Patent Publication Number: US-2004048038-A1

Title: Pad member used in operating computer

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to a computer peripheral product, and more particularly to a pad member used in operating computer, such as mouse pad or wrist pad.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] In earlier days, a mouse pad was flat which is constructed from a rubber pad and a cloth layer or a plastics layer attached on the rubber pad. The rubber pad rests on the table and mouse runs on the cloth layer or the plastics layer.  
       [0003] Such mouse pad did not provide user&#39;s wrist any support so that user will fell uncomfortable on wrist after a long time use. An improved mouse pad was provided with a soft bump for resting user&#39;s wrist on it. Such that user can bear operating mouse for a longer time.  
       [0004] Recently, a wrist pad was brought to the market which is a single soft bump element for user can rest his/her wrist on it. For example, user can use the wrist pad when he/she operates a digit plate, or user can put a bar-like wrist pad in front of a keyboard to support his/her wrists when operates the keyboard.  
       [0005] The conventional pad, including mouse pad or wrist pad etc., usually had a soft bump made of gel. The bump is made from injection molding or pressing for providing a well elasticity to support wrist. Such gel bump has a higher cost so that a pad with the gel bump is expensive and the gel bump does not allow ventilation so that user will feel hot and uncomfortable when rests his/her wrist on it for a long time.  
       [0006] In addition, the conventional pad is easy to accumulate dust on it. The dust will be attached on the ball on the bottom of the mouse. That will make the mouse cannot work normally. Such that, user needs to disassemble the ball to clean it frequently.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] It is the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a pad member used in operating computer, which costs less and can support user&#39;s wrist well when he/she operates computer.  
       [0008] It is another objective of the present invention is to provide a pad member used in operating computer, which allows ventilation when a user rests his/her wrist on it.  
       [0009] It is still another objective of the present invention is to provide a pad member used in operating computer, which can prevent dust accumulation.  
       [0010] According to the present invention, the above objectives are accomplished by a pad member used in operating computer comprising a substrate made of a soft yet firm material, a pedestal bulging from the upper surface of said substrate such that a hollow portion is formed thereunder, and a friction surface layer attached on the upper surface of said substrate. For having a hollow portion under the pedestal, the pad allows the pedestal having a suitable resilience to match user&#39;s wrist resting thereon and give the wrist a well support. In the mean time, the producing cost of the pad can be substantially reduced.  
       [0011] In another aspect of the present invention, the substrate of the pad has a plurality of first apertures running through the body thereof. The friction surface layer has a plurality of second apertures communicating with said first apertures. The combination allows ventilation when a user rests his/her wrist on it and that the dust accumulated on the bottom of a mouse can be scraped by the friction surface layer and dropped to outside through the apertures.  
       [0012] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the direction indicated by a line  2 - 2  as shown in FIG. 1 and a side view of the wrist and hand location when resting on the pedestal of the pad;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0016]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0017]FIG. 5 is a bottom view of in part of the base layer of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of A portion of FIG. 5;  
     [0019]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention, and  
     [0020]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0021] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a pad  10  has a substrate  20  and a surface layer  30 . Substrate  20  is formed from a suitable soft yet firm material such as any of various commercially available plastic materials. Substrate  20  has a flat portion  22  and a pedestal  24  bulging from the upper surface thereof such that a hollow portion  26  is formed under pedestal  24 . Surface layer  30 , which is made of a sheet material having a suitable roughness and allowing ventilation, such as a non-weaved cloth, is attached on the upper surface of substrate  20  to provide a friction and ventilating surface on pad  10 .  
     [0022] For having hollow portion  26  thereunder, pedestal  24  will have a suitable resilience to allow it can be deformed properly according to the weight and shape of user&#39;s wrist  2  resting thereon. In other words, pedestal  24  provided by the present invention allows matching user&#39;s wrist resting thereon and giving the wrist a well support. Furthermore, since there is no other material needed to form a pedestal, the producing cost of pad  10  can be reduced remarkably.  
     [0023] Another variation of the pad according the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 6. In the variation version, pad  40  has a substrate  42 , a surface layer  44  attached on the upper surface of substrate  42 , and a base layer  46  attached on the bottom surface of substrate  42 .  
     [0024] Substrate  42  can be designed to have a plurality of apertures thereon such as a meshed structure or the similars. In this embodiment, Substrate  42  has parallel first ribs  48  and parallel second ribs  50  arranged in a crisscross pattern such that apertures  52  are formed therebetween (as shown in FIG. 5). Surface layer  44  is provided with apertures  54  relative to apertures  52  of substrate  42 . Such a combination has several advantages. The first is that substrate  42  is more resilient than the substrate having no apertures, so pedestal  56  with a hollow portion  58  provides user&#39;s wrist a more comfortable support than prior art pads. The second is that pad  40  allows ventilation. The third is that when pad  40  is used, the dust accumulated on the bottom of a mouse, specially the ball thereof, can be scraped by surface layer  44  and dropped to outside through apertures  52  and  54 .  
     [0025] For providing better ventilation, the bottom surface of the substrate may be designed to have a plurality of ventilated channels communicating apertures formed on the substrate. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A, in the embodiment, such ventilated channels are accomplished by gaps  56  formed on ribs  48  and  52 .  
     [0026] Base layer  46  is a flat piece having a planar bottom surface and attached to the bottom surface of substrate  42 . Base layer  46  allows that, pad  40  can be securely attached on a working face.  
     [0027] Referring to FIG. 7, according to the present invention, pad  70  can be an elongated member for being a keyboard pad.