Apple patents keyboard with click wheel

Apple has filed for a continuation patent that details accelerated scrolling via the iPod click wheel, but the description and drawings that make up that filing also point to the inclusion of an iPod scroll wheel in place of a keyboard's numeric keypad. "The keyboard apparatus includes a plurality of keys and a rotational input unit. The rotational input unit allows a user to perform a rotational movement with respect to the rotational input unit," Apple writes. "The rotational movement (rotational user input) can then be processed by the electronic circuitry of the computer system and used to manipulate navigation or selection actions with respect to a graphical user interface being presented to the user on the display device."

"The keyboard apparatus can also include a button associated with the rotational input unit. As shown in FIG. 7A, the button can be provided at a center region of the rotational input unit. However, the button is not required and, if provided, can be placed elsewhere, such as outside the periphery of the rotational input unit."

Filed under: Apple