US 8,487,872 B2
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING DATA SIGNALSGeneral
US 8,487,872 B2
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING DATA SIGNALS
Tech Center:
2600 Communications
Examiner:
Dorothy Harris
Art Unit:
2699 Selective Visual Display Systems
Inventors:
Peter J. McAlindon
Assignee:
Priority:
06/27/03
Filed:
11/18/05
Granted:
07/16/13
Expiration:
04/26/27
Abstract
A handheld device having a main body and at least one button integral with the main body for causing generation of electrical signals. A pair of thumb controllers may be integral with the main body and positioned so that a user holding the device may tactilely engage each of the thumb controllers. A pair of sensing means may be operatively connected with the thumb controllers to generate an electrical signal in response to the user's tactile engagement with the thumb controllers. The signals may be resolved by a processor to determine an alphanumeric character to be generated. The signals may also be resolved with a signal generate by movement of the button to determine a state change to be generated in a video game so a user may interact with the video game. An electrical signal indicative of the video game state change may be generated and transmitted to a processing device executing the video game.
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
A63A63F2300/1043A63FG06F3/0235G06F