Patent ID: 8471811

Claim:
A pointing device, comprising: a first surface having a puck field of motion defined thereon, wherein the puck field of motion is a planar field of motion; a moveable puck confined to move on said first surface, said moveable puck to activate a cursor tracking function in response to a vertical pressure applied to the moveable puck, the moveable puck comprising: a first member and a second member, wherein said first and second members are spaced apart from one another by a resilient spacer when no force is applied between said first and second members; a tilt mechanism for allowing said first and second members to assume a tilted configuration with respect to one another in response to a force applied between said first and second members, said tilted configuration being responsive to said force location, direction, and magnitude; a clicker comprising a mechanical device that has a dimension that changes in response to a force being applied thereto in which the change in dimension is a non-linear function of the applied force; and a tilt position sensor that detects a tilt position of said first member with respect to said second member, wherein the tilt position sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to the applied force on the clicker; wherein said first member comprises a first electrode and said second member comprises second and third electrodes, and wherein said position sensor comprises a circuit for measuring the capacitances between said first and second electrodes and said first and third electrodes.