Handwriting input device

• US 6,104,388 A
• Filed: 06/25/1998
• Issued: 08/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hiro, Hideyuki, Nagai, Katsuharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe, Richard A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIMNHUNG T
• Application Number:
  US09/104,243
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/179, 178/18.01, 178/18.02, 178/18.03, 178/19.04, 178/19.01, 178/19.03, 178/87
• US Class Current: 345/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/333 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/373 using a special pattern or subpattern alphabet

Abstract

A handwriting input device, despite having a simple structure, achieves correct acquisition of handwritten information. This input device has a pen stem housed inside a pen body formed in the shape of a pen, with the tip of the pen stem left sticking out of an opening formed at one end. This input device further has a pen stem holder having a hemispherical projection formed in its middle portion, an omnidirectional pressure sensor having an actuator and an operation shaft formed integrally, a data processor for processing electric signals outputted from the sensor, and a connector for connecting the tail-end cap portion of the pen stem holder to the operation shaft of the sensor. Thus, this input device detects the force applied to the tip of the pen stem by sensing pressure; in addition, it also detects the up/down movement of the pen stem by sensing pressure.

Claims

1. A handwriting input device having a pen body in a shape of a pen, said handwriting input device including, inside said pen body:

a pen stem holder for holding a pen stem in such a way that a part of said pen stem sticks out of said pen stem holder through an opening provided at one end of said pen stem holder, said pen stem holder having a hemispherical projection formed in its middle portion;

an omnidirectional pressure sensor having an operation shaft formed integrally with an actuator;

a data processor for processing electric signals outputted from said sensor; and

a connector for connecting a tail cap portion of said pen stem holder to said operation shaft of said sensor.

2. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said hemispherical projection formed in the middle portion of said pen stem holder, in combination with a supporter provided inside said pen body, forms a fulcrum that allows said pen stem to rotate about the center of said hemispherical projection.

3. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said omnidirectional pressure sensor detects direction of pressure by sensing the pressure separately in X-axis and Y-axis directions and representing the detected direction as an angle within 360 degrees, and detects magnitude of the pressure by means of a pressure-sensing plate including a pressure-sensing resistive element whose resistance varies with the pressure it receives.

4. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said omnidirectional pressure sensor is placed with its center on a center axis of said pen stem and perpendicularly to said center axis.

5. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said connector is made of a resilient material.

6. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said omnidirectional pressure sensor detects variation of pressure applied thereto and thereby obtains information as to variation with time of direction and magnitude of force due chiefly to friction that a tip of said pen stem receives directly from a surface of paper on which writing is performed.

7. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein, to achieve detection of handwritten information, direction in which said pen stem is held and up/down movement of said pen stem are detected simultaneously.

8. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said pen stem holder has a holding pipe in a shape of a hollow pipe having a smaller diameter in its tail-cap portion and said pen stem is removably held inside said pipe.

9. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said data processor comprises:

a device for subjecting electric signals outputted from said sensor to amplification and A/D conversion;

a dictionary unit for storing data of characters, numbers, symbols, and others;

an analyzer unit for analyzing the electric signals for character recognition, calculation, and other operations; and

an interface unit for exchanging calculation results and other data from said analyzer unit with an external computer system or a similar device.

10. A handwriting input device comprising;

a pen body in a shape of a pipe having an opening at one end;

a pen stem holder, placed inside said pen body with its front end directed to said opening and its rear end directed inward, for holding a pen stem;

a holder supporter, provided inside said pen body, for holding said pen stem holder in such a way that said pen stem holder is inclinable between its front and rear ends, for preventing said pen stem holder from moving toward its rear end, and for making a tip of the pen stem held in said pen stem holder stick out of said opening;

a pressure sensor, provided inside said pen body with its pressure-sensing surface approximately perpendicular to an axis of said pen body, for sensing pressure separately in different regions on the pressure-sensing surface;

an actuator provided between said pen stein holder and said pressure sensor and placed in contact with substantially the entire pressure-sensing surface of said pressure sensor;

an actuator supporter for supporting said actuator in such a way that said actuator is inclinable with respect to the pressure-sensing surface of said pressure sensor;

a connector, having resilience, for connecting the rear end of said pen stem holder to said actuator; and

an information generator for generating, in accordance with an output signal of said pressure sensor, information as to force applied to the tip of the pen stem held by said pen stem holder.

11. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10,

wherein said pen stem holder has, between its front and rear ends, a projection having a spherical surface, and

wherein said holder supporter has a receptacle for seating the projection of said pen stem holder so that said pen stem holder is inclinably supported on this receptacle.

12. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 11,

wherein said pen stem holder is, in its portion between the projection and the rear end, formed in a shape of a bar of a smaller diameter than the projection, and

wherein said holder supporter has an orifice through which the rear-end portion of said pen stem holder is loosely inserted so that the projection of said pen stem holder is seated on a rim of this orifice.

13. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10,

wherein said pressure sensor senses pressure in four regions created by equally dividing the pressure-sensing surface by two lines that pass through the center of the pressure-sensing surface.

14. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10,

wherein said pressure sensor employs a pressure-sensing resistive element whose electrical resistance varies with pressure applied thereto.

15. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10,

wherein said pen stem holder is, in its rear-end side portion, formed in a shape of a bar,

wherein said actuator has a plate-like portion that is placed in contact with said pressure sensor and a projection-like portion that protrudes approximately perpendicularly from said plate-like portion, and

wherein said connector is a resilient tube made of resin, with the rear-end portion of said pen stem holder inserted into one end of said connector and the projection-like portion of said actuator inserted into the other end of said connector.

16. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10,

wherein said information generator detects direction and magnitude of force applied to the tip of the pen stem held by said pen stem holder by sensing pressure, as represented by output signals of said pressure sensor, that is applied to each of the regions created on the pressure-sensing surface, and said information generator thereby generates information as to the direction and magnitude of the detected force.

17. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 16,

wherein said information generator, based on levels of the output signals of said pressure sensor, judges whether the tip of the pen stem held by said pen stem holder is in contact with something or not, and said information generator thereby generates information as to whether the tip of the pen stem is in contact with something or not.

18. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 16,

wherein said information generator, based on levels of the output signals of said pressure sensor, judges whether the tip of the pen stem held by said pen stem holder is in contact with something or not, and said information generator thereby detects the direction of the force applied to the tip of the pen stem with respect to direction in which the pen stem is held when the tip of the pen stem is in contact with nothing.

19. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 16,

wherein said information generator has, stored therein, data as to how symbols can be recognized from direction and magnitude of force exerted when they are written, and said information generator, based on the direction and magnitude of the detected force, identifies symbols written by use of said handwriting input device and generates information representing the identified symbols.

20. A handwriting input device as claimed in claim 10, further comprising at least one of:

a display for displaying the information generated by said information generator, or

a transmitter for transmitting the information generated by said information generator to an external device.