ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,496,511, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Redmond, Wash.).
"Piezoelectric input device" was invented by Kenneth Daniel Ratekin (Lynnwood, Wash.) and Colin Michael Ravenscroft (Woodinville, Wash.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present disclosure relates to a multi-axis rotational input device (or simply "a rotational input device") including piezoelectric elements. The piezoelectric elements may be configured or otherwise implemented within a housing of the rotational input device to generate a plurality of voltages in response to forces applied to the rotational input device. The piezoelectric el...