Active stylus

Abstract

The application provides an active stylus, which comprises a pen barrel, a pen core module, a control module and an elastic member. The pen core module is arranged in the pen barrel and has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, and the first end extends out of the pen barrel. The control module is arranged in the pen barrel and has a pressure sensing element. The elastic member is assembled to the control module and the pen core module, wherein the elastic force of the elastic member constantly drives the second end of the pen core module to abut against the pressure sensing element seamlessly.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to an active stylus. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the progress and development of technology, there are various electronic devices on the market that use touch panels or touch pads as operation interfaces. Users usually operate the touch panel with their fingers. However, when sliding the finger on the touch panel, the wide contact area of the finger causes too much friction, which is not suitable for mass or rapid input. In addition, the finger may also cause accidental touch. Therefore, a touch pen has been invented.

[0003] The existing touch pen can be divided into active and passive types. The active touch pen sends signals from the signal transmission circuit in the pen to the corresponding touch panel (or touch pad) to determine the coordinates of the touched position and the touch pressure.

[0004] Generally speaking, the existing active touch pen uses a conductive rubber on the pen core, and the conductive rubber is pressed against the pressure sensing element. When the pressure is applied, the conductive rubber deforms and changes the capacitance value or resistance value of the pressure sensing element, thereby generating a touch pressure signal. However, due to the material properties of the conductive rubber, it often faces the situation of insufficient deformation. Therefore, when using conductive rubber, there is usually an idle stroke in the touch pressure action path of the pen core to ensure that the deformation of the conductive rubber is sufficient to generate the above-mentioned capacitance value change or resistance value change. However, this causes poor collapse feeling when the user operates, and the existence of idle stroke also means that the components are loosely arranged rather than compactly arranged, which can adversely affect the overall structural strength. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application is directed to an active stylus, which through compact component arrangement, can eliminate unnecessary idle stroke when the pen core is pressed.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present application, an active stylus includes a pen barrel, a pen core module, a control module, and an elastic member. The pen core module is arranged in the pen barrel and has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, and the first end extends out of the pen barrel. The control module is arranged in the pen barrel and has a pressure sensing element. The elastic member is assembled to the control module and the pen core module, wherein the elastic force of the elastic member constantly drives the second end of the pen core module to seamlessly abut against the pressure sensing element.

[0007] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the direction of the elastic force is consistent with the direction of the pressure applied to the pressure sensing element.

[0008] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the refill module includes a main body, an abutting member, and a buffer member. The main body has the first end described above. The abutting member is movably inserted into the main body, and the abutting member has the second end described above. The buffer member is abutted between the main body and the abutting member.

[0009] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the main body has a convex rib, and the coil portion of the elastic member is sleeved on the main body and abutted on the convex rib.

[0010] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the abutting member is a hard structure.

[0011] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the elastic member has a coil portion and a rod portion. The coil portion is sleeved on the refill module and located between the first end and the second end. The rod portion extends from the coil portion and is electrically connected to the control module.

[0012] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the control module further has a circuit board. The pressure sensing element is arranged on the circuit board. The rod portion of the elastic member is welded to the circuit board.

[0013] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the circuit board has an opening and a contact pad arranged in the opening. The bending of the rod portion sinks into and is supported in the opening and is welded to the contact pad.

[0014] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the coil portion is located in the length range of the projection of the rod portion on the refill module.

[0015] In the active stylus according to the embodiment of the present application, the refill module and the elastic member are respectively conductive, and the refill module is electrically connected to the control module through the elastic member.

[0016] Based on the above, the active stylus is assembled to the control module and the refill module through the elastic member. The elastic force of the elastic member constantly drives the second end of the refill module to abut on the pressure sensing element seamlessly. Thus, the pressure sensing element of the refill module and the control module is in a compact arrangement in a structural abutment. In this way, during the touch pressure operation of the active stylus, there is no idle stroke between the pressure sensing element of the refill module and the control module as required by the conventional conductive rubber. This enables the active stylus to produce a direct touch pressure reaction with a more direct touch pressure action, thereby avoiding the user from feeling the bad feeling of the refill collapsing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic view of an active stylus according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Figure 2 is Figure 1Exploded view of some components of an active stylus.

[0019] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A partial schematic diagram of the active stylus.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a partial schematic diagram of an active stylus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0021] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same element symbols are used in the drawings and description to denote the same or similar parts.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an active stylus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 yes Figure 1 An exploded view of some components of the active stylus. Please also refer to... Figure 1 and Figure 2 In this embodiment, the active stylus 100 includes a pen barrel 110, a pen tip module 120, a control module 130, an elastic element 140, and a battery 150. The pen tip module 120 is disposed within the pen barrel 110 and has a first end E1 and a second end E2 facing each other, with the first end E1 extending out of the pen barrel 110. The control module 130 is disposed within the pen barrel 110 and has a pressure-sensitive element 131. The elastic element 140 is assembled to the control module 130 and the pen tip module 120, wherein the elastic force of the elastic element 140 constantly drives the second end E2 of the pen tip module 120 to seamlessly abut against the pressure-sensitive element 131.

[0023] Furthermore, the pen refill module 120 includes a main body 121, an abutment 122, and a buffer 123. The main body 121 has the aforementioned first end E1. The abutment 122 is movably inserted into the main body 121, and the abutment 122 has the aforementioned second end E2. The buffer 123 abuts between the main body 121 and the abutment 122.

[0024] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A partial schematic diagram of the active stylus is shown below. Some parts of the stylus 110 are omitted here, but the relative relationships of the control module 130, the pen tip module 120, and the elastic element 140 within the stylus 110 can be more clearly identified. Please also refer to... Figure 2 and Figure 3 In this embodiment, the main body 121 includes a pen refill 121a and a retainer 121b. The pen refill 121a is inserted into the retainer 121b. The buffer 123 is, for example, an O-ring made of rubber. The abutment 122 is bolt-shaped, and its rod passes through the O-ring and is movably inserted into the retainer 121b opposite to the pen refill 121a.

[0025] Furthermore, the elastic member 140 has a coil portion 141 and a rod portion 142. The coil portion 141 is sleeved on the retaining member 121b of the main body 121 of the refill module 120 and is located between the first end E1 and the second end E2. The rod portion 142 extends from the coil portion 141 and is electrically connected to the control module 130. Here, the control module 130 further includes a circuit board 132 (and electronic elements thereon), which is carried in the internal structure of the pen barrel 110, and the pressure-sensitive element 131 is arranged (and electrically connected) on the circuit board 132 to correspond to the refill module 120. The circuit board 132 has an opening and a contact pad 132a arranged in the opening. One end of the rod portion 142 of the elastic member 140 continues from the coil portion 141, and the other end forms a bend 143, which is sunk and supported in the opening and welded to the contact pad 132a. The illustration of the welding material is omitted here to clearly identify the corresponding relationship between the rod portion 142 and the contact pad 132a in the opening. At the same time, the refill module 120 and the elastic member 140 are respectively conductive, so that the refill module 120 can be electrically connected to the control module 130 through the elastic member 140. Here, one side of the circuit board 132 relative to the refill module 120 is electrically connected to the battery 150 also arranged in the pen barrel 110 (indicated in Figure 1 ).

[0026] In this way, when the user operates the active stylus 100, the refill module 120 will bear different degrees of pressure with different writing postures and handwriting, and directly bear and sense the pressure from the abutting member 122 through the pressure-sensitive element 131. The operation processing unit (for example, a processor arranged on the circuit board 132, which is not shown here) of the control module 130 is used to receive the electrical signal transmitted by the pressure-sensitive element 131, calculate the size of the tip pressure, and convert it into the corresponding pressure order. Then, different pressure orders are converted into different frequencies or digital signals, and the above-mentioned frequencies or signals are converted into the voltage required by the refill module 120 through the voltage conversion unit (not shown) on the circuit board 132, and then transmitted to the refill module 120 through the bend 143, the rod portion 142 of the elastic member 140, the coil portion 141, and the pen barrel 110, so as to be sent to the touch panel (or touch pad) to form corresponding handwriting.

[0027] It is worth mentioning that, in this embodiment, the pressure-sensitive element 131 is a digital output pressure-sensitive element formed by a capacitive MEMS structure, which has excellent sensitivity (700 lsb / N), resolution (0.14 g / lsb), and linearity (less than 1%) in the force range of 0-10N. Accordingly, the pressure-sensitive element 131 can directly react to and sense extremely small external pressure forces. Furthermore, since the contact member 122 of the pen refill module 120 is a rigid structure, it can directly react to the pressure borne by the pen refill module 120 at the first end E1, avoiding the empty stroke mentioned in the aforementioned technology. In other words, the pen refill module 120 of this embodiment can sense pressure through the pressure of the rigid structure, without worrying about the sensing error caused by the deformation of conventional conductive rubber. The aforementioned rigid structure refers to the fact that the contact member 122 of the pen refill module 120 will not deform during the operation and pressure of the active stylus 100, thus distinguishing it from conventional conductive rubber.

[0028] More importantly, such as Figure 3 As shown, the coil portion 141 of the elastic member 140, projected onto the pen refill module 120 by its orthographic projection L2, is located within the length range of the rod portion 142 projected onto the pen refill module 120 by its orthographic projection L1 (for ease of identification, the orthographic projections L1 and L2 are marked outside the components). That is, starting from the bend 143 of the elastic member 140 and moving towards... Figure 3 After passing through the rod section 142 on the left, the coil section 141 is essentially moving in the opposite direction (towards) Figure 3 The pen tip module 120 is wound and extended (on the right) until it abuts against the protruding rib 121c provided on the retaining member 121b. In this way, the elastic force F1 applied by the elastic member 140 to the pen tip module 120 is consistent with the pressure direction of the pressure-sensitive element 131, so as to achieve a compact configuration of the components, which is the aforementioned effect of "the second end E2 of the constantly driven pen tip module 120 seamlessly abutting against the pressure-sensitive element 131". Furthermore, under the driving premise of the elastic force applied by the elastic member 140, since the buffer member 123 is sandwiched between the abutting member 122 and the retaining member 121b of the main body 121, the buffering effect provided by it further ensures that the abutting member 122 can seamlessly abut against the pressure-sensitive element 131. At the same time, its buffering effect can also absorb more of the impact force generated when the active stylus 100 is dropped from a height, so as to significantly reduce the risk of the pen tip module 120 breaking due to the drop.

[0029] Figure 4 This is a partial schematic diagram of an active stylus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to... Figure 4 , and Figure 3The embodiments shown are similar, except that the refill module 220 of the active stylus 200 of the present embodiment is in an integrated structure, in which Figure 4 The sequence from left to right is the refill A1, the holding portion A3, the protruding rib A4, and the abutting portion A2. The refill A1, the holding portion A3, and the protruding rib A4 are the same as the aforementioned refill 121a, the holding member 121b, and the protruding rib 121c, so the configuration of the separate members of the aforementioned abutting member 122 and the buffer member 123 is changed to the integrated structure of the present embodiment. At the same time, because the pressure sensing element 131 has the aforementioned ability to directly react to and sense very small external pressure, the refill module 220 can be regarded as a rigid body, and the refill module 220 can also directly transmit the pressure of the active stylus 200 when the stylus is operated to press to the pressure sensing element 131.

[0030] In summary, in the aforementioned embodiments of the present application, the active stylus is assembled to the control module and the refill module by the elastic member, and the elastic force of the elastic member is used to drive the second end of the refill module to abut against the pressure sensing element seamlessly, so that the pressure sensing element of the control module and the refill module are in a compact configuration in which the structures abut against each other.

[0031] In the present embodiment, because the direction of the elastic force applied to the refill module by the elastic member is consistent with the direction in which the pressure sensing element is pressed, the elastic force can effectively abut the refill module, and particularly the abutting member, against the pressure sensing element effectively and seamlessly. In this way, in addition to the fact that the pressure of the refill module when the stylus is operated to press can be directly reacted (transmitted) to the pressure sensing element, the user does not need to provide additional force to resist the elastic force of the elastic member when operating the stylus, so that the user can save effort.

[0032] Accordingly, during the pressing operation of the active stylus, there is no idle stroke between the refill module and the pressure sensing element of the control module, which is required for the known conductive rubber. This allows the active stylus to produce a direct pressing reaction with a more direct pressing action, and avoids the user feeling the undesirable feeling of the refill collapsing.

[0033] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the above embodiments can still be modified, or some or all of the technical features can be replaced by equivalents; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. An active stylus, characterized by, The utility model relates to a pen, comprising: a pen barrel; a refill module disposed in the pen barrel, the refill module having a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the first end extending out of the pen barrel; a control module disposed in the pen barrel, the control module having a pressure-sensitive element; and a resilient member assembled to the control module and the refill module, and the resilient force of the resilient member constantly drives the second end of the refill module to abut against the pressure-sensitive element seamlessly, the refill module comprising: a main body having the first end; an abutting member movably inserted into the main body, the abutting member having the second end; and a buffer member abutting between the main body and the abutting member, the main body having a convex rib, a coil portion of the resilient member being sleeved on the main body and abutting against the convex rib, the resilient member having a coil portion and a rod portion, the coil portion being sleeved on a coil driving portion extending out of and electrically connected to the control module, the coil portion being within the length range of the rod portion in the orthographic projection of the refill module. The direction of the resilient force is consistent with the direction of the pressure of the pressure-sensitive element.

2. The active stylus of claim 1, wherein, The abutting member is a hard structure.

3. The active stylus of claim 1, wherein The control module further has a circuit board, the pressure-sensitive element being arranged on the circuit board, and the rod portion of the resilient member being welded to the circuit board.

4. The active stylus of claim 1, wherein The circuit board has an opening and a contact pad arranged in the opening, the rod portion being bent and supported in the opening and welded to the contact pad.

5. The active stylus of claim 4, wherein, The refill module and the resilient member are respectively conductive, and the refill module is electrically connected to the control module through the resilient member.

6. The active stylus of claim 1, wherein, ​

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