Low-power and low-frequency data transmission for stylus and associated signal processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11079862-B2
Application number	US-201916459342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 1, 2019
Priority date	Aug 18, 2014
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

A stylus includes a timer; a signal generator coupled to a stylus tip; a switch; and a controller comprising one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying logic. The logic is operable when executed to: in response to the switch of the stylus being ON, initiate the signal generator to generate a signal having a pre-determined frequency and a pre-determined voltage from the stylus tip, and activate the timer, and stop the generating of the signal when a timing of the activated timer reaches a pre-determined threshold.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A stylus comprising:
a timer;
a signal generator coupled to a stylus tip;
a switch; and
a controller comprising one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying logic that is operable when executed to:
in response to the switch being ON, initiate the signal generator to generate a signal having a pre-determined frequency and a pre-determined voltage from the stylus tip, and activate the timer, wherein the signal generator and the timer are electronically connected and the generation of the signal and the activation of the timer are simultaneously triggered by the switch being ON, and
stop the generating of the signal when a timing of the activated timer reaches a pre-determined threshold.

2. The stylus of claim 1 , wherein the switch comprises a mechanical element located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

3. The stylus of claim 2 , wherein the switch comprises one or more of:
a mechanical button;
a mechanical switch; and
a mechanical slider.

4. The stylus of claim 1 , wherein the logic is operable to:
determine that the switch is not ON; and
disable the signal generator from generating the signal based on the determination that the switch is not ON.

5. The stylus of claim 1 , wherein:
the signal generator comprises an oscillator; and
the signal is 20V to 30V and 16 kHz.

6. The stylus of claim 1 , comprising a power source.

7. The stylus of claim 1 , wherein the switch comprises a touch sensitive surface located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

8. The stylus of claim 1 , wherein the signal is greater than 20V.

9. The stylus of claim 8 , wherein the signal is less than 30V.

10. A stylus controller comprising:
one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying logic that is operable when executed to:
in response to a switch of a stylus being ON, initiate generation of a signal having a pre-determined frequency and a pre-determined voltage from a tip of the stylus, and activate a timer of the stylus, wherein the generation of the signal and the activation of the timer are simultaneously triggered by the switch being ON, and
stop the generation of the signal when a timing of the activated timer reaches a pre-determined threshold.

11. The stylus controller of claim 10 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises a mechanical element located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

12. The stylus controller of claim 11 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises one or more of:
a mechanical button;
a mechanical switch; and
a mechanical slider.

13. The stylus controller of claim 10 , wherein the logic is operable to:
determine that the switch of the stylus is not ON; and
disable the generation of the signal based on the determination that the switch of the stylus is not ON.

14. The stylus controller of claim 10 , wherein the stylus comprises a power source.

15. The stylus controller of claim 10 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises a touch sensitive surface located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

16. The stylus controller of claim 10 , wherein the signal is less than 30V.

17. The stylus controller of claim 16 , wherein the signal is greater than 20V.

18. A method executed by a stylus, the method comprising:
in response to a switch of the stylus being ON, initiating generation of a signal having a pre-determined frequency and a pre-determined voltage from a tip of the stylus, and activating a timer of the stylus, wherein the generation of the signal and the activation of the tinier are simultaneously triggered by the switch being ON, and
stopping the generation of the signal when a timing of the activated timer reaches a pre-determined threshold.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises a mechanical element located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises one or more of:
a mechanical button;
a mechanical switch; and
a mechanical slider.

21. The method of claim 18 , comprising:
determining that the switch of the stylus is not ON; and
disabling the generation of the signal based on the determination that the switch of the stylus is not ON.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the stylus comprises a power source.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the signal is 20V to 30V and 16 kHz.

24. The method of claim 18 , wherein the switch of the stylus comprises a touch sensitive surface located on an exterior surface of the stylus.

Assignees

• Wacom Co Ltd

Inventors

• Brunet Samuel
• Collins Richard
• Hristov Luben

Classifications

• G06F2203/04108

  Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction · CPC title

• G06F3/0446

  using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title

• G06F1/3228

  Monitoring task completion, e.g. by use of idle timers, stop commands or wait commands · CPC title

• G06F3/03545 Primary

  Pens or stylus · CPC title