JPH08314611A - Bipolar cordless pen - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To execute two different kinds of function with one pen by using both the ends of the cordless pen for a notebook type personal computer, etc. CONSTITUTION: A symmetrical pen main body 4 is equipped internally with two kind of signal generating circuits 1 and 2 which generate signals of different frequency and a driving battery 3 which drives them, and the signal from the signal generating circuit 1 and the signal from the signal generating circuit 2 are outputted from different pointed end parts 5 and 6 of the pen main body 4 respectively. The transmission frequencies of the signal generating circuits 1 and 2 are set in such frequency relation that a branching filter consisting of a simple resonance circuit can easily separate them; and an input-board side signal detecting circuit can easily detect by which of the pointed end parts 5 and 6 a position is specified. Therefore, one end of the bipolar cordless pen is usable for the input of handwritten characters and the other as an eraser.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a two-polar cordless pen, and more particularly to a two-polar cordless pen used in a small information processing device such as a notebook personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Input devices used in information processing devices include coordinate input devices called digitizers or tablets, in addition to keyboards and mice, for position designation in computer graphics and CAD, input of handwritten characters, etc. Is used for. Although there are various types of coordinate input devices of this kind, there are an input board (tablet board) for designating coordinates and a coordinate indicator for indicating the position on the input board. Although it may be provided separately from the display device (display device) or may be shared with the screen of the display device, a pen type indicator (input pen) is generally used as the coordinate indicator. This pen-type indicator has its one end placed on the input panel to specify the position, but the other end is often provided with a connection cord for exchanging signals with the input panel side. .

An electromagnetic induction system is a typical system of the coordinate input device. A large number of rectangular loops provided in the X and Y directions of the input board are switched and scanned by the selection circuit, and the coordinates of the indicated position are calculated from the position of the loop detecting the induced voltage from the pen type indicator and the magnitude of the detected voltage. In general, a signal from a signal generating circuit provided on the input board side is transmitted to a pen-type indicator through a connecting cord. In recent years, in order to improve the operability of the pen-type indicator by eliminating the need for a connection cord, a cordless pen in which a signal generating circuit and a driving battery are incorporated in the pen-type indicator has been used, and the technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5 (1999) -58. No. 888811 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-5312
There is also a proposal of a position detecting device in which the cordless pen side is constituted only by a passive circuit which does not require a power source in Japanese Patent Publication No.

[0004]

However, the conventional cordless pen described above is easy to handle because it does not have a connecting cord, but the operation for specifying the position is similar to that of the conventional pen-type indicator. Only one end is used, the other end that could not be used for the connecting cord is left unused without any use, and there is no use of the other end that became available for cordlessness. Was not considered.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bipolar cordless pen which can use both ends of the cordless pen for position designation for different purposes and can further improve input operability.

[0006]

A two-polarity cordless pen according to claim 1 is a cordless pen used for inputting a coordinate position in an information processing device or the like, and two types of signal generating circuits for generating signals of different frequencies. And a drive battery for driving them, and the signal from the signal generating circuit is configured to be output from both tip portions of the pen body.

According to a two-polarity cordless pen of a second aspect, in the two-polarity cordless pen of the first aspect, a switch for connecting the signal generating circuit and the driving battery,
The switch is operated by detecting that the user has pressed the tip portion of the pen body, and is characterized by being provided separately for each of the signal generating circuits.

A bipolar polar cordless pen according to a third aspect is the bipolar polar cordless pen according to the first or the second aspect, wherein the driving battery is a battery which can be repeatedly charged.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the basic internal construction of an embodiment of the present invention.

The bipolar polar cordless pen of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the symmetrical pen body 4 is provided with signal generating circuits 1 and 2 for generating signals of different frequencies, and a driving battery 3 for driving these signals. The signal and the signal from the signal generating circuit 2 are configured to be output from different tip portions 5 and 6 of the pen body 4, respectively. The barrel switches 7 and 8
Is a switch for canceling the input made immediately before, and when this switch is pressed, the signal generating circuit 1
The cancellation information is transmitted by, for example, intermittently outputting the outputs of 2 and 2.

The oscillating frequencies of the signal generating circuits 1 and 2 are set in such a frequency relationship that they can be easily separated and output by a duplexer composed of a simple resonance circuit. Whether or not designation has been made can be easily detected by the signal detection circuit on the input board side. Therefore, it is possible to give different functions to both ends of the two-polarity cordless pen, and for example, one for inputting handwritten characters and the other for inputting handwritten characters without performing a key operation or a menu selection operation for function switching. Can be used properly as an eraser.

The signal generating circuits 1 and 2 and the driving battery 3 are
Although not shown in FIG. 1, a switch is built in so that the connection is made only when the two-polarity cordless pen is used. As the switch, a manual switch may be provided on the pen body 4, but, for example, when the tip portions 5 and 6 are configured to be movable inside the induction coil and the tip portions 5 and 6 are pressed against the input board, It is advisable to adopt a configuration in which a switch that operates according to the pressing force is provided on each circuit side.

The drive battery 3 may be a dry battery that can be housed inside the pen body 4, but a small rechargeable battery that can be repeatedly charged is preferably used.

Although the above description has been made for the case of using the coordinate input device of the electromagnetic induction system, it can be applied to the coordinate input device of the electrostatic capacity system which sends a signal from the pen side.

[0016]

As described above, the bipolar cordless pen of the present invention is provided with two types of signal generating circuits for generating signals of different frequencies and a driving battery, and outputs signals of different frequencies from different tips. Since the output is used, both ends of the cordless pen can be selectively used for position designation for different purposes that are often used alternately, and in addition to being cordless, the input operability is further improved. can get.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a basic internal configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 signal generation circuit 3 drive battery 4 pen body 5,6 tip part 7,8 barrel switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cordless pen used for inputting coordinate positions in an information processing device or the like, comprising two kinds of signal generating circuits for generating signals of different frequencies, and a driving battery for driving these. A bipolar cordless pen, wherein the signal from the signal generating circuit is configured to be output from both tip portions of the pen body. 2. A switch for connecting the signal generating circuit and the drive battery is a switch that operates when detecting that the user has pressed the tip of the pen body, and for each of the signal generating circuits. The two-polarity cordless pen according to claim 1, wherein the two polarities are provided separately. 3. The bipolar polar cordless pen according to claim 1, wherein the drive battery is a battery that can be repeatedly charged.