  23 - 23  in FIG. 22.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 24-FIG. 25 are section views showing a tailless mouse moving forward on a mouse station.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 26 is a section view showing a tailless mouse moving upward on a mouse station.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 27 is a bottom view of one design of a tailless mouse bottom.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a mouse link.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 29 is a top view of a platform surface.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 30 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 31 is a rear view of tailless mouse module in FIG. 30.  
         [0045]    FIGS.  32 -FIG. 34 are section views showing tailless mouse in FIG. 30 moving forward on a mouse station.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 35 is a section view showing tailless mouse in FIG. 30 moving upward on a mouse station.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 36 is a top view of a platform surface.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 37 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 38 is a section view of tailless mouse in FIG. 37 resting on a mouse station.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 39 is a perspective view of one design of a mouse link.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 40 is a top view of one design of a platform surface.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 41 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 42 is a section view of tailless mouse module taken along line  42 - 42  of FIG. 41.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 43 is another section view of tailless mouse module in FIG. 41.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 44 is one design of a platform surface.  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 45 is one design of a mouse link.  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 46 is one design of the bottom of a tailless mouse.  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 47 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module.  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 48 is a section view taken along line  48 - 48  in FIG. 47 showing a link member with sensing components.  
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 49 is a perspective view of a link member inside a mouse bottom and platform surface.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 50-FIG. 51 are section views showing a tailless mouse using link member in FIG. 49 moving forward on a platform surface.  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 52 is a section view showing a tailless mouse using link member in FIG. 49 moving upward on a platform surface.  
         [0063]    [0063]FIG. 53 is a perspective view showing one design of a position encoder system in the present invention.  
         [0064]    [0064]FIG. 54 is another perspective view of position encoder in FIG. 53 with a member removed.  
         [0065]    [0065]FIG. 55 includes a section view taken along line  55 - 55  in FIG. 54.  
         [0066]    [0066]FIG. 56 is a section view taken along line  56 - 56  in FIG. 54.  
         [0067]    [0067]FIG. 57 is a section view taken along line  57 - 57  in FIG. 53.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 58 is a top view of a tailless module integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0069]    [0069]FIG. 59 is another top view of tailless module in FIG. 58.  
         [0070]    [0070]FIG. 60 showing a tailless mouse placed next to a keyboard.  
         [0071]    [0071]FIG. 61 is a top view of a conventional computer mouse placed on an integrated keyboard and mouse module device.  
         [0072]    [0072]FIG. 62 is a top view when a conventional computer mouse placed next to an integrated keyboard and mouse module device.  
         [0073]    [0073]FIG. 63 is a rear view of a tailless mouse module integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0074]    [0074]FIG. 64 is a top view of a tailless mouse module integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0075]    [0075]FIG. 65 includes top view of 2 mouse boards, and a top view of an arm support.  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 66 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse module with 2 mouse boards on a keyboard case.  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 67 is are bottom views of 2 mouse boards in FIG. 66  
         [0078]    [0078]FIG. 68 shows a perspective view of one design of a mouse link.  
         [0079]    [0079]FIG. 69 shows another perspective view of one design of a mouse link.  
         [0080]    [0080]FIG. 70 shows another perspective view of one design of a mouse link supporting multiple connections.  
         [0081]    [0081]FIG. 71 are side views of 2 mouse boards, a tailless mouse and a keyboard case.  
         [0082]    [0082]FIG. 72 is an enlarged top view of a mouse board.  
         [0083]    [0083]FIG. 73 is an enlarged top view of another mouse board.  
         [0084]    [0084]FIG. 74 is a top view of another design of 2 mouse boards integrated with a tailless mouse.  
         [0085]    [0085]FIG. 75 is a top view of one design of 2 mouse boards.  
         [0086]    [0086]FIG. 76 is a top view of the 2 mouse boards being moved apart.  
         [0087]    [0087]FIG. 77 shows the top view of a supporting platform and the bottom views of 2 mouse boards.  
         [0088]    [0088]FIG. 78 shows the side views of 2 mouse boards and the supporting platform.  
         [0089]    [0089]FIG. 79 shows the side views of another design of 2 mouse boards and the supporting platform.  
         [0090]    [0090]FIG. 80 is an enlarged top view of a mouse board.  
         [0091]    [0091]FIG. 81 is an enlarged top view of another mouse board.  
         [0092]    [0092]FIG. 82 is an enlarged top view of another mouse board.  
         [0093]    [0093]FIG. 83 is an enlarged top view of another mouse board.  
         [0094]    [0094]FIG. 84 is a top view of a mouse board integrated with a tailless mouse.  
         [0095]    [0095]FIG. 85 shows the top view of a supporting platform and the bottom view of a mouse board.  
         [0096]    [0096]FIG. 86 is an enlarged top view of another mouse board.  
         [0097]    [0097]FIG. 87 is a top view of a mouse board integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0098]    [0098]FIG. 88 shows the top view of a supporting platform and the bottom view of a mouse board in FIG. 87.  
         [0099]    [0099]FIG. 89 is an enlarged top view of the mouse board in FIG. 87.  
         [0100]    [0100]FIG. 90 is a top view of a mouse board integrated with keyboard.  
         [0101]    [0101]FIG. 91 is a top view of a supporting platform.  
         [0102]    [0102]FIG. 92 is an enlarged top view of a mouse board.  
         [0103]    [0103]FIG. 93 is a bottom view of mouse board in FIG. 92.  
         [0104]    [0104]FIG. 94 is top view of a tailless mouse integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0105]    [0105]FIG. 95 is an enlarged top view of platform surface in FIG. 94.  
         [0106]    [0106]FIG. 96 is an enlarged bottom view of tailless mouse in FIG. 94.  
         [0107]    [0107]FIG. 97 is a to view of a tailless mouse integrated with a keyboard having a different layout.  
         [0108]    [0108]FIG. 98 is an enlarged top view of portion of a keyboard and supporting platform surface for a tailless mouse.  
         [0109]    [0109]FIG. 99 is one design of a mouse board integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0110]    [0110]FIG. 100 is an enlarged top view of mouse board in FIG. 99.  
         [0111]    [0111]FIG. 101 is one design of 2 mouse boards.  
         [0112]    [0112]FIG. 102 shows the internal layout of a mouse link for mouse boards in FIG. 101.  
         [0113]    [0113]FIG. 103 is a side view of mouse boards in FIG. 101 being folded upward.  
         [0114]    [0114]FIG. 104 is a section view of mouse boards in FIG. 101.  
         [0115]    [0115]FIG. 105 is another section view of mouse boards in FIG. 101.  
         [0116]    [0116]FIG. 106 is an enlarged top view of one of the mouse boards in FIG. 101.  
         [0117]    [0117]FIG. 107 is an enlarged top view of the other mouse board in FIG. 101.  
         [0118]    [0118]FIG. 108 shows a top view of a mouse board integrated with a keyboard.  
         [0119]    [0119]FIG. 109 is an enlarged top view of a mouse board in FIG. 108.  
         [0120]    [0120]FIG. 110 is a perspective view of a tailless mouse integrated with a notebook computer.  
         [0121]    [0121]FIG. 111 is a perspective view of another design of a tailless mouse integrated with a notebook computer.  
         [0122]    [0122]FIG. 112 is a perspective view of 2 mouse boards integrated with a notebook computer.  
         [0123]    [0123]FIG. 113 is a perspective view of another design of 2 mouse boards integrated with a notebook computer.  
         [0124]    [0124]FIG. 114 is a perspective view showing the 2 mouse boards in FIG. 113 being moved apart.  
         [0125]    [0125]FIG. 115 shows the supporting surface of the notebook computer in FIG. 113.  
         [0126]    [0126]FIG. 116 shows the bottom view of one of the mouse boards in FIG. 113.  
         [0127]    [0127]FIG. 117 shows the bottom view of the other mouse board in FIG. 113.  
         [0128]    [0128]FIG. 118 shows an enlarged perspective view of one of the mouse boards in FIG. 113.  
         [0129]    [0129]FIG. 119 shows an enlarged perspective view of the other mouse boards in FIG. 113.  
         [0130]    [0130]FIG. 120 shows an position encoder system in the present invention integrated with a hand-held computer.  
         [0131]    [0131]FIG. 121 shows a tailless mouse integrated with a remote controller for a machine.  
         [0132]    [0132]FIG. 122 shows the supporting platform surface of a remote controller for a machine.  
         [0133]    [0133]FIG. 123 shows the bottom view of the tailless mouse in FIG. 121.  
         [0134]    [0134]FIG. 124 shows an enlarged top view of the tailless mouse in FIG. 121. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0135]    [0135]FIG. 1 shows the perspective view of a tailless mouse module of the present invention. A tailless mouse module consists of a handle and housing which are called a tailless mouse and mouse station, respectively. A tailless mouse module may exist itself or be attached to another device such as a computer keyboard or notebook computer. A mouse station has a platform surface on which a tailless mouse operates. A tailless mouse usually operates on a mouse station, however, there are designs that allow tailless mouse to be easily converted to operate in the same way as conventional computer mouse, that is, without requiring mouse stations.  
         [0136]    [0136]FIG. 1 shows tailless mouse  101  resting on a mouse station  102 . The mouse  101  can move in any direction coplanar to the surface of platform  103 . The wrist support  104  is used to support the wrist of an user while operating the mouse. The wrist support  104  is optional. The cable  114  has one end connected to the mouse station, and the other end has two plugs  115  and  116 . The cable  114  is used to convey the signals generated from mouse  101 , as well as an external device such as a computer keyboard, to a computer system.  
         [0137]    [0137]FIG. 2 shows the top view of mouse station  102  and the bottom view of mouse  101 . In this design, most of the mouse bottom area is taken to form a cavity  106 . A mouse bottom cavity or hole is formed when portion of the mouse bottom surface is missing or indented inwards to the body of the mouse. A communication means which is the mouse cord  105  in this design with one end attached to the top of the cavity passes through a hole  107  on platform  103  into the mouse station. In this way, the mouse cord comes out from the bottom of a tailless mouse as differed from a conventional mouse where mouse cord comes out sideways of the mouse. A movement sensor  108  is positioned near the top edge of the tailless mouse, whereas conventional mouse usually position the movement sensors around the centre region of the mouse bottom. Other movement sensor such as optical movement sensor can be used instead of wheel base sensor, in which case the platform  103  can be changed to provide optical image needed by the optical sensor.  
         [0138]    [0138]FIG. 3 shows the rear view of mouse station  102  and tailless mouse  101 . The notch  109  is to be used to hold the mouse cord  105  when mouse  101  is taken away from the mouse station and operated as a conventional mouse, as shown in FIG. 10. The notch  110  is used to hold the cable of an external device such as cable  119  shown in FIG. 11. The notch  111  is used to hold a mouse cord of a conventional mouse when which is operated on the mouse station, as shown in FIG. 14. The opening  117  allows the cable of an external device such as a computer keyboard to pass through.  
         [0139]    [0139]FIG. 4 shows an enlarged bottom view of mouse  101 , and FIG. 5 shows the rear view of mouse  101 . The openings  112  and  113  allows the mouse cord  105  to pass through when mouse  101  operates on a surface such as a desk, as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view along the centre of mouse  101 .  
         [0140]    [0140]FIG. 7 shows the side view of mouse  101  when operates over a mouse station (not shown). It shows that the mouse cord  105  comes out from underneath of the mouse. FIG. 8 shows the side view of mouse  101  when operates over a surface. It shows that the mouse cord  105  may come out from the rear through the openings  112  or  113  shown in FIG. 5. In this way, mouse  101  can function in the same way as a conventional mouse.  
         [0141]    [0141]FIG. 9 shows the top view of mouse  101  resting on mouse station  102 . FIG. 10 shows the top view of mouse  101  operating as a conventional computer mouse. It shows that the mouse cord  105  can be hold by the notch  109  at the edge of mouse station  102 .  
         [0142]    [0142]FIG. 11 depicts the top view of mouse station  102  with platform  103  lifted up. It also includes the bottom view of mouse  101 . The converter  118  is a simple converter accepting the mouse cord  105  and an external cable  119 . The signals are conveyed by the combination cable  114  which has the other end split into plugs  115  and  116 . Plugs  115  and  116  can plug into a computer system.  
         [0143]    [0143]FIG. 12 depicts a cross-sectional view taken along line  12  in FIG. 9 showing how the mouse cord  105  comes out from underneath the mouse  101  passing through the cavity  106  and platform hole  107  into mouse station  102 .  
         [0144]    [0144]FIG. 13 shows the same view as FIG. 12, but adding a rope  120  that has one end secured with the mouse  101  and the other end secured with the mouse station. Rope  120  is used to prohibit the mouse  101  from taken away such as when the device is used in public area. The rope  102  forms one type of mouse link in the present invention.  
         [0145]    [0145]FIG. 14 shows how a conventional computer mouse  121  may also operate on mouse station  102 . The mouse cord  122  may pass over the top edge and goes into the mouse station through the opening  117  shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0146]    [0146]FIG. 15 depicts how the conventional computer mouse  121  may be operated when taken away from the mouse station. It also shows a platform  123  without platform hole may replace the platform  103  for use with the conventional mouse.  
         [0147]    [0147]FIG. 16 depicts alternate designs for platforms labelled as  124 ,  125 ,  126 ,  127 ,  128  and  129  with different shapes of platform holes except platform  127  with no platform hole. Platform  127  is to be used with a conventional computer mouse. FIG. 16 also includes alternate designs for mouse bottoms labelled as  131 ,  132 ,  133 ,  134 ,  135  and  136  with different mouse bottom cavities and movement sensor locations. Note that, different types of movement sensors may be used. If optical movement sensor is used as shown in mouse  137 , the corresponding platform should be marked with suitable optical marks to be read by the optical sensor, as in platform  126  with optical marks  130 .  
         [0148]    Different shapes of mouse bottom cavities and mouse platforms may be used provided that the mouse cord can always pass throw the mouse bottom cavity and mouse platform hole at any position the mouse may move, as well as the movement sensor will not be disabled by the platform hole also at any position the mouse may move.  
         [0149]    [0149]FIG. 17 is used to describe the relationship between the vertical dimensions of one design of tailless mouse and platform. In the figure, a mouse bottom is shown superimposed with the platform hole drawn as dashed boxes at 2 positions between lines L3 and L5 as well as L6 and L8. In this design, the mouse movement sensor is located near the top edge of the mouse bottom as shown between L2 and L4 with vertical dimension a+b. The rectangular platform hole between lines L3 and L5 represents the relative position of the mouse bottom with the platform hole when the mouse is moved to the lowest vertical position. If the mouse is to be moved up for a vertical length of v, the platform hole will relatively move downwards a length of v. Thus, the rectangular platform hole between line L6 and L9 represents the relative position of the mouse bottom with the platform hole when the mouse is moved to the highest vertical position. The length s between lines L4 and L5 as well as L6 and L7 represents the length required by the communication link such as a mouse cord to pass through. The length c between lines L8 and L9 is optional. In this design, if the mouse is to hide the platform hole in the vertical direction wherever the mouse may move, then:  
         [0150]    length of mouse bottom cavity=length between lines L4 and L7  
         [0151]    =v−b+s  
         [0152]    length of mouse platform hole=b+s  
         [0153]    length of mouse bottom=a+b+s+v+c  
         [0154]    length of mouse platform=v+length of mouse bottom  
         [0155]    =2v+a+b+c+s  
         [0156]    vertical position of platform hole=line L5 from L9  
         [0157]    =v+c  
         [0158]    If v=3, a=b=1.5, c=2 and s=0.4, then the length of mouse bottom and platform will be 8.4 and 11.4 respectively. The length of mouse bottom cavity and mouse platform hole will be both 1.9. And the vertical position of the platform hole on the platform is at L5, or 5, from the platform boundary.  
         [0159]    [0159]FIG. 18 is used to describe the relationship between the horizontal dimensions of one design of mouse and platform. The 2 dashed boxes between the lines M2 and M3 as well as M5 and M7 represents the positions of the platform hole relative to the mouse bottom when which is moved to extreme right and left positions, respectively. In this design, the maximum horizontal displacement h of the mouse is from M1 to M2. The width t between lines M3 and M4 as well as M5 and M6 represents the width required by a communication link such as a mouse cord to pass through. The width d between the lines M2 and M3 as well as M6 and M7 is the width of the mouse bottom left and right edges respectively. In this design, if the mouse is to hide the platform hole in the horizontal direction wherever the mouse may move, then:  
               width                 of                 the                 mouse                 bottom                =            h   +   t   +   d                   width                 of                 the                 mouse                 bottom                 cavity                =            h   -   d   +   t                   width                 of                 the                 platform                =       2      h     +   t   +   d                         horizontal                 position                 of                 platform                 hole     =     line                 M2                 from                 M1                 =   h                                     
 
         [0160]    For example, if h=5, t=0.4 and d=1, then the width of the mouse bottom, mouse bottom cavity and platform would be 6.4, 4.4 and 11.4 respectively. And the horizontal position of the platform hole will be at 5 from the platform boundary.  
         [0161]    Note that hiding the platform hole wherever a tailless mouse moves is not a must. If it does, it can provide a better look and feel, as well as preventing dirt from getting into the platform.  
         [0162]    [0162]FIG. 19 depicts the top view of another design of a platform  151  which has a conical shape platform hole  154 . FIG. 20 depicts the cross-sectional view of a mouse link  152  in the present invention. Mouse Link  152  composes of 2 cylindrical tubes with one extended from inside of the other. The ends of the thus formed tube are wider than the tube body. FIG. 21 shows the cross-sectional view of an alternate mouse link  153  that can also be used with platform  151 .  
         [0163]    A mouse link in the present invention is used to link the handle with the housing, that is to link a tailless mouse with the mouse station. As will be described later, mouse links can also serve as movement sensors. Mouse link inhibits a mouse from being taken away from a mouse station, however, a mouse link will not obstruct the movement of the mouse. Mouse links also usually allow communication means to pass through from the mouse to the mouse stations. Mouse links can avoid tailless mouse from falling off the mouse stations during operation or in situations such as transportation. Mouse link can also be used to prevent a mouse from stolen such as when the mouse is used in public areas.  
         [0164]    [0164]FIG. 22 shows a perspective view of a mouse  155  to be used with platform  151  and mouse link  153  (not shown).  
         [0165]    [0165]FIG. 23 to FIG. 26 illustrate how mouse  155  designed for use with platform  151  and mouse links  152  or  153  on mouse station  102  may be moved along the forward and up directions. Similarly, mouse  155  may be moved left or right (not shown). In FIG. 23, mouse  155  rests near the bottom edge of platform  151 . FIG. 24 shows the mouse being moved to near the centre of platform  151  and FIG. 25 to near the top edge of platform  151 . FIG. 26 shows the mouse  155  may be lifted up a distance from platform  151 . Because the ends of mouse link  153  are wider and thus cannot be taken out of the mouse bottom nor the platform hole, the mouse is thus locked with the mouse station. Note that, the mouse platform should also be locked (not shown) to the mouse station, if the mouse and mouse platform are required to resist from strong pulling force.  
         [0166]    [0166]FIG. 27 shows the bottom view of one design of a mouse  201 . In this design, the mouse movement sensor  202  is located near the top edge of the mouse bottom. And there is a rectangular hole  203  located around the centre of the mouse bottom. FIG. 28 shows the perspective view of a mouse link  204  for use with mouse  201 . Mouse Link  204  is I-shaped with 2 flat plates  205  and  206  at the ends and a hollow tube  207  in between. FIG. 29 shows a platform  208  for use with mouse  201  and mouse link  204 . Platform  208  has a square hole  209  around the centre of the platform.  
         [0167]    [0167]FIG. 30 shows the perspective view of mouse  201  used with platform  208  and mouse link  204  (not shown) on mouse station  210 . Mouse station  210  has platform  208  placed at the same level with wrist support  211 .  
         [0168]    [0168]FIG. 31 shows the rear view of mouse  201  and mouse station  210 . There is an opening  212  to allow cables of external devices such as a computer keyboard to pass into the mouse station. The notch  213  may also be used to hold the cable of an external device, and the notch  214  may be used to hold the cord of a conventional mouse when which is used with the mouse station  210 .  
         [0169]    [0169]FIG. 32 to FIG. 35 illustrate how mouse  201  may be moved forward and up on platform  208  with mouse link  204 . Similarly, mouse  201  may be moved left or right (not shown). In FIG. 32, mouse  201  rests near the bottom edge of platform  208 . In FIG. 33, mouse  201  is moved to around the centre of platform  208 , and in FIG. 34, mouse  201  is moved to near the top edge of platform  208 . In FIG. 35, mouse  201  is lifted upward. In this design, mouse link  204  has one end freely moveable within the mouse bottom cavity  203  in any direction, and another end freely moveable within the platform hole  209  also in any direction.  
         [0170]    [0170]FIG. 36 shows a platform  251  to be used with mouse  252  shown in FIG. 37. Platform  251  also has a rectangular hole around the centre of the platform. Mouse  252  has an inverted T-shape mouse link  253  secured underneath mouse  252 . A movement sensor  254  is secured to the mouse link as shown in FIG. 38. In this design of the present invention, there is no mouse bottom cavity. Mouse link  253  has one end capable of moving in any direction within the cavity formed by the platform hole  255 . In other words, mouse  252  may be moved in any direction over the platform  251  including being lifted upwards.  
         [0171]    On the other hand, another design may be to reverse the locations of the mouse link  253  and platform hole  255 . That is, the platform hole  255  would be found on the bottom of mouse  252  thus making a mouse bottom cavity. And the mouse link  253  would be secured to the surface of platform  251 . This design would be similar to invert FIG. 38 upside down. In this way, the mouse (the mouse station  210  in FIG. 38) would be able to move in any direction over the platform (the mouse bottom surface of mouse  252  in FIG. 38) provided that the boundary of the mouse bottom cavity (the platform hole  255  in FIG. 38) is allowed to move without hitting the mouse link. Also noted in this design is that there is no platform hole on the platform surface. This reviews that the cavity where the communication means passes through or the mouse link moves around may be provided by either the mouse bottom or the mouse station, or both.  
         [0172]    [0172]FIG. 39 shows a mouse  301  underneath which has secured a mouse link  302 . It also includes a mouse position sensor  303 . When the mouse  301  moves along axle  304 , the position of contact of plate  305  with plate  306  will vary and thus change the electrical resistance of the circuit from  310  to  306  to  305  and to  311 . Such change of electrical resistance can be detected by another sensor to determine the position of mouse  301  along the direction of axle  304 . Similarly, when the position of mouse  301  along the direction of axle  307  may be determined by the change of contact between plate  308  and  309  using the circuit from  312  to  309  to  308  and to  313 .  
         [0173]    [0173]FIG. 40 shows the top view of platform  314  to be used with mouse  301 . Platform  314  has a rectangular opening  315  around the centre of the platform.  
         [0174]    [0174]FIG. 41 shows a perspective view of mouse  301  resting on platform  314  on mouse station  316  which has a switch  317 . The sensor  303  can generate continuous and absolute positional signals and thus mouse  301  may also be used as a joystick. Switch  317  is used to select the device between a computer mouse and joystick. Also, the outgoing end of cable  318  is divided into 3 plugs  319 ,  320  and  321 . Socket  319  conveys signals generated by the device when which is selected as a joystick. Socket  320  conveys signals of an external device that connects with the device. And socket  321  conveys signals generated by the device when which is selected as a computer mouse.  
         [0175]    [0175]FIGS. 42 and 43 shows the cross-sectional views taken from line  42  of FIG. 41. FIG. 42 reviews that a sensor unit  322  is equipped on the bottom of mouse  301 . Sensor unit  322  is used to detect when mouse  301  is lifted up platform  314 , in which case sensor unit  322  will fall downwards touching plate  323 . A circuitry on plate  323  can thus be activated to inform the device that the mouse is lifted up. FIG. 43 depicts how communication wires can go from the mouse  301  through mouse link  303  into mouse station  316 .  
         [0176]    [0176]FIG. 44 shows the top view of a platform  351  with a narrow rectangular opening  352  near the centre of the platform. FIG. 45 shows an I-shape mouse link  353  that has one end with a plate  355  and the other end with an opening  354 . A second plate  356  is secured near the end with the opening. A hollow tube  365  connects the plates  355  and  356 . FIG. 46 shows the bottom view of a mouse  357  that has a narrow rectangular opening  358  near the centre of the bottom.  
         [0177]    [0177]FIG. 47 shows a perspective view of mouse  357  resting on platform  351  on mouse station  102  with mouse link  353  (not shown). FIG. 48 shows the perspective view taken at line  48  of FIG. 47. In also depicts 2 optical sensors  359  and  368  secured on plates  355  and  356  respectively. Within mouse  357 , there is a wall  360  on which is marked with optical marks  363  to be read by sensor  359 . There are also 2 walls  361  and  362  extended from underneath platform  351 . Optical marks (not shown) are marked on  361  to be read by sensor  368 . Instead of optical sensor, other sensor such as similar to the one shown in FIG. 39 may be used.  
         [0178]    [0178]FIG. 49 is a portion of the expanded perspective view of mouse link  353  within mouse  357  and mouse station  102  showing how mouse link  353  can move in the cavities formed by opening  358  on the bottom of mouse  357  and opening  352  on platform  351 . The mouse bottom shown at the upper portion of the figure can be moved along the directions identified by the arrows  366  relative to mouse link  353 . And the bottom of mouse  357  together with mouse link  353  can be moved along the directions identified by the arrows  367  relative to the surface of platform  351  shown at the bottom portion of the figure.  
         [0179]    [0179]FIG. 50 to FIG. 52 show the cross-sectional views taken in the same way as FIG. 48 which is along line  48  on FIG. 47. They further describe how mouse  357  may be moved along the opening  358  on the bottom of the mouse, as well as lifted up the platform  351 . Similarly (not shown), mouse  357  together with mouse link  353  may move along the opening  352  on platform  351 . In effect, mouse  357  can be moved freely in all directions coplanar to the surface of platform  351 , as well as being lifted upwards. FIG. 50 shows mouse  357  at a position near the bottom edge of platform  351 . FIG. 51 shows mouse  357  is moved to near the top edge of platform  351 . And FIG. 52 shows mouse  357  is lifted up from the platform  351 . When mouse  357  is lifted up, the optical sensors are automatically disabled because they no longer can read the optical images.  
         [0180]    [0180]FIG. 53 shows one embodiment of a positional decoder  401  in the present invention. It consists of a mouse station  402  on which a slide switch  403  may slide in one dimension along the opening  414 . A second slide switch  404  may slide in a second dimension over slide switch  403 . A rotary button  405  is mounted on slide switch  404 . An user may hold rotary button  405  and move it along the directions identified by arrows  406  and  407 , thereby moving rotary button  405  in any direction coplanar to the plane  413  of mouse station  402 . Sensors (not shown) such as that described in FIG. 39 may be built into the device to detect the positions of slide switches  403  and  404 , thereby producing positional information along 2 dimensions. Rotary button  405  can be pressed, which can be detected such as by means of making contact with unit  411  shown in FIG. 54 and thus connecting a circuit. Rotary button  405  may also be lifted upward slightly, which can also be detected such as by means of losing contact with unit  411  and thus disconnecting a circuit. Rotary button  405  may be rotated in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions thereby generating rotational information in both directions to a host computer. Rotary button  405  may be also rotated to point at 3 positions labelled as  408 ,  409  and  410 . When rotary button  405  is pressed, depending on the position it points, it will generate different signals that would correspond to mouse buttons on conventional computer mouse. And when rotary button  405  is lifted upwards slightly, the device will disable itself and not generate any signals, which would correspond to a conventional computer mouse being lifted up. Thus, an user may lift rotary button  405  up and then move it to a desired position over surface  413  without generating any signals.  
         [0181]    A second approach would be to make the opening  414  wider so that portion of the slide switch  403  may move in and out the opening  414  at the direction shown as arrows  406 . In this design, slide switch  403  would be able to move in 2 dimensions, that is the arrows  406  and  407 , within the cavity  414 . And thus the slide switch  404  would not be needed. However, this approach would increase the size of the base station  402  in order to allow the slide switch  403  to move in and out.  
         [0182]    [0182]FIG. 54 depicts the same view as FIG. 53 but with the rotary button  405  removed. It shows a T-shaped unit  411  mounted on slide switch  404 . The T-shaped unit  411  enables rotary button  405  to rotate as well as move upwards and downwards slightly. An opening  412  allows signals to be carried from rotary button  405  into slide switch  404 .  
         [0183]    In this design of the present invention, the handle is the rotary button  405  and the housing is the mouse station  402 . The slide switches  403  and  404  as well as the unit  411  form the mouse link. This design reviews that the opening on a mouse station such as opening  414  does not always have to face upwards.  
         [0184]    [0184]FIG. 55 shows the cross-sectional view of positional decoder  401  taken along line  55  in FIG. 54. It depicts that slide switch  403  has an opening  415  along the back side, and a portion of slide switch  404  extends into slide switch  403  through opening  415 , thus enabling slide switch  404  to be moved along the opening  415 . Signals generated by rotary button  405  can be conveyed through opening  412  and cavity  416 .  
         [0185]    [0185]FIG. 56 shows the cross-sectional view of slide switch  403  and mouse station  402  taken along line  56  in FIG. 54. It shows that portion of slide switch  403  extends into mouse station  402  and forms a lock allowing slide switch  403  to be moved along opening  414 . FIG. 56 also shows how a communication line  417  may pass from slide switch  403  through opening  414  into mouse station  402 .  
         [0186]    [0186]FIG. 57 shows the cross-sectional view of rotary button  405  taken along line  57  in FIG. 53. It demonstrates that rotary button  405  may be rotated about, lifted up and down the T-shaped unit  411 .  
         [0187]    [0187]FIG. 58 depicts the top view of an integrated keyboard  451  consisting an ordinary computer keyboard  452  incorporated with a position decoder  453  of the present invention. Plug  454  is used to transmit signals generated by the keyboard to an external device such as a computer. Plug  455  and  456  are used to transmit signals generated by position decoder  453  when which functions as a computer mouse and joystick respectively. Switch  457  is used to select position decoder  453  as a computer mouse or joystick.  
         [0188]    [0188]FIG. 59 shows a communication means  460  extended from mouse bottom cavity  461  passing through platform hole  462  on platform  459  into mouse station  463 . The end of communication means  460  is a plug  464  that plugs into the integrated device. It also shows that the bottom of mouse  458  has an opening  464 .  
         [0189]    [0189]FIG. 60 shows mouse  458  working as a conventional computer mouse by letting communication means  460  goes out from opening  464  on the bottom of the mouse.  
         [0190]    [0190]FIG. 61 shows a conventional computer mouse  465  using the integrated device  451  with a platform  466  that has no platform hole. FIG. 62 shows computer mouse  465  may also be operated on other surface such as a table.  
         [0191]    [0191]FIG. 63 shows the rear view of integrated device  451  with conventional computer mouse  465  having a mouse cord  468  going into the device through an opening  467 . A notch  469  may be used to hold mouse cord  468 , or communication means  460  as shown in FIG. 60.  
         [0192]    [0192]FIG. 64 shows a conventional computer keyboard  470  integrated with a position decoder  471  of the present invention.  
         [0193]    [0193]FIG. 65 shows an integrated keyboard and position encoder device  501  consisting of 2 mouse boards  502  and  503  as well as a tailless mouse  504  all of which developed using techniques in the present invention. A mouse board is basically a tailless mouse in the present invention with flat body and usually equipped with plurality of buttons on the top of the tailless mouse. The entire integrated device  501  can also be treated as a large mouse station on which operates multiple tailless mouse. FIG. 65 also includes a wrist support  505  to be used with the integrated device.  
         [0194]    [0194]FIG. 66 shows a perspective view of integrated device  501 . Mouse boards  502  and  503  are flat tailless mouse that may move coplanar to its base mouse stations  506  and  507  respectively. Similarly, tailless mouse  504  moves coplanar to its base mouse station  508 .  
         [0195]    Mouse boards  502  and  503  may be operated in either keyboard or mouse mode. Basically, when the board is moved, it functions as a computer mouse. And when the board is resting still and touching any of the boundaries of its base mouse station, the board functions as a computer keyboard. There are other rules to control the mode, and there is a mode button on each of the mouse boards to change the mode explicitly.  
         [0196]    Sensors such as that labelled as  509 ,  510 ,  511  and  512  are equipped around the edges of the mouse boards to detect if the boards are touching their base station boundaries. These sensors are simply buttons that will be pressed by the base station boundaries when the mouse boards are touching the base boundaries. Any other sensors or techniques can be used to detect if the mouse boards touch the base boundaries. In particular, because the mouse boards are equipped with position sensors such as that shown in FIG. 68, another possible way to detect if the mouse boards touch their base station boundaries is to make use of the position sensors.  
         [0197]    Each of the buttons on the top of mouse boards  502  and  503  is equipped with sensor to detect if the user&#39;s finger is touching the button. Signals will be generated to denote buttons that are touched. Moreover, signals identifying the board, the mode of the board, the buttons that are pressed as well as the positions or movement information of the board, will all be transmitted to the receiving device using the integrated device  501 . The receiving device can interpret these signals and perform different functions accordingly.  
         [0198]    Table 1 below lists some popular functions that a computer operating system might be defined base on the signals generated by device  501 :  
                                                 TABLE 1                           Signals generated by device 501                Mode   Mode   Buttons   Buttons       Board   Example operations performed by a computer       (502)   (503)   Pressed   Touched   Move   Id.   operating system               Any   Any   None   J, K   Yes   503   Mouse Move       Any   Any   J   K   No   None   Perform any operation that is normally activated                               by clicking the mouse Button 1.       Any   Any   K   J   No   None   Perform any operation that is normally activated                               by clicking the mouse Button 2.       Any   Any   L   J   No   None   Perform any operation that is normally activated                               by clicking the mouse Button 3.       Any   Any   None   J, I   Yes   503   Highlight/Drag (Mouse Button 1 pressed + Mouse                               move)       Any   Any   None   M, K   Yes   503   Window Contents Scroll with same direction of                               mouse move.       Any   Any   None   N, M   Yes   503   Activate next or previous application window if                               the mouse moves to the right or left respectively.       Any   Any   None   U, I   Yes   503   Window size expands with same direction of                               mouse movement       Any   Any   None   U, 8   Yes   503   Window size shrinks with same direction of                               mouse movement       Any   On   H   None   No   None   Window close       Any   On   Y   None   No   None   Window minimise       Any   On   N   None   No   None   Window maximise       Any   On   B   None   No   None   Window restore       Any   Any   U   K, L   No   None   Page Up       Any   Any   M   K, L   No   None   Page Down       Any   Any   R   S, D   No   None   Perform same operations as the up arrow button is                               pressed.       Any   Any   V   S, D   No   None   Perform same operation as the down arrow button                               is pressed.       Any   Any   None   W, E, F   Yes   502   Toolbar buttons will be highlighted as the mouse                               board moves. The button to be highlighted should                               follow the direction of the move.       Any   Any   F   W, E   No   None   Toolbar button that is highlighted is activated.       Any   Any   None   S, D, C   Yes   502   Menu options will be pulled down and                               hightlighted.       Any   Any   C   S D   No   None   The menu option that is highlighted is activated.                  
 
         [0199]    The first 2 columns in table 1 with title “Mode (502)” and “Mode (503)” denote the modes of the mouse boards  502  and  503  respectively. The modes of the mouse boards are controlled by the mode buttons on the mouse boards as shown in FIGS. 72 and 73. When the mode button is pressed, the mode of the mouse board is toggled between keyboard and mouse mode. In table 1, a value of “On” in these columns means that the mouse board is in mouse mode, and a value of “Any” means that the mode can be either mouse or keyboard mode.  
         [0200]    The columns with title “Buttons Pressed” and “Buttons Touched” denote the buttons that are pressed and touched while the signals are generated.  
         [0201]    The column with title “Move” refers to signals that indicate the movement or position of the mouse board such as the amount of distance being moved by or the new position of the mouse board. The receiving device using the integrated device  501  may be required to compute the amount of distance moved by the mouse board by checking more than one signals from device  501 .  
         [0202]    The column with title “Board Id” refers to the identification of the mouse board that generate the movement signals.  
         [0203]    Table 1 is by no means complete. It is used solely to assist the explanation of the present invention. There are vast number of combinations of signals that can be generated by the integrated device  501 . The receiving device using the integrated device  501  would decide how to use the signals, for example, to determine if touching J and K and L buttons is equivalent to touching J and K buttons. The receiving device should respect the mode included in the signals. That is, if the mode is mouse than it would imply that the user wishes to use the device as mouse, and thus the signals are better to be interpreted for mouse operations.  
         [0204]    A mouse board can be used to emulate many conventional computer mouse by making use of gestures of the user&#39;s hand. That is, different combinations of finger positions over the buttons can be interpreted as different conventional computer mouse.  
         [0205]    In this way, an user can simply change the gesture of the hand to perform many different operations. This would greatly reduce the need for hand movement that is required to move the hand away from a conventional computer keyboard to a conventional computer mouse. And, the user nearly does not need to leave the eye sight from the computer screen in order to change the fingers&#39; positions on the buttons. On the other hand, many operations can be achieved even without pressing any key. For example, a drag operation can be carried out by touching the J and I key and moving the mouse boards.  
         [0206]    The action where a conventional mouse is lifted upwards can also be easily achieved. This can be simply by not defining a combination of buttons, or use some specific combinations of buttons. For example, when an user touches the J and K buttons and moves the mouse board, and if then the mouse board reaches the base mouse station boundaries thus preventing the mouse board to move, the user may simply raise one of the fingers so that either J or K button is not being touched, and then move the mouse board to a desired position (this move will not be interpreted as mouse move). After that, the user may lower the finger so that the J and K buttons will be touching again and continue the mouse move operation.  
         [0207]    Computer mouse emulated can be named according to the buttons being touched and/or pressed when moving the mouse board. For example, the conventional computer mouse can be emulated when the user&#39;s fingers touch the buttons J and K while moving the mouse board  503 . Thus, the emulated computer mouse named JK, or simply mouse JK, will correspond to the conventional computer mouse. Similarly, mouse JIO and mouse [] would refer to the computer mouse emulated by the board when the user&#39;s fingers are touching the buttons J, I, O and [,] respectively. Theoretically, more than ten buttons can be simultaneously touched by an user because it is possible to touch more than one button with one finger. And thus the name of an emulated computer mouse may take more than 10 characters. Actually, the usability of an emulated computer mouse mostly depends on the system that receives the signals from the integrated device  501 .  
         [0208]    Buttons having no corresponding symbol, such as the Shift button, will be referred to by a name enclosed by the {and} characters. For example, {Ctrl}Z{Alt} refers to the emulated mouse when touching the Ctrl, Z and Alt buttons. Specifically, the name of the emulated computer mouse when no button is being touched, that is simply moving the board, is called the mouse {Move}. The buttons for the symbols {and} are usually referred by the symbols [and] because these symbols usually reside on the same buttons, respectively. Thus the symbols {and} are normally not used to form emulated mouse names. However, if they must be used, {and} can be referred to by {Left-Brace} and {Right-Brace} respectively.  
         [0209]    If mouse boards  502  and  503  are moved at the same time, signals generated from both mouse boards should be sent simultaneously to the receiving device that is using the integrated device  501 . The signals can be sent such as by multiplexing the communication line between the receiving device and the integrated device  501 . The receiving device can decide to use signals from which mouse boards by checking the board identification information in the signals. The receiving device can also use signals from both mouse boards at the same time. For example, a computer graphic display system may direct the signals from both mouse boards to 2 different applications base on the board identification signals. This will enable the user to control the 2 applications simultaneously with both hands.  
         [0210]    Emulated mouse technique enabled by the present invention allows for the implementation of parallel operations. Traditionally, computer operations are done serially. That is, operation is performed one after one. For example, to copy and paste a portion of text, an user would have to go through a series of operations that include highlighting a portion of text, performing a copy operation, moving the mouse pointer to a desired position and performing a paste operation. If during the step of performing the paste operation, the user wants to redo the copy operation, then the whole process needs to be performed from the very beginning.  
         [0211]    With multiple emulated mouse, multiple mouse pointers can be displayed on a computer screen simultaneously. Each of the mouse pointers can be designated by specific emulated mouse. In particular, in addition to the conventional mouse pointer that is usually represented by an arrow pointing upward from right-bottom, a second mouse pointer can be simultaneously displayed on the screen represented by an arrow pointer upward from left-bottom. The conventional mouse pointer can be designated to be controlled by the emulated mouse named JK that is the emulated mouse when touching the J and K buttons while moving mouse board  503 . The second mouse pointer can be designated to be controlled by the emulated mouse named DF which is the emulated mouse when touching the D and F buttons while moving the mouse board  502 .  
         [0212]    To perform a copy and paste function with parallel operation ability, an user may choose to begin the paste operation first by moving the second mouse pointer to a desired position on the screen. Then the user may start the copy operation by moving the conventional mouse pointer to a portion of text on the screen, and then perform a copy operation. If the user wants to redo the copy operation, the user may do so without affecting the paste operation. After the copy operation is completed, the user simply continue to finish the paste operation using the second mouse pointer.  
         [0213]    A second cursor may also be defined in addition to the conventional I-bean cursor which is usually used to denote the position on the screen to where keyboard character inputs will be directed. For example, the second cursor may be represented by a circle of size similar to the I-bean cursor. The second cursor should normally be controlled by the second mouse pointer stated above. The second cursor would be useful in the paste operation mentioned above in which the second cursor can define the position on the screen to where the text will be placed. In this way, the position of the conventional cursor on the screen will not be changed by the paste operation. However, keyboard character inputs will have to be directed to one of the cursors that is active. An operation pressing a specific function button can be designated to select the active cursor which may be visually differentiated from the inactive cursor by blinking.  
         [0214]    With multiple emulated mouse, operations can be easily directed to multiple locations on the screen. There is no need to move a mouse pointer around different locations in order to perform operations associated with the locations. For example, in some graphical display systems, the screen controlled by a graphical display application is divided into multiple sub-windows. With multiple emulated mouse, a sub-window can be designated to be operated by a specific emulated mouse. Thus the user may just change the hand gesture to activate the emulated mouse designated for a sub-window in order to operate on the sub-window. This would be much faster than the conventional computer mouse approach in which the only mouse pointer must be moved from a location on the screen to the location to where the operation is directed. Moreover, efficiency is also gained because the user&#39;s hands and eye sight need not to leave the keyboard and screen respectively.  
         [0215]    It is not necessary to have a corresponding mouse pointer for every emulated mouse. However, it would be better to visually indicate if an emulated mouse is exercised. For example, if an emulated mouse is designated to select a button in a toolbar on the screen, then the toolbar may be visually emphasised such as by displaying a frame around the tool bar when the associated emulated mouse is exercised.  
         [0216]    Similar to emulated mouse, the present invention also enables the use of emulated buttons. An emulated button is defined by a set of buttons pressed while touching another set of buttons. The set of buttons pressed include the empty set, that is, no button is pressed. In such cases, the emulated buttons are achieved only by touching some buttons. An emulated button is named also similar to an emulated mouse. The name of an emulated button consists of 2 parts separated by a colon symbol. The first part lists all the names of the buttons pressed, and the second part lists all the names of the buttons being touched. For example, N:KL is the name of the emulated button formed when the N button is pressed while touching the K and L buttons. Buttons having no symbolic name are also represented by names enclosed by the {and} symbols. The symbols {} can be used to denote where no button is pressed. For example, {}:KL is the name of the emulated button formed when no button is pressed while touching the K and L buttons. Emulated buttons can be designated for frequent operations, or to carry the same meaning as some of the frequently used buttons. For example, the emulated buttons U:KL and M:KL can be defined to be equivalent to the Page Up and Page Down buttons respectively. Emulated buttons are easy to access with little arm movement, and will improve efficiency substantially.  
         [0217]    Most existing devices such as a conventional computer system are not made to interpret the signals that buttons are being touched, and thus might not able to take benefit from the present invention. However, owning to the integration design of sending mouse and keyboard signals through a common carrier such as cable  586  to an external system, signals may be emulated by device  501  before sending to the external system. For example, the device  501  may detect itself that a certain emulated mouse such as the mouse MN is being exercised, and thus device  501  generates a signal sequence corresponding to the button pressed signal sequence of Alt and Tab buttons. This key sequence will switch the active application to another in some graphical user interface systems.  
         [0218]    [0218]FIG. 67 shows the bottom view of mouse boards  502  and  503 . It shows that there are openings  513  and  514  on the bottoms of the mouse boards. There are also bearings  515  and  516  on the bottoms of the mouse boards. The bearings are used to lower the friction when moving the mouse boards. A button  542  (see FIG. 72) on mouse board  502  can be used to toggle the stopper  517 . When button  542  is pressed, stopper  517  will extend and touch the base mouse station  506  thus adding some function to prevent mouse board  502  to move. When the button is pressed again, stopper  517  will retract and not touching the base mouse station  506 . Similarly, stopper  518  is controlled by the button  587  (see FIG. 73) on mouse board  503 . The stoppers  517  and  518  may be used to temporarily prevent the mouse boards from moving in situations where mouse operations are not needed.  
         [0219]    [0219]FIG. 68 shows a I-shaped mouse link  519  to be used by mouse boards  502  and  503 . The mouse link  519  is similar to the design of mouse link  353  in FIG. 45. With the mouse bottom opening  513  (also shown in FIG. 67), mouse board  502  may move in the direction indicated by the arrow  522  relative to mouse link  519 . Similarly, mouse board  502  together with mouse link  519  may move in the direction indicated by the arrow  523  along the platform hole  520  (also shown in FIG. 66). There is a conductive plate  524  along the inner bottom surface of mouse board  502 . A conductive plate  525  is also secured on mouse link  519  as shown in the figure. Conductive plate  525  will always touch conductive plate  524  when mouse board  502  moves relative to mouse link  519 . As shown in FIG. 69, the circuit formed by conductive plate  524 ,  525  and a communication wire  526  can be used to detect the position of mouse link  519  by measuring the electric resistance of the circuit. Similarly, the position of mouse link  519  relative to mouse station  506  can be measured by the circuit formed by the conductive plate  527  and another conductive plate (not shown) along the inner surface of mouse station  506 .  
         [0220]    [0220]FIG. 70 shows an alternative design of mouse link  528  that may be used to replace mouse link  519 . In this design, multiple conductive plates are equipped on the inner surface of the bottom of mouse board  502 . The conductive material labelled as  529  passes through the plate  530  and thus touching the conductive plate  531 . The circuit thus formed along  532 ,  529 ,  531  up to either end of  531  and then back from either end of  535 , through  536  and then  537 , will form a complete circuit capable of conveying signals from mouse board  502  into base station  506 . This design avoid a possible problem of wires such as  533  shown in FIG. 69 to obstruct the movement of mouse link  528 .  
         [0221]    [0221]FIG. 71 shows the side views of the components of integrated device  501 . The wrist support  505  has a portion  539  extended to the bottom of the keyboard unit. Wrist support  505  also has a wall  538  of sufficient height which is usually higher than the first row of buttons  540  on the mouse boards  502  or  503 . The height of the wall  538  will enable an user&#39;s hand to hang over the mouse boards  502  or  503  when the user rests his/her wrists over support  505 . With the user&#39;s hands hanging over the mouse boards, which is a preferred hand gesture to operate the present invention, the user&#39;s fingers will be easier to move the mouse boards  502  or  503  with little or no arm movement. The wall  538  is also important when support  505  is used with other mouse boards such as mouse boards  552  and  553  in FIG. 76. In such cases, wall  538  will act as a boundary that enables sensors in those mouse boards to detect if the mouse boards have been moved to extreme (or home) positions so as to change the mode of the mouse boards. The length  541  of support  505  should also be sufficient long preferably allowing the entire forearms of the user to rest on.  
         [0222]    [0222]FIGS. 72 and 73 shows the enlarged top views of mouse board  502  and  503  respectively. Each of the buttons has an small opening such as the one labelled as  543  that functions as a sensor to detect if an user&#39;s finger is touching the button. However, other types of sensors that do not require a hole on the button top may be used. In particular, the button surface may be translucent, which would enable the use of optical sensor for sensing contact with human finger. On the other hand, translucent surface may also be illuminated to indicate which buttons are touching by an user. The top surface of the buttons can be made with material that provide moderate friction with the user&#39;s fingers to assist moving the mouse boards. But because mouse boards are equipped with bearings, only a very small frictional force would be enough. The top surface of the buttons may also be made slightly curved so that the centre of the top surface is lower than the boundary so as to enhance friction with the user fingers.  
         [0223]    There are visual indicators  544  and  545  located on mouse boards  502  and  503  respectively to indicate visually the mode of the mouse boards. For example, the indicator may change its colour to green when the corresponding mouse board is in keyboard mode. And it may change its colour to yellow when the corresponding mouse board is in mouse mode. Note that the ultimate operating mode should be determined by the receiving device using the mouse boards as the receiving device will interpret the signals generated by the mouse boards. The receiving device should consider the mode of the mouse boards in using the signals.  
         [0224]    [0224]FIG. 74 shows an alternate design of integrated keyboard and mouse device  588  using mouse boards  502  and  503  and tailless mouse  504 . The major difference of integrated device  588  with  501  is that in device  588  the mouse boards  502  and  503  share a common space  552  to move around. In this way, the total width of device  588  can be shortened. In this design, mouse boards  502  and  503  may touch each other during operation.  
         [0225]    [0225]FIG. 75 shows one design of an integrated keyboard and mouse device  551 . In this design, two mouse boards  552  and  553  may move in one base mouse station  554  (see FIG. 76). FIG. 76 shows the top view when mouse boards  502  and  503  move slightly away from the centre of base mouse station  554 . FIG. 77 shows the top view of base mouse station with the mouse boards removed, as well as the bottom view of the mouse boards. In the base mouse station  554 , there are two platform holes  555  and  556  that are used together with the mouse bottom cavities  557  and  558 , respectively, to fit mouse links such as mouse link  528  shown in FIG. 70, so that the mouse boards can move in any directions coplanar to the base mouse station.  
         [0226]    Also on base station  554 , there are two square spring controlled buttons  559  and  560 . Each of these buttons has a corresponding switch (not shown) that may be positioned sideways of base station  554 . Such switches will control the spring controlled buttons to eject upwards or depress downwards. If the spring controlled buttons  559  and  560  are let eject upwards, and when the corresponding mouse boards are moved so that the cavities  561  and  562  are exactly over the spring controlled buttons  559  and  560 , respectively, the mouse boards will be locked in that positions. This is useful in situations where mouse operation is not needed, or during transportation of the device.  
         [0227]    There are more bearings such as those labelled as  563  and  564  underneath the mouse boards. These bearings make sure that the mouse boards are properly supported when portions of the mouse boards are moved outside of the base mouse station  554 .  
         [0228]    [0228]FIG. 78 shows the side views of the components of integrated device  551 .  
         [0229]    [0229]FIG. 79 shows alternate designs of mouse boards  565  and  566  for mouse boards  552  and  553 , respectively. The only difference of mouse boards  565  and  566  against mouse boards  552  and  553 , respectively, is that the front of the mouse boards  565  and  566  have small portions  568  and  569  extended from underneath of mouse boards  565  and  566 , respectively. The base station  567  is an alternate design of base station  554  to be used with mouse boards  565  and  566 . The base station  567  is shorter in length than base station  554  so as to allow the extended portion  568  and  569  to touch the surface such as a desktop on where the integrated device is placed. The extended portion  568  and  569  will serve as support for the mouse boards  565  and  566  respectively when which are moved away from the base station  567 .  
         [0230]    [0230]FIGS. 80 and 81 show the enlarged top views of mouse boards  552  and  553  respectively.  
         [0231]    [0231]FIGS. 82 and 83 show the top views of alternate mouse boards  570  and  571  either of which may replace mouse boards  553 . Mouse boards  570  and  571  provides more buttons for specialise operations, and thus they are wider and require a wider base station. In particular, there are 3 buttons  572 ,  573  and  574  specifically designated to function as the mouse buttons 1, 2 and 3, respectively, found in conventional computer mouse.  
         [0232]    [0232]FIG. 84 shows another design of a mouse board  575  and base station  576 . FIG. 85 shows the top view of base station  576  with mouse board  575  removed, and the bottom view of mouse board  575 . FIG. 86 shows the enlarged top view of mouse board  575 .  
         [0233]    [0233]FIG. 87 shows another design of a mouse board  577  and base station  578 . FIG. 88 shows the top view of base station  578  with mouse board  577  removed, and the bottom view of mouse board  577 . FIG. 89 shows the enlarged top view of mouse board  577  on a portion of base station  578 .  
         [0234]    [0234]FIG. 90 shows another design of a mouse board  579  and base station  580 . FIG. 91 shows the top view of a portion of base station  580  with mouse board  579  removed. FIGS. 92 and 93 show the enlarged top and bottom view of mouse board  579 , respectively.  
         [0235]    [0235]FIG. 94 shows another design of a mouse board  581  and base station  582 . FIG. 95 shows the enlarged top view of a portion of base station  582  with mouse board  581  removed. FIG. 96 shows the enlarged bottom view of mouse board  581 .  
         [0236]    [0236]FIG. 97 shows another design of a base station  583  that may also be used with mouse board  581 . FIG. 98 shows the enlarged top view of a portion of base station  583  with mouse board  581  removed.  
         [0237]    [0237]FIG. 99 shows another design of a mouse board  584  and base station  585 . FIG. 100 shows the enlarged top view of mouse board  584 .  
         [0238]    [0238]FIG. 101 shows the top view of a composite design of keyboard and mouse device  651  which consists of two mouse boards  652  and  653  connected by a mouse link  654 . Mouse link  654  has one end secured with mouse board  652  and another end extended into mouse board  653 .  
         [0239]    Mouse board  652  also serves as a base station for mouse board  653 , wherein the cavity  655  allows mouse board  653  to move in 2 dimensions relative to mouse in  654 . Conversely, mouse board  653  serves as a base station for mouse board  652  wherein mouse board  652  together with mouse link  654  can move in 2 dimensions within the cavity  655 .  
         [0240]    [0240]FIG. 102 shows the top view of device  651  with the surface portion removed. It shows that mouse link  654  is similar in concept with mouse link  303  in FIG. 39. Mouse Link  652  has one end secured with mouse board  652  and the other end movably mounted within the cavity  655  of mouse board  653 . Mouse Link  654  may move in the direction indicated by arrow  656  along the axle  658 , and mouse link  654  together with axle  658  may move in the direction indicated by arrow  657  along the axles  659  and  660 . Sensors (not shown) such as the one shown in FIG. 39 can be used to detect the positions or movements of mouse link  654 .  
         [0241]    [0241]FIG. 103 shows the front view of composite device  651  when which is folded. Referring back to FIG. 102, mouse boards  652  can rotate about the axle  661  by rotary joints  662  at the ends of the axle  661 . And when mouse board  653  is moved along the direction of arrow  657  so that the axle  658  reaches the opening  655  (see FIG. 101), the mouse board  653  can rotate about the axle  658  also by rotary joints  662  at both ends of the axle  658 . FIG. 104 further describes the inner working when device  651  is folded. It also shows how signals can be communicated such as by wires among the mouse boards. FIG. 105 shows device  651  when it is not folded.  
         [0242]    [0242]FIGS. 106 and 107 show the enlarged top views of mouse boards  652  and  653  respectively.  
         [0243]    [0243]FIG. 108 shows the top view of another design of mouse boards  663  and  664  similar to mouse boards  652  and  653 . However, mouse boards  663  and  664  are not foldable. There is a cavity similar to cavity  655  on the side of either mouse boards  663  and  664  to allow mouse link  665  to move in 2 dimensions indicated by arrows  670  and  671 . FIG. 109 depicts the enlarged top view of mouse board  664 .  
         [0244]    [0244]FIG. 110 shows a perspective view of the present invention integrated with a portable computer system  801 . The mouse board  802  can be any design of the present invention.  
         [0245]    [0245]FIG. 111 shows another design of the present invention integrated with a portable computer system. The mouse board  803  can be any design in the present invention. Mouse board  803  is located near the bottom edge of the portable computer and it has an indented base station  804  so that mouse board  803  will not obstruct the user&#39;s hand during typing.  
         [0246]    [0246]FIG. 112. shows another design of the present invention integrated with a portable computer system. In this design, 2 mouse boards  805  and  806  are used to function as the keyboard and mouse for the portable computer system.  
         [0247]    [0247]FIG. 113 shows another design of the present invention integrated with a portable computer system  807 . In this design, 2 mouse boards  808  and  809  are used to function as the keyboard and mouse for the portable computer system. FIG. 114 shows how mouse boards  808  and  809  may move along the directions indicated by arrows  810 . Similarly, mouse boards  808  and  809  may also move along the directions indicated by arrows  811 .  
         [0248]    [0248]FIG. 115 shows the perspective view of the base station  812  of the computer system  807  with the mouse boards and cover  813  removed. FIGS. 116 and 117 show the bottom views of the mouse boards  808  and  809  respectively.  
         [0249]    Referring to FIGS.  114  to  117 , when the cover  813  closes by moving downwards, either a mechanical or electronic or other means will automatically cause the mouse links  814  and  815  which are similar in design to mouse link  528  in FIG. 70 to move towards the centre of the base station along the directions indicated by arrows  816  and  817 , respectively. This movement of the mouse links  814  and  815  will in turn move the mouse board  808  and  809  in the same direction towards the centre of the base station  812 .  
         [0250]    When the cover  813  continues to move downwards, the sloped edges  818  and  819  of the cover will touch the sloped edges  820  and  821  of the mouse boards, thus forcing the mouse boards in place when the cover  813  closes completely.  
         [0251]    [0251]FIGS. 118 and 119 shows the enlarged perspective views of mouse boards  808  and  809  respectively.  
         [0252]    [0252]FIG. 120 shows another design of the present invention integrated with a hand-held computer system. The mouse board  822  can be any design of the present invention.  
         [0253]    [0253]FIG. 121 shows another design of the present invention integrated with a hand-held remote control device that transmits positional information for used by graphical display computer system. The mouse board  823  can be any design of the present invention. Specifically, mouse board  823  can be fully operated with only an user&#39;s thumb. FIG. 122 shows the top view of base station  824  with mouse board  823  removed, and FIG. 123 shows the bottom view of mouse board  823 . The opening  825  on the mouse board together with the mouse bottom opening  826  will be used with a mouse link such as that shown in FIG. 70 to allow mouse board  823  to move freely coplanar to platform  827  on the base station.  
         [0254]    [0254]FIG. 124 shows the enlarged top view of mouse board  823 . The buttons  831 ,  832  and  833  correspond to the conventional computer mouse buttons 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The buttons  831  and  832  can be pressed by the tip of the thumb. Button  833  is an U-shaped button and it can be pressed by raising the thumb&#39;s tip and pushing the middle of the thumb towards button  833 . There is a button  834  between buttons  831  and  832 . When button  834  is pressed the mouse board  823  will be disabled for generating signals so that mouse board  823  can be moved to a position similar to lifting a conventional computer mouse.  
         [0255]    The buttons  828 ,  829  and  830  also correspond to the conventional computer mouse buttons 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The buttons  828 ,  829  and  830  are to be used when the user operates mouse board  823  by holding it in the way similar to holding a conventional computer mouse. In which case, mouse board  823  may also be lifted upwards slightly much like a conventional computer mouse, because mouse link such as mouse link  528  shown in FIG. 70 also allows vertical movement relative to the base station.