Patent ID: 6903725

Claim:
A self-powered computer-pointing device comprising: a housing; a roller ball accommodated within said housing, at least a portion of said roller ball being exposed through an opening in said housing to allow said roller ball to contact a surface on which said computer-pointing device rests, movement of said computer-pointing device across said surface imparting rotation of said roller ball; a sensing mechanism sensing movement of said roller ball and generating x-y movement signals corresponding to movement of said computer-pointing device across said surface for conveyance to a host computer; and a power generating mechanism independent of said sensing mechanism and in direct contact with said roller ball, said power generating mechanism converting rotational movement of said roller ball into electrical energy that is used to power said computer-pointing device, said power generating mechanism including a roller assembly rotatably coupled to and biased into direct contact with said roller ball and a power generator coupled to the roller assembly.