Abstract:
A mechanism for inclining a first housing relative to a second housing of a computer input device. The first housing has at least a support, and an axial line of the support is screwed into the lower housing. The support is inclinable relative to the lower housing at an angle sufficient to activate a corresponding micro switch within the input device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a computer input device, and in particular, to a mechanism inclining the upper housing relative to a lower housing in order to activate a switch.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Computer input devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, track ball, game controller, and so forth, have changed rapidly since the use of computers and the Internet have become common. One such change has been the addition of control tools other than the key buttons on the top or lateral sides of the input device. One such control tool, the scroll wheel or roller disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455, ushered in a brand new era for browsing the Internet and Windows™ based applications. Another control tool, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,564 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0025673, presented a new way to operate the scroll wheel or roller on the top of the mouse by laterally moving the roller.  
         [0005]     However, the various modifications for the input device have not stopped people from pursuing further technological advancements. For example, a so-called key free mouse is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0140676. In the key free mouse, the upper housing  10  has a pin  11  at a front end and a rear end. Each of the pins  11  is received within a locking slot  21  so as to constitute a pivot axis A-A pivot axis. Once the upper housing  10  is turned about the pivot axis A-A, the upper housing  10  will activate a corresponding micro switch within the housing. However, the upper housing  10  is coupled to the lower housing  20  by engaging the pin  11  into the locking slot  21 , which causes difficulties in assembling or disassembling the upper housing and the lower housing due to the fragile structure of the pin.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an objective of the present invention to provide an input device having an inclinable housing, which is easy to assemble and low in cost.  
         [0007]     To accomplish this objective, the input device of a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a first or upper housing and a second or lower housing, the upper housing having at least a support, the axial line of the support being coupled via a screw to the second or lower housing; and the support being inclinable relative to the second or lower housing at a sufficient angle to activate a corresponding micro switch within the input device. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of an input device constructed in accordance with the principles of a preferred embodiment of the invention.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2A  is the top view of the input device of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 2B  is a sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 2C  is a sectional view taken along line H-H of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 2D  is yet another sectional view taken along line F-F of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.  
         [0014]     Referring to FIGS.  1 ˜ 2  D, the input device having an inclinable mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the invention includes an upper housing  1  and a lower housing  2 . The upper housing  1  has a first button  11 , a second button  12 , and an opening  13 . The first button  11  and the second button  12  can respectively activate first micro switches  31  and  32 , and the opening  13  can receive a roller  33  therein. The upper housing has supports  14 ,  15  (see  FIGS. 2A-2C ) at a front end and a rear end. Each side of the support  14  has a rib  16 ,  17 . Each of the supports  14 ,  15  has a convex tip  141 ,  142 .  
         [0015]     The lower housing  2  has recesses  25 ,  26  located at positions corresponding to positions of the supports  14 ,  15  respectively. The ribs  15 ,  16  at a left side and a right side can activate corresponding third and fourth micro switches  41 ,  42 . Each of the recesses  25 ,  26  can receive a corresponding spring  21 ,  23 . The screws  22 ( 24 ) penetrate the corresponding springs  21 ( 23 ), extending through the openings  251 ( 261 ) in the lower housing, and screwing into the recesses  25 ( 26 ) so as to couple the support to the lower housing while enabling the support to move relative to the lower housing. The screws  22 ( 24 ) penetrate both the recesses  25  ( 26 ) and the convex tips  141 ( 142 ) by an amount sufficient to bias the screws  22 ( 24 ) against the spring  21 ( 23 ) and generate a tension force in the springs  21 ( 23 ). This in turn causes the convex tips  141 ( 142 ) to be biased against, and pivotable relative to, the opening  251  ( 261 ).  
         [0016]     When a user exerts a left lateral force on the upper housing  1 , the support  14 ,  15  is inclined with respect to the lower housing  2  at an angle, and the rib  16  ( 17 ) activates the corresponding micro switch  41 ( 42 ). When the user removes the lateral force on the upper housing  1 , the tension force generated by the spring  21  and  23  will force the convex tips  141 ,  142  of the supports  14 ,  15 , which are in the openings  251 ,  261 , to move back to a neutral position, usually a horizontal position.  
         [0017]     A practical use of the invention is that a user may scroll a Windows™-based application up and down by rotating the roller  33 , and clicking on an item by pressing the left key button  11  to run a specific program or activate a hyperlink, and the user may further incline the upper housing  1  to activate the micro switch  41 ( 42 ) to scroll the window-based application left and right. The function of an activated micro switch can be designated by the firmware or software.  
         [0018]     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the incline of the upper housing  1  according to the present invention is a “point to point” or “point to plane” balancing-control movement (convex tip  141 / 142  moves in recess  25 / 26 ), and therefore contrary to the coaxial rotating movement disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0140676 (pin  11  turning within the slot  21 ). As a result, the present invention is easy to assemble and disassemble, and the cost to produce the invention is relatively low to any known skill.  
         [0019]     While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.