Abstract:
The present invention relates to a roller mechanism for generating a plurality of control signals, for example to scroll an image on a computer display in multiple directions. The roller mechanism has a carriage, and a roller rotatable within the carrier. The roller can drive an encoding unit to output the control signal. The carriage has a coupling portion, and the coupling portion is pivoted to a bottom support. Thus the roller and the carriage are turnable relative to the coupling portion in a fan-shaped movement while the roller is also being rotated within the carriage.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a roller mechanism for generating a plurality of control signals. The control signals may be used for scrolling an image on a computer display in multiple directions.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     GUI (graphical user interface) controls have been widely applied to a variety of devices, including computers, telephones, televisions, hand-held devices or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455 discloses a pioneering utilization of a roller in a computer input device for scrolling an image on a computer display either in a horizontal and vertical direction. However the scrolling direction is limited to a one specified direction at a time, or the cursor has to be moved to the other scrolling bar such that the computer will verify a desired scrolling direction.  
         [0005]     In order to overcome the inconvenience mentioned above, U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,564 discloses a laterally movable roller, thereby providing an adding movement direction. However, this arrangement suffers the disadvantage that the laterally movable roller is difficult to use, prompting a further improvement described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0025673. The further improvement is that the light emitter and a light receiver used to sense movement are located within a large roller to facilitate manipulation of the roller. While more convenient to use, the input device with the light emitter and receiver within the roller is a relatively costly mechanism, particularly when the input device in which it is used is miniaturized.  
         [0006]     Yet another improvement is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0174336, which utilizes a ball joint coupled to the center of the roller to enable tilting of the roller with a simpler structure. However, due to the tight narrow tolerance of the combination, the simplified structure has a short life span if the user tilts the roller frequently.  
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0007]     It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a roller mechanism with a simple and durable structure, and that may be used for scrolling an image on a computer display in multiple directions.  
         [0008]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a roller mechanism suitable for scrolling an image on a computer display in multiple directions, with a lower cost in production.  
         [0009]     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a roller mechanism suitable for scrolling an image on a computer display in multiple directions, and which is easy for a user to operate.  
         [0010]     To accomplish the objects mentioned above, the roller mechanism includes a carriage and a roller with a shaft rotatable within the carriage; and an encoding unit driven by the shaft to output a control signal. The first end of the carriage has a coupling portion, and the coupling portion is pivoted to a bottom such that the roller and the carriage is turnable relative to the coupling portion, and the roller move on the shaft with a fan-shaped movement. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are exploded views of the first preferred embodiment.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a lateral view of a roller that may be used in the first preferred embodiment.  
         [0014]     FIGS.  4 A˜ 4 C are front views of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the multiple movements of the roller.  
         [0015]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  are perspective views of the first embodiment of the present invention showing the application to a computer mouse.  
         [0016]     FIGS.  6 A˜ 8 B are perspective views of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the multiple movements of the roller.  
         [0017]      FIGS. 9A and 9B  are lateral views of the first preferred embodiment showing the downward movement of the roller.  
         [0018]     FIGS.  10 A˜ 12 B are perspective views of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the multiple movements of the roller. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]     The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes 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.  
         [0020]     Referring to  FIG. 1, 2A  and  2 B, the roller mechanism  100  comprises a carriage  130 , and a roller  110  with a shaft  120  which is rotatable within the carriage  130 . Each side of the roller  110  has a flange  113  such that he roller  110  is mounted in the pair of recesses  132 . Each side of the roller  110  further has an inner portion  111  that fits between the pair of recesses  132 . The carriage  120  has a coupling portion  134 , which is further pivoted to a post  151  of a bottom  150 .  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 2A , the shaft  120  has a smaller hexagonal portion  121  for coupling to an encoding unit  21 , and a larger hexagonal portion  122  for penetrating the hexagonal axial hole  112  of the roller  110 . Because the sectional area of the hole  112  is larger than the area of the larger hexagonal portion  122 , the roller is movable on the shaft  120 . However, due to the configuration of the hexagonal portion  122  and the hexagonal hole  112 , the rotation of the roller  110  still can force the shaft  120  to rotate simultaneously such that the shaft  120  will drive the encoding unit  21  to output a control signal. Therefore, the roller  130  is freely rotatable within the carriage  130 . In addition, the roller  130  and the carriage  130  are also turnable in a fan-shaped movement relative to the coupling portion  134  while the roller  110 . Finally, as a result of resilient element  135 , the roller  110  and the carriage  130  are downwardly movable relative to the coupling portion  134  when sufficient downward pressure is placed on the roller to overcome the upward bias of resilient element  135 , the recess  138  facilitating the downward movement.  
         [0022]     The encoding unit  21  and a plurality of micro-switches  22  are located on a circuit board  140 , and the bottom of the carriage  130  and a vertical extension  139  are movable within the opening  141  of the circuit board  140 . However, the range of the fan-shaped movement of the carriage  130  is limited by the vertical extension  139  moving within the opening  141 .  
         [0023]     The bottom  150  can be an extra bottom plate or any portion of a housing of a device. The circuit board  140  is mounted on the posts  153  evenly so as to form a space therebetween, and the resilient element  135  is positioned between the hole  136  of the carriage  130  and the hole  152  of the bottom  150  to apply an upward bias to the carriage  130 , and enabling the roller  110  and the carriage  130  is to be moved downward relative to the coupling portion  134 .  
         [0024]     The carriage  130  has freely movable extensions  137 , which include a first extension  137   a , a second extension  137   b  and a third extension  137   c . In addition, the micro-switches  22  include a first switch  22   a , a second switch  22   b , and a third switch  22   c . The distance between the extensions  137   a ,  137   b , and  137   c  is shorter than that of switches  22   a ,  22   b , and  22   c.    
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 4A ˜ 4 C, the roller  110  has a neutral position that enables the first extension  137   a  to be positioned just on the top of micro-switch  22   a . The second and third extensions  137   b  and  137   c  are above the inward side of the switches  22   b  and  22   c  respectively. Once a user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   a  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   a  causing a first control signal. However, once a user turns the roller  130  to the right side, the inner portion  111  of the roller  110  will push the carriage  130  to the right side. In the mean time, the roller  130  and the carriage  130  are turnable relative to the coupling portion  134  while the roller  110  is moving on the shaft  120  in a fan-shaped movement. After the fan-shaped movement, once the user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   b  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   b  causing a second control signal.  
         [0026]     Similarly, once a user turns the roller  130  to the left side, the inner portion  111  of the roller  110  will push the carriage  130  to the left side. In the mean time, the roller  130  and the carriage  130  are turnable relative to the coupling portion  134  while the roller  110  is moving on the shaft  120  in the above-described fan-shaped pivoting movement. After the fan-shaped movement, once the user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   c  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   c  causing a third control signal.  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the roller mechanism according to the present invention can be applied to, but is not limited to, a computer input device such as a computer mouse, trackball, keyboard, game controller, camera or the like. For example, a computer mouse  30  may include such a roller mechanism. The housing  31  has an opening  32  and the roller  110  is position therein. The roller  110  can carry out a fan-shaped movement within the opening  32 .  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIGS. 6A and 6B , the roller  110  has a neutral position that enables the first extension  137   a  to be positioned right on the top of the micro-switch  22   a . Once a user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   a  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   a  causing a first control signal, for example to execute a fast scrolling function.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , once a user turns the roller  110  to the right side, and the user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   b  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   b  causing a second control signal, such as a right horizontal scrolling signal.  
         [0030]     Referring to  FIGS. 8A and 8B , once a user turns the roller  110  to the left side, and the user presses the roller  110  downward, the extension  137   c  will only activate the corresponding switch  22   c  causing a third control signal, such as a left horizontal scrolling signal.  
         [0031]     The roller  110  is freely rotatable within the carriage  130 , and the rotation of the roller  110  can force the shaft  120  to rotate together such that the shaft  120  will drive the encoding unit  21  to output a control signal, such as an upward or downward vertical scrolling signal. Referring to  FIGS. 9A and 9B , once the roller is pressed downward, the roller  110  will be lifted by the resilient element  135  when the downward force is released. No matter whether the roller  110  is turned to the left or the right, once the lateral force is released, the resilient element  135  will restore the carriage  130  to its neutral position.  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIGS. 10A and 10B , the roller mechanism  600  has a roller  610 , a shaft  620 , a carriage  630 , a circuit  640  and a bottom  650 . The roller  610  has a neutral position that enables a free end  623  of the shaft  620  to be positioned right on the top of the micro-switch  71 . Once a user presses the roller  610  downward, the free end  623  will be forced to move downward and activate the corresponding switch  71  causing a first control signal, for example to activate a fast scrolling function.  
         [0033]     Referring to  FIGS. 11A and 11B , once a user turns the roller  610  to the left side, the carriage  630  will directly activate the corresponding switch  73  causing a second control signal, such as a left horizontal scrolling signal.  
         [0034]     Referring to  FIGS. 12A and 12B , once a user turns the roller  610  to the right side, the carriage  630  will directly activate the corresponding switch  72  causing a third control signal, such as a right horizontal scrolling signal.  
         [0035]     The roller  610  of this embodiment is also freely rotatable within the carriage  630 , and the rotation of the roller  610  can force the shaft  620  to rotate together such that the shaft  620  will drive the encoding unit  21  to output a control signal, for example an upward or downward vertical scrolling signal.  
         [0036]     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.