US 7,321,357 B1
XY roller for scrolling along two axes
Patrick Monney, Mex (Switzerland)
Assigned to Logitech Europe S.A., (Switzerland)
Filed on May 10, 2004, as Appl. No. 10/842,988.
Int. Cl. G09G 5/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 345—156  [345/84] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An input device comprising:
a roller wheel configured to be rotated by a user;
an encoder configured to encode rotations of the roller wheel;
a first sensor coupled to the roller wheel, wherein the first sensor is configured to control the encoder to scroll a graphical object along a first axis if the first sensor is in a first state, and the first sensor is configured to control the encoder to scroll the graphical object along a second axis if the first sensor is in a second state; and
a second sensor configured to change an operational characteristic of the input device from a first characteristic to a second characteristic if the second sensor is activated by the user pressing on the roller wheel, wherein the second sensor has a first state and a second state, and wherein the first mentioned sensor is configured to enter its second state if the roller wheel is pressed down a first distance by the user, and the second sensor is configured to enter its second state if the roller wheel is pressed down a second distance greater than the first distance.