JPH07129302A - Electronic pen for inputting data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce load to be applied to finger tips even at the time of using this electronic pen with large grasping force and to remove a sense of fatigue by coating the pen with a soft elastic coat so that the outer diameter of the pen is increased by the soft elastic layer formed on the surface of the pen. CONSTITUTION:The soft elastic coat 20 with Shore A hardness 40 to 60 is wound around the pen shaft 15 of the electronic pen 10 so as to be detached. The thickness of the coat 20 is 1 to 4mm, the outer diamter of the pen 10 coated with the coat 20 becomes 10 to 15mm and the pen shaft 15 is coated with the coat 20 almost over the whole length exclusing its tip part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic pen for inputting data to office automation equipment such as word processors and personal computers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic pens have begun to be used as an alternative to conventional keyboards for inputting information to OA devices such as word processors and personal computers. Since the electronic pen is used with the feel of writing letters with a pencil, it does not have the difficulty of attachment unlike a keyboard, and eliminates the dislike of hair for OA equipment. It also enables the use of office automation equipment in construction sites, outdoor environments such as in automobiles where a keyboard-input personal computer could not enter. The electronic pen includes an ink writing type that uses ink and an inkless type that uses ultrasonic waves, electrostatic coupling, a resistance film, electromagnetic induction and the like. Some ink writing type electronic pens have a metal pen tip and an ink tank connected by a tube. However, due to ink clogging and ease of use, felt pens, which are made by filling cotton in a plastic case with ink and using a felt tip, have been widely used. In the inkless type electronic pen, characters, data, etc. are directly input to the LCD screen. This type of electronic pen is equipped with an electric circuit that transmits electromagnetic waves, a battery, etc., and often uses a polyacetal resin as a pen tip material.

[0003]

The electronic pen is used while looking at the display. Therefore, the writing pressure applied to the electronic pen tends to be larger than that of a pencil or the like. Further, depending on the content of the information input work, it may be continuously used for several hours. A normal electronic pen
Most of them have a shaft diameter of about 7 to 8 mm, which follows a conventional writing instrument. In the work using the electronic pen of this shaft diameter, and the work using the felt pen that ejects ink from the felt-like pen tip, it is 2 to 3 times as compared with the case of using the conventional pencil.
Double writing pressure is required. On the other hand, in the ink-less type electronic pen, since the pen tip is rubbed against the surface of a glass plate, an acrylic plate, or the like, which is a protective material of LCD, to input data, the contact resistance is small, and thus the writing pressure is further increased.
To obtain this writing pressure, the pen shaft is grasped by the thumb, forefinger, middle finger, etc. so that the pen tip does not slip.

If this work is continued for a long period of time, the sensation of the fingertip in contact with the pen shaft will be abnormal, and pain may be felt. In the present situation where the use of ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils is increasing instead of the conventional writing using a pencil, the writing pressure tends to increase during writing. When the electronic pen is used with the same feeling as this strong writing pressure, the operator feels more fatigue. In particular, when a long-time work is repeated every day, fatigue accumulates, which causes labor problems such as tendonitis. However, this kind of work is increasing in quantity with the spread of OA equipment. The present invention has been devised to solve such a problem, and by improving the pen shaft, the fatigue imparted to the fingertips can be alleviated even when the pen is used continuously for a long time, and a user-friendly electronic pen can be provided. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the object of the data input electronic pen of the present invention, a soft elastic coating having a Shore A hardness of 40 to 60 is detachably mounted on the pen shaft in the main body of the electronic pen. ing. The soft elastic cover has an outer diameter of 10 to 15 mm after being mounted, has a wall thickness of 1 to 4 mm, and covers almost the entire length of the pen shaft except the tip portion. To prevent the soft elastic cover from sliding on the pen shaft, an enlarged diameter part with an outer diameter that is almost the same as the outer diameter of the soft elastic cover in the mounted state is integrally formed on the front and rear ends of the pen shaft. Alternatively, it may be attached. The enlarged elastic portion allows the soft elastic covering body to be attached flush with one another, so that the feel of the fingertip becomes good.

[0006]

In the present invention, the soft elastic coating is mounted on the pen shaft to increase the outer diameter of the electronic pen. The large outer diameter effectively works to reduce the gripping force of the operator, and the feel is softened by the fingertip hitting the soft elastic body. As a result, the fatigue of the worker is greatly reduced even in the work of continuously inputting information while looking at the display. The soft elastic cover improves contact with the hand holding the pen shaft and prevents slipping between the hand or fingertip and the pen shaft. Therefore, even with an inkless type electronic pen in which the pen tip is slippery with respect to the protective plate of the LCD, data can be input without requiring a large force on the finger tip. The felt-tip type electronic pen 10
As shown in FIG. 1A, a cylindrical case 11 made of synthetic resin.
The ink is made to soak into the cotton 12 packed in the. The felt 13 is inserted from the front end opening of the tubular case 11 and is in contact with the cotton 12 in the case 11. Case 11
After the inside of the case is filled with the cotton 12, the rear end opening of the case 11 is normally closed with the plug 14.

The electronic pen 10 holds the pen shaft 15 with a finger,
It is used while pressing the tip of the felt 13 against an appropriate paper. The ink that has permeated the cotton 12 is sent to the tip of the felt 13 by the capillary phenomenon and transferred to the paper.
The pen shaft 15 usually has a diameter of 7 to 8 mm and is made of a hard material having a Shore A hardness of about 100 degrees, for example, ebonite. 1 is attached to the pen shaft 15 of the electronic pen 10.
The soft elastic cover 20 shown in (b) is attached. The soft elastic cover 20 has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pen shaft 15, and has a tubular shape with an outer diameter of 10 to 15 mm.
As shown in FIG. 1C showing the mounted state, the tip of the cylindrical portion 21 is formed with a tapered portion 22 that forms an inclined surface continuous with the inclined surface 16 of the pen shaft 15. The tapered portion 22 is
So that the soft elastic coating 20 is closely attached to the pen shaft 15,
The diameter is slightly reduced in the tip direction.

Concavities and convexities 23 extending in the circumferential direction are formed near the tip end side of the cylindrical portion 21 as needed. The unevenness 23 is
When gripping the tube portion 21, it works as a slip stopper for the fingertip. In normal use, the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger come into contact with the unevenness 23. Considering that the gripping position of the writing instrument differs depending on the user, it is preferable to provide the tubular portion 21 with the irregularities 23 with an axial length of 25 to 30 mm. The material of the soft elastic covering body 20 is selected from soft elastic materials such as rubber and synthetic resin. The soft elastic cover 20 has a feeling,
In consideration of absorption of part of writing pressure, Shore A hardness is 40-
It must be in the range of 60 degrees. This hardness is combined with the fact that the outer diameter of the soft elastic covering body 20 is as large as 10 to 15 mm, so that the feel in the gripped state is improved.

As shown in FIG. 1 (c), the soft elastic cover 20 has a length that extends over substantially the entire length of the pen shaft 15 of the electronic pen 10. Since the inner diameter of the tubular portion 21 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pen shaft 15, the soft elastic cover 20 is attached to the pen shaft 15 while slightly expanding. Therefore, the elastic restoring force works in the mounted state, and the close contact state of the soft elastic covering body 20 with the peripheral surface of the pen shaft 15 is maintained. The elastic restoring force acts most strongly on the taper portion 22 having the narrowed diameter, and the soft elastic coating 20 is applied to the pen shaft 15 at this portion.
Is prevented from being displaced during use. Pen shaft 15
As a means for surely preventing the position displacement of the soft elastic covering body 20 with respect to, the stoppers 24 and 25, which are enlarged diameter portions, may be provided on the front end side and the rear end side of the pen shaft 15 as shown in FIG. The stoppers 24 and 25 are the pen shaft 1
5 or the one made integrally with the soft elastic coating 20, or a separate component.

When the tip-side stopper 24 is provided on the pen shaft 15, the cylindrical portion 21 of the soft elastic cover 20 is tapered.
2 is formed on the end face. Rear end stopper 25
Can also be fixed to the plug 14 (see FIG. 1a). The stoppers 24 and 25 are the pen shaft 1 of the electronic pen 10.
It is preferable to have a thickness that forms a peripheral surface that is flush with the soft elastic covering body 20 mounted on the member 5. As a result, there is no step at the boundary between the stoppers 24 and 25 and the soft elastic covering body 20, and the fingertip is prevented from being caught.
An inkless type electronic pen is a polyallyl sulfone, for example, in which an electric circuit for transmitting electromagnetic waves, a battery, etc. are built in the pen shaft, a pen base material is molded with a liquid crystal polymer containing a catalyst, and then parts other than wiring are filled. Molded with acid resin.
This internal structure is different from the pen writing type electronic pen,
A similar soft elastic cover 20 is attached to the pen shaft 15.

[0011]

Example Using the electronic pen 10 equipped with the soft elastic coating 20 having various outer diameters, the effect of the soft elastic coating 20 was investigated for 12 female clerks. The subject
A person having a different gripping force when inputting information using the standard electronic pen 10 having a diameter of 8 mm was selected. Out of 12
Eight persons were persons having a strong grasping force such that the index finger was bent inward and the tip of the thumb was pressed against the index finger strongly. The two persons had a slightly strong gripping force such that the index finger was bent inward. The other two were persons with normal grasping force such that the index finger bends linearly or outward. As the soft elastic cover 20, a Shore A hardness of 50
A silicone rubber having an outer diameter of three levels shown in Table 1 when attached to the pen shaft 15 was used. For comparison, a commercially available electronic pen 10 having a diameter of 8.2 mm was also used. As a test method, the electromyography of the ball of the thumb was adopted. 1
Each size was tested twice on two subjects, for a total of 8
The test was conducted a total of 96 times.

[0012]

[Table 1]

As is apparent from FIG. 3 showing the test results,
The difference in the amplitude ratio with the standard-sized electronic pen as the reference was large in the group having a strong gripping force. On the other hand, the group with weak gripping force showed the opposite tendency. From this,
The commercially available standard size that is suitable for people with ordinary gripping force is
It can be seen that a person having a strong gripping force exerts a great force on the finger. For a person with a strong grip, a larger diameter than the standard size is more effective in reducing the burden. For example, looking at the EMG average amplitude ratio for a size of 13.8 mm and a standard of 8.2 mm, it is found that 32
%, A person having a relatively strong gripping force has an effect of reducing the gripping force by 10%.

In this respect, the soft elastic cover 20 is the pen shaft 15.
Since it is removably attached to the soft elastic covering body 20, the soft elastic covering body 20 is properly used according to each gripping force. For example, a person with a normal gripping force uses the commercially available electronic pen 10 as it is without wearing the soft elastic cover 20. For people with strong gripping power and people with moderate gripping power,
The electronic pen 20 equipped with the soft elastic cover 20 is used. In addition, a person or child with small fingers uses the soft elastic covering body 20 having a relatively small diameter. In the above description, the ink writing type electronic pen has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is similarly applied to an inkless type electronic pen. Particularly, in the inkless type electronic pen, since the pen tip is moved on the LCD protective plate having a small friction coefficient, the writing pressure required by the conventional electronic pen is significantly reduced by the soft elastic cover 20. .

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the pen shaft of the electronic pen is provided with the soft elastic coating to increase the outer diameter. The increased outer diameter, combined with the fact that the covering body is a soft elastic body that is well suited to the preliminary fingertips of the hand, significantly reduces the burden on the user of the electronic pen. Especially recently, the number of people writing with strong writing pressure is increasing,
With such a feeling, a remarkable effect is exhibited for a person who uses the electronic pen. Further, since it is sufficient to attach it to a commercially available electronic pen, it is possible to use it properly according to the usage condition of each person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electronic pen (a), a soft elastic coating (b), and an electronic pen (c) equipped with the soft elastic coating.

FIG. 2 is an electronic pen in which displacement of the soft elastic cover is prevented.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the average amplitude ratio of the thumb electromyogram and the outer diameter of the electronic pen in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Electronic Pen 11: Cylindrical Case 15: Pen Shaft 20: Soft Elastic Covering Body 21: Cylindrical Part 22: Tapered Part with Reduced Diameter 23: Asperity for Anti-Slip

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A data input electronic pen in which a soft elastic coating having a Shore A hardness of 40 to 60 is detachably attached to a pen shaft. 2. The electronic pen for data input, wherein the soft elastic cover according to claim 1 has an outer diameter of 10 to 15 mm when mounted on a pen shaft. 3. An electronic pen for data input, wherein the pen shaft is covered with the soft elastic cover according to claim 1 or 2 over substantially the entire length excluding the tip portion. 4. The electronic pen for data input, wherein the soft elastic cover according to claim 1 has a wall thickness of 1 to 4 mm.