Computer mouse with automatic grip angle control function

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a computer mouse with an automatic grip angle control function for reducing a sense of wrist fatigue by continuously changing a grip angle in a constant period during use. In order to achieve this objective, the present invention provides the computer mouse with the automatic grip angle control function, including a base having a board, which is necessary for operating the mouse and located at the upper end of the base, and an upper surface provided with a button and a wheel, and the mouse comprises: a rotational unit coupled with one side of the base and one side of the upper surface corresponding to one side of the base to enable the relative rotation of the upper surface with respect to the base; a guide unit fixed to an upper end of the base of an opposite side at which the rotational unit is located and having a gear formed on an outer surface thereof; a motor fixed to the inside of the upper surface; a pinion fixed to a rotary shaft of the motor; and a control unit for controlling the motor, wherein the pinion is engaged with the gear of the guide unit and the grip angle of the upper surface is changed by the rotation of the motor.

Claims

1. A computer mouse with an automatic grip angle control function comprising a base including a board necessary for operating the mouse, and an upper surface disposed on the base and having a button and a wheel mounted thereon, the computer mouse comprising: a rotation unit coupled respectively to one side of the base and one side of the upper surface corresponding to one side of the base to enable a relative rotation of the upper surface with respect to the base; a guide unit fixed on the base at a side opposite to the side in which the rotation unit is disposed, and having a gear formed on an outer surface thereof; a motor fixed to an inside of the upper surface; a pinion fixed to a rotary shaft of the motor; and a control unit for controlling the motor, wherein the pinion is engaged with the gear of the guide unit to change a grip angle of the upper surface by the rotation of the motor, wherein the outer surface of the guide unit is a circular arc with a rotation axis of the rotation unit as a center, wherein the control unit further comprises a timer, and drives the motor at a predetermined time interval based on an output of the timer, and wherein the base further comprises a protection cover to cover a surface exposed by the rotation of the upper surface.

2. The computer mouse with an automatic grip angle control function according to claim 1, wherein the control unit drives the motor within a range between 11° and 20° of a straight line connecting the centers of two buttons formed on the upper surface with respect to the base.

3. The computer mouse with an automatic grip angle control function according to claim 2, wherein the control unit drives the motor repetitively to dispose the upper surface within the range between 11° and 20° of the straight line connecting the centers of the two buttons formed on the upper surface with respect to the base.

4. The computer mouse with an automatic grip angle control function according to claim 1, wherein a rotation axis of the rotation unit ranges from −10° to +10° with respect to a face of the wheel.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a computer rouse with an automatic grip angle control function according to the present disclosure.

(2) FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a front view showing rotation of an upper surface in FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing coupling of a motor and a guide unit in FIG. 1.

(5) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control unit that is applied to FIG. 1.

(6) FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a rotation angle range of an upper surface shown in FIG. 1.

BEST MODE

(7) Hereinafter, the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

(8) A computer mouse 100 with an automatic grip angle control function according to the present disclosure is constructed to include a base 10, an upper surface 30, and a rotation unit 40 coupled between the base 10 and the upper surface 30 as shown in FIG. 1.

(9) As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation unit 40 is installed at the side of the base 10, and has a rotation axis that is linked to a wheel 31 face formed on the upper surface 30.

(10) The rotation axis of the rotation unit 40 is preferably configured identically to the wheel 31 face, but may be formed slantingly at an angle of ±10°, if necessary.

(11) Thus, the upper surface 30 may rotate around the rotation axis of the rotation unit 40 with respect to the base 10.

(12) At the side of the base 10, a protection cover 11 may be formed at the side to cover a space exposed by the rotation of the upper surface 30.

(13) Meanwhile, a guide unit 12 is attached onto the base 10 as shown in FIG. 4.

(14) The guide unit 12 has an edge formed of a circular arc with the rotation axis of the rotation unit 40 as the center, and has a gear formed on the surface thereof.

(15) To have a structural strength, the guide unit 12 may be implemented in any shape only if an arc of the gear part is the same.

(16) A motor 35 is attached to the inside of the upper surface 30, and a pinion 36 is coupled to a rotary shaft of the motor 35.

(17) The motor 35 is attached to the inside of the upper surface 30 to engage the pinion 36 with the gear of the guide unit 12.

(18) Thus, when the motor 35 rotates, the upper surface 30 rotates around the rotation axis of the rotation unit 40, and the grip angle of the mouse changes.

(19) Also, if necessary, the pinion 36 and the gear formed on the guide unit 12 may be implemented in other shapes. For example, with the motor 35 attached at a different angle, a lead screw is coupled to the rotary shaft of the motor 35, and the gear formed on the guide unit 12 may be implemented as another gear that is coupled with the lead screw.

(20) Meanwhile, the motor 35 is controlled through a control unit 38 as shown in FIG. 5.

(21) The control unit 38 includes a separate timer 37, and continuously receive an input of a time from the timer 37 and recognizes a current time.

(22) The control unit 38 drives the motor at a predetermined time interval based on the time of the timer 37 to adjust an angle of the upper surface 30.

(23) For the angle of the upper surface 30, as shown in FIG. 6, where an angle formed with the base 10 is α with respect to a line connecting center lines of two buttons 32, the α is preferably from 11° to 20°.

(24) The angle range is set based on left and right tilting angles of a mouse which showed the best result related to a comfortable feeling in wrists among commercially available mouse products as an ergonomic test result, and when a degree of freedom of a wrist posture increases by decreasing or increasing left and right tilting angles, one of the main causes of musculoskeletal disorders, repetitive exposure to the same posture, may be reduced. That is, the above angle range provides diversity to wrist abductor/adductor, thereby providing a preventive effect for musculoskeletal disorders as well as a comfortable feeling of a predetermined level or more.

(25) When needed, the control unit 38 recognizes an initial location of the motor 35, and drives the motor 35 at an optimum time to control the grip angle range to repetitively change within a range of between 11° and 20°.

(26) For example, the control unit 38 may allow the rotation of from the initial angle 11° to 20° with a change angle of 1° by units of 10 seconds, and subsequently, take control to change to 11° with a change angle of −1°, and the change angle and the time may be suitably selected.

(27) Also, the control unit 38 and the motor 35 are preferably constructed to operate using a power source inputted by a computer.

(28) While the present disclosure have been hereinabove illustrated and described in connection with particular embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and includes all embodiments in various forms that may be practiced by persons having ordinary skill in the technical field pertaining to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as claimed by the appended claims.