Abstract:
An input device for a computer system includes a keyboard, a pointing device embedded in the keyboard, operational buttons, including a button for selecting an operating mode for the pointing device. The mode selection button is located adjacent left- and right-buttons. In one embodiment, an alternative pointing device operating mode is available when the mode button is held depressed. In another embodiment, a depress-release sequence permits the user to sequence through a menu of predetermined pointing device operating modes. The placement of the mode button with respect to the left- and right-buttons facilitates improved performance of certain eye-hand coordination tasks.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This Application is related to the following co-pending U.S. Patent Applications, all filed on the same date and assigned to the International Business Machines Corporation: “Keyboard Having Buttons Positioned for Operation by Heel of Hand,” docket number AM9-97-179 #09/083,680; “Wrist Rest Having Buttons Positioned for Thumbs While Typing,” docket number AM9-97-181 #09/083,523; “Two-handed Scrolling Mode Switch,” docket number AM9-97-182 #09/083,774. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention generally relates to information processing systems, and more specifically, to keyboard-related control buttons used with graphical user interfaces to information processing systems. The invention has a particular applicability to IBM® keyboards, computers, and the IBM ThinkPad® notebook computer. (IBM and ThinkPad are registered trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation.) 
     BACKGROUND IF THE INVENTION 
     In general, an input pointing device for a computer graphical user interface (“GUI”) has a single assigned function, usually the positioning of a displayed pointer and use of related control buttons for selecting a displayed object pointed to by the pointer. 
     In some information processing systems it is possible, through the GUI and using the pointer and the control buttons, to alter the cooperation between the manipulation of a pointing device and the displayed pointer. This change is typically accomplished by means of a “settings” window or an appropriate dialog box. For example, it is possible to use a pointing device to change the speed of movement, the size, color, and direction of the displayed pointer, to select a specific displayed icon as the pointer, and whether or not the displayed pointer has a “tail” as it moves. For such changes in the manner in which a pointer responds to manipulation of a pointing device, “settings” windows and dialog boxes have proven quite adequate and will continue to be used. 
     There are other, newer uses for pointing devices in information processing systems for which it is desirable to both instantaneously and unobtrusively switch from one operating mode to another in a natural and easy way. Such manner of change is not possible with the typical “settings” window or dialog box. Examples of a need for simplicity and naturalness include game playing, document scrolling, and navigation. In such applications a user may need to switch rapidly between standard pointing and a specific different way of having the pointing device manipulation interpreted and displayed. For these newer more demanding applications, “settings” windows and dialog boxes are too slow and seem unnatural. 
     What is needed is some simple, natural, and easy to operate mechanism for rapidly switching a pointing device between alternative operating modes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     That need, and others that will become apparent, is met by the present invention which adds a third control button to the standard left- and right-pointer buttons and permits a user to switch between alternative operating modes by simply depressing and releasing the third button. In another embodiment, an alternative mode is selected while the third button is held depressed, the operating mode returning to normal when the third button is released. In yet another embodiment, depressing and releasing the third button selects alternative operating modes in a round-robin sequence of specific modes, ultimately stepping through to the original mode. In a specific embodiment, the control buttons are relocatable, as a group, within a limited range for improved comfort of the user. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a further understanding of the objects, features and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like parts are given like reference numerals and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a portion of a keyboard including an edge region having a third button for multimode operation. 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of a wrist rest including a pointing device, selection buttons and a third button for multimode operation. 
     FIG. 3 is another plan view showing a portion of a keyboard including an alternative edge region having a third button for multimode operation. 
     FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the alternative keyboard edge region and buttons shown in FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a computer input device having a cable and connector for making connection to an information processing system. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a notebook computer illustrating a wrist rest area having left- and right-control buttons and a pointer mode selection button. 
     FIG. 7 is a block diagram which illustrates a circuit for combining output signals from a pointing device, control buttons, and a pointer mode selection button and for processing and encoding these signals into an industry-standard encoded output signal. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to FIG. 1 there is shown a plan view of a portion of an information processing system input device, designated generally by the reference numeral  10 . The input device  10  includes a keyboard  12 , a space bar  14 , a pointing device  16 , and a plurality of manually operated switches, designated generally by the reference numeral  18 . A portion only of the keyboard  12  is illustrated. The pointing device  16  is located within the keyboard near the intersection of the ‘G’, ‘H’ and ‘B’ keys, as is typical in many IBM notebook computers and keyboard input devices. 
     The input device illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an edge region  20  which has a portion  22  located adjacent the space bar  14 . Several manually operated switches  18  are located within the edge region portion  22 . In a specific embodiment, the switches  18  include a left-button  24 , a right-button  26 , and a mode selection button  28 . 
     It is common for IBM notebook computers and keyboard input devices to include left- and right-buttons as illustrated in FIG.  1 . These buttons are located side-by-side immediately adjacent the keyboard space bar  14  for ease of use while typing. The left-button  24  and the right-button  26  are used in conjunction with the pointing device  16 , and correspond in use to the left- and the right-buttons on a standard two-button mouse pointing device. 
     In the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a third mode selection button  28  is located immediately below the left-button  24  and the right-button  26 . The mode selection button  28  is used to select an operating mode for the pointing device  16  and the left- and the right-buttons,  24  and  26 , respectively. 
     Different Mode While Held Depressed 
     In a specific embodiment of the invention, the operating mode of the pointing device  16  is in a standard cursor positioning mode when the mode selection button  28  is not depressed. The operating mode changes to an alternative operating mode and remains in the alternative operating mode while the button  28  is held depressed. An example of an alternative mode of operation is a scrolling mode in which a forward pressure on the pointing device  16  causes a currently displayed page to scroll downward on the screen, and a pressure to the left on the pointing device  16  causes the currently displayed page to scroll to the right on the screen. When no pressure is applied to the pointing device  16 , the scrolling behavior stops and the displayed page is stationary. 
     In this specific embodiment, the pointing device provides the scrolling behavior only while the mode selection switch  28  is held depressed. Release of the mode selection switch  28  returns the pointing device to the standard cursor positioning mode. 
     Depress-Release Selects Different Mode 
     In another specific embodiment of the invention, the operating mode of the pointing device  16  is switchable between two or more operating modes by depressing and then releasing the mode selection switch  28 . Each depress-release sequence of the mode selection switch  28  advances the pointing device operating mode to a next predetermined mode. The operating mode of the pointing device  16  remains unchanged until the mode selection switch  28  is again sequenced through a depress-release cycle. In this manner, the current operating mode of the pointing device may be advanced through a list of available modes, and ultimately returned to the original operating mode. 
     Examples of such predetermined pointing device operating modes include standard cursor positioning, scrolling behavior, and the positioning of a magnifying glass cursor over a portion of a displayed page document. 
     Mode Selection Switch Provides Selection Signal 
     In a specific embodiment of the invention, the manually operated mode selection switch  28  provides a signal permitting a component of the information processing system to determine the operating mode of the pointing device  16 . In yet another specific embodiment of the invention, the pointing device  16  is an IBM TrackPoint® isometric pointing device which includes circuits for combining signals provided by manually operated switches with pointing signals for providing these signals to an information processing system (TrackPoint is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation). 
     In another specific embodiment, the pointing signals, the switch signals, and signals provided by the keyboard  12  are combined to provide a standardized interface signal to the information processing system. 
     In yet another specific embodiment, the left-, right- and pointer mode-selection switches define a control button group, and the control button group is relocatable, within a limited range of movement in both the horizontal and the vertical directions. This feature permits a user to adjust the location of the button group for maximum comfort and decreased user stress. 
     Stand-alone Wrist Rest Configuration 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view which illustrates an information processing system input device, designated generally by the reference numeral  30 . 
     The input device  30  includes a wrist rest  32 , a pointing device  34 , a left-button  36 , a right-button  38 , and a mode selection button  40 . The mode selection button  40  provides a signal for selecting an operating mode for the pointing device  34 , as described above with respect to FIG.  1 . 
     The input device shown in FIG. 2 is useful with a computer which does not provide a pointing device within its keyboard. The input device  30  is therefore useful in place of a stand-alone pointing device such as a standard mouse or joystick. The left-button  36  corresponds to the left-button of the standard two-button mouse, while the right-button  38  corresponds to the right-button of the standard two-button mouse. 
     In a specific embodiment, the input device  30  includes a circuit for combining signals provided by the pointing device  34 , the left-button  36 , the right-button  38 , and the mode selection button  40  into an industry standard interface, such as the PS/2 interface. 
     Conforming Front-operable Buttons 
     FIG. 3 is a partial plan view illustrating a computer input device, designated generally by the reference numeral  42 . The input device  42  includes a keyboard  44 , a space bar  46 , a pointing device  48 , a keyboard edge region  50 , a portion  52  of the edge region, a left-button  54 , a right-button  56 , and a mode selection button  58 . The view illustrated by FIG. 3 is essentially the same as that shown in FIG. 1, except that the edge region portion curves downward and the surfaces of the buttons  54 - 58  conform with the curvature of the edge region. 
     This detail is more readily seen in a partial perspective view provided by FIG. 4, in which like elements are shown with reference numerals identical to those of FIG.  3 . FIG. 4 illustrates a portion  52  of the edge region  50  and the buttons  54 - 58 . Each button has an operating surface which conforms with the curvature of the portion  52 . The button  58  is operable by pressing it from the top (arrow  60 ), from the front (arrow  62 ), or obliquely (arrow  64 ). This feature of the button  58  permits a user to press with a thumb while typing or while using the pointing device  48  (FIG. 3) without regard to the direction the thumb is pressing, either downward, toward the front, or from an oblique side angle. This feature improves the ease of operation of the mode selection button  58 . 
     Separate Keyboard Configuration 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a computer input device having a cable and connector for making connection to an information processing system. The computer input device is designated generally by the reference numeral  70  and includes a keyboard  72 , an isometric pointing device  74 , a surrounding keyboard edge region having a portion  78  which is wider and which includes a left-control button  80 , a right-control button  82 , and a pointer mode selection button  84 . The input device  70  includes a circuit (not shown) for combining and processing signals from the keyboard  72 , the pointing device  74 , the control buttons  80 ,  82 , and the mode selection button  84 . The combined and processed signals are encoded into an industry-standard output signal, such as the PS/2 signal. Electrical connection is made between the input device  70  and a computer or other information processing system via a cable  86  and connector  88 . The input device  70  represents a specific embodiment of the present invention. 
     Notebook Computer Configuration 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a notebook computer illustrating a wrist rest area having left- and right-control buttons and a pointer mode selection button. The notebook computer is designated generally by the reference numeral  90  and includes a body  92  and a flat-panel display screen  94 . The body  92  includes a keyboard  96 , an isometric pointing device  98 , and a wrist rest region  100 . The wrist rest region  100  includes a left-control button  102 , a right-control button  104 , and a pointer mode selection button  106 . The control buttons  102 ,  104  and the mode selection button  106  are located on the wrist rest region  100  adjacent to a keyboard space bar (not shown) and the isometric pointing device. The buttons  102 - 106  are located for easy and natural use while typing and while manipulating the finger-tip control isometric pointing device  98 . In a specific embodiment, the pointing device  98  is an IBM TrackPoint pointing device. 
     A Standard Encoded Output Signal 
     FIG. 7 is a block diagram which illustrates a circuit for combining output signals from a pointing device, control buttons, and a pointer mode selection button and for processing and encoding these signals into an industry-standard encoded pointer output signal. The circuit is designated generally by the reference numeral  110 . The circuit  110  includes a first input line  112  for receiving an output signal of a pointing device  114 , a second input line  116  for receiving an output signal from a left-control button and a right-control button  118 , and a third input signal  120  for receiving an output signal from a pointer mode selection button  122 . The circuit includes a portion  124  which combines and processes the received output signals and encodes these into an industry-standard pointer output signal  126 , such as the PS/2 signal. In a specific embodiment, the pointer mode selection button  122  controls an encoded field (not shown) within the encoded output signal  126 . The encoded field defines a mode selection command. 
     While the invention has been described in relation to the embodiments shown in the accompanying Drawing figures, other embodiments, alternatives and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the Specification be exemplary only, and that the true scope and spirit of the invention be indicated by the following Claims.