Electronic stylus with writing feel

• US 5,627,348 A
• Filed: 04/07/1995
• Issued: 05/06/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ATX International Incorporated (ATC Holdings LP)
• Original Assignee: AT Cross Company (ATC Holdings LP)
• Inventors: Arthur, David, Berkson, Mitchell
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOOMIS, PAUL A
• Application Number:
  US08/418,938
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 178/18, 178/19, 178/20, 345/173, 345/179, 345/180, 345/181, 382/313, 382/314, 382/315, 341/5
• US Class Current: 178/19.04
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus

Abstract

A non-marking, writing system simulates a physical writing system which has characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity. The non-marking writing system includes a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends. A non-marking tip is connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface. The writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing, creates an actual writing resistance. The tip is structured and made of selected material and the writing surface is made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the physical writing system.

Claims

1. A non-marking, writing system which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity, the non-marking writing system comprising:

a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface;

a writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance; and

the tip being structured and made of selected material and the writing surface being made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system;

movement of the tip onto and across the writing surface producing sound, the system including selecting the structure and material of the tip and writing surface so that the sound falls within the characteristic range of sound of the selected physical writing system.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the tip is structured and made of selected material and the writing surface is made of selected materials so that the actual resilience of the tip against the writing surface during writing falls within the characteristic range of resilience of the selected physical writing system.

3. A writing system according to claim 1, wherein the material of the writing surface has an actual thermal conductivity which is selected to fall within the characteristic range of thermal conductivity of the selected physical writing system.

4. A writing system according to claim 1, wherein the tip comprises a housing and a ball rotating in the housing for rolling across the writing surface, the housing being made of material selected from the group consisting of brass and DELRIN, the ball being made of material selected from the group consisting of steel, semi-precious stone, hard plastic and ceramic, the housing being free of ink and the ball rotating directly against the housing without lubrication.

5. A writing system according to claim 1, wherein the sound is below about 22 dB at a frequency between about 400 to 7000 Hz.

6. A non-marking, writing system which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity, the non-marking writing system comprising:

a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface;

a writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance; and

the tip being structured and made of selected material and the writing surface being made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system;

wherein the material of the writing surface has an actual thermal conductivity which is selected to fall within the characteristic range of thermal conductivity of the selected physical writing system.

7. A writing system according to claim 6, wherein the tip comprises a housing having an open end at the one end of the shank, and a dry ball mounted for rotation in the housing and at the one end of the shank.

8. A writing system according to claim 7, wherein the ball has a diameter which is at most about 1/4 inch.

9. A writing system according to claim 8, wherein the shank is axially symmetrical.

10. A writing system according to claim 9, wherein the shank has an axis, the ball being positioned on the axis.

11. A writing system according to claim 7, wherein the ball is made of hard smooth material, the housing being made of softer slippery material so that the ball rotates with low friction in the housing and without lubrication.

12. A writing system according to claim 7, including a spring mounted between the housing and the shank for contributing to resiliency of the tip against the writing surface.

13. A writing system according to claim 7, wherein the ball has a diameter of from 0.010" to 0.250".

14. A non-marking, writing system which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity, the non-marking writing system comprising:

a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface;

a writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance; and

the tip being structured and made of selected material and the writing surface being made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system;

the tip comprising a housing having an open end at the one end of the shank, and a dry ball mounted for rotation in the housing and at the one end of the shank, the ball is being made of hard smooth material, the housing being made of softer slippery material so that the ball rotates with low friction in the housing and without lubrication.

15. A non-marking, writing system which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity, the non-marking writing system comprising:

a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface;

a writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance; and

the tip being structured and made of selected material and the writing surface being made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system, the actual writing resistance being within the range of about 0.4 to 0.7 N.

16. A writing system according to claim 15, wherein the structure and material of the tip and writing surface is selected to have an actual resilience of from about 5 to about 9 N/mm.

17. A writing system according to claim 16, wherein the structure and material of the tip and writing surface is selected so that an actual sound produced when the tip moves across the writing surface is below about 22 dB at a frequency between about 400 to 7000 Hz.

18. A writing system according to claim 15, wherein the writing surface is made of transparent material.

19. A writing system according to claim 18, wherein the transparent material is a coating on a computer screen adapted to be written on.

20. A writing system according to claim 19, wherein the coating is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane and silicone elastomers.

21. A non-marking, writing system which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance, sound, resilience and thermal conductivity, the non-marking writing system comprising:

a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and movement across a writing surface;

a writing surface onto and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance, the writing surface being a transparent material coating on a computer screen adapted to be written on, the coating being made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane and silicone elastomers; and

the tip being structured and made of selected material and the writing surface being made of selected material so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system.

22. A non-marking, writing instrument which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance and sound, the non-marking writing instrument comprising:

an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and for movement across a writing surface; and

the writing instrument being structured and made of selected material so that an actual writing resistance caused by movement of the tip across a writing surface falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system;

the structure and the material of the tip being selected so that the tip produces a characteristic range of sound which falls within the characteristic range of sound for the selected writing instrument.

23. A writing instrument according to claim 22, wherein the actual writing resistance is within the range of about 0.4 to 0.7 N.

24. A writing instrument according to claim 22, wherein the tip comprises a housing having an open end at the one end of the shank, and a dry ball mounted for rotation in the housing and at the one end of the shank.

25. A writing instrument according to claim 24, wherein the ball is made of hard smooth material, the housing being made of softer slippery material so that the ball rotates with low friction in the housing and without lubrication.

26. A writing instrument according to claim 24, including a spring mounted between the housing and the shank for contributing to resiliency of the tip against the writing surface.

27. A writing instrument according to claim 24, wherein the ball has a diameter of from 0.010" to 0.250".

28. A writing instrument according to claim 24, wherein the tip comprises a housing and a ball rotating in the housing for rolling across the writing surface, the housing being made of material selected from the group consisting of brass and DELRIN, the ball being made of material selected from the group consisting of steel, semi-precious stone, hard plastic and ceramic, the housing being free of ink and the ball rotating directly against the housing without lubrication.

29. A writing instrument according to claim 24, wherein the ball has a diameter which is at most about 1/4".

30. A writing instrument according to claim 29, wherein the shank is axially symmetrical.

31. A writing instrument according to claim 30, wherein the shank has an axis, the ball being positioned on the axis.

32. A non-marking, writing instrument which simulates a selected physical writing system having characteristic ranges of writing resistance and sound, the non-marking writing instrument comprising:

an elongated shank with opposite ends;

a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank for engagement against and for movement across a writing surface; and

the writing instrument being structured and made of selected material so that an actual writing resistance caused by movement of the tip across a writing surface falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system, the actual writing resistance being within the range of about 0.4 to 0.7 N.

33. A method of reproducing the feel of a selected physical writing system, while writing with a non-marking writing system comprising:

providing a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank;

providing a writing surface onto which and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance;

measuring the actual writing resistance;

selecting the structure and material of the tip and writing surface so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system; and

selecting the structure and shape of the tip and writing surface so that sound is produced that falls within a characteristic range of sound produced by the selected writing system.

34. A method according to claim 33, including selecting an actual resilience of the tip on the writing surface to be within a characteristic range of resilience of the selected physical writing system.

35. A method according to claim 33, wherein the coating is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane and silicone elastomers.

36. A method according to claim 33, including forming the tip to comprise:

a housing having an open end at the one end of the shank, and a dry ball mounted for rotation in the housing and at the one end of the shank.

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein the ball has a diameter which is at most about 1/4.

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein the shank is axially symmetrical.

39. A method according to claim 38, wherein the shank has an axis, the ball being positioned on the axis.

40. A method according to claim 36, wherein the ball is made of hard smooth material, the housing being made of softer slippery material so that the ball rotates with low friction in the housing and without lubrication.

41. A method according to claim 36, including a spring mounted between the housing and the shank for contributing to resiliency of the tip against the writing surface.

42. A method according to claim 36, wherein the ball has a diameter of from 0.010" to 0.250".

43. A method according to claim 36, wherein the actual writing resistance is within the range of about 0.4 to 0.7 N.

44. A method according to claim 43, wherein the structure and material of the tip and writing surface is selected to have an actual resilience of from about 5 to about 9 N/mm.

45. A method of reproducing the feel of a selected physical writing system, while writing with a non-marking writing system comprising:

providing a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank;

providing a writing surface onto which and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance;

measuring the actual writing resistance; and

selecting the structure and material of the tip and writing surface so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system, the writing resistance falling within the range about 0.4 N to about 0.7 N.

46. A method according to claim 45, including providing the writing surface to be transparent.

47. A method according to claim 46, including applying the writing surface as a transparent coating on a computer screen adapted to the written on with the non-marking writing instrument.

49. A method according to claim 45, wherein the writing surface is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane and silicone elastomers.

48. A method of reproducing the feel of a selected physical writing system, while writing with a non-marking writing system comprising:

providing a non-marking writing instrument having an elongated shank with a non-marking tip connected to one end of the shank;

providing a writing surface onto which and across which the tip is moved for non-marking writing under an actual writing resistance;

measuring the actual writing resistance; and

selecting the structure and material of the tip and writing surface so that the actual writing resistance falls within the characteristic range of writing resistance for the selected physical writing system, wherein the actual resilience is selected to be from about 5 to about 9 N/mm.