Abstract:
A pointing device includes a covering material and a touch sensing unit. The covering material is at least made of a flexible material. The touch sensing unit is buried in the covering material and has two touch sensing surfaces. The pointing device contains the touch control feature, so that it is not necessary to provide a plane of a certain area for operating the pointing device, so as to improve the application convenience thereof.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 098143955 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Dec. 21, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a pointing device. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    In the information era, computers have become indispensible articles for daily use. In practice, the keyboard and mouse are commonly used to serve as the human-machine interfaces for communicating the user and computer. 
         [0006]    The present mouse includes a sensor disposed at the bottom side of the mouse, so that when the user slides the mouse on a plane, the cursor displayed on the screen can be moved correspondingly. Accordingly, the user can control the movement of the cursor by moving the mouse, for example, to point an icon, and click the button of the mouse to execute one of various programs of the computer corresponding to the icon. 
         [0007]    However, the user needs to hold the mouse and slide it on a plane to make the sensor at the bottom side of the mouse sense the sliding direction and distance so that the cursor on the screen can move correspondingly. So, when the user operates the mouse, a plane of a certain area is necessary for allowing the mouse to slide thereon, which may cause restriction on usage. 
         [0008]    On the other hand, the touch control feature is easier for operation and more intuitive for users. Besides, with the progress of touch technology, more and more electronic apparatuses are equipped with touch control interface as the human-machine interface. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a pointing device that contains touch control feature, so that it is not necessary to provide a plane of a certain area for operating the pointing device, so as to improve the application convenience thereof. 
         [0010]    To achieve the above object, a pointing device according to the invention includes a covering material and a touch sensing unit. The covering material is at least made of a flexible material. The touch sensing unit is buried in the covering material and has two touch sensing surfaces. 
         [0011]    In an aspect of the invention, the covering material is sealed. 
         [0012]    In an aspect of the invention, the touch sensing unit is of a capacitance type or a resistive type. 
         [0013]    In an aspect of the invention, the touch sensing surfaces are located at different planes. 
         [0014]    In an aspect of the invention, the pointing device further comprises a feedback unit. When the covering material is touched or pressed to enable the touch sensing unit to generate a touch sensing signal, the feedback unit generates a feedback signal. 
         [0015]    In an aspect of the invention, the pointing device further comprises a proximity sensing unit disposed between the touch sensing surfaces. When the covering material is pressed to change the interval between the touch sensing surfaces, the proximity sensing unit correspondingly generates a sensing signal. 
         [0016]    As mentioned above, in the pointing device of the invention, the covering material covers the touch sensing unit and is at least made of a flexible material, and the touch sensing unit is buried in the covering material and has two touch sensing surfaces. Thus, the user can hold the pointing device and touch or press it to execute functions of, for example, moving the cursor, clicking the button, dragging the page, turning the page, etc. Therefore, the user just holds the pointing device to operate it. In other words, the pointing device can control the movement of the cursor without the operation of sliding on a plane of a certain area, so that the user can use the pointing device more conveniently. In addition, in some embodiments, the touch sensing surfaces of the pointing device are configured to enable different functions. For example, one of the touch sensing surfaces can enable the function of clicking button, and the other can enable the functions of moving the cursor, dragging, and turning the page. Hence, the pointing device of the invention can make more fun for usage. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are given for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of a pointing device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and  FIG. 1B  is a schematic view showing an enlargement of a portion of the pointing device; 
           [0019]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are schematic views of the touch sensing circuit of the pointing device of the preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the situation of using the pointing device of the preferred embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0021]      FIGS. 4 to 6  are schematic diagrams of the pointing devices of various aspects according to the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
       First Embodiment 
       [0023]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of a pointing device  1  according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and  FIG. 1B  is a schematic view showing an enlargement of a portion of the pointing device  1 . In the embodiment, the pointing device  1  means the device serving as a human-machine interface, and for example, it can replace the mouse. The pointing device  1  includes a covering material  11  and a touch sensing unit  12 . 
         [0024]    The covering material  11  is at least made of a flexible material. The covering material  11  of the embodiment is shaped like a plate for example, and it can be bent to any desired angle. Otherwise, the covering material  11  can be made like other shapes. 
         [0025]    The touch sensing unit  12  is buried in the covering material  11  and has two touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 . The touch sensing unit  12  can also be made of a flexible material. In this embodiment, the covering material  11  is sealed. The covering material  11  can be combined with the touch sensing unit  12  by injection molding or insert molding, so that the covering material  11  can tightly cover the touch sensing unit  12 . That is, the covering material  11  can directly contact the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 . The distance D from the exterior surface  112  of the covering material  11  to the touch sensing surfaces  121  or  122  can be smaller than 5 mm. Because the covering material  11  is very thin, the operation of the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  will not be hindered. Otherwise, the covering material  11  and the touch sensing unit  12  can be separately manufactured and then assembled with each other. In another aspect, the covering material  11  can be unsealed. The touch sensing unit  12  of this embodiment can be of a capacitance type or a resistive type. 
         [0026]    The touch sensing unit  12  can further include a flexible circuit board  123 , and the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  are disposed at two opposite sides of the flexible circuit board  123  respectively. To be noted, the touch sensing unit  12  can have a plurality of flexible circuit boards  123 , and the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  are disposed on the flexible circuit boards  123  respectively. Each of the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can have at least a touch sensing circuit, and the touch sensing circuit can be, for example, a single-layer circuit (see  FIG. 2A ) or a double-layer circuit. Besides, the touch sensing circuit can also be a matrix double-layer circuit (see  FIG. 2B ). 
         [0027]    When the covering material  11  is touched or pressed, the touch sensing unit  12  can correspondingly generate a touch signal, which can be transmitted through a wired transmission or a wireless transmission. Here the touch signal is transmitted through a wireless transmission for example. Otherwise, the pointing device  1  can transmit the touch signal through a wire (not shown). 
         [0028]    Accordingly, as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 3 , when the user holds the pointing device  1  (for example, the thumb of the user is located at the side of the touch sensing surface  121 , and the other fingers are located at the side of the touch sensing surface  122 ), the user can control the thumb to touch or press the touch sensing surface  121 . Then, the touch sensing surface  121  senses the clicking and moving of the thumb and thus the cursor displayed on the screen can move correspondingly, so that the computer can execute the function through the operation of the user. As for the touch sensing surface  122 , it can sense the clicking and moving of the fingers as the same way of the touch sensing surface  121  when the user touches or presses the touch sensing surface  122  with the finger(s). Therefore, during the operation of the pointing device  1 , the user just holds it. In other words, the pointing device  1  can control the movement of the cursor without the operation of sliding on a plane of a certain area, so that the usage of the pointing device  1  can be more convenient. 
         [0029]    Furthermore, the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be defined to enable different functions. For example, the touch sensing surface  121  operated by the thumb can be defined to enable the movement of the cursor; the touch sensing surface  122  operated by the other fingers can be defined to enable the clicking of the button (when the finger clicks or presses it), the dragging or turning of the page (when the finger slides). To be noted, the functions of the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be changed. For example, the touch sensing surface  121  may control the function of clicking the button, dragging the page or turning the page, and the touch sensing surface  122  may control the function of moving the cursor. Besides, the functions corresponding to the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be preset in the pointing device  1 , or updated or changed through the firmware. 
         [0030]    Besides, the pointing device  1  can further include a feedback unit (not shown). When the covering material  11  is touched or pressed to enable the touch sensing unit  12  to generate a touch sensing signal, the feedback unit generates a feedback signal. The feedback signal can be an optic feedback signal (e.g. the variation of the brightness or color displayed by the pointing device  1 ), a vibrational feedback signal (e.g. the vibration generated at the pressed location or that generated on the pointing device  1 ), or an acoustic feedback signal (e.g. the various sounds outputted by the pointing device  1  or the sound device of the computer to indicate the operation of clicking or sliding by the user). 
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the pointing device  1   a  of another aspect. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the covering material  11   a  of the pointing device  1   a  can have at least a bending portion  111 . In the embodiment, the covering material  11   a  is illustrated to have two bending portions  111 , and thus the cross-section of the pointing device  1   a  in  FIG. 4  is similar to U shape. Of course, the cross-section of the pointing device  1   a  can have different shapes. 
         [0032]    Because the flexible circuit board  123   a  is flexible, the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be disposed at two opposite sides of the pointing device  1   a , and that is, the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  are disposed at different planes. Besides, the touch sensing circuit is usually not disposed at the bending portions  111  that connect the planes, so that the touch sensing circuit just exists at an upper side and a lower side of the flexible circuit board  123   a.  Otherwise, the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be disposed on different flexible circuit boards or inflexible printed circuit boards (PCB). In this case, the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122  can be connected with each other by an electric connection element. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of the pointing device  1   b  of another aspect. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the covering material  11   b  of the pointing device  1   b  has a single bending portion  111   b,  and thus the cross-section of the pointing device  1   b  is similar to C shape. Similarly, the touch sensing unit  12   b  is buried in the covering material  11   b , and the covering material  11   b  forms a chamber C. Besides, the pointing device  1   b  here can transmit the touch signal through a wire L. To be noted, those skilled in the art can design various different structures according to the above-mentioned pointing devices  1   a  and  1   b.    
         [0034]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of the pointing device  1   c  of another aspect. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the covering material  11   c  of the pointing device  1   c  is solid and the touch sensing unit  12   c  is also buried in the covering material  11   c.  Besides, the pointing device  1   c  can further include a proximity sensing unit  13  which is disposed between the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 . That means, the proximity sensing unit  13  can be disposed on one surface of the flexible circuit board  123   c  away from the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 , or disposed inside the covering material  11   c  and located between the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 . The proximity sensing unit  13  can be of a capacitance type or an inductive type. 
         [0035]    Thus, when the covering material  11   c  is pressed by the finger or the palm of the user to change the interval between the touch sensing surfaces  121  and  122 , the proximity sensing unit  13  correspondingly generates a sensing signal which can be transmitted through a wired transmission or a wireless transmission. Accordingly, the user can operate the pointing device  1   c  through the action of pressing. Therefore, the functions of the pointing device  1   c  can be increased and the user can have more operation methods. 
         [0036]    In summary, in the pointing device of the invention, the covering material covers the touch sensing unit and is at least made of a flexible material, and the touch sensing unit is buried in the covering material and has two touch sensing surfaces. Thus, the user can hold the pointing device and touch or press it to execute functions of, for example, moving the cursor, clicking the button, dragging the page, turning the page, etc. Therefore, the user just holds the pointing device to operate it. In other words, the pointing device can control the movement of the cursor without the operation of sliding on a plane of a certain area, so that the user can use the pointing device more conveniently. In addition, in some embodiments, the touch sensing surfaces of the pointing device are configured to enable different functions. For example, one of the touch sensing surfaces can enable the function of clicking button, and the other can enable the functions of moving the cursor, dragging, and turning the page. Hence, the pointing device of the invention can make more fun for usage. 
         [0037]    Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.