CN1339736A - Indicator device - Google Patents

Abstract

A pointing device having a light-emitting scrolling device, which may be a scroll wheel or a trackball, is provided. The pointer device is connected with a computer and used for controlling the displacement of a cursor on a computer display, the pointer device comprises a pointer unit used for generating a pointer signal to the computer so as to control the displacement of the cursor, a rolling device used for generating a rolling signal to the computer, a light source used for irradiating the rolling device to enable the rolling device to emit light, and a control unit used for controlling the operation of the pointer device. When the computer transmits a status signal to the pointing device, the control unit controls the light source according to the status signal to set the light emitting mode of the scrolling device.

Description

Indicator device

The invention relates to an indicator device, in particular to an indicator device which utilizes the light-emitting mode of its scrolling device to display the status of a computer.

Known pointing devices with scrolling devices (such as scroll wheels or trackballs) can only be used to generate pointing signals and send them to the computer to control the displacement of the cursor on the display or scroll the window, but cannot receive and display information from the computer. Therefore, the user cannot know the state of the computer directly from the known indicator device. For example, when a computer receives an e-mail from the network, if the display is not turned on or the user's line of sight is not facing the display, the user will not be able to immediately know that an e-mail is incoming, and may miss important time-sensitive information. information. Or, when computer enters a certain state, as when computer window has scrolling (Scrolling Navigator) function, if user does not scroll this window, this user just can't know whether this computer window has scrolling function immediately.

Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide an indicator device capable of displaying information from a computer, so that the user can know the status of the computer directly from the light pattern of the scrolling device on the indicator device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an indicator device, which is electrically connected to a computer and used to control the displacement of a cursor on the display of the computer. The indicator device includes: a housing; an indicator unit installed in the housing Inside the body, used to generate an index signal to the computer to control the displacement of the cursor; a scrolling device, used to generate a scrolling signal to the computer; a light source, used to illuminate the scrolling device to make the scrolling device emit light, and a The control unit is used to control the operation of the indicator device; wherein when the computer sends a status signal to the indicator device, the control unit will control the light source according to the status signal to set the lighting mode of the scrolling device.

In order to further understand the above-mentioned purpose, features and advantages of the present invention, a specific description will now be made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an indicator device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the indicator device in Fig. 1 .

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator device shown in Fig. 1 along the tangent line 3-3.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator device at the axis of the first roller and the first supporting device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the driver shown in FIG. 2 when detecting whether the window where the cursor is located has a scrolling function.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the driver program shown in FIG. 2 when detecting whether there are new mails or whether there are mails that have not been read yet.

Refer to Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an indicator device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the indicator device 10 of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator device 10 shown in FIG. 1 along line 3-3. The pointer device 10 is electrically connected to a computer 30 for controlling the displacement of a cursor 42 on a display 40 of the computer 30 . The indicator device 10 includes a housing 12 , an indicator unit 14 , a scrolling device 16 , a light source 22 , and a control unit 24 .

The indicator unit 14 is used to generate an indicator signal to the computer 30 to control the displacement of the cursor 42 . The scrolling device 16 is a wheel, which is made of a light-transmitting material, and is used to generate a scrolling signal to the computer 30 to control the scrolling of the operation window 44 . The light source 22 is used to generate light 54 to illuminate the rolling device 16 and make the rolling device 16 glow. The control unit 24 is used to control the operation of the indicator device 10 . Wherein, the computer 30 is a desktop computer, and the pointing device 10 is a mouse.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the computer 30 includes a driver program 32 for detecting the status of the computer 30 at that time, and an interface program 34 for allowing the user to set the lighting mode of the scrolling device 16 . When the state of the computer changes, the driver 32 will detect the state of the computer 30, and according to the detected state of the computer, the computer 30 will send a corresponding state signal to the indicator device 10, and the control unit 24 will control the computer according to the state signal. The light source 22 emits light or flickers. At this time, the scrolling device 16 is affected by the light source 22 and exhibits different light emitting modes (e.g., light or flicker). In this way, the user can know the current status of the computer 30 through the different lighting modes of the scrolling device 16 .

The rolling device 16 can be formed by a single light-transmitting device. When the rolling device 16 is a roller, the rolling device 16 can also be composed of a ring 62 and a roller 64. The ring 62 is to surround the outer edge of the roller 64 The user can roll the rolling device 16 by touching the ring 62. The light source 22 is arranged on one side 17 of the rolling device 16, and the ring 62 is made of a light-transmitting material. 64 can reflect the light 54 to the ring 62, when the light source 22 illuminates the roller 64, it will generate reflected light 56, so that the rolling device 16 will emit light.

Refer to Figure 4. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device 60 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The rolling device 61 is a roller, the rolling device 61 is made up of a circular ring 63 and a roller 65, and the difference between the indicator device 60 and the indicator device 10 lies in the structure of the rolling devices 16, 61, and the light source 22 is a direct irradiation circle. The ring 63 makes the rolling device 61 glow.

Refer to Figure 5. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device 70 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The light source 22 is disposed on one side 17 of the rolling device 71 . The inner side of the rolling device 71 further includes a reflective surface 52 for reflecting the light 54 generated by the light source 22 to form a reflected light 56 . The reflected light 56 is emitted from the top of the scrolling device 71 to inform the user of the current state of the computer.

Refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an indicator device 80 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator device 80 at the first roller axis 84 and the first supporting device 72 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Except that the light source can be arranged on the side 17 of the rolling device (as shown in Figures 3 to 5), the light source 86 can also be arranged inside the roller 82 of the rolling device 81 as shown in Figure 6, and the two ends of the roller 82 are formed by the first Supported by a supporting device 72 and the second supporting device 74, a conductive device 92 is respectively arranged at the contact of the roller 82 and the first supporting device 72 and the second supporting device 74, and each conductive device 92 can be moved when the rolling device 81 rolls. The power is supplied to the light source 86, and the light 88 emitted by the light source 86 will directly emit from the top of the rolling device 81, so that the rolling device 81 emits light. As shown in Fig. 7, the conductive device 92 is fixed in the first supporting device 72, and is electrically connected to a first lead 97, and the first axis 84 of the roller 82 includes a conductive ring 94 in a rollable manner. The conductive device 92 in the first support device 72 is in contact, and the conductive ring 94 is electrically connected to the electrode wire 96 of the light source 86 through a second wire 98. Relatively, the second axis 85 of the roller 82 is connected to the second The contact of the support device 74 also has the same conductive structure as above, and the first wires 97 on both sides are electrically connected to the two electrodes of a power supply, so when the rolling device 81 rolls, the power supply can be supplied to the light source 86 by the conductive device 92, so that The light source 86 emits light.

Figure 1 to Figure 3. When the computer 30 receives an important message, such as receiving an e-mail from the network, or when some operations need to be processed by the user, if there is an e-mail that has not been read, or the computer operating environment allows the user to do certain actions When the operating window (operating window) 44 of the computer 30 or the window 46 where the cursor is located has a scroll navigation (Scrolling Navigator) function, the driver 32 will detect the state of the computer 30, and make the computer 30 according to the detected state of the computer. A corresponding status signal is sent to the indicator device 10 . The control unit 24 controls the light source 22 to emit light or blink according to the status signal. At this time, the scrolling device 16 is affected by the light source 22 and will display different lighting patterns, and the user can know the current state of the computer 30 by virtue of the different lighting patterns of the scrolling device 16 .

In addition, the interface program 34 allows changing the lighting mode setting of the scrolling device 16 so that different lighting modes can meet the needs of different users. When the user is tired of the lighting mode of the scrolling device 16 , the user can change the lighting mode of the scrolling device 16 through the interface program 34 according to his preference. After the user's setting is completed, the driver program 32 will make the computer 30 send a corresponding status signal to the indicator device 10 according to the mode set by the user, so that the light emitting mode of the scrolling device 16 follows the user's setting. The method of setting changes.

The light source 22 of the indicator device 10 can be a single-color or multi-color light emitting diode (Light Emitting Diode, LED). At this time, the control unit 24 will control the conduction of the light emitting diode according to different status signals sent by the computer 30. In order to make the light emitting diodes form different light emitting modes. Thus, the scrolling device 16 can display different light emitting modes through the illumination of the light emitting diodes in different ways, so as to let the user know the current state of the computer 30 . In addition, the light source 22 can also be composed of a plurality of light emitting diodes, the plurality of light emitting diodes can emit a variety of lights of the same color or different colors, and can be in different lighting states such as off, on, and blinking, in order to respond to various computer displays. status requirements.

The scrolling device 16 can also be a trackball except that it can be a scroll wheel. As long as the scrolling device can display the information sent by the computer 30 in a luminous manner, it will all meet the spirit of the present invention.

Refer to Figure 8. FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the driver 32 shown in FIG. 2 when detecting whether the window 46 where the cursor 42 is located has a scrolling function. First, the driver 32 will first find out the window 46 where the cursor is located, and then detect whether there is a scroll in the window 46 where the cursor is located. If there is no scroll in the window 46, the driver 32 will make the computer 30 send a status signal to the pointing device 10, and the control unit 24 Then the light source 22 will be controlled to close according to the state signal; if the window 46 has a scroll, the driver 32 will detect whether the window 46 can be scrolled; if the window 46 cannot be scrolled, the driver 32 will make the computer 30 send a state signal To the pointing device 10, the control unit 24 will control the light source 22 to turn off according to the state signal. If the window 46 has both a scroll and a scroll, the driver 32 will read the setting data of the interface program 34, and then set the data according to it. The computer 30 sends a status signal to the indicator device 10, and the control unit 24 controls the light source 22 to emit light according to the status signal.

Refer to Figure 9. FIG. 9 is a flow chart when the driver 32 shown in FIG. 2 detects whether there are new emails or emails that have not been read yet. Firstly, the driver program 32 will detect whether there is a new email every predetermined time, and the predetermined time can be set by the user through the interface program 34 . When the driver program 32 detects that there is a new email, the driver program 32 will first read the setting data of the interface program 34, and then make the computer 30 send a status signal to the pointing device 10 according to the setting data, and set the The lighting mode of the scrolling device 16 is, for example, making the light source 22 blink. If the driver 32 detects that there is no new email, it will further detect whether there is an email that has not been read. When it detects that there is still an email that has not been read, the driver 32 will first read the setting of the interface program 34 According to the setting data, the computer 30 sends a status signal to the indicator device 10, and makes the scroll device 16 emit light in a certain light emitting mode. If the driver 32 detects that neither new emails nor emails have been read yet, it will further detect whether the light source 22 is turned on, if the light source 22 is in an on state, then turn off the light source 22, but if the light source 22 has been turned off, then do not do anything. Each time the driver program 32 completes the above checking process and after a predetermined time interval, the driver program 32 will execute the above checking process again. The interface program 34 then allows the utility user to set the length of the driver program 32 to detect the email cycle, and the driver program 32 will check whether there is a new email or an email that has not yet been read according to the set cycle length. Take, and utilize the luminous pattern of scrolling device 16 to notify the result of its inspection to the user.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the pointing device 10 further includes a button 26 . When the scrolling device 16 showed different lighting patterns according to the status signal sent by the computer 30, if a user pressed the button 26 in a predetermined way, such as pressing the button 26 twice, the light source 22 would stop emitting light, and the associated The ground rolling device 16 will also cease its light mode. In addition, when the user presses the button 26 of the pointing device 10 , a feedback signal will be generated to the computer 30 , and the driver will generate a specific function for the computer 30 according to the feedback signal. For example, when the status signal sent by the computer 30 indicates that the computer 30 has received an email, the user can press the button 26 in a predetermined manner to make the computer 30 start a mail software to read the email that has not been read yet. mail. The user can also set the function of the button 26 through the interface program 34, and the driver program 32 will control the operation of the computer 30 according to the received feedback signal compared to the function of the button 26 set by the user. The scrolling device 16 can also be directly arranged on the button 26 so that the button 26 is linked with the scrolling device 16, for example, the button 26 is designed as the middle button of the mouse shown in FIG. 1 . Thus, when the user presses the scroll device 16, the button 26 can be touched, which is more convenient in operation.

Compared with the known indicator device, the indicator device 10 of the present invention uses the luminous pattern of the scrolling device 16 to indicate the state of the computer 30, and the user can easily know the state of the computer 30 immediately by the luminous pattern of the scrolling device 16, and through the indicator The buttons 26 on the device 10 control the operation of the computer 30 .

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the claims of the present invention should all fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (30)

1. An indicator device, electrically connected to a computer, used to control the displacement of a cursor on the display of the computer, the indicator device includes: a shell; An indicator unit installed in the housing, used to generate an indicator signal to the computer to control the displacement of the cursor; a scrolling device for generating a scrolling signal to the computer; a light source for illuminating the scrolling device to cause the scrolling device to emit light, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the indicator device; Wherein when the computer sends a status signal to the indicator device, the control unit controls the light source according to the status signal to set the lighting mode of the scrolling device. 2. The indicator device of claim 1, wherein the scrolling device is formed of a light-transmitting material. 3. The indicator device of claim 2, wherein the scrolling device is a scroll wheel. 4. The indicator device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the roller is composed of a roller and a ring, and the ring is attached to the roller in a manner around the outer edge of the roller, and the user can touch the roller to The circular ring makes the rolling wheel roll, and the circular ring is made of a light-transmitting material, and the light emitted by the light source can pass through the circular ring to make the rolling wheel emit light. 5. The indicator device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the roller has a reflective surface, and the reflective surface can reflect the light of the light source to increase the brightness of the roller. 6. The indicator device according to claim 3, wherein the roller is made of a light-transmitting material, and the light emitted by the light source can pass through the roller to make the roller emit light. 7. The indicator device according to claim 3, wherein the light source is located in the roller, and the roller is supported by a supporting device and installed in the housing, and the contact between the roller and the supporting device has a conductive device, Used to supply power to the light source when the rolling device is rolling. 8. The pointing device of claim 1, wherein the scrolling device is a trackball. 9. The indicator device of claim 1, wherein the light source is disposed on one side of the scrolling device. 10. The indicator device of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises at least one light emitting diode. 11. The pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scrolling device is used to control the scrolling of the computer window. 12. The indicator device according to claim 1, wherein the computer includes a driver program, and the driver program causes the computer to send a corresponding status signal to the indicator device according to the detected status of the computer. 13. The pointing device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer further comprises an interface program for allowing the user to set the lighting mode of the scrolling device, and the driver program will make the computer transmit the light according to the mode set by the user The corresponding status signal is sent to the indicator device. 14. The pointing device according to claim 12, wherein the driver program can detect whether the current operation window of the computer has a scroll navigation function, so that the computer sends a corresponding status signal to the pointing device. 15. The pointing device according to claim 12, wherein the driver program can detect whether the window where the cursor is located has a scroll navigation function, so that the computer sends a corresponding status signal to the pointing device. 16. The indicator device according to claim 12, wherein the driver program can detect whether the computer has new emails or emails that have not been read at that time, and makes the computer send a corresponding status signal to the indicator device. 17. The indicator device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the driver program detects whether there is a new email or an email that has not been read every predetermined time, and sends a corresponding status signal to the indicator device to set Set the lighting mode for the scroller. 18. The pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pointing device further comprises at least one button, and when the scrolling device displays the status signal, if a user presses the button in a predetermined manner, the control device will transmit a feedback signal to the computer. 19. The pointing device of claim 18, wherein the computer includes a driver, and the driver controls the operation of the computer according to the detected feedback signal. 20. The pointing device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the button is linked with the scrolling device, and when the user presses the scrolling device, the button can be actuated. 21. The pointing device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the computer further comprises an interface program for allowing the user to set the function of the button, and the driver program will compare the detected feedback signal with that set by the user. Control the operation of the computer by specifying the function of the button. 22. The pointing device as claimed in claim 19, wherein if the computer has new e-mails or has e-mails that have not been read, and the user presses the button in the predetermined manner, the control device sends the feedback signal to When the computer is connected, the driver will cause the computer to start a mail software to read unread emails. 23. An indexing device electrically connected to a computer for controlling the displacement of a cursor on a display of the computer, the indexing device comprising: a shell; An indicator unit installed in the housing, used to generate an indicator signal to the computer to control the displacement of the cursor; a scroll wheel for generating a scroll signal to the computer; and A light source is used to irradiate the roller to make the roller emit light. 24. The indicator device as claimed in claim 23, wherein the scroll wheel is made of a light-transmitting material, and the light emitted by the light source can pass through the scroll wheel to make the scroll wheel emit light. 25. The indicator device as claimed in claim 23, wherein the scroll wheel is composed of a scroll shaft and a ring, the ring is attached to the scroll wheel in a manner around the outer edge of the scroll wheel, and the user can touch the scroll wheel The circular ring makes the rolling wheel roll, and the circular ring is made of a light-transmitting material, and the light emitted by the light source can pass through the circular ring to make the rolling wheel emit light. 26. The indicator device as claimed in claim 25, wherein the roller has a reflective surface, and the reflective surface can reflect the light of the light source to increase the brightness of the roller. 27. The pointing device of claim 23, wherein the scroll wheel is used to control scrolling of the computer window. 28. The pointing device of claim 23, wherein the light source is disposed on one side of the scroll wheel. 29. The indicator device as claimed in claim 23, wherein the light source is located in the roller, and the roller is supported by a supporting device and installed in the housing, and the contact between the roller and the supporting device has a conductive device, Used to supply power to the light source when the rolling device is rolling. 30. The indicator device of claim 23, wherein the light source comprises at least one light emitting diode.

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