Filed: May 18, 1981
Issued: Jun. 28, 1983
Inventor: Steven T. Kirsch
In 1983, Steven T. Kirsch was granted a patent for a mouse the uses a light source, a four-quadrant detector, and a surface printed with a special pattern. Kirsch describes the benefits of his design in U.S. Patent 3,987,685:
" One of the advantages of this system over mechanical mice is that it is relatively simple to manufacture in large quantities because there are no close tolerance parts. "
He goes on to list other advantages, such as:
- Little or no mechanical noise or inherent electrical noise
- Uses off-the-shelf or easily made components
- Perhaps more sensitive than a mechanical mouse
- Able to detect rotation
Unfortunately, Kirsch's design had two drawbacks. It required a special surface on which to use the mouse, and that surface had to be oriented a certain way.
Image taken from U.S. Patent 4,390,873 - Digitized by Google
