Multifunctional stylus

• US 9,164,599 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2012
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Dowd, Geoffrey, Bice, Matthew, Couillard, Nic, Moskalonek, Christoph
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdulselam, Abbas
• Assistant Examiner(s): OLIVER, GERALD L
• Application Number:
  US13/572,231
• Publication Number:
  US 20140043245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• Field of Search: 345/2.3, 345173-179, 178 1801- 2004, 455/566, 455/151.2, 455/186.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

One exemplary embodiment involves receiving an input on a device, the input comprising at least one of an amount of pressure applied to the device against a computing device, a click of a physical button associated with the device, or a movement of the device against the computing device. The embodiment also includes transmitting the received input to the computing device via a wireless transceiver associated with the device. Additionally, the embodiment includes causing a plurality of actions to be performed on the computing device based at least in part on the received input.

Claims

1. A stylus device comprising:

a tip at an end of the stylus device, the tip for interacting with a touch surface of a computing device;

a storage device disposed within a housing of the stylus device, the storage device for storing content; and

a wireless transceiver for communicating and establishing an association with the computing device, wherein the wireless transceiver is coupled to the storage device and configured to provide content from the storage device to the computing device once the association between the stylus device and the computing device is established, and wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to provide the computing device access to content from a cloud storage device, the cloud storage device being accessible to the computing device by way of the computing device having established the association with the stylus device.

2. The stylus device of claim 1, wherein the stylus device is encased in an aluminum material that houses at least one microprocessor, a memory, and a circuit board.

3. The stylus device of claim 1 further comprising a physical button, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate with the computing device in response to interaction with the physical button.

4. The stylus device of claim 1 configured to receive an input, the input being at least one of an amount of pressure applied to the stylus device against the computing device, a movement of the stylus device on or near the touch surface of the computing device, or one or more interactions with a physical button on the stylus device, wherein the stylus device is configured to cause one or more actions on the computing device based at least in part on the received input.

5. The stylus device of claim 4, wherein the one or more actions are application specific, the one or more actions determined based on an application currently being implemented on the one of the computing devices when the input is received.

6. The stylus device of claim 1, wherein the stylus device is associated with one or more licenses to one or more software applications, and wherein the wireless transceiver is also configured to communicate the one or more licenses to the computing device or any other computing device for operation of the one or more software applications under the terms of the one or more licenses when the stylus device is in communication with the computing device or the any other computing device.

7. The stylus device of claim 1 further comprising a light emitting diode (LED) that illuminates and changes color based on a state of the stylus device.

8. The stylus device of claim 1, wherein establishing the association includes electronically pairing the stylus device with the computing device.

9. The stylus device of claim 1, wherein establishing the association includes receiving a secure signature on the touch surface of the computing device provided by the tip at the end of the stylus device.

10. A method comprising:

receiving an input on a computing device via a stylus device, the stylus device comprising a storage device housed therein and a wireless transceiver coupled to the storage device and configured to communicate with the computing device; and

causing an action to be performed on the computing device based at least in part on the received input, wherein the action to be performed comprises providing the computing device access to content from a cloud storage device, the computing device being provided access to the content from the cloud storage device by way of the computing device being associated with the stylus device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the input comprising at least one of an amount of pressure applied to the stylus device against a computing device, or a movement of the stylus device against the computing device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the action to be performed comprises receiving content at the computer device, the content transmitted directly from a cloud storage device to the computer device.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the input comprising an angle of the stylus device with respect to the computing device.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an additional input via a button on the stylus device, the additional input being a click of the button;

transmitting the additional input to the computing device; and

causing the computing device to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the additional input.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, on a cloud storage device, content from a first computing device, the first computing device provided access to the cloud storage device via a wireless transceiver coupled to a stylus device, the receiving of the content occurring in response to interaction between the stylus device and a touch screen of the first computing device;

storing, on the cloud storage device, the content from the first computing device; and

providing, to a second computing device, access to the stored content via the wireless transceiver coupled to the stylus device, the providing of the stored content occurring in response to interaction between the stylus device and a touch screen of the second computing device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

indicating, with the stylus device, the content on the first computing device to be received by the cloud storage device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein indicating the content comprises at least one of:

applying an amount of pressure on the stylus device against the first computing device;

clicking a physical button associated with the stylus device;

or

causing a movement of the stylus device against the first computing device.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein indicating the content comprises positioning the stylus device against the first computing device at a known angle with respect to the first computing device.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the wireless transceiver is at least one of a Bluetooth®

transceiver or a wireless network transceiver, and wherein the wireless transceiver is operable to communicate to the first and second computing device a request to access the cloud storage device using one or more user accounts associated therewith.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the stylus device is encased in an aluminum material that houses at least one microprocessor, a memory, and a circuit board.