Directional force sensing for styli

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9372553-B2
Application number	US-201213545671-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2012
Priority date	Jul 10, 2012
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

The stylus directional force sensing technique described herein employs a directional tip sensor which measures the magnitude and direction of force applied to a stylus tip. This information is then used to control the behavior of the stylus in an application. In one embodiment, this simple design only measures the stylus angle when the tip is actually pressing on the surface. This has the added benefit of reducing power requirements and computational complexity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented process for determining a stylus's angle and pressure relative to a surface comprising:
using a computing device for:
measuring a directional force vector to the tip of the stylus using a first plate mounted to the tip of the stylus, a second plate firmly mounted to the body of the stylus, and two or more force sensors floatingly connecting the first plate to the second plate;
using the measured directional force vector to determine the direction and force of the stylus relative to the surface; and
using the determined direction and force of the stylus to control the output of the stylus in an application.

2. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein using the measured directional force vector to determine the force of the stylus relative to the surface, comprises:
determining the total force applied to the stylus tip relative to the surface as the sum of the forces measured from two or more force sensors measuring the total force to the tip of the stylus.

3. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein using the measured directional force vector to determine the angle of the stylus relative to the surface, comprises:
using the relative values of forces measured from two or more force sensors measuring the force to the tip of the stylus.

4. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein the magnitude of the total force and the direction of the force are measured only when the stylus tip is pressing on the surface.

5. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein the directional force vector is used to determine the rotation of the stylus.

6. A system for measuring the magnitude and direction of a force applied to a stylus tip to a surface, comprising:
a stylus tip mounted to a first plate;
a second plate firmly mounted to the body of the stylus;
three force sensors floatingly connecting the first plate to the second plate; and
a fourth force sensor mounted inside the tip of the stylus; and
a sensor module for determining the total force applied to the stylus tip relative to the surface, and the direction of the force applied to the stylus tip relative to the surface from measurements received from the force sensors.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the sensor module determines the direction of force applied to the stylus tip using measurements from the three force sensors floatingly connected to the first and second plates.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the sensor module determines the rotation of the stylus tip using measurements from the three force sensors floatingly connected to the first and second plates and the measurements from the force sensor inside the tip of the stylus.

9. The system of claim 6 , further comprising an application to use the determined total force and direction of the force applied to the stylus tip to control the output of the stylus.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the sensors are displacement sensors.

11. The system of claim 6 wherein the sensors are force sensors.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the sensors are elastomeric force sensors.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the force sensors are capacitive force sensors.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the force sensors are force sensitive resistors.

15. The system of claim 6 wherein the total force is measured only when the stylus tip is pressing on the surface.

16. The system of claim 6 wherein the direction of the force is measured only when the stylus tip is pressing on the surface.

17. A system for measuring the magnitude and direction of a force applied to a stylus tip to a surface, comprising:
a stylus tip mounted to a first plate;
a second plate firmly mounted to the body of the stylus;
two or more force sensors floatingly connecting the first plate to the second plate; and
a sensor module for determining the total force applied to the stylus tip from the surface and the direction of the force applied to the stylus tip from the surface from measurements received from the two or more force sensors.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the sensor module determines the total force applied to the stylus tip as the sum of the forces measured from the force sensors.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the sensor module determines the direction of the force applied to the stylus tip from the surface from the relative values measured by the force sensors.

20. The system of claim 16 , further comprising an application to use the determined total force and direction of the force applied to the stylus tip to control the output of the stylus.

Assignees

• Dietz Paul Henry
• Trutna Tristan Thomas
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Dietz Paul Henry
• Trutna Tristan Thomas

Classifications

• G06F3/03545 Primary

  Pens or stylus · CPC title