POINTING DEVICE FOR USE ON AN INTERACTIVE SURFACE

• US 20110025651A1
• Filed: 03/27/2009
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Buil, Vincentius Paulus, Korst, Johannes Henricus Maria, Hollemans, Gerrit, Subramanian, Sriram, Bergman, Anthonie Hendrik
• Granted Patent: US 8,816,961 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/179
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04762 Force transducer, e.g. strain gauge
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04162 for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware

Abstract

A pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) is provided for use on an interactive surface (21). The pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) comprises a grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) and a shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92). The grip portion can be manipulated into different positions by a user. The shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) has a contact surface for making contact with the interactive surface (21). The grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) is coupled to the shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) in such a way that the manipulation of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) causes a footprint (30, 60, 80, 100) of the contact surface on the interactive surface (21) to take a shape corresponding to the respective different positions of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91).

Claims

1. A pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) for use on an interactive surface (21), the pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) comprising:

a grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) for allowing manipulation into different positions by a user, and

a shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) with a contact surface for making contact with the interactive surface (21),

the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) being coupled to the shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) in such a way that the manipulation of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) into one of the different positions causes a footprint (30, 60, 80, 100) of the contact surface on the interactive surface (21) to take a shape corresponding to the respective position of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91).

2. A pointing device (10, 50, 90) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact surface is not rotational symmetric.

3. A pointing device (10, 50, 70) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) comprises flexible material.

4. A pointing device (10) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the shapeable part (12) comprises at least three curved legs (12) of the flexible material, one end of each leg (12) being attached to the grip portion (11), another end of each leg (12) comprising a part of the contact surface.

5. A pointing device (50) as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a supporting element (53) for resting on the interactive surface (21) and wherein the shapeable part (52) comprises a ring of the flexible material, the supporting element (53) being situated inside the ring and the ring being arranged in such a way that the contact surface:

is just above the interactive surface (21) when the pointing device (50) is in a neutral position,

partly contacts the interactive surface (21) when the pointing device (50) is in a non neutral position.

6. A pointing device (70) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the shapeable part (72) is a half-sphere dome of the flexible material.

7. A pointing device (10, 50, 70) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flexible material is bendable foam.

8. A pointing device (90) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shapeable part (92) comprises at least one rigid member (92), the rigid member (92) comprising at least a part of the contact surface and being coupled to the grip portion (91) by a flexible link (95).

9. A pointing device (90) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the flexible links (95) are hinges.

10. A pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a part of the contact surface comprises attachment means for preventing slipping of the contact surface over the interactive surface (21).

11. A pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the attachment means is a rubber strip.

12. A pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the attachment means is a suction nap.

13. An interactive system (20) comprising a pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) as claimed in claim 1 and an interactive surface (21), the interactive system (20) comprising means (22) for determining characteristics of the footprint (30, 60, 80, 100) of the contact surface of the shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) of the pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) on the interactive surface (21) and means (22) for determining the position of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) based on the characteristics of the footprint (30, 60 80, 100).

14. An interactive system (20) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the means (22) for determining characteristics of the footprint (30, 6080, 100) are arranged for determining a distance between separate parts of the footprint (30, 60, 80, 100).

15. An interactive system (20) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the means (22) for determining characteristics of the footprint (30, 6080, 100) are arranged for determining an area of the footprint (30, 60, 80, 100).

16. An interactive system (20) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the means (22) for determining characteristics of the footprint (30, 6080, 100) are arranged for determining the shape of the footprint (30, 60, 80, 100).

17. A method for determining a position of a grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) of a pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) as claimed in claim 1, the method comprising:

determining characteristics of the footprint (30, 60, 80, 100) of the contact surface of the shapeable part (12, 52, 72, 92) of the pointing device (10, 50, 70, 90) on the interactive surface (21),

determining the position of the grip portion (11, 51, 71, 91) based on the characteristics of the footprint (30, 60 80, 100).