JP2011242903A - Capacitive pen - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a capacitive pen whose contact point a user can see, in which an angle of a pen body with respect to a surface of a touch panel can be set freely, and by which the user easily writes a small character.SOLUTION: The capacitive pen comprises a panel contact part, in which a diameter of a minimum circle included is more than or equal to 3 mm, and which is connected to a conductive tip of the pen body and electrically conducted. A neighborhood of a center of the panel contact part is made to be transparent or hollow. The panel contact part is attached to the tip of the pen through a rod-like body having a diameter less than or equal to 1 mm of a minimum circular cylinder included.

Description

  The present invention relates to a capacitive pen used for operation of an electronic device equipped with a touch panel.

Electronic devices equipped with a touch panel, such as mobile phone terminals, PDAs, and tablet PCs, are widely used. The touch panel can be operated with a human finger, but it is easier to use a pen when writing characters. Capacitance type touch panels have started to be widely used. The pen used for the operation of the capacitive touch panel needs to have the same conductivity as that of a human finger. As such a conductive device, a capacitive pen is used.
Capacitive touch panels operate by sensing the change in capacitance in areas over a certain area, so the area that touches the touch panel of a capacitive pen requires a width of about 3 mm or more. is there. The conventional electrostatic capacity type pen has the following problems because the tip of the pen is thickened to secure this width. (1) The tip of the pen covers the screen, and the user cannot see the contact point of the pen (where the touch panel recognizes it as a contact point). For this reason, when specifying fine coordinates (contacting a pen), accurate specification is difficult. (2) The pen body needs to be oriented almost perpendicularly to the surface of the touch panel, which is difficult to use.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a capacitive pen in which a conductive plate connected to a pen body via a joint is brought into contact with a touch panel. Such a capacitive pen can freely take the angle of the pen body with respect to the surface of the touch panel, and solves the problem (2). However, since the conductive plate covers the screen, the user cannot see the contact point of the pen as with the conventional capacitive pen. The problem (1) is not solved.

Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a capacitive pen that makes a transparent conductive plate come into contact with a touch panel. According to such a capacitive pen, the user can see the contact point of the pen. The problem (1) is solved. However, although the problem (2) has been alleviated by providing the conductive plate obliquely with respect to the pen body, it has not been solved.
Furthermore, the capacitive pen of Non-Patent Document 1 is designed so that the user can see the contact point of the pen, that is, to prevent the pen body from covering the contact point. The peripheral part is connected to the pen body. For this reason, it is impossible to write a character as if writing a character with a pen tip connected to the pen body, such as when writing a character on paper using a normal pen (ball pen, mechanical pencil, etc.). That is, the following problems occur. (3) Difficult to write when writing characters. It is particularly difficult to write fine characters with a large number of strokes.

  As described above, no electrostatic capacitance type pen that solves the problems (1) and (2) has been known. Further, the problem (3) has occurred.

JP 2009-199571 A

Transparent Capacitive Touch Panel Style: http: // www. degi. com. tw

  The problem to be solved is that the user can see the contact point of the pen, can freely take the angle of the pen body with respect to the surface of the touch panel, and is easy to write fine characters. It is to provide a capacitive pen.

The capacitive pen of the present invention is
A conductive pen body with a pipe at the tip;
A panel contact portion comprising a plate-like body including a plane portion (contact plane) in contact with the touch panel and a rod-like body protruding on the opposite side of the contact plane of the plate-like body;
The plate-like body and the rod-like body are joined so that the angle is variable,
The portion where the plate-like body and the rod-like body are joined (joining location) is around the center of gravity of the conductive portion (contact conductive surface) of the contact plane,
By inserting the rod-like body into the pipe, the pen body and the contact conductive surface are electrically connected,
The pen body and the panel contact portion are separated by removing the rod-shaped body from the pipe,
A diameter of a minimum inclusion circle of the contact conductive surface is 3 mm or more;
The diameter of the smallest containing cylinder of the rod-shaped body is 1 mm or less;
A touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side of the panel contact portion in the vicinity of the joint portion.

An operation is performed when the contact conductive surface comes into contact with the touch panel. Since the diameter of the minimum inclusion circle of the contact conductive surface is 3 mm or more, the contact conductive surface has a width of at least 3 mm, and the touch panel senses that the capacitance has changed due to the contact. Here, the “minimum inclusion circle” refers to a circle having the smallest diameter among circles including all the contacts with the contact conductive surface on the surface of the touch panel.
The exact coordinates of the contact point of the pen can vary depending on the touch panel, but in any touch panel, it is near the center of gravity of the contact conductive surface. Since the tip (joint location) of the rod-like body inserted into the tip of the pen body is around the center of gravity of the contact conductive surface, the user feels that he / she writes characters with the pen tip (joint location) connected to the pen body. Can be obtained. In addition, since the diameter of the minimum inclusion cylinder of the rod-like body is 1 mm or less, similar to the thickness of the core of the mechanical pencil or the ink discharge portion of the ballpoint pen, the user can obtain a feeling of writing characters with a sufficiently thin pen tip. . As described above, the problem (3) is solved.
Further, since the touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side around the joint portion, the problem (1) is solved. Here, the “periphery” refers to the vicinity of a range that can vary depending on the touch panel as the coordinates of the contact point.
In addition, since the plate-like body and the rod-like body are joined with a variable angle, the problem (2) is solved. In addition, as shown in the following Example, joining with variable angle is possible by various methods.

  The panel contact portion is easily damaged during use. If it is separable from the pen body, if the panel contact portion is damaged, the panel contact portion can be replaced and the pen body can continue to be used.

The panel contact portion of the capacitive pen of the present invention can have various configurations including the following.
The contact conductive surface is a metal plate between two concentric circles, and two or more conductive wires connecting the metal plate and the center of the concentric circles are bundled at the center of the concentric circles and further extended to form the rod shape Make up the body.
The plate-like body and the rod-like body are integrally formed of a transparent conductive rubber.
The plate-like body is a transparent resin obtained by processing a conductive film on all or part of the plate-like body.

The capacitive pen of the present invention is
The pen body has a knock mechanism for extruding / withdrawing the pipe.
Since the pipe and the rod-shaped body are thin and easily damaged, it is preferable to store them in the pen body using a knock function when not in use. Even when the pipe is stored, the plate-like body is not stored, and operation with a capacitive pen is possible although the pen tip feels thick. Usually, the pipe is used in a stored state, and the pipe is exposed only when writing fine characters.

  According to the capacitive pen of the present invention, the user can accurately specify fine coordinates by looking at the contact point of the pen, and can freely take the angle of the pen body with respect to the surface of the touch panel. It becomes possible to write detailed characters.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a capacitive pen. Example 1 FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the capacitive pen. Example 1 FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a panel contact portion. Example 1 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the capacitive pen. Example 1 FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a panel contact portion. (Example 2) FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a panel contact portion. (Example 3) FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a panel contact portion. Example 4 FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a capacitive pen. (Example 5) FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the capacitive pen. (Example 5)

  Examples of the capacitance type pen using the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a capacitive pen. When a contact conductive surface provided on the plate-like body 2 electrically connected to the pen body 1 touches the surface of the touch panel, it functions as a capacitive pen. The plate-like body 2 is a transparent conductive resin.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the capacitive pen. A rod-shaped body 3 is fitted into the pipe 5. The rod-shaped body 3 is joined to the plate-shaped body 2 so that the angle is variable. The plate-like body 2 and the rod-like body 3 constitute a panel contact portion. In addition, the thickness of the rod-shaped body 3 is 1 mm or less.
The rod-shaped body 3 can be removed from the pipe 5. When removed, the panel contact portion is separated from the pen body 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a panel contact portion. The rod-like body 3 is a bundle of four wires, and the tip of the wire is bonded to the plate-like portion 2 with a transparent tape. The angle formed by the rod-shaped body 3 and the plate-shaped body 2 is variable due to the bending of the wire.
The plate-like body 2 is a transparent conductive resin, and the surface opposite to the rod-like body 3 (the lower surface in the figure) is a flat surface. This plane becomes the contact conductive surface. The contact conductive surface is electrically connected to the pen body 1 through the plate-like body 2, the rod-like body 3, and the pipe 5.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the capacitive pen. As shown in the figure, the characters displayed on the touch panel 50 can be read beyond the transparent plate 2.

According to the capacitive pen of this embodiment, the user can accurately specify the fine coordinates by looking at the contact point of the pen, can freely take the angle of the pen body with respect to the surface of the touch panel, It becomes possible to write fine characters easily.
Moreover, when the panel contact part is damaged, the panel contact part can be replaced and the pen body can be used continuously.

  Example 2 to Example 4 relate to the panel contact portion. Except for the panel contact portion, this embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a panel contact portion. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a panel contact portion, and FIG. 2B is a view showing a contact plane (a lower surface of FIG. 1A) of the panel contact portion 2.
The contact conductive surface 7 is a hatched portion in FIG. 5B, and is a metal plate between two concentric circles. In FIG. (B), the part other than the hatched part is hollow.
A conductive wire 8 is stretched in the hollow portion. The four wires 8 are bundled at the center of the concentric circle and further extended to form the rod-shaped body 3. The metal plate and the wire constitute the plate-like portion 2.
If it demonstrates based on figure (b), the gravity center point of the contact conductive surface 7 is the center of a concentric circle. Here, the wires are bundled to form the joint 6. At the joint 6, the rod-like body 3 is joined as shown in FIG. The angle formed by the rod-shaped body 3 and the plate-shaped body 2 is variable due to the bending of the wire.
Since it is hollow except for the wire, the touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side around the joint 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a panel contact portion. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a panel contact portion, and FIG. 2B is a view showing a contact plane (a lower surface of FIG. 1A) of the panel contact portion 2.
The plate-like body 2 and the rod-like body 3 are integrally formed of transparent conductive rubber.
The contact conductive surface 7 is the entire contact plane as hatched in FIG. 2B, and its center of gravity is the center of the circle. Here, the rod-like portion 3 is joined to form a joined portion 6.
Since the material is rubber, the angle formed by the rod-like body 3 and the plate-like body 2 is variable. Since the plate-like body 2 is transparent, the touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side around the joint portion 6.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a panel contact portion. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a panel contact portion, and FIG. 2B is a view showing a contact plane (a lower surface of FIG. 1A) of the panel contact portion 2.
The plate-like body 2 is a transparent resin having no electrical conductivity. A portion of the contact plane represented by a star shape in the figure is processed with a conductive film, and a portion of a straight line connecting the star shape and the central portion in the figure is also processed with a conductive film.
If it demonstrates based on figure (b), the contact conductive surface 7 is a star-shaped and a linear part, and the center-of-gravity point as a whole is the center of a circle.
The rod-shaped body 3 is four wires as in the first embodiment. The wire is embedded in the plate-like body so as to be electrically connected to the conductive film formed linearly in the vicinity of the center of the circle. The angle formed by the rod-shaped body 3 and the plate-shaped body 2 is variable due to the bending of the wire.
Since the plate-like body 2 is transparent, the touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side around the joint portion 6.

The present embodiment relates to a knock mechanism.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a capacitive pen. The pen body 1 includes a knock mechanism. By pushing the knock 10, the pipe 5 is extruded / drawn, and each time the knock 10 is pushed, the state is alternately changed to the states (a) and (b) in the figure.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the capacitive pen. The pipe 5 functions as a capacitive pen in either the extruded state ((a) in the figure) or the drawn-in state ((b) in the figure). The state (a) is suitable for writing fine characters, and the state (b) allows the use of a capacitive pen while protecting the pipe 5 and the rod 3.

  The user can specify the minute coordinates accurately by looking at the contact point of the pen, can freely take the angle of the pen body with respect to the surface of the touch panel, and can easily write fine characters It is a capacity pen and is expected to be used by users of mobile phone terminals.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pen main body 2 Plate-shaped body 3 Rod-shaped body 4 Body part 5 Pipe 6 Joint location 7 Contact conductive surface 8 Wire 10 Knock

50 Touch panel

Claims (5)

A conductive pen body with a pipe at the tip;
A panel contact portion comprising a plate-like body including a plane portion (contact plane) in contact with the touch panel and a rod-like body protruding on the opposite side of the contact plane of the plate-like body;
The plate-like body and the rod-like body are joined so that the angle is variable,
The portion where the plate-like body and the rod-like body are joined (joining location) is around the center of gravity of the conductive portion (contact conductive surface) of the contact plane,
By inserting the rod-like body into the pipe, the pen body and the contact conductive surface are electrically connected,
The pen body and the panel contact portion are separated by removing the rod-shaped body from the pipe,
A diameter of a minimum inclusion circle of the contact conductive surface is 3 mm or more;
The diameter of the smallest containing cylinder of the rod-shaped body is 1 mm or less;
In the vicinity of the joint, the touch panel can be visually recognized from the pen body side of the panel contact portion. The contact conductive surface is a metal plate between two concentric circles;
2. The static electricity according to claim 1, wherein two or more conductive wires connecting the metal plate and the center of the concentric circle are bundled at the center of the concentric circle and further extended to constitute the rod-shaped body. Capacitive pen.   The capacitive pen according to claim 1, wherein the plate-like body and the rod-like body are integrally formed of a transparent conductive rubber.   The plate-like body is a transparent resin in which a conductive film is processed in whole or in part, and the processed portion of the transmission curtain is the contact conductive surface. The described capacitive pen.   The electrostatic capacity type pen according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pen body includes a knock mechanism for extruding / withdrawing the pipe.

Images