MOUSE MAT

Abstract: A mouse pad (9) having a plane topside (10) is intended as an underlay for a computer mouse (1) having an essentially plane underside (2) with a trackball (3) arranged therein, which is adapted to rest and roll upon said topside (10). The mouse pad is connected to the computer mouse (1) by means of flexible connection means (12-15), such as strings or ribbons, which are arranged so that the computer mouse (1) is movable on the mouse pad (9) within a movement range which is limited in such a way that the trackball (3) is always located on the mouse pad (9) when the computer mouse (1) is being moved.

Description: MOUSE MAT The present invention relates to a mouse mat or pad having a plane topside, which is intended as an underlay for a computer mouse having an essentially plane underside with a trackball arranged therein, which is adapted to rest upon and roll upon said topside. Mouse pads of the above-mentioned type are well known to all computer users. Their purpose is to improve, by way of their purpose-designed topside, the operation of the mouse as a pointing device which is highly depen- dent on the underlay used. The known mouse pads fulfil this purpose very satisfactorily and, consequently, attempts at improving them have, so far, usually been directed towards purely ergonomical aspects . Accordingly, there is a great variety of mouse pads with built-in wrists supports which are believed to prevent musculo-skeletal injury, mouse pads whose topsides form a plane diagonal to the underlay of the mouse pad, which according to some users results in a more comfortable working posture, mouse pads comprising holders which are attachable to, for example, a desk and which can be pushed under the desk top when not in use in order to save desk space, and large mouse pads which are integrated with desk tops in order to create large working surfaces on which the working space of the computer mouse can be chosen freely essentially without the size limitations associated with smaller mouse pads. Common to all of the above mouse pads is the fact that it is their location and size which determine the working space available to the computer mouse and the working posture the user of the computer mouse is forced to assume. In addition, all of these mouse pads require some type of free and relatively flat desk space as an underlay for the mouse pad itself. This means that, in practice, the choice of working posture for the user of 2 the computer mouse is too restricted to be ergonomically defensible in the long term, and, moreover, that there is no known mouse pad which is usable without first reserving a flat desk space for its exclusive use. In the light of the above, the object of the present invention is to improve a mouse pad of the type mentioned by way of introduction to such a degree that a user of a computer mouse will be able, to a much greater extent than in connection with the previously known mouse pads, to influence both his own working posture and the choice of underlay for the mouse pad itself. This object is achieved according to the invention by a mouse pad according to the introductory paragraph by virtue of the fact that the mouse pad is connected to the computer mouse by means of flexible connection means, such as strings or ribbons, which are arranged so that the computer mouse is movable on the mouse pad within a range of movement which is limited in such a way that the trackball is always located on the mouse pad when the computer mouse is being moved. By virtue of the connection between the mouse pad and the computer mouse, by lifting the computer mouse a user can also lift the attached mouse pad and thereby easily place it on a currently available, suitable under- lay, such as a stack of papers on a well-filled desk or even on the user's lap while he is sitting comfortably in his chair. In this connection, the lifting of the mouse always results in the centring of the computer mouse in relation to the mouse pad and, consequently, it is always easy to centre a cursor, which is movable on a computer screen with the aid of the computer mouse, in relation to the computer screen and the mouse pad. More specifically, this is achieved by initially placing the mouse pad by means of the computer mouse on an underlay, by subse- quently displacing the computer mouse on the mouse pad in such a way that the cursor on the computer screen is moved to the centre of the screen, by subsequently lifting 3 the mouse pad from the underlay with the aid of the computer mouse, whereby the computer mouse is centred in relation to the mouse pad, and by finally replacing the mouse pad once again on the underlay with the aid of the computer mouse . In order make the best use of the advantages which the solution according to the invention may bring, the topside of the mouse pad is suitably of a size and shape which essentially correspond to the underside of the com- puter mouse. In this way, a very compact unit is achieved, which requires considerably less space than a traditional mouse pad and which, in addition, is even less dependent on the characteristics of the underlay on which it is placed. Preferably, the connection means are connected to the underside or edges of the mouse pad and preferably to the sides of the computer mouse. This type of connection is advantageous since it does not encroach upon the topside of the mouse pad or upon the underside of the computer mouse. Moreover, the connection means are preferably of essentially the same length. This brings the advantage that, when the mouse pad is lifted from an underlay with the aid of the computer mouse, the topside of the mouse pad is essentially parallel to the underside of the computer mouse, which is a major advantage in connection with the above-described centring of the computer mouse in relation to the mouse pad. The easiest way of fastening the connection means to the computer mouse is by means of glue, the glue used preferably being a permanently sticky adhesive glue enabling repeated removal and attachment of the connection means. The latter is important, for example, when the trackball of the computer mouse is to be cleaned, although in the solution where the topside of the mouse pad is of essentially the same size and shape as the underside of the computer mouse the trackball needs to be cleaned much less frequently than previously, since the computer mouse is always placed as a kind of dust protector on the part of the mouse pad which is used by the trackball . Alternatively, the connection means can be attached to the mouse pad by means of detachable fastening means, such as press-studs or Velcro fasteners. Suitably, the fastening means comprise at least three strings or ribbons, which are evenly spaced around the trackball. When using at least three such strings or ribbons it is possible always to ensure the desired centring mentioned above. Finally, it has been found advantageous to make the strings or ribbons elastically extensible, since in that way they provide the user of the computer mouse with a tactile indication of when the computer mouse on the mouse pad is approaching an end position. A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a computer mouse and a mouse pad according to the invention for attachment to the same; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the mouse pad which has now been attached to the computer mouse; and Figs 3 and 4 are top views showing the computer mouse in two different positions of use on top of the mouse pad. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a computer mouse having an essentially plane underside 2, in which a trackball 3 is arranged, surrounding sidewalls 4 connected to the underside 2, an ergonomically designed topside 5 with buttons 6 and 7, and a flex 8, by means of which it is connectable to a computer (not shown) . Fig. 1 also shows a mouse pad 9 according to the invention. The latter has a plane topside 10 of the same shape and size as the underside 2 of the computer mouse 5 1. It is made of a relatively thick rubber material and four ribbons 12-15 of approximately the same length extend from its surrounding edge 11. The ribbons 12-15 are made of a very flexible material and on their ends which are spaced from the mouse pad 9 they have glue fields 16-19 of permanently sticky glue. Fig. 2 shows the computer mouse 1 and the mouse pad 9 put together into one unit. This unit has been achieved by attaching the ribbons 12-15 of the mouse pad 9 to the sidewalls 4 of the computer mouse 1 by means of their glue fields 16-19. In this connection, the length of the ribbons 12-15 is such that the computer mouse 1 is dis- placeable on the mouse pad 9 and the glue fields 16-19 are strong enough to enable the mouse pad 9 to be lifted by means of the computer mouse 1 from an underlay upon which the mouse pad 9 is resting. In this connection, the uniform length of the ribbons 12-15 means that the mouse pad 9 hanging underneath the computer mouse 1 has a topside 10 which is parallel to the underside 2 of the com- puter mouse 1 and, moreover, that it is hanging centred under the computer mouse 1. Figs 3 and 4 schematically illustrate two different positions of use of the computer mouse 1 in relation to the mouse pad 9. As can be seen from the Figures, in both positions of use the greater part of the underside 2 of the computer mouse 1 still rests on the topside 10 of the mouse pad 9 and the trackball 3 of the computer mouse 1 is still placed on this topside 10. The displacement distance allowed by the ribbons 12-15 in this connection is more than sufficient to achieve a movement, normally from the position in Fig. 3 to the position in Fig. 4 , of a cursor from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of a computer screen. In other words, even the very small mouse pad 9 shown in the drawings is large enough for all tasks normally performed by a computer mouse 1. It will be appreciated that the above advantages of the mouse pad according to the invention can also be 6 achieved by a mouse pad of a size and a shape which differ from that of the mouse pad 9 shown in the drawings . Accordingly, strings can, for example, be used instead of the ribbons 12-15, instead of using four strings or rib- bons one can, for example, use three, one of which can be connected to the flex 8, and, naturally, other fastening devices, such as Velcro fasteners, can be used instead of the glue fields 16-19 shown.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A mouse pad having a plane topside (10) , which is intended as an underlay for a computer mouse (1) having an essentially plane underside (2) with a trackball (3) arranged therein, which is adapted to rest and roll upon said topside (10), c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that it is connected to the computer mouse (1) by means of flexible connection means (12-15) , such as strings or ribbons, which are arranged so that the computer mouse (1) is movable on the mouse pad (9) within a movement range which is limited in such a way that the trackball (3) is always located on the mouse pad (9) when the com- puter mouse (1) is being moved. 2. A mouse pad according to claim 1, wherein said topside (10) is of a size and a shape which essentially correspond to the underside (2) of the computer mouse (1) . 3. A mouse pad according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the connection means (12-15) are connected to the underside or edges (11) of the mouse pad (9) . 4. A mouse pad according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the connection means (12-15) are connected to the sides (4) of the computer mouse (1) . 5. A mouse pad according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the connection means (12-15) are of essentially the same length. 6. A mouse pad according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the connection means (12-15) are fastened to the computer mouse by means of glue (16-19) . 7. A mouse pad according to claim 6, wherein the glue used (16-19) is a permanently sticky adhesive glue, which enables repeated removal and attachment of the con- nection means (12-15) . 8. A mouse pad according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the connection means (12-15) are fastened to the mouse pad (9) by means of detachable fastening devices, such as press studs or Velcro fasteners . 9. A mouse pad according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the connection means (12-15) comprise at least three strings or ribbons, which are evenly distributed around the trackball (3) . 10. A mouse pad according to claim 9, wherein the strings or ribbons are elastically extensible.

Inventors: CORSHAMMAR KJELL, CORSHAMMAR, KJELL
Applicants: CORSHAMMAR KJELL, CORSHAMMAR, KJELL
Application year: 1999
Main classification: G06F3
IPC codes: G06F3