JPH0836452A - Writing pen and writing pen device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a writing pen and a writing pen device which are capable of electronically processing writing information and are suitable as the personal stationery of each individual. CONSTITUTION:This writing pen device is composed of a siting pen 100 and writing paper. On the siting paper, patterns composed by the changes of reflection characteristics are provided. The writing pen 100 has writing information detection means 102 to 115 and 117 detecting writing information by the difference of the reflection characteristics of the patterns of the writing paper, writing information storage means 113 and 116 storing writing information and writing information transfer means 102 to 115 and 117 transferring the writing information stored in the writing information storage means 113 and 116 to external devices. The writing pen 100 has writing function realizing constitutions 102 to 105 recording holograph on the writing paper.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a writing pen and a writing pen device for digitizing writing information, and more particularly to a writing pen or a writing pen device having a storage structure for electronic writing information. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pen input computer is realized as a device to which a writing pen device for digitizing writing information is applied. The feature of the pen input computer is that it has a tablet with integrated display. The user can write a character on the screen with an input pen, the handwriting is displayed, and the character can be input as a character by online handwriting recognition. Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 5-25148 discloses an online character recognition device in which a tablet as an input unit also has a function of a display unit as an output device. Moreover, by handwriting input required for a pen input computer. Character input technology is shown.

It is considered that the miniaturized portable terminal is a personal existence of an individual such as stationery, and miniaturization and realization of ease of use have been an issue.

[0004]

However, in order for the pen input computer to become a personal existence of an individual such as stationery, there are the following drawbacks.

(1) Although the signal processing system from the tablet has an online recognition function, it is necessary to carry a terminal composed of at least a display-integrated tablet in order to present the writing information to the user. In other words, the size is increased and the portability is not sufficient.

(2) As a personal existence of an individual such as stationery, it is necessary to realize at least the same functionality as when writing on conventional paper with a conventional writing pen. But,
Writing on a tablet has a different feeling from writing on a conventional paper with a conventional writing pen, which is uncomfortable for the user.

(3) A pen input computer can also be provided with a search function.
In other words, it is not easy to implement a page turning style search function.

(4) In order to improve the functions such as the development of services such as the fusion of character recognition and drawing and the improvement of the recognition method, it is necessary to upgrade the terminal composed of a display-integrated tablet. It is not easy to follow up with purchasers of old products.

Therefore, there is a demand for a writing pen or a writing pen device that can be used as a personal existence of an individual stationery such as a stationery and can be used in the same manner as an existing stationery that can be easily subjected to electrical processing.

[0010]

In order to solve such a problem, the writing pen according to the first aspect of the present invention is a writing information detecting means for detecting writing information, a writing information storage means for storing writing information, and a writing information. And a writing information transfer means for transferring the writing information stored in the storage means to an external device.

Here, it is preferable to further include a writing function realizing structure for recording the handwriting on the writing paper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a writing pen device composed of a writing pen and writing paper, a writing pattern is provided on the writing paper to detect a writing information and the writing information is detected as a writing pen. Means, a writing information storage means for storing writing information, and a writing information transfer means for transferring the writing information stored in the writing information storage means to an external device, and the writing information detecting means applies the writing paper. The pattern is detected by optical reflection, and the writing information is detected by the detection level and its transition pattern.

A third aspect of the present invention is a writing pen device comprising a writing pen, writing paper, and a portable writing information storage device, wherein the writing paper has a pattern in which the reflection characteristics are changed,
The writing pen detects at least the pattern of the writing paper by optical reflection, and has at least writing information detecting means for detecting writing information by the detection level and its transition pattern, and writing information transmitting means for transmitting the writing information, The writing information storage device includes a writing information receiving unit that receives the transmitted writing information, a writing information storage unit that stores the writing information,
And a writing information transfer means for transferring the writing information stored in the writing information storage means to an external device.

Also in the second and third aspects of the present invention, it is preferable that the writing pen further has a writing function realizing structure for recording the handwriting on the writing paper.

[0015]

When writing with the writing pen according to the first aspect of the present invention, the writing information detecting means detects the writing information related to the handwriting and stores it in the writing information storage means.
The stored writing information is later transferred to the external device by the writing information transfer means. In the writing pen according to the first aspect of the present invention, the writing information may be detected relative to the writing paper, or may be performed independently of the writing paper.

In the writing pen device according to the second aspect of the present invention, when writing is performed on the writing paper with the writing pen, the writing information detecting means detects the writing information due to the difference in the reflection characteristic of the pattern of the writing paper, and this is detected. It is stored in the writing information storage means. The stored writing information is later transferred to the external device by the writing information transfer means.

In the writing pen device of the third invention,
The writing information transmitting unit transmits the writing information detected by the writing information detecting unit from the writing pen to the writing information storage device, and in the writing information storage device, the writing information receiving unit receives the writing information and stores it in the writing information storage unit. Remember. The stored writing information is also transferred later to the external device by the writing information transfer means.

Therefore, in any of the present inventions, since the writing information can be stored by the portable writing pen or the writing pen device, and the detection structure is stored in the writing pen, it can be regarded as an individual person's personal existence. It becomes a useful stationery.

Here, the writing pen is preferable because it can record the handwriting on the writing paper in the same manner as the existing stationery with the writing function realizing structure for recording the handwriting on the writing paper.

[0020]

【Example】

(A) First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a writing pen and a writing pen device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(A-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment The writing pen device comprises a writing pen and writing paper, and a pen stand device is attached as a related device.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the construction of the writing pen of the first embodiment, in which the electrical processing system is shown in a block diagram, and the other constructions are shown in a schematic sectional view. Is. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the writing paper according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the pen stand.

Referring to FIG. 1, the writing pen 10 of this embodiment.
Reference numeral 0 has a writing pen main body 101 which is a cylindrical body having a closed base end and a gradually reduced distal end, and has an outer shape similar to that of a general writing tool (for example, a ballpoint pen). Have.

A ball 102 made of a light-transmissive material is attached to the tip (pen tip) of the writing pen body 101. A cylindrical ink accommodating member whose tip portion is gradually reduced in diameter is provided so that the tip of the ball 102 contacts the ball 102. Each of the ink accommodating members is bundled into a substantially semi-cylindrical body. Kind of optical fiber 103
And 104. The ink containing member is filled with ink 105 for recording handwriting on the surface of the writing paper member. In the case of this embodiment, the ink 10
It is preferable that 5 has a small attenuation rate (light absorption rate) for red light and green light.

The above components realize the writing function of recording a handwriting on the surface of the writing paper member.

At the other end of the optical fiber 103, for example, an LED
A light emitting element 106 made of an element is coupled to the other end of the optical fiber 104, while light receiving elements 109 and 110 made of, for example, photodiodes are respectively connected to the other ends of the optical fibers 104 via color filters 107 and 108 for transmitting a red component and a green component, respectively. Are combined. That is, the light emitting element 106,
The optical fiber 103, the ball 102, the surface of the writing paper, the optical fiber 104, the color filters 107 and 108, and the light receiving elements 109 and 110 are routed through the light emitting element 10.
The light emitted from 6 is propagated.

The light emitting element 106 emits light containing a red component and a green component. Further, when the ball 102 of the pen tip is not in contact with the surface of the writing paper, the ball 1 is prevented from totally reflecting the light including the red component and the green component from the light emitting element 106 at the ball 102 portion.
02, the refractive index of the ink 105, and the coupling angle between the optical fiber 103 and the optical fiber 104 are selected.

The control circuit 113 controls the whole of such an optical system and an electric processing system provided in association with this optical system.

The modulation circuit 117 supplies a drive current of the light emitting element 106 under the control of the control circuit 113, and the drive current blinks the light emitting element 106 in a high frequency and low duty pulse form. .

The sense amplifier 111 includes both light receiving elements 109.
And 110 respectively amplify the electric signals obtained by photoelectric conversion, and the gate circuit 112, under the control of the control circuit 113, after the amplification at the timing synchronized with the on / off of the drive current from the modulation circuit 117. The electric signal of is passed. The analog / digital converter 114 converts each of the two types of electric signals output from the gate circuit 114 into digital data. The encoding circuit 115 encodes two kinds of digital data as described in the operation section below, and the encoded data is stored in the memory circuit 116 under the control of the control circuit 113. Has been done.

A secondary battery 118 is built in as a power source for the electronic circuit section as described above. The induction coil 119 is
The writing pen 100 is provided on the tip side and induces a voltage according to the magnetic flux conversion supplied when the writing pen 100 is set up in a pen stand device 300 described later. The charging circuit 120 rectifies the electric power related to this induced voltage and charges the secondary battery 118.

The writing paper 200 used in association with the writing pen 100 having the above structure has a special pattern printed as shown in FIG.

When the red component of the special pattern on the writing paper 200 is selected by a filter, a vertical stripe pattern having a density difference is obtained as shown in FIG. 2A, and the green component of the special pattern on the writing paper 200 is filtered. When you select with,
As shown in FIG. 2B, a horizontal stripe pattern having a density difference is formed. In this way, the special pattern formed by combining the vertical stripe pattern of the red component and the horizontal stripe pattern of the green component is printed with a lighter density as a whole.
When the 0 ink 105 adheres, the visibility of the handwriting is not impaired. The significance of the vertical stripe pattern and the horizontal stripe pattern configuration will be clarified in the operation section.

The writing pen 100 is properly placed on the pen stand 300 shown in FIG. 3 and outputs the data stored in the memory circuit 116 to the outside.

In FIG. 3, a pen stand body 301 having a substantially box-shaped outer shape has a pen-shaped receiving portion 302 having a cylindrical shape with a reduced diameter at its tip, and the pen receiving portion 302 has the writing pen 100 (see FIG. 3 is shown by a broken line). The pen receiving portion 302 can hold the writing pen 100 in a stable manner, has a length such that at least the induction coil 119 can enter the inside thereof, and is made of a material capable of transmitting a magnetic flux.

At the lower end of the pen receiving portion 302, an optical coupling portion 304 for optically coupling the optical fiber 305 in the pen stand 300 and the pen tip portion (light-transmitting ball 102) of the writing pen 100 is provided. . The other end of the optical fiber 305 is divided into two systems, one is coupled with a light emitting unit 306 that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal, and the other is coupled with a light receiving unit 307 that converts an optical signal into an electrical signal. Has been done.
The pen stand device 300 has a signal transfer connector 309 to which a cable connector extended from a writing information processing device (not shown) (for example, a personal computer or a workstation) is connected.
The electrical signal input via the interface circuit 30
It is configured to be given to the above-described light emitting unit 306 via the reference numeral 8. Electric signal from the light receiving unit 307 (writing information)
Are sequentially output to a writing information processing device (not shown) via the interface circuit 308 and the connector 309.

The interface circuit 308 has the above-mentioned interface function, and also monitors whether the electric signal given from the light receiving unit 307 (thus the signal from the writing pen 100) is a charge request signal. Is a charge request signal, the oscillation circuit 311 is operated for a predetermined time. At this time, the oscillator circuit 311 supplies the high frequency current to the magnetic flux generating coil 310 wound around the outer circumference of the pen receiving portion 302, and the magnetic flux generating coil 310 generates an alternating magnetic flux. With this AC magnetic flux, the writing pen 10
A voltage is induced in the above-mentioned induction coil 119 in 0, and the secondary battery 118 in the writing pen 100 is charged.

The power supply for this pen stand 300 is the power supply 3
The power is supplied to the power source unit 1212 from the outside through a power supply connector 313.

(A-2) Operation of the First Embodiment Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4 in addition to FIGS. 1 to 3 described above.

With the writing pen 100 shown in FIG. 1, when a character or the like is written on the writing paper 200 on which the special pattern (hereinafter referred to as a pattern) described with reference to FIG. Similarly, the ink 105 adhering to the surface of the ball 102 of the pen tip is transferred onto the writing paper 200 to draw a character or the like.

The light emitting element 106 blinks in a high frequency and low duty pulse form by a drive current from a modulation circuit 117 inserted as a drive circuit thereof. At the time of writing, the light emitted from the light emitting element 106 is reflected by the surface of the writing paper 200 in contact with the ball 102 via the optical fiber 103 and the ball 102,
The reflected light depends on the color and density of the pattern at that location on the writing paper 200. The reflected light reaches the color filter 107 that passes only the red component and the color filter 108 that passes only the green component through the optical fiber 104, whereby the light receiving element 109 detects the level of only the red component and receives the light. The element 110 detects the level of only the green component.

The light receiving level signal of the red component and the light receiving level signal of the green component are amplified by the sense amplifier 111, and then taken out by the gate circuit 112 at a timing synchronized with the lighting period on the light emitting element side, and thereafter, the analog signal. / It is converted into digital data by the digital converter 114.

As described above, since the light receiving level of the red component and the light receiving level of the green component are independently detected, the light receiving level of the red component from the vertical stripe pattern which absorbs only the red component printed on the writing paper 200. It is possible to detect the movement of the writing pen 100 in the lateral direction according to the signal, and the writing paper 20
Writing pen 1 in the vertical direction according to the received light level signal of the green component from the horizontal stripe pattern that absorbs only the green component printed on 0.
It is possible to detect the movement of 00. In the case where the writing direction is oblique, the red component light reception level signal and the green component light reception level signal obtained by vector decomposition of the writing direction into the horizontal direction and the vertical direction are detected.

It will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 that the movement detection and the coordinate detection of the writing pen can be performed from the light reception level signal of the red component and the light reception level signal of the green component.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical stripe pattern of the red component is a wide band ... "A", "B" ... And a narrow band ...
“A”, “b”, ... Are alternately arranged. Wide belts ... "A", "B" ...
High density, medium density, and low density are repeated to the right. The density of the narrow bands, ..., “A”, “b” ,.

FIG. 4 shows time-series data when the writing pen 100 is drawn from the left to the right. The time-series data is obtained by converting the light receiving level signal of the red component from the light receiving element 109 into a sense amplifier. Gate circuit 1 amplified by 111
12 is a data value which holds the level at the light emission timing of the light emitting element 106 and is digitized by the analog / digital converter 114.

As shown in FIG. 4, there are four types of levels, "L0", "L1", "L2" and "L3", which have relatively long durations. Level "L0" is writing pen 10
0 is the level in the period away from the writing paper 200, the level “L1” is the level in the high density band “A” or “D”, and the level “L2” is the medium density band “B” or The level is “E”, and the level “L3” is the level of the low-concentration band “C” or “F”.

Three types of levels "L1" and "L2" generated when the writing pen 100 is in contact with the writing paper 200.
The direction of movement of the writing pen 100 can be identified by the transition pattern of “L3”. That is, L1 → L2, L2
When the transition pattern is → L3 or L3 → L1, the writing pen 100 is moving to the right (see FIG. 4), and L3 → L.
When the transition pattern is 2, L2 → L1 or L1 → L3, the writing pen 100 is moving to the left. Writing pen 10
A movement distance of 0 is 3 consecutive according to this transition pattern.
It can be measured by the number of types “L1”, “L2”, and “L3”. The contact / non-contact of the writing pen 100 with the writing paper 200 is four levels “L0”, “L1”,
It can be detected by the transition patterns of “L2” and “L3”. The transition pattern other than L0 → L0 means the start point of one stroke at the moment of transition, and the transition pattern other than L0 → L0 means the end point of one stroke at the moment of transition.

Next, a method for detecting the horizontal absolute coordinates on the writing paper 200 will be described. As mentioned above,
Narrow band ..., "a", "b", "c", ..., "e", ...
The density of is changed according to the position of the writing paper 200. Therefore, the levels "L0", "L1", "L2"
And the level of a relatively short period existing in the middle of the transition between “L3” (the level of the part marked with a, b, c, ..., E in FIG. 4) is in the horizontal direction on the writing paper 200. It is a level corresponding to absolute coordinates. These levels are four types of levels “L0”, “L1”, and “L” used for transition pattern detection.
2 ”and“ L3 ”are chronologically sandwiched, so when the four types of levels“ L0 ”,“ L1 ”,“ L2 ”, and“ L3 ”are calibrated to have predetermined values, these narrow The level corresponding to the band is also accurate, and the coordinate position can be known relatively accurately.

It has been described above that the horizontal movement distance and the coordinate position can be identified based on the light receiving level of the red component from the light receiving element 109. Based on exactly the same operation principle, the vertical movement distance and the coordinate position can be identified based on the light receiving level of the green component from the light receiving element 110.

The encoding circuit 115 encodes the time-series data relating to the light receiving level signal of the red component and the time series data relating to the light receiving level signal of the green component so as to directly represent the handwriting. The coding is performed by, for example, starting point coordinates (x, y), first sample motion amount (dx1, dy1), second sample motion amount (dx2, dy2), ... Nth sample motion amount (dx
n, dyn), end mark. The code data encoded in this way is stored in the memory circuit 116.

As described above, the two-dimensional information written on the writing paper 200 is stored in the writing pen 100 from the one-dimensional information in the horizontal direction and the one-dimensional information in the vertical direction.

The handwriting information (code data) stored in the memory circuit 116 is transferred to the handwriting information processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation via the pen stand device 300 shown in FIG.

When the data transfer request signal sent from the writing information processing device is input to the interface circuit 308 from the connector 309 while the writing pen 100 is placed upright on the pen stand device 300, the interface circuit 308.
A data transfer request signal is supplied from the light emitting unit 306 to drive the light emitting unit 306. The optical signal (including the red component and / or the green component) emitted from the light emitting section 306 passes through the optical fiber 305 and reaches the pen tip ball 102 by the optical coupling section 304.

In the writing pen 100, the light emitting element 10
Writing paper 200 from 6 to the light receiving elements 109 and 110
The pattern reading optical system also commonly functions for data communication with the writing information processing device (directly, the pen stand device 300).

From the pen tip ball 102 to the writing pen 100
Signal introduced to the internal optical system (data transfer request signal)
Is processed in the same manner as the optical signal at the time of writing, and the encoding circuit 1
The encoding circuit 115 or the control circuit 11 input to
3 has a function of detecting a data transfer request signal. Upon receiving the data transfer request signal, the control circuit 113 causes the memory circuit 1
The code data is read from 16 and supplied to the modulation circuit 117 to digitally modulate the light emission of the light emitting element 106. The optical signal from the light emitting element 106 including the writing information is transmitted by the optical fiber 10
After passing through the ball 3 and the ball 102, the light is incident on the optical coupling portion 304 of the pen stand device 300.

The pen stand 30 is provided by the optical coupling section 304.
The optical signal (written information) introduced in 0 is the optical fiber 3
It reaches the light receiving unit 307 via 05 and is converted into a digital electric signal. This electric signal is transmitted to the interface circuit 3
08, the level is converted, and the connector 309
Is transferred to the writing information processing device.

As described above, the transferred data includes
Since the horizontal and vertical movements and the starting point coordinates for each stroke are included,
In a writing information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a workstation, a two-dimensional drawn image written on the writing paper 200 can be restored, and the image is used as it is, or character recognition technology and figure recognition technology are used. The recognition result obtained by doing so can be used.

Further, the control circuit 113 of the writing pen 100.
Monitors the power supplied from the secondary battery 118, and when the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery 118 is insufficient,
The charge request signal is output to the modulation circuit 117 to output the light emitting element 10
6 is driven. Also at this time, the charging request signal, which is an optical signal, reaches the light receiving unit 307 in the pen stand 300 by the optical path described above, is converted into an electric signal, and is given to the interface circuit 308. Interface circuit 3
08 also monitors whether the electric signal provided from the light receiving unit 307 is the charge request signal. When the electric signal is the charge request signal, the oscillation circuit 311 is operated for a predetermined time. At this time, the oscillator circuit 311 supplies the high frequency current to the magnetic flux generating coil 310 wound around the outer circumference of the pen receiving portion 302, and the magnetic flux generating coil 310 generates an alternating magnetic flux. With this AC magnetic flux, the writing pen 100
A voltage is induced in the induction coil 119 described above, and the secondary battery 118 is charged by the charging circuit 120.

(A-3) Effect of First Embodiment According to the first embodiment, the information written on the writing paper 200 on which the special pattern is printed by the writing pen 100 is the writing pen 100.
Since it is stored in, it is not necessary to carry a pen computer including a display-integrated tablet, and the writing pen 100
Then, it becomes possible to store the writing information by carrying only a conventional writing instrument such as a notebook or a notebook in which the writing sheets 200 are bundled.

Further, the writing information stored in the writing pen 100 can be transferred to a personal computer or a workstation, and the same characters and drawings as the contents written in a notebook or a notebook can be transferred to the personal computer or the workstation. Can be used. Since it is not necessary to perform character recognition online, the writing pen 100 does not need a function such as a recognition unit or a registration dictionary, and the writing pen 100 can be easily downsized, lightweight, low power consumption, and low cost. Not only that, but real-time performance is not required for offline recognition on the personal computer or workstation side, so there is a great advantage that advanced recognition algorithms can be executed without providing dedicated hardware. .

Furthermore, since the writing pen 100 does not recognize it, there is no need to consider whether it is recognized correctly during writing, and it can be used as if it were normal writing, and there are no restrictions on figures and symbols other than characters. Can be memorized. The recognition performance can be improved and the application can be improved without changing the writing pen 100 side by software compatible with the personal computer or the workstation side, and the extensibility is excellent in terms of application and system.

Furthermore, since the movement and the coordinates are optically detected by the special pattern of the writing paper 200, even if the writing pen 100 is rotated during writing, the movement direction on the writing paper 200 and the like will be accurate. It is detected and saved, and there is no adverse effect due to acceleration or the like even when writing while riding on a vehicle.

Characters and figures can be seen on each page as if they were written with an ordinary ballpoint pen.
There is no discomfort in visually checking or searching.

Further, in this embodiment, since only the light level at the timing synchronized with the active light blinking in a pulse shape is detected, it is hard to be influenced by the external light existing in the environment where the writing pen 100 is used, and it is possible to avoid the darkness. Memos are also stored.

Since the relative movement amount of the writing pen 100, which is important as information for handwriting recognition, is obtained by a digital detection method by counting the number of stripes on the writing paper 200, stable detection accuracy is obtained. To be

(B) Second Embodiment Next, a writing pen and a writing pen device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the writing pen of an Example, which shows a block diagram about an electric processing system, and showed it on schematic sectional drawing about other structures. FIG. 6 is an illustration of the writing paper of the second embodiment.

The first embodiment is a method of obtaining the writing information by detecting the movement of the writing pen by distinguishing the vertical component and the horizontal component by the two color component lights and obtaining the two-dimensional movement. However, the second embodiment is intended to detect a two-dimensional motion by detecting monochromatic light or white light.

In FIG. 5, which is the same as FIG. 1 and shows the same parts as those in FIG. 1, the writing pen 500 of the second embodiment is shown.
Differs from the writing pen 100 of the first embodiment in the following points. The light emitting element 106 is one that emits at least monochromatic light or white light. The optical fiber 10
4 directly receives the light receiving element 50 without passing through a color filter.
7 is coupled to the light receiving element 507 from the analog /
The difference is that only one system is provided up to the digital converter 114, and that the encoding method by the encoding circuit 115 corresponds to the pattern of the writing paper 600 in FIG.

The pattern of the writing paper 600 of the second embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment as a result of comparison between FIGS. 2 and 6 due to the difference between the detection using the two-color light and the detection using the monochromatic light. The writing paper 200 is different from the pattern.

In FIG. 6, symbols "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", surrounded by a lattice,
The rectangular areas marked with “g”, “h”, and “i” have different densities depending on the gradation of printing. The vertical and horizontal orthogonal straight lines forming the grid have different densities corresponding to the coordinates on the paper. FIG. 7 shows a method of expressing a wide area with a limited gradation by gradations of vertical and horizontal straight lines which form a lattice. In FIG. 7, the lattice "A",
"B", ..., "M" ... and "0", "1", "2",
..., "63" indicates the density level according to the gradation of printing. The intersection of the grid is the brightest white level. Further, in FIG. 7, the density of the above-mentioned rectangular area is omitted.

The relationship between the size of the pen tip ball 102 and the size of the pattern is selected so that the spatial resolution of the light detection by the writing pen 500 can ensure the level of this linear width can be identified. ing.

In the second embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, when a character or a figure is drawn on the dedicated writing paper 600 with the writing pen 500, the handwriting is recorded on the writing paper 600. At this time, the light receiving element 507 in the writing pen 500
Thus, the reflection level according to the pattern density of the writing paper 600 is detected.

In the first embodiment, the vertical and horizontal movements can be independently detected by the two color components.
In the second embodiment, by devising the pattern of the writing paper 600, it is possible to detect a two-dimensional movement even with a single color, which will be described below.

As described above, the nine types of rectangular areas “a”, “b”, “c”, “d” on the writing paper 600,
“E”, “f”, “g”, “h”, and “i” are printed with respective densities, and the detection level of the rectangular area is 9 gradations. As shown in FIG. 6, since the block patterns each consisting of a total of nine rectangular areas, each of which is three in vertical and horizontal directions, are arranged to be repeated in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the two closest blocks having the same detection level are arranged. Between the rectangular areas, there are two rectangular areas of different levels in the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, and the diagonal direction. Therefore, if 9 levels can be identified,
Two-dimensional pen tip movement trajectory information is obtained from the level transition pattern.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the number "2" is written as an example. The detection level transition of the rectangular area in this case is represented by the area type, and "d → a → g → h → e". → f →
a → b → c → a → e → i → c → f → h → b → d → g → i
→ c → b → d → i → h → b → a → d → g → a → b → c →
a → b → c → a → b → c → a ”. Writing paper 600
By tracing the same two-dimensional rectangular area of the pattern in the shortest distance according to this transition order, the handwriting of the number "2" is reproduced.

The information thus obtained includes the two-dimensional motion information of one stroke drawn, but the absolute coordinate information is not included on the writing paper 600 at the starting point. For absolute coordinate detection, the level of a grid line provided between rectangular areas is used. That is, since the pattern of the writing paper 600 is printed so that the level of the vertical straight line corresponds to the horizontal coordinate and the horizontal line corresponds to the vertical coordinate,
The coordinates can be detected from the detection level when the pen passes through each straight line portion.

Whether the detected straight line level is the vertical line level or the horizontal line level can be identified in correspondence with the detection level transition of the rectangular area. For example, when writing the above-mentioned number "2", the straight line level passed by the first rectangular area transition "d → a → g" is a horizontal line and can be used for coordinate detection in the vertical direction. The straight line level passed by the transition “g → h” is a vertical line and can be used for horizontal coordinate detection. This coordinate detection accuracy depends on the accuracy of the detection level, but as in the first embodiment, the detection level is calibrated with the transition level of the rectangular area as a reference, and a plurality of linear levels exist in one image. It is possible to improve the accuracy by utilizing this.

The level of the straight line provided between the adjacent rectangular areas improves the reliability of the level transition detection by just writing on the boundary line of the area to prevent an erroneous level from being detected. Has the effect of To eliminate the adverse effects of straight line levels when passing over intersections of vertical and horizontal straight lines, use the redundancy that there are multiple straight line levels in one stroke (from other straight line positions to the problematic straight line position). Can be estimated), and the determination that the straight line intersection is at the detected maximum level, that is, the white level is used. This white level can be used simultaneously for automatic calibration information of detection sensitivity.

Thus, depending on the level of the vertical line and the horizontal line, 2
Although it has been described that the dimensional coordinates can be detected, it is difficult to secure the coordinate accuracy when the paper size is large due to the limitation of the resolution of the detection level, that is, the gradation accuracy that can detect the linear level.

However, a method for solving this problem will be described with reference to FIG. The example of FIG. 7 is a method that enables coordinate expression of 64 grids or more with 64 gradations. Since the straight line level detected as described above has redundancy, it is not always necessary to express coordinate information by one line, and therefore two lines are collectively used for coordinate expression. In FIG. 7, “A”,
"B", ..., "M" ... with the upper digits "0", "1"
"2", ..., "63" are represented by lower digits, and if 64 gradations can be detected, respectively, it is possible to detect coordinates in the range of 64 × 64, that is, 4096 in 2 grid units. The upper / lower identification of these two levels is vertical /
Similar to the horizontal identification, it is possible by the transition pattern at the rectangular area level. In this example, the combination of the levels of two lines is used for the coordinate display, but if the relationship between the spatial resolution of the writing pen 500 and the size of the writing paper allows the gradation of the lines to be binary. It can be realized by combining a plurality of lines or by a method of forming a straight line forming a lattice by a plurality of lines like a barcode.

The encoding circuit 115 of the second embodiment converts the detection level signal (digital signal) into code data according to the principle of detecting the moving direction and the principle of detecting absolute coordinate values in the second embodiment as described above. To be stored in the memory circuit 116.

The operation of reading the data stored in the memory circuit 116 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

According to the second embodiment, by using the pattern of the writing paper 600 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is possible to detect the two-dimensional movement by using only the data for detecting the level of the reflected light of a single color. Therefore, the structure of the writing pen 500 can be simplified, and further, regarding the printing of the pattern on the writing paper 600,
Since it is sufficient to consider only the reflection of a single color, color printing is not necessary, and there is an advantage that a visually inconspicuous color can be used.

Further, by using light reflection of a wavelength of a color which is visually inconspicuous, a writing pen 50 used for drawing.
It becomes easy to realize the reflected light level detection that is not affected by the ink of 0, without losing the feeling of the conventional writing utensil.
It is possible to realize an excellent writing pen in which the writing information is written in the writing pen 500 while using only the writing pen 500 and the writing paper 600 on which the inconspicuous special pattern is printed.

Although the effects peculiar to the second embodiment have been described above, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are exhibited within a range consistent with the description of the above effects.

(C) Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the writing pen of the third embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the writing information storage device of the third embodiment.

The writing pen device of the third embodiment comprises a portable writing information storage device in addition to a writing pen and writing paper, and corresponds to the writing pen device of the second embodiment. is there.

Here, the writing paper member is the same as that of the second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

In FIG. 8, the writing pen 80 of the third embodiment.
No. 0 omits the memory circuit 116 of the second embodiment, and replaces it with a transmission circuit 801 and an antenna 802. That is, the transmission circuit 801 converts the code data from the encoding circuit 115 into a transmission signal, and the antenna 8
02 is driven and transmitted. In addition,
The antenna 802 may be a rigid body, a cable-shaped one, or the like, which is exposed outside the writing pen.

In FIG. 9, a writing information storage device 900
Is easy to carry with a writing pen and has, for example, an IC card configuration, and includes an antenna 901, a receiving circuit 902, a memory control circuit 903, and a memory circuit 90.
4, an output buffer circuit 905 and a power supply unit 906. The transmission signal from the writing pen 800 is transmitted by the antenna 90.
The data is captured by 1 and restored to code data by the receiving circuit 902, and this code data is stored in the memory circuit 904 by the memory control circuit 903. When the reading of the stored data is instructed through the data output terminals 907 and 908, the memory control circuit 903 reads the stored data from the memory circuit 904, and this is output from the output terminals 907 and 908 through the output buffer circuit 905.

Therefore, according to the third embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, the writing pen, the writing paper member on which the special pattern is printed, and the writing information storage device are used, but the writing operation is performed. An excellent writing pen device in which the written information storage device stores the above-described information can be realized, and various effects as described in detail in the first and second embodiments can be exhibited.

In the third embodiment, since the writing information is stored in the writing information storage device 900, it is expected that the storage amount will be increased.

(D) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, the one in which the writing information converted into the code data is stored is shown, but the data before encoding may be stored in this case. The writing information processing apparatus side to which the data has been transferred also performs processing such as encoding.

In the above embodiment, the writing information is detected by utilizing the optical characteristic (reflection characteristic of the writing paper), but other detecting method may be used.
The point is that the present invention is characterized in that the handwriting information is detected and stored.

Further, in the above embodiment, the writing pen has a writing function structure for leaving a handwriting on the writing paper, but it may have a structure in which the handwriting is not left on the writing paper. In this case, the effect of each of the above-described embodiments is reduced, but the effect of storing the writing information is effectively exhibited.

[0097]

As described above, according to the writing pen and the writing pen device of the present invention, the writing information is detected, the writing information is stored in the writing information storage means, and can be transferred to an external device later. Since the writing information can be stored by the portable writing pen or the writing pen device, and the detection configuration is stored in the writing pen, it is possible to provide a writing stationery useful as an individual's personal existence. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a writing pen according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a pattern on the writing paper according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a pen stand of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a waveform chart showing an example of detected time series data of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a writing pen according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view (No. 1) of the pattern on the writing paper according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view (No. 2) of the pattern on the writing paper according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a writing pen according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a writing information storage device according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Writing pen, 101 ... Writing pen main body, 102 ... Light transmissive ball, 103, 104 ... Optical fiber, 105 ...
Ink, 106 ... Light emitting element, 107, 108 ... Color filter, 109, 110 ... Light receiving element, 112 ... Gate circuit, 113 ... Control circuit, 115 ... Encoding circuit, 116 ...
Memory circuit 117 ... Modulation circuit (light emitting element drive circuit),
118 ... Secondary battery, 200 ... Writing paper, 300 ... Pen stand device.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A writing information detecting means for detecting writing information, a writing information storage means for storing the writing information, and a writing information transfer means for transferring the writing information stored in the writing information storage means to an external device. A writing pen characterized by that. 2. The writing pen according to claim 1, further comprising a writing function realizing structure for recording a handwriting on a writing paper. 3. A writing pen device comprising a writing pen and writing paper, wherein the writing paper is provided with a pattern in which reflection characteristics are changed, and the writing pen according to claim 1 or 2 is applied. A writing pen device, wherein the writing information detection means of the writing pen detects the pattern of the writing paper by optical reflection and detects the writing information based on the detection level and its transition pattern. 4. The writing pen device according to claim 3, wherein the light emitting element and the light receiving element as constituent elements of the writing information detecting means are shared for an optical interface as the writing information transferring means. . 5. A writing pen device comprising a writing pen, a writing paper, and a portable writing information storage device, wherein the writing paper has a pattern in which reflection characteristics are changed, and the writing pen is Detecting the pattern of the writing paper by optical reflection, and having at least writing information detecting means for detecting writing information by the detection level and its transition pattern, and writing information transmitting means for transmitting the writing information, the writing information The storage device includes a writing information receiving unit that receives the transmitted writing information, a writing information storage unit that stores the writing information, and writing information that transfers the writing information stored in the writing information storage unit to an external device. A writing pen device comprising: a transfer unit. 6. The writing pen device according to claim 3, wherein the writing pen further has a writing function realizing structure for recording a handwriting on a writing paper. 7. The pattern of the writing paper is a combination of stripe patterns provided with different color components in each of two intersecting directions, and the writing information detecting means changes the pattern of the writing paper to Optically detected by the two color components, and the two crossing points of the above writing paper are detected.
The writing pen device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the writing pen device detects each motion component in each direction. 8. The striped pattern includes information indicating absolute value coordinates in a predetermined direction, and the writing information detection means includes:
The writing pen device according to claim 7, wherein absolute coordinates are also detected based on the level of light reflected from the writing paper. 9. The pattern of the writing paper is a pattern in which 9 rectangular regions having different reflection characteristics are arranged in a 3 × 3 matrix and the blocks are repeated vertically and horizontally, and the writing information detecting means is a pattern of the writing paper. 7. The writing pen device according to claim 3, wherein the two-dimensional motion information is detected based on the transition of the obtained level change. 10. The boundary between the rectangular areas in the pattern of the writing paper is loaded with information indicating absolute value coordinates in a predetermined direction, and the writing information detecting means is based on the level of light reflected from the writing paper. 10. The writing pen device according to claim 9, further comprising detecting absolute coordinates. 11. The writing information detecting means effectively fetches only the light receiving level synchronized with the pulsed light emitting timing from the light emitting element.
The writing pen device according to any one of 0.