Abstract:
A computer dictation device provides a slender microphone sheath into which a hand-held microphone is inserted. The sheath incorporates a miniature pointing device and control buttons, and provides a single electrical cable connection between the hand-held device and a computer system. The comfortable, light weight device can easily be operated with one hand because it makes the microphone and pointer controls accessible to the fingers and thumb of the microphone-holding hand.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This U.S. Patent Application is related to a co-pending U.S. Patent Application entitled “Low Noise Circuit Board for TrackPoint® Pointing Device,” Ser. No. 09/052,805, filed Mar. 31, 1998. Both Patent Applications are assigned to the Intemational Business Machines Corporation. (TrackPoint is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation.) 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention generally relates to information processing systems, and more specifically to the use of computer systems for dictating reports by radiologists. The invention has a particular applicability to IBM® computers and computer systems. (IBM is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation.) 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A radiologist is a physician who specializes in the interpretation of radiographic images such as X-rays, CAT-scans and MRI images. When dictating notes related to his observations, the radiologist often sits or stands before a back-lighted viewing box describing what is seen in a particular group of radiographic images. The vocabulary used in the dictation is limited to such an extent that automatic computer translation of voice to text has been successfully applied in this activity. Radiologists who use such computer assisted systems have become accustomed to using specific hand-held microphones, which resemble the hand-held microphones used by entertainers. These microphones are slender and light weight and incorporate a thumb operated switch for turning the microphone on and off. 
     A number of manufactures have attempted to combine built-in microphones with computer pointing devices and in one device, a bar code scanner for reading the bar codes on the radiographic images in a single swipe of the hand holding the microphone. In general, these devices have met with only limited success, many radiologists preferring their familiar hand-held microphones. 
     A need exists to provide some way for the radiologist to use a familiar hand-held microphone while being able to control cursor positioning and object selection and activation using the microphone-holding hand. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This need, and others that will become apparent, is met by the present invention which provides a slender microphone sheath into which the radiologist&#39;s favorite hand-held microphone is inserted. The sheath incorporates a miniature pointing device and control buttons, and provides a single electrical cable connection between the hand-held device and a computer system. The comfortable, light weight device can easily be operated with one hand because it makes all the controls accessible to the fingers and thumb of the microphone-holding hand. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a further understanding of the objects, features and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like parts are given like reference numerals and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a side pictorial view illustrating a microphone sheath according to one aspect of the present invention and a microphone for use with the sheath. 
     FIG. 2 is a side pictorial view illustrating the microphone inserted into the sheath. 
     FIG. 3 is a cutaway view illustrating the major components of the microphone sheath of FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the microphone sheath connected to a laptop computer via a pair of connectors, one for the microphone, the other for a pointer and control button. 
     FIG. 5 is an electrical schematic diagram which illustrates electrical connections and an electrical cable having two connectors at a computer end. 
     FIG. 6 is a cutaway side view of a portion of the microphone illustrating a magnetically operated reed switch for turning on and off the microphone. 
     FIG. 7 is a cutaway side view of the microphone inserted into a sheath and illustrating an opening in the sheath for operating the microphone switch shown in FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 8 is a cutaway side view of the microphone inserted into a sheath which includes a lever operated sliding magnet for operating the microphone reed switch. 
     FIG. 9 is a partial bottom view of a control portion of the microphone sheath illustrating placement of a pair of control buttons and a microphone on/off switch. 
     FIG. 10 is a side view illustrating a microphone sheath and pointing device having a laser pointer and bar code reader. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to FIG. 1 there is shown a microphone sheath having a pointing device and control button according to one aspect of the present invention and designated generally by the reference numeral  10 . A microphone for use with the sheath is also shown, and is designated generally by the numeral  12 . The microphone is not part of the invention, and is shown only to assist in understanding the various features and advantages of the invention. 
     The microphone sheath  10  includes a control portion  14  and an elongated body  16 . The control portion  14  includes an isometric pointing device (not shown) having a pointing stick  18 , and at least one control button  20  (one button is shown). The control portion  14  is open at one end  22 , and the control portion  14  and the body  16  are hollow inside for receiving the microphone  12  via the open end  22 . The microphone  12  includes a head  24 , which is the speaking end, and an elongated body  26  which includes a manually operated switch (not shown) for turning the microphone on and off. The microphone sheath  10  also includes a cable  28  shown leaving the sheath body  16  at one end opposite the open end  22 . The cable  28  includes wires for electrically connecting a microphone, the pointing device and the control button to a computer system or other electronic assembly. 
     In general, the microphone  12  is inserted into the microphone sheath  10  via the open end  22 , and a user speaks into the microphone head  24  and operates the pointing stick  18  and the at least one control button  20  to dictate and to control a computer graphical user interface. The invention has particular application in the field of computer aided dictation and specifically for use by radiologists in using a computer to dictate notes related to radiographic images, such as X-rays, CAT scans, and MRI&#39;s. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram which illustrates the microphone  12  inserted into the microphone sheath  10  of FIG.  1 . The microphone sheath  10  is hollow on the inside and defines a receiving space  30  into which the microphone  12  is inserted via the open end  22 . The receiving space  30  includes a microphone connector  32  located near an end of the receiving space opposite the open end  22 . When the microphone  12  is inserted via the open end  22  into the receiving space  30 , the microphone body  16  is guided along interior walls of the microphone sheath  10  until one end  34  of the microphone engages the microphone connector  32 . This engagement completes an electrical connection between the microphone  12  and the microphone sheath  10  via the microphone electrical connector  32 . The microphone connector  32  is compatible with a mating connector (not shown) located at the end  34  of the microphone body. 
     When the microphone  12  is inserted into the microphone sheath  10 , the combination of microphone and sheath provide a single unit having a diameter not much larger than the body  26  of the microphone  12 . A user holds the body  16  of the sheath in one hand, operates the pointing stick  18  with the thumb of the same hand, and uses the index finger of the same hand to operate the at least one control button  20 . The control button corresponds to the control button on a single button pointing device and to the left-control button on a two button pointing device. The cable  28  is of sufficient length to permit the user some degree of freedom to stand or move about without being confined to a single position while dictating. This freedom is useful for the radiologist who moves back and forth in front of a series of radiographic images on a wall mounted light box while dictating notes related to observations concerning the images. 
     The microphone sheath  10  permits the use of a familiar microphone  12  without changing the heft and feel of the microphone to such an extent that the user is uncomfortable, nor without changing the electrical and acoustic characteristics of the microphone to such an extent that computer aided translation is impaired. These factors provided the motivation that led to the making of this invention, since it would have been an obvious choice to incorporate a microphone element into a hand-held pointing device. The loyalty of the particular user group to which the invention is directed to a specific microphone necessitated the finding of a solution which permitted the popular microphone to be combined with a hand-held pointing device. The result is the present invention—a sheath for the preferred microphone that incorporates a pointing device, at least one control button and necessary cable and connectors. 
     FIG. 3 is a side cut-away view of the microphone sheath  10  of FIGS. 1 and 2. The sheath body  16  has been shortened so that the remainder of the sheath  10  can be enlarged to reveal additional details. The control portion  14  encloses an isometric pointing device, designated generally by the reference numeral  36 . The pointing device  36  includes a small printed wiring board  38 , a ceramic two-dimensional strain gauge  40  to which the control stick  18  is attached, and electronic circuitry (not shown) mounted on the printed wiring board  38  for processing signals derived from the strain gauge  40  and providing an industry standard mouse-type pointing signal compatible with the IBM PS/2® standard (PS/2 is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation). The pointing stick  18  extends through an opening in an outer surface of the control portion  14 . The circuits on pointing device  36  receive operating power via some of the wires in the cable  28  from the computer system or other electronic assembly to which the microphone sheath  10  is attached. 
     The control portion  14  also includes at least one control button  20 . The control button  20  is attached to a switch  42  which is in turn connected to the pointing device printed wiring board  38  via wires  44 . The broken line used to complete the wires  44  indicates that the wires  44  pass through the walls of the control portion  14  and do not intrude into the receiving space  30 . The pointing device  36  includes circuits which process the signals from the switch  42  and incorporate the control button signals into the industry standard pointing signal. An electrical connection is made between the cable  28  and the printed wiring board  38  via the wires  46 . 
     The receiving space  30  is defined as the hollow interior of the sheath  10  extending from the opening  22  toward the cable end and ending at the microphone connector  32  which is shown attached to the interior walls of the sheath body  16  by support members  48 . The microphone connector  32  is electrically attached to the cable  28  via wires  50 . The leading edge of the open end  22  is beveled  52  to guide the microphone body  16  into the receiving space  30 . 
     FIG. 4 is a pictorial diagram which illustrates a cable connection between the microphone sheath  10  and a laptop computer  54 . A microphone is illustrated as a broken outline only since it is not part of the invention. The cable  28  splits into two cables  56 ,  58 , each split cable having its own connector. The cable portion  56  includes a microphone jack  60  for attaching the cable  56  to a microphone receptacle on the laptop computer  54 . The cable portion  58  includes a connector compatible with the PS/2 port of the laptop computer  54 . 
     FIG. 5 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating a different specific embodiment of the microphone sheath with pointing device and control buttons, designated generally by the reference numeral  64 . The sheath  64  includes a receiving space for a microphone  12  and provides a microphone connector for compatible electrical connection to the microphone. The sheath  64  also includes a pointing device  68  and at least one control button  70 . In this embodiment, the at least one control button  70  and the pointing device  68  use separate wires  72 ,  74  within a cable assembly  76 . The microphone connector is attached via wires  78  within the cable assembly  76 . The cable assembly splits into two cables, one including the microphone wires  78 , the other  80 , including the pointing device wires  72  and the control button wires  74 . The pointing device receives operating power via some of the wires  72  from the computer system or other electronic assembly to which it is attached. 
     In a specific embodiment of the invention, the microphone is a Sennheiser model MD431II which looks somewhat as illustrated in FIG.  1  and includes an internal magnetically operated reed switch for turning the microphone on and off. This feature is illustrated schematically in FIG.  6 . FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate schematically two embodiments of the invention, one (FIG. 7) provides an opening along one side of the sheath body permitting a user to directly operate the microphone switch. In another embodiment (FIG. 8) the invention incorporates a lever operated sliding magnet which permits the user to actuate the reed switch without moving the microphone switch, which remains in an off position. 
     FIG. 6 is a cutaway schematic side view of a portion of the microphone body  26  of FIG.  1 . The microphone includes a magnetic reed switch  82 , a sliding lever  84 , and a magnet  86 . The lever  84  and magnet  86  are shown in an ‘off’ position in which the reed switch contacts are open (as illustrated). When the lever  84  is slid to an ‘on’ position  85 , the magnet is in close proximity to the reed switch  82  causing the switch contacts to close. 
     FIG. 7 is a side cutaway schematic view of the portion of the microphone body  26  illustrated in FIG.  6 . The microphone is within the receiving space  30  defined by the surrounding sheath body, a portion of which  16  is shown cross-hatched. An opening  88  is provided in one side of the sheath body  16  permitting a user to operate the microphone switch by sliding the lever  84  and magnet  86  with respect to the reed switch  82 . The lever  84  is shown in an ‘off’ position. 
     FIG. 8 is another side cutaway schematic view of the same portion of the microphone body  26  illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The body portion  26  is within the receiving space  30  surrounded by the sheath body  16 . The sliding lever  84 , magnet  86  and reed switch  82  are as previously described. In this specific embodiment, the sheath body  16  includes a sliding lever  90  to which is attached a magnet  92 . The lever  90  and magnet  92  do not intrude into the receiving space  30 , but the magnet  92  is of sufficient field strength that when the lever  90  (shown in an ‘off’ position) is slid to an ‘on’ position  91 , the magnet  92  causes the contacts of the reed switch  82  to close. It is necessary that the lever  84  of the microphone switch remain in its ‘off’ position so as not to override the effects of the magnet  92 . 
     FIG. 9 is a partial bottom schematic view of the control portion  14  and a portion of the body  16  of the microphone sheath. FIG. 9 illustrates a specific embodiment which includes two control buttons  94 ,  96  and a sliding lever  90  for turning on and off an inserted microphone. The two control buttons  94 ,  96  correspond to left- and right-pointing device control buttons. As with nearly all pointing device control buttons, the functions are interchangeable via use of portions of the graphical user interface of any computer system to which the microphone sheath is attached. 
     Finally, FIG. 10 is a side view which illustrates a computer input device according to another embodiment of the invention. The input device is designated generally by the reference numeral  100 , and defines a microphone sheath for receiving a microphone  102  as previously discussed. The input device  100  includes a source for creating a laser beam  104  which is activated by a control button  106 . The laser beam  104  can be used to highlight an object, and is therefore useful as a laser pointer. 
     In a specific embodiment of the input device  100 , the laser beam  104  is directed at a bar code  108  and reflected light  110  enters a bar code scanner  112 . The input device  100  includes a programmable processor (not shown). In a specific embodiment, the processor is part of the pointing device ( 36  of FIG.  3 ). The processor receives input signals from the pointing device and the control buttons and formats the inputs to create an industry standard coded output signal (FIG.  5 ). The processor also receives an input signal from the bar code scanner  112 . In a specific embodiment, the processor formats the received bar code scanner signal to form an additional coded output signal which is multiplexed with the industry standard pointing device/control button output signal. 
     While the invention has been described in relation to the embodiments shown in the accompanying Drawing figures, other embodiments, alternatives and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the Specification be exemplary only, and that the true scope and spirit of the invention be indicated by the following Claims.