JP2019185579A - Stylus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a stylus with a simplified configuration that can cause information on pen pressure with the stylus to effectively act on a touch screen side.SOLUTION: The stylus brings a panel contact part into contact with a capacitive touch panel to enter information, and includes: a shaft cylinder 2 formed of a material having conductivity and constituting the grip portion; a panel contact portion 4 formed of a material having conductivity disposed at the front end of the shaft cylinder; a spring member 7 for retracting the panel contact portion to the shaft cylinder side in response to the pen pressure applied to the panel contact portion; and an energizing member 6 for coming into contact with a side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion to conduct the panel contact portion and the shaft cylinder. Depending on the axial contact position of the panel contact portion 4 by the energizing member 6, a variable resistor changing in resistance value between the panel contact portion 4 and the shaft cylinder 2 is formed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch pen for inputting coordinate information to a capacitive touch panel, and more particularly to a touch pen having a function of changing a resistance value in accordance with the degree of touch.

In recent years, portable information terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, which are rapidly spreading, employ a touch panel that can instruct coordinate input by touching with a fingertip. This touch panel is integrated with, for example, a liquid crystal display panel. By making it into a touch screen, it constitutes a touch screen.
In order to enable an input instruction by a light touch operation with a fingertip or the like in cooperation with a display image on a touch screen, a projected capacitive method is often used as a touch panel.

  By the way, touch pens that do not stain the screen screen with fingerprints are widely used for the capacitive touch panels described above. According to this touch pen, finer and more accurate input than fingertip input is used. It can be operated and is therefore suitable for handwritten input such as handwritten characters, signatures, and illustrations.

  The touch pen used for this capacitive touch panel is made of a shaft cylinder formed of a conductive material that is gripped by the user's hand, and attached to the tip of this shaft cylinder, and is also made of a conductive material. A panel contact portion as a formed pen tip is provided, and the shaft tube and the panel contact portion are electrically connected.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a touch pen that can sense the degree of touch when a panel contact portion arranged at the tip of a touch pen touches a screen screen. According to the touch pen disclosed in Patent Document 1, when pressure (writing pressure) is applied to the panel contact portion at the tip, the panel contact portion is in the axial direction or orthogonal to the axial direction with respect to the axial tube. It is configured to move relative to the direction.

Then, the degree of relative movement of the panel contact portion with respect to the shaft cylinder is measured by a variable capacitance sensor provided in the touch pen, and the measurement result is transmitted to the touch screen side image display driver via the wireless transmission means including the modulator. Is configured to give to.
On the image display driver side, the line width, color or density of the image drawn on the touch screen is determined according to the degree of relative movement of the panel contact portion with respect to the barrel (that is, the measurement result by the variable capacitance sensor). And so on.

  Therefore, according to the combination of the touch pen and the touch screen as described above, the line width of the drawn line drawn on the screen, the stroke of the drawn line according to the pressure applied to the panel contact portion touching the touch screen and the inclination of the shaft tube with respect to the screen, etc. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228688 describes that color development and density can be selected.

Japanese translation of PCT National Publication No. 2006-528653

By the way, according to the combination of the touch pen and the touch screen disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the touch pen side includes a panel contact portion capable of relative movement with respect to the shaft tube, and the relative movement amount of the panel contact portion. And a wireless transmission means including a modulator that transmits a detection signal of the variable capacitance sensor to the image display driver on the touch screen side.
In order to obtain power for operating the wireless transmission means, it is also necessary to provide ancillary equipment such as power supply means by electromagnetic induction between the touch screen and the touch pen.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of the above-described technical point of view, and includes a wireless transmission means for transmitting information such as writing pressure of a touch pen disclosed in Patent Document 1, and a power supply means for operating the wireless transmission means. The main issue is to provide a touch pen with a simplified configuration that can eliminate the need for ancillary equipment such as and can effectively apply the pressure information of the touch pen to the touch screen. It is.

  The touch pen according to the present invention made to solve the above-described problem is a touch pen that inputs information by bringing a panel contact portion into contact with a capacitive touch panel, and is formed of a conductive material. A shaft cylinder constituting the gripping part, a panel contact part formed of a conductive material disposed at the front end of the shaft cylinder, and the panel contact part according to the writing pressure applied to the panel contact part A spring member that is retracted to the side, and an energizing member that is in contact with a side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion and electrically connects the panel contact portion and the shaft tube, and the panel contact by the energization member A variable resistor is formed in which a resistance value between the panel contact portion and the shaft tube changes according to the contact position in the axial direction of the portion.

  In this case, the current-carrying member is preferably formed by bending a metal material into a U shape so that a pair of leg portions are formed with respect to the central portion of the bend, and each end of the leg portion is in the axial direction of the panel contact portion. The structure which contacted from the both outer sides is respectively employ | adopted for the side surface along.

  Further, in the central portion of the panel contact portion in the axial direction, a narrow diameter portion is formed with a reduced diameter with respect to the front and rear, and between the front end portion side and the rear end portion side of the panel contact portion, It is desirable that a front stepped portion and a rear stepped portion are formed, respectively, and the front end of each leg portion of the current-carrying member abuts on the front stepped portion and the rear stepped portion, so that the panel contact portion moves in the axial direction. A configuration in which is regulated is adopted.

  Furthermore, the spring member that retreats the panel contact portion toward the axial tube side according to the writing pressure applied to the panel contact portion is configured by a coil spring, and the coil spring is disposed inside the bent central portion of the energizing member, and the panel The structure arrange | positioned between the rear-end parts of a contact part is employ | adopted.

  A front end support portion made of a non-conductive material is attached to the front end portion of the shaft cylinder, and the panel contact portion can slide in the axial direction by an opening formed in the front end support portion. The supported configuration can be suitably employed.

  According to the above-described touch pen according to the present invention, the panel contact portion disposed at the front end portion of the shaft cylinder operates to retreat toward the shaft tube side in accordance with the writing pressure, and contacts the side surface of the panel contact portion. Depending on the contact position, a variable resistor is formed in which the resistance value between the panel contact portion and the shaft tube changes.

Therefore, it is possible to change the degree of capacitive coupling between the touch panel touch panel and the electrode pad on the touch screen by using the change in resistance value according to the pressure applied to the touch pen. This can be used to set the line width and density of the image drawn on the screen.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a touch pen with a simplified configuration capable of effectively causing writing pressure information by the touch pen to act on the touch screen side.

It is the center sectional view showing the 1st composition of the touch pen concerning this invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view sequentially illustrating the operation of the touch pen shown in FIG. 1, (A) shows a state where the writing pressure is low, (B) shows a state where the writing pressure is medium, and (C) shows a writing pressure. Indicates a great condition. It is the fragmentary sectional view which showed the 2nd structure of the touch pen which concerns on this invention.

A touch pen according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the overall configuration of the first embodiment. The touch pen 1 has a tip support member 3 attached to a front end portion of a cylindrical tube 2 that forms a gripping portion. A pen tip is formed on the front end portion of the tip support member 3 formed in a conical shape. The panel contact portion 4 is attached so as to be movable in the axial direction. A tail plug 5 is fitted and attached to the rear end portion of the shaft tube 2.

An energizing member 6 made of a metal material is accommodated in a space formed between the front end portion of the shaft cylinder 2 and the tip support member 3, and a spring member (coil spring) is accommodated in the energizing member 6. ) 7 is arranged.
The panel contact portion 4 is given a biasing force pushed forward by a spring member 7, and the front end portion of the energization member 6 is elastic on the side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion 4 that is long in the axial direction. In contact.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the front end portion of the touch pen 1 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, based on FIG. 2 (A), the detailed structure of each part is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 2A, in the vicinity of the front end portion of the shaft cylinder 2, a partition wall 2a is formed integrally with the shaft cylinder 2 in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and is formed in the shaft hole on the front side of the partition wall 2a. A space for accommodating the energizing member 6 and the like is formed.
The shaft tube 2 is made of a conductive material, for example, a material in which carbon black or the like is dispersed in a resin material. Therefore, the shaft tube 2 can be formed by injection molding.

The tip support member 3 attached to the front end portion of the shaft cylinder 2 is formed of an insulating resin material such as polyacetal, for example, and the front half portion is a conical portion 3a, and the rear half portion constitutes a cylindrical portion 3b. ing. The cylindrical portion 3 b is inserted into and fitted into the shaft hole in the front end portion of the shaft tube 2, whereby the tip support member 3 is attached to the front end portion of the shaft tube 2.
Further, the conical portion 3a is provided with an opening 3c along the axial direction, and the panel contact portion 4 is supported by the opening 3c so as to be slidable in the axial direction.

As described above, the current-carrying member 6 is formed by bending a metal material, that is, a strip-shaped metal plate into a U-shape, thereby forming a pair of leg portions 6b with respect to the bent central portion 6a.
Further, the tip of each leg portion 6b is bent inwardly toward the inside, and the bent portion 6c is formed on the side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion 4 on both outer sides. From the elastic contact.

  The above-described spring member (coil spring) 7 is disposed between the inner side of the bent central portion 6 a of the energizing member 6 and the rear end portion of the panel contact portion 4. As a result, a biasing force that pushes forward by the spring member 7 is applied to the energizing member 6, and the spring member 7 moves the panel contact portion 4 to the shaft tube 2 side according to the writing pressure applied to the panel contact portion 4. It acts to retreat.

The front end of the panel contact portion 4 is formed in a hemispherical shape, and a thin diameter portion 4a having a smaller diameter than the front and rear is formed in the central portion in the axial direction. Thereby, the front step part 4b and the back step part 4c are formed between the front end part side and the rear end part side of the panel contact part 4, respectively.
Then, since the rectangular bent portions 6c formed on the respective leg portions 6b of the energizing member 6 abut on the front step portion 4b and the rear step portion 4c, the range of movement of the panel contact portion 4 in the axial direction is increased. It is regulated.

The panel contact portion 4 has a certain degree of self-lubricating property, a low coefficient of friction, and excellent mechanical strength so that it can slide smoothly in contact with the capacitive touch panel. It is desirable to have
Therefore, as an example, it can be obtained by mixing and stirring a carbon powder such as graphite or carbon black with a thermosetting resin such as a furan resin, a phenol resin, or an imide resin, and molding and firing the powder into a form shown in the figure. it can. According to this, the panel contact portion 4 has an appropriate electrical resistivity, can smoothly perform a sliding operation on the panel surface, and can improve the operability as a touch pen.

The metal energizing member 6 that supports the panel contact portion 4 so as to be slidable in the axial direction is such that the bent central portion 6a is in contact with the partition wall 2a applied to the shaft tube 2 so that the panel contact portion 4 The shaft cylinder 2 is electrically connected.
Therefore, it is desirable that the bent central portion 6a be bonded to the partition wall 2a with a conductive adhesive or fastened with screws or the like as necessary.

  According to the touch pen 1 having the above-described configuration, by touching the touch screen, pressure (writing pressure) is applied to the panel contact portion 4, and the spring member 7 is contracted according to the degree of the pressure (writing pressure). The contact part 4 is retracted toward the shaft tube 2 side. Thereby, the contact position of the bending part 6c in the electricity supply member 6 with respect to the small diameter part 4a of the panel contact part 4 changes as shown to (A)-(C) of FIG.

Here, as a material of the panel contact portion 4, as described above, by using a material in which carbon powder is dispersed in a thermosetting resin, its electrical resistivity (Ωm) is slightly larger than that of a metal material. Yes. In addition, since the bent portion 6c at the tip of the leg portion of the energizing member 6 is in elastic contact with the small diameter portion 4a of the panel contact portion 4, the electrical resistivity in the small diameter portion 4a is made larger, resulting in more resistance. A variable resistor (sliding resistor) having a large change rate can be formed.
Therefore, the resistance value (Ω) between the tip of the panel contact portion 4 and the shaft tube 2 is the largest in the state of FIG. 2A, is medium in the state of FIG. In the state of C), the minimum value is set.

According to the touch pen 1 having the above-described configuration, the degree of capacitive coupling between the panel contact portion 4 of the touch pen and the electrode pad on the touch screen is changed by using the change in the resistance value according to the writing pressure. It becomes possible.
Therefore, by utilizing this change in capacitive coupling in the setting of the line width and density of an image drawn on the touch screen, the line width of the drawn line on the touch screen and / or according to the writing pressure by the touch pen 1. It is possible to draw the density appropriately.

In addition, according to the touch pen 1 described above, compared with the conventional touch pen disclosed in Patent Document 1 described at the beginning, the wireless transmission means for transmitting writing pressure information to the image display driver, and the transmission means are operated. There is no need to provide additional facilities such as power supply means.
Therefore, it is possible to contribute to providing a low-cost touch pen with a simplified configuration.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the touch pen according to the present invention, and the example shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a marking pen in addition to the function of the touch pen 1 already described.
In the touch pen 1 shown in FIG. 3, portions corresponding to the respective portions described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. In this example, a cap 9 is detachably attached to the shaft tube 1 so as to cover the panel contact portion 4 of the touch pen 1 and the tip support member 3.

  On the other hand, the marking pen 11 is arranged on the opposite side in the axial direction with respect to the arrangement side of the touch pen 1 in the shaft cylinder 2. That is, the pen core 12 of the marking pen 11 is mounted in a shaft hole formed in the tip shaft 13 in advance, and the tip shaft 13 is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the end portion of the shaft cylinder 2 in this state, thereby 12 is attached so as to protrude from the shaft tube.

A space in the shaft cylinder 2 from the partition wall 2 a formed in the shaft cylinder 2 to the front shaft 13 is formed in the ink storage section 14 of the marking pen 11.
The pen core 12 in the marking pen 11 is covered with a cap 15 having a clip 15 a that is detachably fitted to the tip shaft 13.

  Also in the second embodiment of the touch pen shown in FIG. 3, the basic configuration is the same as the configuration of the touch pen shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and therefore the same function as the touch pen as in the first embodiment. An effect can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Touch pen 2 Shaft cylinder 2a Partition 3 Tip support member 3a Conical part 3b Cylindrical part 3c Opening 4 Panel contact part (variable resistor)
4a Thin diameter part 4b Front step part 4c Back step part 5 Tail plug 6 Current supply member (variable resistor)
6a Bending center part 6b Leg part 6c Bending part 7 Spring member (coil spring)
9 Cap 11 Marking Pen 12 Pen Core 13 Lead Axis 14 Ink Storage 15 Cap 15a Clip

Claims (5)

A touch pen that inputs information by bringing a panel contact portion into contact with a capacitive touch panel,
A shaft cylinder formed of a conductive material and constituting a gripping portion, a panel contact portion formed of a conductive material disposed at a front end portion of the shaft cylinder, and a writing pressure applied to the panel contact portion And a current-carrying member that makes contact with the side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion and electrically connects the panel contact portion and the shaft tube. The touch pen is characterized in that a variable resistor is formed in which a resistance value between the panel contact portion and the shaft tube changes according to a contact position of the panel contact portion in the axial direction by the current-carrying member. .   The current-carrying member is formed by bending a metal material into a U-shape, so that a pair of leg portions are formed with respect to the central portion of the bend, and each tip of the leg portion is on a side surface along the axial direction of the panel contact portion. The touch pen according to claim 1, wherein the touch pens are in contact from both outer sides.   In the central portion in the axial direction of the panel contact portion, a narrow-diameter portion having a smaller diameter than the front and rear is formed, so that the front side and the rear end side of the panel contact portion are respectively forward. A stepped portion and a rear stepped portion are formed, and the tip end of each leg portion of the energizing member abuts on the front stepped portion and the rear stepped portion, so that the range of movement of the panel contact portion in the axial direction is restricted. The touch pen according to claim 2, wherein the touch pen is a touch pen.   The spring member that retreats the panel contact portion toward the axial tube side according to the writing pressure applied to the panel contact portion is configured by a coil spring, and the coil spring is disposed inside the bent central portion of the energizing member, and the panel contact portion. The touch pen according to claim 2, wherein the touch pen is disposed between the rear end portion of the touch pen and the touch pen.   A front end support portion made of a non-conductive material is attached to the front end portion of the shaft cylinder, and the panel contact portion is supported to be slidable in the axial direction by an opening formed in the front end support portion. The touch pen according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the touch pen is provided.

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