Pointing device with wrap-around buttons

摘要

A pointing device (20) includes ergonomic buttons (26, 28) which wrap around the device's cursor control mechanism (24). Each button extends along at least two sides of the cursor control mechanism. Corner junctions (46, 48. 50, 52) make the buttons easy to recognize by touch. One button (26) is C-shaped. Another button (28) is backward-C-shaped. The cursor control mechanism includes a trackpad (24) or a post (74) and a "wobble" plate (72). The post serves as a pivot point for the plate and responds to directional pressure. A user adjusts the planar orientation of the plate (72) to define a directional pressure applied to the post. A user is able to apply multi-fingered leveraged guidance. A second cursor control mechanism (30) is defined by a trackpoint device. The trackpoint provides convenient, effective coarse control of the cursor's movement, while the trackpad (24) or wobble plate (70) cursor control mechanism provides convenient, effective fine control of the cursor's movement. The wrap-around buttons are active regardless of which of the two cursor control mechanisms currently are being manipulated. <IMAGE>