An electronic sketching device

Claim 2

A dedicated portable electronic sketching device, comprising: display means including a display area (101) on which a visual representation of a sketch may be displayed; means (105, 106) for moving a cursor on the display area (101); means for selectively storing the placement of the cursor on the display area as a pixel for display by the display means to create a sketch on the display area, coupled to the means (105,106) for moving the cursor; storage means for storing a plurality of sketches coupled to the means for selectively storing the placement of the cursor; and animation means for creating and storing a sequence of the stored sketches coupled to the storage means to enable the display of said sequence of sketches on the display area.

Claim 3

An electronic sketching device according to claim 1, wherein the means for moving the cursor includes two manually actuatable movement means (105, 106) for moving a cursor on the screen, one of the manually actuatable movement means controlling movement of the cursor along a first axis, and the other manually actuatable movement means controlling movement of the cursor along a second axis at an angle to the first axis, whereby the cursor can be moved to any point on the display area (101) by selective manual actuation of the first and second manually actuatable movement means (105,106).

Claim 4

An electronic sketching device according to claim 3, wherein each manually actuatable movement means includes a knob-interrupter member (105,106) having an opaque cup (124) with slots (124a) spaced about the periphery of the cup, there being at least one light source (126) on one side of the cup and at least one detector means (127) on the other side of the cup from the light source for detecting the light from the light source (126) and passing through the slots (124a) in the cup as the knob-­interrupter member (105,106) is rotated, there being a total of at least three light sources and detectors in combination, and the device including control means coupled to the detector means (127) for converting the light received by the detector means into movement instructions for the cursor.

Claim 5

An electronic sketching device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the means for selectively storing the placement of the cursor on the display area includes at least one manually actuatable member (116) for causing storage or non-storage of the placement of the cursor, processing means (131) coupled to the manually actuatable member (116) for implementing the selected storage or non-storage of the cursor placement and a memory device (135) for storing the selected cursor placement.

Claim 6

An electronic sketching device according to claim 4, wherein the means for selectively storing the placement of the cursor includes two manually actuatable members (116,119) one of which causes the placement of the cursor on the display area to be saved in the memory device (135) and the other of which causes the placement of the cursor not to be stored in the memory device.

Claim 7

An electronic sketching device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the animation means for creating and storing a sequence of the sketches includes manually actuatable members (113,115,117) for selecting a sketch for tion to the sequence and for adding the selected sketch to the stored sequence of sketches.

Claim 8

An electronic sketching device, comprising: display means for providing a visual representation of a sketch on a display area (101); two independent manually actuatable movement means (105,106) for moving a cursor on the display area (101), one for controlling movement of the cursor along a first axis and the other for controlling movement of the cursor along a second axis at an angle to the first axis, whereby the selective manual actuation thereof may move the cursor to any point on the display area (101); user control means (112-119) coupled to the display means and the two manually actuatable movement means (105,106) for selectively causing the placement of the cursor on the display area (101) to be either temporarily displayed and stored or continuously displayed even after the cursor has been moved; whereby a sketch may be created on the display area by movement of the cursor on manual actuation of the manually actuatable movement means (105,106), in conjunction with the user control means (112-119).

Claim 9

An electronic sketching device, comprising: display means for providing a visual representation of a sketch on a display area (101); two independent manually actuatable movement means (105,106) for moving a cursor on the display area (101), one for controlling movement of the cursor along a first axis and the other for controlling movement of the cursor along a second axis at an angle to the first axis, whereby the selective manual actuation thereof may move the cursor to any point on the display area (101); user control means (112-119) coupled to the display means and the two manually actuatable movement means (105,106) for selectively causing the placement of the cursor on the display area (101) to be either temporarily displayed and stored or continuously displayed even after the cursor has been moved; whereby a sketch may be created on the display area by movement of the cursor on manual actuation of the manually actuatable movement means (105,106), in conjunction with the user control means (112-119).

Claim 10

An electronic sketching device according to claim 7, wherein the manually actuatable movement means include a rotatably mounted knob-interrupter member (105,106) at least one light source (126) and at least one detector (127) together defining at least three detection elements, each knob-interrupter member including an opaque cup portion (124) with slots (124a) spaced about the periphery of the cup portion, the light source and detector being on opposite sides of the cup portion whereby rotation of the knob-interrupter member alternately interrupts and allows the passage of light from the light source to the detector.

Claim 11

An electronic sketching device according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the user control means (112-119) includes a manually actuatable member for storing the placement of the cursor on the display area (101) and a manually actuatable member for causing the placement of the cursor not to be stored.

Claim 12

An assembly for moving a cursor on a display area, comprising: two manually actuatable members (105,106) for controlling movement of the cursor along two axes at an angle to one another, each member (105,106) having an interrupter (124) rigidly secured thereto, each interrupter (124) being an opaque cup-shaped member with spaced slots (124a) about its periphery; at least two light sources (126), at least one of which is associated with each interrupter (124) and is located on one side thereof; at least one detector means (127) associated with each interrupter (124) and located on the opposite side thereof from the associated light source (126) for detection of light generated by the light source passing through the slots (124a) as the manually actuatable members (105,106) are rotated, each interrupter member together with its associated at least one light source and at least one detector means together defining three detector elements; and control means coupled to the detector means for converting the light received by the detector means into movement instructions for the cursor.

Claim 13

An assembly for moving a cursor on a display area, comprising: two manually actuatable members (105,106) for controlling movement of the cursor along two axes at an angle to one another, each member (105,106) having an interrupter (124) rigidly secured thereto, each interrupter (124) being an opaque cup-shaped member with spaced slots (124a) about its periphery; at least two light sources (126), at least one of which is associated with each interrupter (124) and is located on one side thereof; at least one detector means (127) associated with each interrupter (124) and located on the opposite side thereof from the associated light source (126) for detection of light generated by the light source passing through the slots (124a) as the manually actuatable members (105,106) are rotated, each interrupter member together with its associated at least one light source and at least one detector means together defining three detector elements; and control means coupled to the detector means for converting the light received by the detector means into movement instructions for the cursor.