TW202001502A - Electronic device for detecting power of stylus pen - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an electronic device including a touch screen, a recording circuit and a signal processing circuit. The touch screen is arranged to receive a plurality of input signals from a stylus pen. The recording circuit is arranged to estimate a first length of time corresponding to an active mode of the stylus pen and a second length of time corresponding to an idle mode of the stylus pen. The signal processing circuit calculates a residual power of the stylus pen according to the first length of time and the second length of time, and controls the touch screen to display the residual power.

Description

Electronic device for detecting power of stylus

The invention relates to a stylus, in particular to an electronic device for detecting the power of the stylus.

There are many active stylus technologies, which can be divided into active electromagnetic pens and active capacitive pens. When the electronic device uses an active capacitive pen for input, the tip of the active capacitive pen is preloaded with a voltage and clicks on the touch screen of the electronic device, and the electronic device calculates the click position of the pen tip on the touch screen. The advantage is that the electronic device There is no need to install a separate sensor board, and the input signal of the finger and the active capacitive pen can be sensed by the touch screen. Therefore, it is more advantageous in terms of cost, and has become the mainstream today in the popularity of touch panels.

In active capacitive pens, there is a battery to power the electronic components of the pen itself. In order to meet the requirements of long-term power supply and appropriate pen size, many active capacitive pens use AAAA 1.5V alkaline batteries. However, as the stylus needs to be stored in the body, the size of the stylus must be miniaturized and a small-sized lithium battery or super capacitor is used. However, although the volume of lithium batteries or super capacitors is small, it is also accompanied by a small amount of power, and the use time cannot be compared with that of AAAA batteries every few months. Lithium batteries and supercapacitors have less power, and the usage time is usually only in the range of hours to days and may be powered off at any time, so many electronic devices are designed to store and charge the stylus.

In addition, compared to the past, the stylus can be used for several months without worrying about power consumption. When using a stylus with a small battery, how to know the battery status of the stylus to charge it in time is more important. Too. In the prior art, some styluses use a communication interface such as Bluetooth to send the battery status to an electronic device for users to understand. However, in addition to power consumption issues, the electronic components of these communication interfaces also cause the size of the stylus. Unable to zoom out effectively.

Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an electronic device for detecting the power of a stylus, which can accurately estimate the remaining amount of the stylus without the need to transmit the remaining power information to the electronic device through the stylus Electricity information to solve the problems of the previous technology.

In an embodiment of the invention, an electronic device is disclosed, which includes a touch screen, a recording circuit, and a signal processing circuit. In the operation of the electronic device, the touch screen is used to receive a plurality of input signals of a stylus; the recording circuit is used to estimate a first time length of the stylus operating in an active mode and an idle mode A second time length; and the signal processing circuit calculates a remaining power information of the stylus according to the first time length and the second time length, and sets the touch screen to display the remaining power information; wherein the The recording circuit receives the plurality of first time periods of the plurality of input signals of the stylus from the touch screen, counts into the first time length; and receives the plurality of input signals of the stylus from the touch screen A plurality of second time periods greater than a first preset time length are included in the second time length.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 110 and a stylus 120 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 110 includes a touch screen 112, a recording circuit 114, a signal processing circuit 116, and a charging circuit 118, and the stylus 120 includes a conductive pen tip 122 and a pressure sensor 124. A control circuit 126 and a battery 128. In this embodiment, the electronic device 110 may be a notebook computer, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or any electronic device that includes a touch screen and can be controlled by the stylus 120. The stylus 120 may be any device that includes A rechargeable battery stylus, and the stylus 120 itself does not include a wired or wireless communication element for transmitting the power information of the battery 128 to the electronic device 110.

In the operation of the stylus 120, the battery 128 is used to supply power to the control circuit 126 for the control circuit 126 to control the operation of the internal components of the stylus 120. The control circuit 126 may include an internal processing circuit and related charging and power supply circuits ; The pressure sensor 124 is used to detect whether the conductive pen tip 122 touches the touch screen 112.

During the operation of the electronic device 110, the touch screen 112 is used to receive the touch of the stylus 112 to generate a corresponding action, and the recording circuit 114 is used to detect the time point when the touch screen 112 receives the touch of the stylus 120, The time length of the stylus 120 in different operation modes is estimated, and the signal processing circuit 116 calculates the battery 128 of the stylus 120 according to the time length of the stylus 120 in different operation modes estimated by the recording circuit 114. A remaining battery information. In addition, the charging circuit 118 is used to charge the battery 120 of the stylus 120.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the stylus 120 can operate in an active mode and an idle mode, wherein the active mode is mainly the time when the user continues to write while the pen tip is under pressure when the user is hand-drawing, which can be regarded as a pen Pressing duration; the idle mode can be regarded as the rest time of the stylus 120, or a pen-over time (Pen Hover) without pen pressure, in which the power consumption of the active mode is higher than that of the idle mode. In the operation of the stylus 120, since the user may interrupt the writing process using the stylus 120, for example, the next stroke is drawn after ten minutes, the time for calculating the active mode is the sum of the durations of the pen pressures . In addition, in order to ensure that there is no delay in writing each time using the stylus 120, it will not enter the idle mode as soon as the pen pressure stops, and a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) will be set as a delay, that is, Within 5 minutes after the stylus 120 leaves the touch screen 112, the stylus 120 will still operate in the active mode; and only after 5 minutes after the stylus 120 leaves the touch screen 112, the stylus 120 will Enter idle mode.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the stylus 120 operating in different modes. In FIG. 2, since the user frequently uses the stylus 120 to contact the touch screen 112 (that is, the stroke interval is less than 5 minutes), the stylus 120 will operate in the active mode. Then, in 5 minutes after the stylus 120 leaves the touch screen 112, the stylus 120 will switch to the idle mode; then, when the user touches the touch screen 112 with the stylus 120 again, the stylus 120 will switch to Active mode.

As described above, since the recording circuit 114 in the electronic device 110 can detect the time point when the stylus 120 contacts the touch screen 112, the recording circuit 114 can accurately calculate that the stylus 120 operates in the active mode and the idle mode The length of time. Specifically, the recording circuit 114 can estimate a first time length of the stylus 120 operating in the active mode and a second time length of the idle mode, wherein the recording circuit 114 receives the touch screen 112 from a plurality of the stylus 120 The plurality of first time periods of the input signal are included in the first time length, and the plurality of input signals of the touch screen 112 receiving the stylus 120 are less than a first preset time length (for example, as shown in FIG. 2 A plurality of third periods (for example, each period in which the stroke interval in FIG. 2 is less than 5 minutes) is included in the first time period, and the touch screen 112 receives the plural periods of the stylus 120 A plurality of second time periods between input signals greater than the first preset time length (for example, a time period after 5 minutes of no stroke in Figure 2) are counted in the second time length. In addition, during the design stage, engineers have measured the power consumption (for example, the average current value per unit time) of the active mode and the idle mode of the stylus 120, and these related information can be stored in the electronic device 110 Therefore, the signal processing circuit 116 can obtain the battery of the current stylus 120 by multiplying the time length of the active mode by the power consumption of the active mode, and multiplying the time length of the idle mode by the power consumption of the idle mode. The total power consumption of 128. Then, the signal processing circuit 116 may subtract the calculated total power consumption of the current full power of the battery 128 to obtain a remaining power information of the battery 128.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the stylus 120 can be operated in a more power-saving sleep mode in addition to the active mode and the idle mode, wherein the sleep mode is when the stylus 120 enters the idle state After the mode exceeds a second preset time length (for example, 10 minutes), it will enter the mode. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the stylus 120 operating in different modes. In FIG. 3, since the user frequently uses the stylus 120 to contact the touch screen 112 (that is, the stroke interval is less than 5 minutes), the stylus 120 will operate in the active mode, and then, 5 minutes after the stylus 120 leaves the touch screen 112, the stylus 120 switches to the idle mode; then, after the user touches the touch screen 112 with the stylus 120 again, the stylus 120 switches to the active mode again ; Then, since the stylus 120 has not touched the touch screen 112 for more than 5 minutes, the stylus 120 switches to the idle mode, and then the stylus 120 has not touched the touch screen 112 for more than 10 minutes. Therefore, the stylus 120 then switches to the sleep mode.

As described above, since the recording circuit 114 in the electronic device 110 can detect the time point when the stylus 120 contacts the touch screen 112, the recording circuit 114 can accurately calculate that the stylus 120 operates in the active mode and the idle mode And the length of sleep mode. Specifically, the recording circuit 114 can estimate a first time length of the stylus 120 operating in the active mode, a second time length of the idle mode, and a third time length of the sleep mode, wherein the recording circuit 114 controls the touch screen A plurality of first time periods of 112 receiving a plurality of input signals of the stylus 120 are included in the first time length, and the plurality of input signals of the touch screen 112 receiving the stylus 120 are less than a first preset time A plurality of third time periods of length (for example, 5 minutes shown in Figure 3) (for example, each time period of strokes in Figures 2 and 3 is less than 5 minutes) are counted in the first time length, and the touch The screen 112 receives a plurality of second time periods between the plurality of input signals of the stylus 120 that are greater than the first preset time length (for example, a time period after 5 minutes of no pen touch in FIG. 2) is included in the second The length of time, and a plurality of fourth time periods between the plurality of input signals that are greater than the second preset time length (for example, 10 minutes shown in FIG. 3) are included in the third time length. In addition, at the design stage, engineers have measured the power consumption (for example, the average current value per unit time) of the active mode, idle mode, and sleep mode of the stylus 120, and these related information can be stored in In the electronic device 110, the signal processing circuit 116 can multiply the time length of the active mode by the power consumption of the active mode, add the time length of the idle mode by the power consumption of the idle mode, and add the time of the sleep mode The length is multiplied by the power consumption of the sleep mode to obtain the current total power consumption of the battery 128 of the stylus 120. Then, the signal processing circuit 116 can subtract the calculated total power consumption from the current full power of the battery 128 to obtain the remaining power information of the battery 128.

In addition, the battery 128 itself will also have a battery life, and through pre-estimation, the full charge of the battery 128 will be attenuated with the number of charges. For example, after the discharge depth is 80% (the total remaining power is 20%), after 625 times, the battery The full capacity of 128 will only be 80% of the original capacity, so a more accurate calculation of the full battery capacity can be replaced by the full battery capacity multiplied by the derating. Specifically, the signal processing circuit 116 can record each time the stylus 120 is charged through the electronic device 110, and count how many times the stylus 120 has been charged in total to estimate the current full charge of the battery 128 , So that the calculated remaining capacity information of the battery 128 can be more accurate.

In addition, when the stylus 120 is charged through the electronic device 110 and fully charged, the signal processing circuit 116 and the recording circuit 114 will reset the recorded operation time length of the stylus 120 in each mode, That is, when the battery 128 of the stylus 120 is fully charged, the operation time length of each mode must be restarted to avoid subsequent errors in calculating the remaining power information.

In addition, the remaining power information calculated by the signal processing circuit 116 can be displayed on the touch screen 112 for reference by the user. As for the expression method, the remaining power information can be presented in many different ways, such as the percentage of available power, the available time, how long it has been used, etc., and can also use text or charts to indicate the current status and predict the continuous use. Time, available time, or time immediately after fast charging. In addition, the remaining battery information can also be used as an eye protection reminder.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method for detecting the power of a stylus according to an embodiment of the invention. With reference to the content disclosed above, the process is as follows:

Step 400: The process begins.

Step 402: Detect the time point when the stylus touches a touch screen to determine the length of time the stylus operates in an active mode and an idle mode.

Step 404: Calculate a remaining power information of the stylus according to the length of time the stylus operates in the active mode and the idle mode.

Step 406: Display the remaining power information of the stylus on the touch screen.

To briefly summarize the present invention, in the method for detecting the power of the stylus according to the present invention, the electronic device can estimate the operation of the stylus in the active mode and the idle mode according to the time point when the stylus contacts the touch screen, Or the length of time the stylus is operated in the active mode, the idle mode, and the sleep mode to calculate the total power consumption of the stylus to obtain the remaining power information. In the present invention, when calculating the remaining power information of the stylus, the electronic device does not receive any power-related information from the stylus, that is, the stylus may not need to set a wireless communication element to contact the electronic device, so The size of the stylus can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the power consumption of using wireless communication to transmit power information in the prior art is also saved. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

110‧‧‧Electronic device 112‧‧‧Touch screen 114‧‧‧Record circuit 116‧‧‧Signal processing circuit 118‧‧‧ charging circuit 120‧‧‧stylus 122‧‧‧conductive nib 124‧‧‧pressure sensor 126‧‧‧Control circuit 128‧‧‧Battery 400~406‧‧‧Step

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device and a stylus according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the stylus operating in an active mode and an idle mode according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the stylus operating in an active mode, an idle mode, and a sleep mode according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method for detecting the power of a stylus according to an embodiment of the invention.

110‧‧‧Electronic device

112‧‧‧Touch screen

114‧‧‧Record circuit

116‧‧‧Signal processing circuit

118‧‧‧ charging circuit

120‧‧‧stylus

122‧‧‧conductive nib

124‧‧‧pressure sensor

126‧‧‧Control circuit

128‧‧‧Battery

Claims (6)

An electronic device includes: a touch screen for receiving a plurality of input signals of a stylus; a recording circuit coupled to the touch screen for estimating an operation of the stylus in an active mode A first time length and a second time length in an idle mode; and a signal processing circuit, coupled to the recording circuit and the touch screen, to calculate the touch according to the first time length and the second time length A remaining power information of the pen, and setting the touch screen to display the remaining power information; wherein the recording circuit receives the plural first time periods of the plural input signals of the stylus from the touch screen into the first A length of time; and a plurality of second time periods between the plurality of input signals of the touch screen receiving the stylus greater than a first predetermined time length are included in the second time length. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the recording circuit receives a plurality of third time periods between the plurality of input signals of the stylus received by the touch screen and less than the first preset time length into the plurality of third time periods The first length of time. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuit operates according to a first power consumption and the first time length of the stylus operating in the active mode, and according to the stylus operating in the idle mode A second power consumption and the second length of time to calculate the remaining power information of the stylus. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the recording circuit additionally receives a plurality of fourth time periods between the plurality of input signals of the touch screen receiving the stylus and greater than a second preset time length, A third time length of a sleep mode; and the signal processing circuit calculates the remaining power information according to the first time length, the second time length and the third time length to set the touch screen to display the remaining power News. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the signal processing circuit operates according to the first power consumption of the stylus in the active mode and the first time length, according to the operation of the stylus in the idle mode A second power consumption and the second time length, and a third power consumption and the third time length of the stylus operating in the sleep mode to calculate the remaining power information of the stylus. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising: a charging circuit for charging the stylus; wherein the signal processing circuit is coupled to the charging circuit, and the calculation is performed according to a number of charging times of the stylus A fully charged power of the stylus, and calculating the remaining power information according to the first time length, the second time length, and the fully charged power, to set the touch screen to display the remaining power information.

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