TWM678868U - Touch pen device - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch pen device includes a pen housing, a circuit substrate, a pressure sensor, a control circuit board, and a pen core module. The pen housing comprises a pen tip and a pen body. The circuit substrate is disposed within the pen body and includes an abutting surface facing the pen tip, and a circuit connection surface opposite to the abutting surface. The pressure sensor is disposed on the circuit connection surface. The control circuit board is electrically connected to the pressure sensor via the circuit connection surface. The pen core module is disposed within the pen housing and includes a pen core and a pen core holder. The pen core is detachably inserted into the pen core holder and protrudes from the pen tip. The pen core holder is movably disposed within the pen body and abuts the abutting surface. When the pen core is subjected to pressure, the pressure sensor detects a bending deformation of the circuit substrate caused by the pressure exerted by the pen core holder, and transmits a pressure signal to the control circuit board.

Description

stylus device

This invention relates to a stylus device, and more particularly to a stylus device that uses a pressure-sensing element to detect the bending deformation of a circuit board caused by pressure applied by a pen tip holder in order to transmit pressure-sensitive signals.

With the advancement and development of technology, many electronic devices on the market use touch panels or touch pads as operating interfaces. Users usually operate on the touch panel with their fingers. However, when sliding fingers on the touch panel, the large contact area of the fingers can easily cause too much friction, making it unsuitable for large or rapid input. Accidental touches may also occur. Therefore, styluses were invented.

Currently, styluses can be divided into active and passive types. Active styluses transmit signals through an internal signal transmitting circuit, which the corresponding touch panel (or touchpad) receives and determines the coordinates of the touched position and the touch pressure. Their pressure sensing design typically uses the pen tip's displacement under force to directly apply pressure to the pressure sensor to obtain a pressure signal. However, when the external force on the pen tip is too great (e.g., when the stylus is accidentally dropped and the tip directly hits the ground), the pen tip will generate a large displacement, resulting in excessive pressure on the pressure sensor. This can easily damage the pressure sensor and cause the stylus to malfunction.

Therefore, one of the purposes of this invention is to provide a stylus device that uses a pressure-sensing element to detect the bending deformation of the circuit board caused by pressure applied by the pen tip holder to transmit pressure-sensitive signals, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

According to one embodiment, the stylus device of this invention includes a pen shell, a circuit board, a pressure sensing element, a control circuit board, and a pen refill module. The pen shell has a pen tip and a pen body. The circuit board is disposed within the pen body and has a contact surface facing the pen tip and a circuit connection surface opposite to the contact surface. The pressure sensing element is disposed on the circuit connection surface. The control circuit board is electrically connected to the pressure sensing element via the circuit connection surface. The pen refill module is disposed within the pen shell and includes a pen refill and a pen refill holder. The pen refill is detachably inserted into the pen refill holder and partially protrudes beyond the pen tip. The pen refill holder is movably disposed within the pen body and abuts against the contact surface. When the pen refill is pressed, the pressure sensing element detects the bending deformation of the circuit board caused by the pressure applied by the pen refill holder, and sends a pressure sensing signal to the control circuit board.

In summary, compared to the previous technology that directly applied pressure to the pressure sensor, this invention uses a pen tip holder to press against the circuit board and cause it to bend and deform. In this way, even if the pen tip is subjected to excessive external force (such as when the stylus is accidentally dropped and the pen tip directly hits the ground), the pressure on the pen tip will only be absorbed by the circuit board and cause corresponding bending deformation. This avoids the problem mentioned in the previous technology where the pressure sensor is easily damaged by pressure, causing the stylus to malfunction. Therefore, this invention can effectively improve the service life of the stylus device and the reliability of touch operation.

The advantages and spirit of this creation can be further understood through the following detailed implementation and the accompanying diagrams.

The following content, accompanied by illustrations, illustrates the technical content of this invention through specific concrete examples. Those skilled in the art can easily understand the other advantages and effects of this invention from the content revealed in this specification. This invention can also be implemented or applied through other different concrete examples. Various details in this specification can also be modified and changed based on different viewpoints and applications, without departing from the spirit of this invention. In particular, the structural design and positional relationships of the various components in the drawings (such as the structural proportions of the pen shell/pen refill holder/pressure sensing element/control circuit board, signal transmission line routing design, etc.) are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the actual implementation of this invention.

Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a stylus device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the circuit connection of the stylus device 10 in Figure 1. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the stylus device 10 includes a pen shell 12, a circuit board 14, a pressure sensing element 16, a control circuit board 18, and a pen tip module 20, wherein the pen tip module 20, the circuit board 14, the pressure sensing element 16, and the control circuit board 18 are aligned with each other along a central axis L of the pen shell 12. The pen casing 12 can adopt a common casing design used in styluses (its relevant structural description has been seen in the prior art and will not be repeated here) and has a pen tip 22 and a pen body 24 for the pen refill to protrude for writing and for accommodating the internal components of the stylus. The circuit board 14 is disposed in the pen body 24 and has a contact surface S1 facing the pen tip 22 and a circuit connection surface S2 opposite to the contact surface S1. The pressure sensing element 16 is disposed on the circuit connection surface S2 and can be a pressure sensor commonly used in the pressure sensing of the pen tip of a stylus, such as a capacitive pressure sensor, a piezoelectric pressure sensor, or a resistive pressure sensor. Its circuit connection design and pressure sensing principle are commonly described in the prior art and will not be repeated here.

The control circuit board 18 is electrically connected to the pressure sensing element 16 via the circuit connection surface S2 for transmitting pressure sensing signals. In this embodiment, the circuit board 14 may also have a plurality of pads 26 (shown as two in Figure 1, but not limited thereto; the number of pads may vary depending on the actual application requirements of the stylus device 10). The control circuit board 18 is preferably connected by solder butt connection (but not limited thereto). (Alternatively, other common circuit board connection methods, such as flexible ribbon cable connection, can be used) to connect to multiple pads 26 for electrical connection to the circuit board 14. More specifically, the control circuit board 18 can be more perpendicular to the circuit board 14, thereby providing appropriate structural deformation support to the circuit board 14, so that the circuit board 14 will not be excessively deformed and damaged during the pressure process. In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, a relief notch 28 can be formed on the control circuit board 18 corresponding to the position of the pressure sensing element 16, so as to provide sufficient deformation space, so that the circuit board 14 can bend and deform towards the relief notch 28 with the connection between the control circuit board 18 and the circuit board 14 as the fulcrum during the pressure process without colliding with the control circuit board 18, thereby effectively preventing the circuit board components from being squeezed and damaged.

The pen refill module 20 is disposed within the pen casing 12. The pen refill module 20 may include a pen refill 30 and a pen refill holder 32 (both of which are conductive). The pen refill 30 is detachably inserted into the pen refill holder 32 and partially protrudes beyond the pen tip 22 (as shown in Figure 1) for subsequent touch writing operations by the user. The pen refill holder 32 is movably disposed within the pen body 24 and abuts against the abutment surface S1, so that when the pen refill 30 is pressed, it moves along the central axis L toward the circuit board 14 and abuts against the circuit board 14 to produce corresponding bending deformation.

Through the above design, the stylus device 10 can display handwriting on the touch device when subjected to force. The thickness of the handwriting on the stylus device 10 can change with the pressure applied by the user. In other words, different thicknesses of handwriting can correspond to different pressure values. For example, when a user holds the stylus device 10 to press the pen tip 30 on a touch device (e.g., a touch screen or touchpad) to perform a touch operation, the pen tip holder 32 can press against the circuit board 14 along the central axis L as the pen tip 30 retracts relative to the pen tip 22 under pressure, thereby causing the circuit board 14 to undergo corresponding bending deformation. In this way, the pressure sensing element 16 located on the back side of the circuit board 14 (i.e., the circuit connection surface S2) can detect the bending deformation of the circuit board 14 to transmit subsequent pressure sensing signals.

More specifically, when a user operates the stylus device 10, the pen tip 30 will experience different levels of pressure depending on the user's writing posture and handwriting. The pressure experienced by the pen tip 30 can be sensed by the pressure sensing element 16 located on the back of the circuit board 14 (i.e., the circuit connection surface S2) by the pen tip fixing base 32 directly pressing against the circuit board 14 and bending and deforming it. At this time, the control circuit board 18, which is electrically connected to the circuit board 14, can receive the pressure signal transmitted by the pressure sensing element 16 and calculate the pen tip pressure accordingly, and convert it into the corresponding pressure level. Then, the different pressure levels are converted into different frequencies or signals, and the transformer unit (not shown) on the control circuit board 18 converts the above frequencies or signals into the voltage (signal) required by the pen refill module 20. The signal is then transmitted to the touch device via the pen refill 30 to form corresponding touch handwriting, thereby completing the touch operation (such as writing text) desired by the user.

In summary, compared to the previous technology that directly applied pressure to the pressure sensor, this invention uses a pen tip holder to press against the circuit board and cause it to bend and deform. In this way, even if the pen tip is subjected to excessive external force (such as when the stylus is accidentally dropped and the pen tip directly hits the ground), the pressure on the pen tip will only be absorbed by the circuit board and cause corresponding bending deformation. This avoids the problem mentioned in the previous technology where the pressure sensor is easily damaged by pressure, causing the stylus to malfunction. Therefore, this invention can effectively improve the service life of the stylus device and the reliability of touch operation.

It is worth mentioning that this invention can use a configuration of conductive springs and conductive rings to transmit TX signals to the control circuit board. For example, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the stylus device 10 can also include a conductive spring 34. The conductive spring 34 is sleeved on the pen tip holder 32 and electrically connected to the control circuit board 18 via a first transmission line 36. In this way, the pen tip 30, the pen tip holder 32, the conductive spring 34 and the first transmission line 36 can form a transmitting electrode for transmitting TX1 signals to establish capacitive coupling between the stylus device 10 and the touch device, thereby obtaining the touch coordinates of the stylus device 10 on the touch plane of the touch device. Furthermore, the stylus device 10 may also include a conductive ring 38, which wraps around the conductive spring 34 and is electrically connected to the control circuit board 18 via a second transmission line 40. The conductive ring 38 and the second transmission line 40 can form a transmitting electrode for transmitting the TX2 signal to establish capacitive coupling between the stylus device 10 and the touch device. More precise touch information (such as the tilt angle of the pen tip 30 on the touch plane) can be obtained through drive signals of different phases or frequencies (TX1/TX2 signals), thereby enabling more different touch operations (such as using the tilt angle of the pen tip 30 to change the width of the written text), improving the ease of operation and application flexibility of the stylus device 10.

In addition, in practical applications, this invention can also adopt a skeleton fixing design. For example, as shown in Figure 1, the stylus device 10 can also include a stylus skeleton 42. The stylus skeleton 42 covers the conductive spring 34, the pen tip holder 32 and the circuit board 14, and the conductive ring 38 is sleeved on the outside of the stylus skeleton 42. In this way, the pen tip holder 32, the conductive spring 34 and the conductive ring 38 can be more stably set inside the pen shell 12. Furthermore, the pen refill holder 32 can be movably inserted into the pen frame 42 and preferably spaced apart from the pen frame 42 by a distance G (but not limited to this). In this way, through the above-mentioned spacing design, the pen refill holder 32 can slide more smoothly in the pen shell 12, and can also effectively avoid the situation where the pen refill holder 32 comes into contact with the pen frame 42 during the sliding process (this situation will cause the force transmission of the pen refill 30 to the circuit board 14 through the pen refill holder 32 to be damaged, which will affect the degree of bending deformation of the circuit board 14, and thus cause the pressure sensing element 16 to be inaccurate), thereby further improving the pressure-sensitive touch accuracy of the stylus device 10.

10: Stylus device 12: Pen casing 14: Circuit board 16: Pressure sensing element 18: Control circuit board 20: Pen refill module 22: Pen tip 24: Pen body 26: Pad 28: Relief notch 30: Pen refill 32: Pen refill holder 34: Conductive spring 36: First transmission line 38: Conductive ring 40: Second transmission line 42: Pen frame L: Central axis S1: Contact surface S2: Circuit connection surface G: Spacing

Figure 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a stylus device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the circuit connection of the stylus device in Figure 1.

10: Stylus Device

12: Pen casing

14: Circuit board

16: Pressure sensing element

18: Control Circuit Board

20: Pen refill module

22: Pen tip

24: Pen body

26: Pad

28: Relief notch

30: Pen refill

32: Pen refill holder

34: Conductive Spring

36: First Transmission Line

38: Conductive ring

40: Second Transmission Line

42: Pen frame

L: Central axis

S1: Contact surface

S2: Circuit connection surface

G: Spacing

Claims (10)

A stylus device includes: a pen casing having a pen tip and a pen body; a circuit board disposed within the pen body and having an abutment surface facing the pen tip and an electrical connection surface opposite to the abutment surface; a pressure sensing element disposed on the electrical connection surface; a control circuit board electrically connected to the pressure sensing element via the electrical connection surface; and a pen refill module disposed within the pen casing, the pen refill module including a pen refill and a pen refill holder, the pen refill being detachably inserted into the pen refill holder and partially protruding from the pen tip, the pen refill holder being movably disposed within the pen body and abutting against the abutment surface; When the pen refill is pressed, the pressure sensing element detects the bending deformation of the circuit board caused by the pressure applied by the pen refill holder, and sends a pressure signal to the control circuit board. The stylus device as described in claim 1, wherein the pen tip, the pen tip holder, the circuit board, the pressure sensing element, and the control circuit board are aligned with each other along one of the central axes of the pen casing. The stylus device as described in claim 1, wherein the circuit board further has a plurality of pads, and the control circuit board is connected to the plurality of pads for electrical connection to the circuit board. The stylus device as described in claim 3, wherein the control circuit board is connected to the plurality of pads by solder butt or flexible circuit board connection. The stylus device as described in claim 3, wherein the control circuit board and the circuit board are perpendicular to each other. The stylus device as described in claim 1, wherein the control circuit board has a recessed notch corresponding to the position of the pressure sensing element. The stylus device as described in claim 1 further includes: a conductive spring sleeved on the pen tip holder and electrically connected to the control circuit board via a first transmission line. The stylus device as described in claim 7 further includes: a conductive ring that surrounds the conductive spring and is electrically connected to the control circuit board via a second transmission line. The stylus device as described in claim 8 further includes a stylus frame that covers the conductive spring, the pen tip holder, and the circuit board, and the conductive ring is sleeved on the stylus frame. The stylus device as described in claim 9, wherein the pen lead holder is movably inserted into the pen frame and spaced apart from the pen frame by a distance.