1. A cursor control device, comprising:
an outer casing;
an inner casing arranged inside of said outer casing;
a sensor arrangement for detecting application of pressure to said outer casing above a pre-determined magnitude;
a base having a flat lower surface, said base supporting said inner and outer casings; and
hardware arranged in connection with said inner casing and coupled to said sensor arrangement for converting the application of pressure to said outer casing detected by said sensor arrangement into signals indicative of the application of such pressure which are provided to a computer having a screen with the cursor thereon, and
wherein a portion of said base has a first thread thereon and a portion of said inner casing has a second, complementary thread thereon to enable said inner casing and said base to be removably connected together via said threads.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein said inner and outer casings have the same general shape.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein said inner and outer casings are substantially spherical.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein said outer casing has an inner surface, said inner casing having an outer surface facing said inner surface of said outer casing, said sensor arrangement comprises a conductive mesh arranged on said inner surface of said outer casing, a conductive covering arranged on said outer surface of said inner casing and an at least partially conductive ring arranged in connection with said base and electrically connecting said conductive mesh and said conductive covering, said outer casing being spaced from said inner casing to define a space therebetween whereby application of pressure to a portion of said outer casing above the pre-determined magnitude causes said conductive mesh at said portion to contact said conductive covering and complete an electrical circuit, said hardware detecting the completion of the circuit and providing the signals indicative of the application of pressure to said outer casing based thereon.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein said outer casing comprises a flexible material.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein said outer casing comprises a resilient, elastomeric material.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein said inner casing comprises a rigid material.
8. A cursor control device, comprising:
an inwardly squeezable outer casing having an inner surface;
an inner casing arranged inside of said outer casing and having an outer surface facing said inner surface of said outer casing, said inner casing being rigid and limiting inward squeezing of said outer casing;
a sensor arrangement for detecting application of pressure to said outer casing above a pre-determined magnitude, said sensor arrangement being arranged at least partially on said inner surface of said outer casing or said outer surface of said inner casing; and
hardware coupled to said sensor arrangement for converting the application of pressure to a portion of said outer casing detected by said sensor arrangement into signals indicative of the application of such pressure which are provided to a computer having a screen with the cursor thereon.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein said inner and outer casings have the same general shape.
10. The device of claim 8, wherein said inner and outer casings are substantially spherical.
11. The device of claim 8, further comprising a base having a flat lower surface, said base supporting said inner and outer casings.
12. The device of claim 11, wherein said inner casing is removably connected to said base.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein a portion of said base has a first thread thereon and a portion of said inner casing has a second, complementary thread thereon to enable said inner casing and said base to be removably connected together via said threads.
14. The device of claim 11, wherein said sensor arrangement comprises a conductive mesh arranged on said inner surface of said outer casing, a conductive covering arranged on said outer surface of said inner casing and spaced from said conductive mesh in the absence of pressure being applied to said outer casing and means for electrically connecting said conductive mesh and said conductive covering, whereby application of pressure to a portion of said outer casing above the pre-determined magnitude causes said conductive mesh at said portion to contact said conductive covering and complete an electrical circuit, said hardware detecting the completion of the circuit and providing the signals indicative of the application of pressure to said outer casing based thereon.
15. The device of claim 14, wherein said means comprise an at least partially conductive ring arranged on said base.
16. The device of claim 8, wherein said outer casing comprises a flexible material.
17. The device of claim 8, wherein said inner casing comprises a rigid material.
18. A cursor control device, comprising:
an outer casing having an inner surface;
an inner casing arranged inside of said outer casing and having an outer surface facing said inner surface of said outer casing;
a base having a flat lower surface, said base supporting said inner and outer casings;
a sensor arrangement for detecting application of pressure to said outer casing above a pre-determined magnitude, said sensor arrangement comprising:
a conductive mesh arranged on said inner surface of said outer casing,
a conductive covering arranged on said outer surface of said inner casing, and
an at least partially conductive ring arranged in connection with said base and electrically connecting said conductive mesh and said conductive covering,
said outer casing being spaced from said inner casing to define a space therebetween whereby application of pressure to a portion of said outer casing above the pre-determined magnitude causes said conductive mesh at said portion to contact said conductive covering and complete an electrical circuit; and
hardware arranged in connection with said inner casing and coupled to said sensor arrangement for converting the application of pressure to said outer casing detected by said sensor arrangement into signals indicative of the application of such pressure which are provided to a computer having a screen with the cursor thereon, said hardware detecting the completion of the circuit and providing the signals indicative of the application of pressure to said outer casing based thereon.
19. The device of claim 18, wherein said inner casing is removably connected to said base.
20. The device of claim 18, wherein said outer casing comprises a flexible material or a resilient, elastomeric material and said inner casing comprises a rigid material.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer implemented method for transferring data, the method comprising:
reading, from an input record, a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify a device and recorded device usage data for the device;
searching an index for an enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification;
reading an enduring usage data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification;
calculating a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data; and,
updating the index with the recorded device usage data.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes replacing enduring device data from the index with the recorded device usage data.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes updating enduring device data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
4. The method of claim 1 further including, responsive to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index, creating in the index an enduring record for the device.
5. The method of claim 1 further including tracking updates to the index.
6. A computer implemented system for transferring data, the system comprising:
an input record for a device, the input record having a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify the device and recorded device usage data for the device;
a record reader configured to read, from the input record, the recorded unique device identification and the recorded device usage data for the device;
an index having at least one enduring record, each enduring record having an enduring unique device identification and enduring device data including an enduring usage data;
an inspector configured to search the index for one of the enduring unique device identifications matching the recorded unique device identification;
an index reader configured to read the enduring usage data from the enduring record having the enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
a calculator configured to calculate a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data; and,
an updater configured to update the index with the recorded device usage data.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein the updater includes a recorder configured to replace enduring device data from the index with the recorded device usage data.
8. The system of claim 6 wherein the at least one enduring record further includes enduring device data and the updater is further configured to update the enduring device data from the enduring record having the enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
9. The system of claim 6 further including an inserter configured to respond to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index by creating, in the index, an enduring record for the device.
10. The system of claim 6 further including a transaction log configured to track updates to the index.
11. A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program, applet, or instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for transferring data, the method steps comprising:
reading, from an input record, a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify the device and recorded device usage data for a device;
searching an index for an enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification;
reading an enduring usage data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification;
calculating a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data; and,
updating the index with the recorded device usage data.
12. The program storage device of claim 11 wherein the method step of updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes replacing enduring device data from the index with the recorded device usage data.
13. The program storage device of claim 11 wherein the method step of updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes updating enduring device data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
14. The program storage device of claim 11 wherein the method steps further include, responsive to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index, creating in the index an enduring record for the device.
15. The program storage device of claim 11 wherein the method steps further include tracking updates to the index.
16. A computer implemented method for transferring data, the method comprising:
reading, from an input record, a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify a device and recorded device usage data for the device;
searching an index for an enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
updating the index with the recorded device usage data, wherein updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes updating enduring device data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
17. The method of claim 16 further including:
reading an enduring usage data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
calculating a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data.
18. The method of claim 16 further including, responsive to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index, creating in the index an enduring record for the device.
19. The method of claim 16 further including tracking updates to the index.
20. A computer implemented system for transferring data, the system comprising:
an input record for a device, the input record having a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify the device and recorded device usage data for the device;
a record reader configured to read, from the input record, the recorded unique device identification and the recorded device usage data for the device;
an index having at least one enduring record, each enduring record having an enduring unique device identification and enduring device data;
an inspector configured to search the index for one of the enduring unique device identifications matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
an updater configured to update the index with the recorded device usage data and to update the enduring device data from the enduring record having the enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
21. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one enduring record further includes enduring device data and the enduring device data includes an enduring usage data and further including:
an index reader configured to read the enduring usage data from the enduring record having the enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
a calculator configured to calculate a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data.
22. The system of claim 20 further including an inserter configured to respond to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index by creating, in the index, an enduring record for the device.
23. The system of claim 20 further including a transaction log configured to track updates to the index.
24. A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program, applet, or instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for transferring data, the method steps comprising:
reading, from an input record, a recorded unique device identification to uniquely identify the device and recorded device usage data for a device;
searching an index for an enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
updating the index with the recorded device usage data, wherein updating the index with the recorded device usage data includes updating enduring device data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification.
25. The program storage device of claim 24 wherein the method steps further include:
reading an enduring usage data from an enduring record in the index having enduring unique device identification matching the recorded unique device identification; and,
calculating a difference in usage data from the enduring usage data and the recorded usage data.
26. The program storage device of claim 24 wherein the method steps further include, responsive to a failure to find a match to the recorded unique device identification in the index, creating in the index an enduring record for the device.
27. The program storage device of claim 24 wherein the method steps further include tracking updates to the index.