EP0210237A1 - Dispositif de saisie de caracteres ecrits a la main - Google Patents

Dispositif de saisie de caracteres ecrits a la main

Info

Publication number
EP0210237A1
EP0210237A1 EP86901014A EP86901014A EP0210237A1 EP 0210237 A1 EP0210237 A1 EP 0210237A1 EP 86901014 A EP86901014 A EP 86901014A EP 86901014 A EP86901014 A EP 86901014A EP 0210237 A1 EP0210237 A1 EP 0210237A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
input device
computer input
writing
writing tip
computer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP86901014A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Jeffrey Malcolm Macauley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Tybar Engineering Pty Ltd
Original Assignee
Tybar Engineering Pty Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Tybar Engineering Pty Ltd filed Critical Tybar Engineering Pty Ltd
Publication of EP0210237A1 publication Critical patent/EP0210237A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
    • G06F3/033—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor
    • G06F3/0354—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor with detection of two-dimensional [2D] relative movements between the device, or an operating part thereof, and a plane or surface, e.g. 2D mice, trackballs, pens or pucks
    • G06F3/03545—Pens or stylus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
    • G06V10/10—Image acquisition
    • G06V10/12—Details of acquisition arrangements; Constructional details thereof
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
    • G06V10/10—Image acquisition
    • G06V10/17—Image acquisition using hand-held instruments

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a handheld computer input device for allowing handwritten characters to be converted into machine readable form and relates particularly, although not exclusively, to a handwriting instrument that can be coupled to the input of a computer.
  • handwriting recognition devices have consisted of a handheld wand or stylus which is connected to a so-called "digitizing tablet".
  • the wand or stylus is pressed onto the tablet and the x,y position of the wand or stylus on the tablet is detected by its proximity or contact with horizontal and vertical multiplexed grids within the tablet.
  • the wand or stylus can be moved over the form and the desired characters drawn on the form.
  • the sensed x,y co-ordinates generated by successive positions of the pen are stored and' the actual handwritten characters are computed from the stored co-ordinates by suitable character recognition software.
  • Devices of this type are shown in Australian Patent Application No. 25935/78.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide a handwriting instrument capable of simultaneously producing handwritten copy on any suitable writing surface and storage within a computer memory device.
  • a still yet further object is to alleviate, to a substantial degree, the writing of characters in a particular manner.
  • the present invention may provide--a computer input device for converting handwritten characters into machine readable form, said device including means for detecting or sensing direction of movement of said device across a writ-ing surface.
  • said device includes a writing tip e.g. pencil or felt tip; or alternatively a nib or ball supplied with ink from a reservoir.
  • a writing tip e.g. pencil or felt tip; or alternatively a nib or ball supplied with ink from a reservoir.
  • said means includes a plurality of light responsive sensors focussed to detect ink or lead left by said device on said writing sur ace.
  • said means includes a plurality of switch contacts inside said device actuable by a pivotted switch blade.
  • said means for detecting or sensing direction includes a plurality of feeler wires surrounding an ink reservoir whereby angular movement of said reservoir is detected by said feeler wires.
  • each feeler wire is formed from a spring metal and each feeler wire is deflected from its undeflected position when contacted by said ink reservoir.
  • the feeler wires may, in use, be coupled, directly or indirectly, to 1/0 lines or an expansion bus of a computer means in order that the directional changes may be interpreted thereby.
  • said means includes a plurality of optically sensitive means each indicating a direction of movement and an optical source coupled to movement of a writing tip of said device whereby changes in direction of said writing tip will cause particular optically sensitive means to be activated.
  • the device may include computational means for determining the handwritten characters from analysis of said directions.
  • the device may also include memory means for storing text translated by said computational means.
  • FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a handwriting instrument made in accordance with the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic electronic circuit representation showing connection of the handwriting instrument shown in Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a handwriting instrument made in accordance with the invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 5-5 of Fig. 4;
  • Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic electronic circuit representation showing connection of the handwriting instrument shown in Fig. 4;
  • Fig. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a handwriting instrument made in accordance with the invention;
  • Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 8-8 of Fig. 7;
  • Fig. 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a fourth embodiment of a handwriting instrument made in accordance with the invention.
  • Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 8-8 of Fig. 7;
  • Fig. 11 is an enlarged view of the circled area shown in Fig. 9;
  • Figs. 12A and 12B are flow charts showing one example of a character recognition algorithm; and Fig. 13 shows a pictorial representation of directions of movement of the writing instrument.
  • a writing intsrume ⁇ t or pen which has a body 12.
  • a ball 14 is fitted in the end of body 12 and is held captively therein, e.g. by flange 15, to allow for swivel movement.
  • an ink reservoir 16 Secured within ball 14 is an ink reservoir 16 with a ball writing tip 18 at one end thereof protruding through aperture 19.
  • a switch blade 20 At the other end of reservoir 16 is a switch blade 20 in the form of a disk.
  • Circumferentially located inside body 12 are a plurality of switch contacts 22. These contacts 22 are equispaced and in this embodiment there are eight such contacts. Accordingly when writing with pen 10 the swivel action of ball 14 will cause one of the switch contacts 22 to be closed by switch blade 20. Thus each change in direction of writing tip 18, while writing, will cause switch blade 20 to contact a particular switch contact 22.
  • the actuation of the different contacts 22 is monitored by a preprocessor mounted inside body 12, in a separate case e.g. a pocket-type device, or directly by a computer.
  • a preprocessor mounted inside body 12, in a separate case e.g. a pocket-type device, or directly by a computer.
  • switch contacts 22 there are eight switch contacts 22 to be monitored and additional switches (not shown), if required.
  • additional switches may includee a "pen write" contact switch
  • Fig 3 shows the' switch contacts 22 being connected to I/O lines 23 of a latching buffer or peripheral interface adapter 24 e.g. a Synertek 6522.
  • a Synertek 6522 Such an adapter can monitor the signals from pen 10 and generate interrupts to a computer when changes of direction occur. These changes can be stored by the computer for immediate or later analysis to determine the character written.
  • Suitable software to recognize the handwritten characters ' and to store the subsequent text is implemented on the computer or preprocessor.
  • One method is to consider the various switch contacts as defining north, south, east and west directions and first, second, third and fourth quadrants. Thus the first quadrant will fall between the north and east directions.
  • the data from the changes in direction can be filtered, if required, and compared with a lookup table. It has been found that the lookup table can be personalized to suit a particular writer's style and various combinations for the same character can be included in the lookup table. It has also been found that there is very little conflict in recognizing a particular character.
  • the switch contacts 22 and switch blade 20 are replaced by optical means.
  • body 30 there is a lead 32 or similar writing tip. Equispaced around the lead 32 are eight optical fibres 34 which have their inside ends coupled to a light source (not shown). To sense changes in reflected light from a writing surface eight additional optical fibres 36 are circumferentially mounted within the circle of optical fibres 34.
  • Photodetectors 38 are coupled to the inside ends of optical fibres 36 to provide a voltage dependent on the light reflected from the corresponding optical fibre 34. Photodetectors 38 are coupled to respective voltage comparators 40. As discussed with reference to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3 a latching buffer or peripheral interface adapter 42 is used to monitor the signals from the pen. The adapter 42 may be located externally to the pen if required. Again an aerial transmission device may be used to send the data to the computer.
  • the optical fibres 36 will be detecting the ink or lead left on the writing surface as the pen is moved thereacross. Thus a loss of reflectivity will be detected which indicates the direction travelled.
  • the software required will be similar to that discussed with reference to the previous embodiment. Thus if the pen is travelling in an easterly direction the west direction photodetector will detect the ink or lead trail from the pen for analysis by the computer. This embodiment can detect cross-overs e.g. as occurs in the numeral "8" and the letter "Q". Suitable adjustments to the software will be necessary to allow for simultaneous detection from more than one photodetector.
  • a writing instrument or pen 50 which has a main outer barrel 52. Outer barrel 52 is slipped or moulded over an inner barrel 54. At the rear of pen 50 is a plug 56 to close off barrels 52 and 54. A metal ink reservoir 58 having ball point 60 is secured into plug 56 with the ink reservoir free to be deflected from its vertical position. Mounted along inner barrel 54 are eight feeler wires 62 formed from a spring metal. As shown the feeler wires 62 extend a short distance along barrel 54 and are soldered to a copper wire (not shown) which is coupled to a contact pin.64 at the rear of pen
  • a pin is also provided for the ink reservoir 58.
  • feeler wires 62 are bent " inwardly to adjust their position to be adjacent but not contacting ink reservoir 58.
  • Feeler wires 62 are equispaced about reservoir 58. Accordingly when writing with pen 50 the pivotting action of reservoir 58 will cause one of the feeler wires 62 to contact ink reservoir 58 and be deflected from its position shown in Fig 7. Thus each change in direction of writing tip 60, while writing, will cause ink reservoir 58 to contact a particular feeler wire 62. The resilient nature of the feeler wires will return the deflected wire to its normal position when a further change in direction is made and another wire is deflected.
  • the actuation of the different feeler wires 62 is monitored by a preprocessor mounted inside pen 50, in a separate case e.g. a pocket-type device, or directly by a computer.
  • a preprocessor mounted inside pen 50 in a separate case e.g. a pocket-type device, or directly by a computer.
  • additional switches may include a "pen write" contact switch and special func- tion switches e.g. for punctuation as discussed with reference to Figs. 1 to 3.
  • the signals from the pen can as previously discussed, be hardwired to the pre ⁇ processor or computer through an expansion bus, or an aerial transmission device e.g. ultrasonics, radio or infrared.
  • the feeler wires 62 can be connected to I/O lines of a latching buffer or peripheral interface adapter as discussed in Fig. 3.
  • a pen 70 which has a main barrel 72.
  • a plug 74 to close off the end.
  • An ink reservoir 76 having ball point 78 is secured inside pen 70 by a plug 80.
  • Plug 80 is formed of resilient material e.g. silicone rubber so that ink reservoir 76 may be deflected angularly and vertically.
  • a light source 82 e.g. a light emitting diode (LED).
  • Adjacent light source 82 and mounted within barrel 72 is a disk 84 having segmental opto-sensitive receivers 86 and a central opto-sensitive receiver 88. Suitable electronics and power supply to drive light source 82 and receivers 86,88 are generally designated at 99. This type of circuitry is familiar to the man skilled in the art and requires no further explanation.
  • Pen 70 includes switches 90 for detecting when the pen is in the writing position.
  • On ink reservoir 76 are a pair of switch contacts 92 and 94 which co-operate with further switch contacts 96 and 98. Accordingly when pen 70 is not being used switch contacts 94 and 98 will be closed.
  • On initial pen pressure by ball point 78 on a writing surface ink reservoir 76 will move upwardly in view of the resilient nature of plug 80 and no switch contacts will be closed. This intermediate position will indicate a "pen ready" condition.
  • switch contacts 92 and 96 will be closed to enable character recognition to commence.
  • the switch contacts could be replaced by other suitable means e.g. magnetic or opto-sensitive devices.
  • the ink reservoir 76 is free to pivot as the pen is used and this pivotting action will cause light source 82 to move and accordingly activate a respective receiver 86,88 to indicate the change in direction of the pen movement.
  • the condition of receivers 86,88 and switch contacts 92-98 can be monitored e.g. through contact pins- 100.
  • light source 82 and opto- receivers 86,88 can be replaced by similar acting devices e.g. a feeler wire may replace light source 82 and opto-receivers 86,88 could be switch Contacts.
  • Other alternative arrangements are envisaged as magnetic devices e.g. reed and Hall-effect switches, could also be used.
  • the "Accumulative Weight Counter” would contain "5".
  • the software filters the directional changes from the pen and then compares the direction with each character entry in the lookup table. Assuming a "7" was being drawn the pen would indicate that firstly the pen was travelling in an easterly, direction i.e. value $04 in
  • the software allows for peculiarities in writing styles of individuals.
  • the software then loops back to check for further directional changes. If the direction remains the same, or stays within directions $02, $04 and $08, then no further additions will be made to the "Accumulative Weight Counter" as successive matches have a $00 positive value.
  • the horizontal bar can wander in these three directions, or any combination thereof, and still be matched.
  • the direction change will normally be in the $20 direction.
  • the software for the table entry has allowed for both the $20 direction and the $10 direction giving a table entry of $30 for the second matched direction. Accordingly, assuming the pen changes to the $20 direction, the first table direction will fail to match, and the "Table Direction Pointer" is changed to point to the next direction i.e. $30.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Character Discrimination (AREA)
  • Position Input By Displaying (AREA)

Abstract

Un stylo à écrire manuel (10) peut détecter la direction du déplacement de la pointe d'écriture (18). Les déplacements dans des directions diverses sont détectés par des commutateurs (22, 20), et le fonctionnement du ou des commutateurs appropriés peut être contrôlé par un ordinateur, de sorte que la reconnaissance des caractères devient possible.
EP86901014A 1985-01-31 1986-01-30 Dispositif de saisie de caracteres ecrits a la main Withdrawn EP0210237A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU9093/85 1985-01-31
AU909385 1985-01-31
AU871/85 1985-06-04
AU87185 1985-06-04

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0210237A1 true EP0210237A1 (fr) 1987-02-04

Family

ID=25608888

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP86901014A Withdrawn EP0210237A1 (fr) 1985-01-31 1986-01-30 Dispositif de saisie de caracteres ecrits a la main

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0210237A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO1986004704A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2208734B (en) * 1985-11-05 1990-11-07 Nat Res Dev Apparatus for capturing information in drawing or writing
GB8616470D0 (en) * 1985-11-05 1986-08-13 Hilton C Optical scanner
WO1988002895A1 (fr) * 1986-10-13 1988-04-21 Tybar Engineering Pty. Ltd. Dispositif servant a introduire des donnees dans un ordinateur
EP0276109B1 (fr) * 1987-01-20 1993-05-12 Btg International Limited Méthode et appareil pour capter l'information lors de l'écriture ou du dessin
GB8702302D0 (en) * 1987-02-02 1987-03-11 Parks J R Capturing information in drawing & writing
US4883926A (en) * 1988-04-21 1989-11-28 Hewlett-Packard Company Stylus switch
US5159321A (en) * 1989-08-18 1992-10-27 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Pen-type computer input device
FR2678090B1 (fr) * 1991-06-20 1996-07-05 Pierre Mallet Dispositif pour ecrire des signes manuscrits sur un support quelconque, apte a transmettre simultanement ces signes a un systeme recepteur, et utilisation de ce dispositif.
US5294792A (en) * 1991-12-31 1994-03-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Writing tip position sensing and processing apparatus
US5291213A (en) * 1992-12-23 1994-03-01 Krauss Kenneth W Pen-type computer input device with multiple spheres
GB9701793D0 (en) 1997-01-29 1997-03-19 Gay Geoffrey N W Means for inputting characters or commands into a computer
WO2013071917A2 (fr) * 2011-11-14 2013-05-23 Jens Hansen Dispositif d'écriture

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1980002337A1 (fr) * 1979-04-17 1980-10-30 R Fujita Dispositif d'entree pour caracteres et motifs manuscrits
CH631812A5 (fr) * 1979-06-12 1982-08-31 Battelle Memorial Institute Dispositif pour mesurer des parametres caracteristiques de la vitesse d'une ecriture manuscrite.
FR2483072A2 (fr) * 1980-05-23 1981-11-27 Thomson Csf Systeme de reperage a ondes elastiques de surface
SE449934B (sv) * 1980-11-10 1987-05-25 Asea Ab Apparat for samtidig genering och detektering av registreringar
US4513437A (en) * 1982-06-30 1985-04-23 International Business Machines Corporation Data input pen for Signature Verification
DE3225526C2 (de) * 1982-07-08 1985-12-12 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V., 8000 Muenchen Einrichtung zur Erfassung handgeschriebener Zeichen
US4525032A (en) * 1982-07-27 1985-06-25 The Secretary Of State For Defence In Her Britannic Majesty's Government Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland Liquid crystal reusable signature comparison
JPS59118040U (ja) * 1983-01-31 1984-08-09 アルプス電気株式会社 入力装置

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO8604704A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO1986004704A1 (fr) 1986-08-14

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0666543B1 (fr) Appareil d'entrée d'écriture manuscrite utilisant plus d'une technique de détection
US7038659B2 (en) Symbol encoding apparatus and method
US3462548A (en) Combined writing device and computer input
US4414537A (en) Digital data entry glove interface device
US4241409A (en) Hand held pen-size calculator
US4495646A (en) On-line character recognition using closed-loop detector
US6104388A (en) Handwriting input device
US5852434A (en) Absolute optical position determination
US6573887B1 (en) Combined writing instrument and digital documentor
EP0210237A1 (fr) Dispositif de saisie de caracteres ecrits a la main
US6212297B1 (en) Handwritten keyboardless entry computer system
US20080030486A1 (en) Multi-functional pen input device
KR20070030294A (ko) 광 기반 터치 스크린 디스플레이로 데이터 입력을 수행하는방법 및 장치
KR20030022414A (ko) 디지털 펜
JP4122226B2 (ja) 入力ゾーン上で手動トレースされた文字を認識するための方法およびデバイス
JPS61180324A (ja) 電子図形装置
CA2532612A1 (fr) Fourniture d'une interface utilisateur comprenant des elements interactifs sur une surface inscriptible
WO1995027935A1 (fr) Appareil d'introduction de donnees du type a prehension de crayon et appareil d'introduction de donnees
GB2283080A (en) Computer input mouse.
US8581847B2 (en) Hybrid pointing device
WO1980002337A1 (fr) Dispositif d'entree pour caracteres et motifs manuscrits
KR100360477B1 (ko) 무선전자펜
JP2501554B2 (ja) 入力装置
JP2000132317A (ja) エリアセンサ及びエリアセンサを用いた入力装置
KR102328569B1 (ko) 다목적 펜

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE FR GB IT LI LU NL SE

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 19861231

RIN1 Information on inventor provided before grant (corrected)

Inventor name: MACAULEY, JEFFREY, MALCOLM