Abstract:
A cursor control apparatus that allows a user to double-click the left key. A second left key is added to the traditional cursor control apparatus. The user can press the second left key once to achieve the multi-clicking effect. The speed of performing shooting actions in a game application or processing a document file in a computer is thereby increased.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a cursor control apparatus. In particular, this invention relates to a cursor control apparatus that allows a user to double-click the left key. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Reference is made to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 .  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the cursor control apparatus of the prior art.  FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the optical cursor control apparatus of the prior art.  FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the roller cursor control apparatus of the prior art. The cursor control apparatus includes a first left key  1 , a middle key  2 , a right key  3 , a displacement sensor  4 , and a processor  5 . 
         [0005]    A user can perform a shooting action in a game application by pressing the first left key  1 . When the user performs the shooting action, the user presses the upper cover of the left key to trigger the left key micro-movement switch to generate a first left key single-click signal L in the key input unit  7  so that the shooting action is performed. Because the period for completing the shooting action is too long and the left key has to be pressed once for every shooting action, the user cannot rapidly execute the shooting actions in the game application. The entertainment value of the game is therefore lowered, due to this restriction of the prior art technology. 
         [0006]    Likewise, when the user wants to process a document file, the user needs to continually press the first left key  1  twice, or use other options available only by using the menu options available in the application, to open the document file. The operation speed is low and the process is complex so that the efficiency of computer operation is affected. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    One particular aspect of the present invention is to provide a cursor control apparatus that allows a user to double-click the left key. A second left key is added to the traditional cursor control apparatus. The user can press the second left key once to achieve a multi-clicking effect. The speed of performing the shooting actions in a game application and processing a document file in a computer are thereby increased. 
         [0008]    The cursor control apparatus having a double-click the left key includes a first left key, a middle key, a right key, a second left key, a displacement sensor, and a processor. The second left key generates a second left key single-click signal to the processor, and the processor converts the second left key single-click signal into a left key double-click signal. The left key double-click signal is transmitted to a computing apparatus via the signal transmitting terminal to achieve the effect of continually pressing the left key twice. 
         [0009]    For further understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description illustrating the embodiments and examples of the invention. The description is only for illustrating the invention and is not intended to be considered limiting of the scope of the claim. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The drawings included herein provide a further understanding of the invention. A brief introduction of the drawings is as follows: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1A  is a top view of the of the cursor control apparatus of the prior art; 
           [0012]      FIG. 1B  is a bottom view of the of the cursor control apparatus of the prior art; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the optical cursor control apparatus of the prior art; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the roller cursor control apparatus of the prior art; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4A  is a top view of the of the cursor control apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4B  is a bottom view of the of the cursor control apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the optical cursor control apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the roller cursor control apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of the second left key single-click signal converted into a left key double-click signal of the present invention; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram of the vibrator chip of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    Reference is made to  FIGS. 4-6 .  FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the cursor control apparatus of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the optical cursor control apparatus of the present invention.  FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the roller cursor control apparatus of the present invention. The cursor control apparatus includes a first left key  11 , a middle key  21 , a right key  31 , a displacement sensor  41 , a processor  51 , and a second left key  6 . The second left key  6  is adjacent to the first left key  11 . The first left key  11 , the middle key  21 , or the right key  31  can utilize a micro-movement key switch, a touching thin film switch, or a capacitor sensing switch to generate a single single-click signal, such as a first left key single-click signal L, a middle single-click signal M; a right single-click signal R in the key input unit  71 . Similarly, the second left key  6  can also utilize the described switches to generate a second left key single-click signal L 1 . 
         [0022]    The processor  51  can be a traditional microprocessor or a cursor control circuit with a vibrator chip (not shown in the figure) for scanning the first left key  11  and the second left key  6  and converting the second left key single-click signal L 1  generated from the second left key  6  into a left key double-click signal. The left key double-click signal is transmitted to a computing apparatus via the signal transmitting terminal (not shown in the figure) of the processor  51  to achieve the effect of double-clicking. Therefore, the user can rapidly perform the shooting actions in a game application or process a computer document file. The signal transmitting terminal can be a USB, a PS2, an RS232, a SPI,I2C, a wireless transmitting terminal, or an IR (Infrared Radio) transmitting terminal. 
         [0023]    Reference is made to  FIGS. 7 and 8 .  FIG. 7  shows a block diagram of the second left key single-click signal converted into a left key double-click signal of the present invention.  FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram of the vibrator chip of the present invention. The vibrator chip is an NE556 chip and is designed as a monostable multivibrator  22  and an astable multivibrator  23 . The NE556 chip comprises two NE555 chips. The monostable multivibrator  22  includes the vibrator chip U 1 , resistors R 1 , R 4  and R 5 , and capacitors C 1 , C 4 , C 5  and C 6 . The astable multivibrator  23  includes the vibrator chip U 1 , resistors R 2  and R 3 , and capacitors C 2  and C 3 . 
         [0024]    The pulse width of the astable multivibrator  23  is smaller than that of the monostable multivibrator  22 . The pulse width of the monostable multivibrator  22  is determined by the resistor R 1  and the capacitor C 1 . When the user presses the second left key  6 , the monostable multivibrator  22  is triggered to make the astable multivibrator  23  be enabled to oscillate. The pulse width of the astable multivibrator  23  is determined by the resistors R 2 , R 3  and the capacitor C 3 . When the output of the monostable multivibrator  22  is recovered, the astable multivibrator  23  is disabled. That means the astable multivibrator  23  stops oscillating. The number of pulses outputted from the astable multivibrator  23  is controlled by the width of the pulse outputted from the monostable multivibrator  22 . 
         [0025]    Therefore, the second left key single-click signal L 1  generated from the second left key  6  is converted into a left key double-click signal via the monostable multivibrator  22  and the astable multivibrator  23 . Next, the left key double-click signal is transmitted to the computing apparatus via the signal transmitting terminal of the processor  51  to achieve the effect of double-clicking. Thereby, the user can rapidly perform the shooting actions in the game application or process the computer document file. 
         [0026]    In this embodiment, the processor  51  scans the first left key  11  and the second left key  6  that are independent to each other. In another embodiment, the processor  51  scans the first left key  11  and the second left key  6  that are cooperated to each other in parallel. The functions and locations of the first left key  11  and the second left key  6  are interchangeable. 
         [0027]    Furthermore, the clicking number generated from pressing the second left key  6  once is controlled by an application in the computing apparatus or a setting key (not shown in the figure) located on the cursor control apparatus. That means the second left key single-click signal is converted into a multi-click signal. The time and period required for a signal click is also controlled. Therefore, when the cursor moves rapidly, the file displayed on the computing apparatus still can be double-clicked well. 
         [0028]    The description above only illustrates specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims.