Control interface

Claim 1

A control interface between a moveable physical object and a machine comprising: (a) means for sensing and signalling any movement of said physical object in any direction in a defined field, said defined field being indentified by a plurality of antenna surfaces at least one surface of said plurality having a first field associated therewith which extends outwardly therefrom to form a region for sensing and signalling movement of said object in an X-dimension, at least another surface of said plurality having a second field associated therewith which extends outwardly therefrom to form a region for sensing and signalling movement of said object in a Y-dimension, and at least one other surface of said plurality having a third field associated therewith which extends outwardly therefrom to form a region for sensing and signalling movement of said object in a Z-dimension, said first, second and third fields being independent of each other and yet merging to form a common defined field, said sensing and signalling of movement of said object in said common defined field in any of said dimensions occurring without any physical contact of said object with any of said surfaces, and said plurality of surfaces being positioned to permit said object to be inserted into and removed from said common defined field; (b) Means coupled to said at least one surface for receiving said signalling which is representative of said movement of said object in said X-dimension, said receiving means emitting a first operating frequency in a radio frequency range; (c) means coupled to said at least another surface for receiving said signalling which is representative of said movement of said object in said Y-dimension, said receiving means emitting a second operating frequency in a radio frequency range; (d) means coupled to said at least one other surface for receiving said signalling which is representative of said movement of said object in said Z-dimension, said receiving means emitting a third operating frequency in a radio frequency range, said first, second and third operating frequencies not interfering with each other during the presence of said object in said common defined field; (e) means coupled to each of said receiving means for detecting the position of said object relative to the boundaries of said common defined field; and, (f) means coupled to said detecting means for producing an input signal to said machine to move an element of said machine in an amount proportional to said object movement.