JP2001148799A - Image and hand-writing capture device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a more convenient device that captures an image and hand-written information relating to the image and to provide a more convenient method to generate a post card including image and handwriting information. SOLUTION: The image capture device 1 has a camera 4 provided with an electronic detector to capture an image, a 1st display area 18 to display the captured image, a handwriting input pad 70 to capture hand-written information, and a 2nd display area 12 to display hand-written information on the handwriting input pad 70, separately from the captured image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for capturing images and handwriting, and to a method for producing a postcard by using such an apparatus with a printer.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Electronic cameras are becoming increasingly popular and inexpensive. For example, when capturing an image during a vacation, you may want to print it out and keep it or send it to someone else by mail or electronically, for example, by fax or email. When an image is printed out, it may be written behind the printout image to keep a record of when or where the image was taken. When an image is transmitted, the image may be sent by mail or facsimile with a handwritten or typed letter attached. Alternatively, a typed text message may be sent as an e-mail message along with an image attached to the message by downloading the image to a personal computer.
If the image is stored on a floppy disk or removable memory card, it can be downloaded to a personal computer and typing another text file to record information related to that image Can be.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An image is captured,
These electronic methods of storing and transmitting with the associated text are often inconvenient. You may not want to write a letter, use a fax machine, or compose an email message with attachments. Fax machines or computers that send e-mails or enter text files are not always at hand. By the time the image is printed out, there is a possibility that the information that was desired to be written on the back of the image when the image was taken may be forgotten.

One consequence of this inconvenience is that:
Postcards are still very popular, and people
Purchase a postcard to hold or mail with a handwritten message. However, it is not always possible to find a postcard of the desired image. In addition, posting a postcard is more expensive and time-consuming than electronic communication, especially if the postcard is sent to a distant destination.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a more convenient device for capturing images and related information, and a more convenient method of creating postcards.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention comprises a camera having an electronic detector for capturing an image;
A first display area for displaying a captured image, and a handwriting for capturing information handwritten on itself;
(scribble) An input device having an input pad and having a second display area for displaying information handwritten on the handwriting input pad separately from the captured image.

[0007] The terms "handwritten information" and "handwritten" as used herein include text, drawings, graphics or any other pattern that can be created by hand.

[0008] Handwriting input pad (scribble input pad)
Has a touch-sensitive or position-sensitive surface over which a non-marking tip of a stylus can move. The surface then detects the presence of the stylus tip at a particular location and converts it to data or a signal.
This is done, for example, by the controlling microprocessor.
Used to generate an image of the trajectory of the stylus tip on the second display area.

Preferably, there are two separate display areas. These are arranged side by side, whereby
Images can be viewed at the same time as the user of the device inputs handwritten information via the handwriting input pad. And
The user can take an image and view it, then write a comment or message, or create a drawing or figure. Such handwritten information is often associated with an image.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device comprises two connected parts, which parts are movable with respect to each other, each part having one of the display areas. I have. Then, the user can change the angle or direction of those portions for convenience. Such an arrangement also allows the parts to be moved together so that, for example, when the device is not in use, both display areas are hidden and protected.

The present invention also provides an image capture device according to the present invention, at least one printer loaded with at least one print substrate, and an image captured by the device communicating with the printer. Means for enabling handwriting to be separately printed out on at least one printing substrate.

Also according to the present invention, there is provided a method of making a postcard using such an image capture system and a postcard substrate, comprising: a) capturing an image and its associated handwritten information; b. A) printing the image and handwritten information on at least one sticker; and c) applying the sticker to a postcard substrate.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an image capture device 1 has a main housing 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as a housing 2), in which an electronic camera is provided. 4, an ink jet printer 6 (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer 6), a telephone jack 8, and a port 10 for accommodating a recording floppy disk or a memory card (not shown). The housing 2 also has a display 12 which is hidden and protected by a back cover 14 connected at a hinge 16 at one rear end of the housing 2 when the camera is not in use. The back cover 14 also has a display 18 which can be viewed side by side with the other display 12 when the back cover 14 which is a protective cover is open.

The electronic camera 4 has a front surface 24 of the housing 2.
Has an objective lens 20 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a lens 20) installed in a protective escape portion (recess) 22. The lens 20 includes a detector array 28 in the housing 2.
An image of light 26 is formed thereon. Preferably, detector array 28 is a color detector having a resolution of at least 480 × 640 pixels. The electronic image is captured by a user pressing a button 5 on the top of the housing 2. The structure and operation of such electronic cameras are well known and will not be described in further detail.

The printer 6 includes an ink jet head 30
including. It is due to the action of the small electric motor 38
A scan can be made across the elongated print substrate 34 dispensed from the roll 36 (32). A slot (not shown) is provided along the lower surface 40 of the housing 2. Through the slot, the printing base material 34 is discharged after being cut (44) by the electric blade 42 that moves across the printing base material 34 after printing is completed.

The print roll 36 is loaded into the housing 2 through a small door 46 on one side 48 of the housing 2. On the opposite side 50 of the housing 2 is another small door 52 for loading a battery 54 that supplies power to the image capture device 1.

In another alternative, not shown in the drawings, rather than loading a roll of paper in the camera housing, it has a sheet feeder opening in which individual printing substrates are placed before printing. Load the material. Thereby, the size of the device can be reduced.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the electronic control unit of the image capture device 1. The electronic circuit 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as the circuit 60) receives power from the battery 54. Circuit 60 activates detector array 28 when button 5 is pressed.
Microprocessor 62 for capturing electronic images from
have. Data representing an image can be stored locally in random access memory 64 and displayed on display 18. If desired, such data may be output from port 10 to a suitable medium or communicated via a telephone jack 8 via a modem (not shown).

The circuit 60 also controls the operation of the printer 6, in particular, the movement of the printing substrate 34, the inkjet head 30, and the blade 42.

FIG. 5 shows the display 12 of the housing 2.
Has a handwriting input pad 70. The handwriting input pad 70 has a contact sensing surface on which the (x, y) coordinates of the contact point of the stylus tip can be measured. As shown schematically in FIG. 4, this allows signals 66, 68 to be provided to the circuit 60 and the microprocessor 62 to
The position of the upper stylus 72 can be determined. Therefore, the user can input handwritten information into the image capture device 1 by writing using the stylus 72. As soon as this information is entered, the circuit 6
0 creates the same handwritten information image 74 on the display 12. Ideally, the handwritten information image 74 coincides with the movement of the stylus 72 and appears substantially simultaneously.

[0022] The handwritten information may be text, drawings, graphics or any other pattern that can be created by hand. Such information is input when a photograph is taken by the electronic camera 4 and the other display 1
8 may be before or after being displayed as the photographic image 76.
When the user captures both images 74 and 76, the data representing each image is stored in a removable storage medium in the port 10 using the function key 78, or the data is transmitted through the telephone jack 8 through a modem. Alternatively, the image may be printed out as depicted in FIG.

Images 74 and 76 are displayed on backing sheet 84.
Are printed out on the two adhesive stickers 80 and 82 supported by the printer. In the example shown, these printed images, ie, the stickers 80, 82, are aligned with the alignment marks 8 for the stickers 80, 82 and the postage stamp.
It is attached to a flat postcard substrate 86 on which 8, 90 is printed. Accordingly, the user of the image capture device 1 captures the photographic image 76, writes an appropriate message (image 74), and then prints out these and sticks the stickers 80 and 82 to the postcard substrate 86 appropriately. This produces a custom postcard 92.

[0024] Optionally, the display 12 may show a series of dots 94 indicating the space in which the user can write the address.

The data representing the images 74, 76 may be stored in relation to each other, or may be transmitted from the telephone jack 8, for example, as an e-mail message. Optionally, data may be received via port 10 or, in a similar manner, via telephone jack 8, then a separate display 12, 1
8 may be displayed.

The display is arranged so that the image 76 can be viewed while inputting handwritten information via the handwriting input pad 70. In the embodiment shown, a right-handed user has a handwriting input pad 70 on the right hand side of the device. It will be appreciated that the order of the displays 12, 18 can be reversed or that both displays have handwriting input pads, one of which can be selected by the user. However, this is not necessary if one of the function keys 78 can reverse the image of the electrophotograph 76. In this case, the left-handed user can simply reverse the image capture device 1 so that the handwriting input pad 70 is on the left hand side.

The two displays 12, 18 need not be arranged side by side, but may be arranged in the sense that one is above the other. In this case, the hinge 16 may be provided along the upper end of the housing 2 or may be provided along the lower end.

Preferably, the image capture device 1 has a flat front face 24 with a lens 20 provided in a relief (recess). This allows the user to place the front 24 on a suitable support surface while writing on the handwriting input pad 70. To this end, the handwriting input pad 70 is integral with the housing 2 rather than on a hinged protective cover 14.

Optionally, printer 6 need not be integral with image capture device 1 if the device has a suitable jack for connecting to an external printer.

However, the printer is preferably integrated with the image capture device 1. If a roll-shaped printing substrate is used, this requires that the printing substrate 34 be tightly wound into a roll 36 in order to make the device compact. Therefore, the printing substrate 34 is
Curling when dispensed from the device may be unavoidable. However, this is not a problem when using an adhesive sticker, which will fit a flat substrate such as postcard 86 which is relatively thin.

Such an adhesive sticker need not of course be used only for postcards. The user may wish to paste them on a vacation scrapbook, notebook, refrigerator or other suitable surface.

Thus, the present invention provides a convenient way to take electronic photographs and capture handwritten information, and to create either an electronic postcard sent by e-mail or a physical postcard that can be mailed. And methods.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an image capture device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, including an electronic camera having a detector array, two separate display areas sandwiched between protective covers, and a built-in printer. 1 shows an electronic camera.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the image capture device taken along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the image capture device in a state where a protective cover is completely opened.

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram of the image capture device.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the image capture device with the protective cover open, with two separate side-by-side displays and two stickers printed out consistent with the display used to create the postcard. Is shown.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification FI FI Theme Court II (Reference) H04N 5/76 H04N 5/76 E // H04N 101: 00 101: 00 (72) Inventor Colin Steffen Ironson UK BSS 16 1 Jay El, Bristol, Frenchai, Kings Mill Close 16 (72) Inventor Andrew Dudley Morgan BSS 9 England 2B D, Bristol, Stoke Bishop , Woodland Grove 7 (72) Inventor Christopher Guyin Romance GS 217 UK EX, North Somerset, Cleevedan, Fairleaf Road 8

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A camera comprising an electronic detector for capturing an image, a first display area for displaying the captured image, and a handwriting input pad for capturing handwritten information. And an image capture device having a second display area for displaying information handwritten on the handwriting input pad separately from the captured image. 2. The image capture device according to claim 1, wherein there are two separate display areas arranged side by side. 3. The image capture device according to claim 2, comprising two connected parts movable relative to each other, each part having one of said display areas. 4. The image capture device according to claim 3, wherein the portion can be moved so that both display areas are hidden and protected together. 5. The handwriting input pad according to claim 1, wherein the handwriting input pad is an outer surface of the second display area so that the captured handwritten information is displayed in accordance with a handwritten position. The image capture device according to claim 1. 6. A data storage means for storing first data representing the captured image and second data representing the captured handwriting, wherein the first and second data are mutually stored. The image capture device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the image capture device is stored in association with the image capture device. 7. A data output unit for outputting first data representing the captured image and second data representing the captured handwriting, wherein the first and second data are The image capture device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the output is performed in association with each other. 8. Data input means for inputting first data representing an image and second data representing handwriting, wherein the first and second data are inputted in relation to each other. The image capture device according to claim 1, wherein: 9. An image capture system, comprising: the image capture device according to claim 1; at least one printer loaded with at least one print substrate; and the device comprising the printer. Means for communicating with the (s) to enable the captured image and the captured handwriting to be separately printed out on at least one print substrate. Image capture system. 10. The image capture system according to claim 9, wherein said printer is integral with said image capture device. 11. The image capture system according to claim 9, wherein the printer is loaded with a printing base material that is an adhesive sticker. 12. A method of making a postcard using the image capture system and postcard substrate of claim 11, comprising: a) capturing the image and associated handwritten information; b) at least one of: Printing out the image and handwritten information on one sticker; and c) applying the sticker (s) to the postcard substrate.