Patent Application
20180224979
The invention relates to input device, in particular to a dual input device allowing input through a keyboard or by handwriting on a display screen thereof.
A keyboard is the most commonly used input device. A keyboard can input English letters, numbers, punctuation and other characters to the computer to command the computer to enter data, but it is inconvenient for those who do not have good typing skills or who do not know input methods, such as Pinyin input method for entering Chinese characters. They need to use handwriting and other auxiliary input tools instead of the keyboard.
As the keyboard and the handwriting pad are two separate devices, the keyboard can only process keystrokes for text editing and the handwriting pad can only accept hand-written text on the writing pad. It takes up space to have both devices, and it is not easy to carry them around.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a dual input device, which eliminates the inconvenience of having both the keyboard and writing pad for a computer or other electronic devices.
The dual input device of the present application comprises a keyboard on the front side, a display screen on the back side, an electromagnetic touch panel and its control circuit between the keyboard and the display screen. The keyboard, the display screen and the electromagnetic touch panel are respectively connected with the control circuit. The control circuit comprises a direction control circuit for controlling the on-off of the keyboard, the display screen and the electromagnetic touch panel.
In the input device according to the present application, the display screen and the electromagnetic touch panel are integrated on the back of the keyboard, and the user can normally use the keyboard on the front side for input. When the user needs to do input by handwriting, he/she uses the touch display screen on the back side, while a direction control circuit controls the On/Off of the traditional keyboard and the touch screen. The combination input device effectively save space, and is convenient for users to carry around. In addition, the electromagnetic touch technology can let user see their writing on the display screen, and save the original writing.
The control circuit may further comprise a microcontroller which is connected to the keyboard, the display screen and the electromagnetic touch panel, respectively. The direction control circuit is connected to the microcontroller as well.
In this technical scheme, the microcontroller in the control circuit realizes the control of the current on/off among the keyboard, the display screen and the electromagnetic touch panel. Furthermore, the microcontroller comprises a storage module to keep the original handwriting, so that the user can write on the screen as fast as possible, without any concerns about errors that may occur in the recognition process to interrupt the writing.
Further preferably, the control circuit also comprises a wireless transmission module, which is connected to the microcontroller. In this technical scheme, it is simple and convenient to transmit the input data to a smart device such as a computer or a mobile phone.
One more advantage is that on top of the display screen a gripper may be disposed for holding a writing paper sheet.
In this technical solution, it is possible to carry out rapid writing on paper, and transmit it to a smart device such as a computer or a mobile phone to save the original handwriting. People can save their original handwriting in the computer or phone memory instead of on paper, for example, they can write the bank signature on the device and save the original handwriting. This way, less paper will be used.
Below is provided a brief description of the drawings for explaining the dual input device of the present application in more detail.
10—dual input device of the present application
120—front side of the input device
121—back side of the input device
122—lateral side of the input device
123—writing paper
124—display screen
125—electromagnetic touch panel
126—microcontroller
127—direction control circuit
128—keyboard
129—gripper or groove for holding paper
As shown in the lateral view of the input device 10 in
When the input device 10 is placed with the keyboard 128 facing up, the input device 10 operates in the normal keyboard input mode. The direction control circuit 127 will send a high/low level control signal to the microcontroller 126, and the microcontroller 126 sets the keyboard 128 in the operative state while keeping the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 in the non-operative state, namely, keeping the output port of the keyboard 128 operative only. At this moment, as long as the input device 10 is connected with the computer, the keyboard input function will be in operation.
Conversely, the input device 10 operates in the handwriting input mode when the input device 10 is placed with the front side 120 facing down. In this mode, the direction control circuit 127 will send a high/low level control signal to the microcontroller 126, whereby the microcontroller 126 sets the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 in the operative state, and when the user writes on the display screen 124 (e.g. by a stylus), the electromagnetic touch panel 125 converts the handwriting strokes and intensity into digital data to transfer to the microcontroller 126, the microcontroller 126 then transfers the data to the display screen 124 to display it. The display screen 124 displays the handwriting in real time. In addition, if the input device 10 remains connected to an electronic device such as a computer, the handwriting input data can be transferred to the device. Of course, if the input device 10 is not connected with a device during writing, the display screen 124, after recording the handwritten text, may then send the recorded text via wireless transmission to a device to store the original handwriting.
In one embodiment, the low level control signal controls the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 to be in the non-operative state. On the other hand, a high level control signal controls the input device 10 to operate in the normal keyboard input mode. When the keyboard 128 on the front side 120 is in operation, the direction control circuit 127 (as shown in
In the above, the direction control circuit 127 controls the on/off of the keyboard 128, the display screen 124, and the electromagnetic touch panel 125 by switching to the power source and the ground terminal. In an alternative embodiment, the direction control circuit 127 may create the direction control command to control the on-off of the keyboard 128, the display screen 124 and the electromagnetic touch panel 125. For example, the input device 10 operates in the normal keyboard input mode, i.e. when the input device 10 is placed with the keyboard 128 facing up, the direction control circuit 127 outputs a direction control command to the microcontroller 126, whereby the microcontroller 126 sets the keyboard 128 to be in the operative state, while controlling the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 to be in the non-operative state. Namely, only out port of the keyboard 128 is operative. As long as the input device 10 keeps the connection with an electronic device such as a computer, the keyboard 128 will remain in the input mode, and the input data will be transmitted to the electronic device.
A further improved embodiment is shown in
In this embodiment of the present application, the normal operation mode of the keyboard 128 and the handwriting input mode through the display screen 124 are the same as those described above and will not be described again here. In the following, the difference in the operation of the writing paper sheet 123 will be described.
In operation, first place the writing paper 123 directly above the display screen 124, the high/low level control signal is provided to the microcontroller 126 by the direction control circuit 127, whereby the microcontroller 126 sets the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 in the operative state, so that when the pen is written on the writing paper 123, the electromagnetic touch panel 125 collects and transmits the data corresponding to the handwriting on the writing paper 123 to the microcontroller 126 and the microcontroller 126 then transfers the original handwriting on the writing paper 123 to the display screen 124 to be displayed on the display screen 124. This way, the handwriting input is displayed on the display screen 124 in real time. At this time, if the input device 10 is connected with a smart electronic device such as a computer, the handwriting contents on the writing paper 123 will be simultaneously displayed on the display screen 124 of the input device 10 and on the display of the smart electronic device, thereby realizing the synchronous display of the handwriting. Of course, if the keyboard is not connected with the smart device during the writing process, the contents of the writing paper sheet 123 and the display screen 124 may be transferred to the smart device afterward. After receiving the contents of the writing paper 123 and the display panel 124, the smart device, such as a computer, stores the original handwriting.
In another embodiment of the input device 10, the high level control signal controls the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 to be in the non-operative state, and the low level control signal controls the keyboard 128 in the operative state. The input device 10 operates in the handwriting input mode, i.e. when the input device 10 is placed with the back side 121 up during operation, a high level control signal is provided through the direction control circuit 127 in the control circuit to the microcontroller 126 to control the keyboard 128 to be in the non-operative state, and a low level control signal is provided to the microcontroller 126 to control the electromagnetic touch panel 125 and the display screen 124 to be in an operative state, thereby maintaining the output ports of the display screen 124 and the electromagnetic touch panel 125 operative for a handwriting function.
In the input device 10 shown in
Based on the above description, the dual input device 10 according to the present invention has a writing function display screen (LCD), an electromagnetic touch panel, a notebook (writing paper) and a wireless transmission module, namely, the dual input device is a four-in-one input device. With this input device, a user who types slowly, when asked to quickly record the text, no longer needs to constantly tap the keyboard and learn complicated input method; he/she can just pick up the pen and write on the LCD screen on the back side of the dual input device or on a sheet of writing paper attached to the back side of the input device, and the original handwriting will be saved directly to the computer or other smart devices, or be directly sent to the relevant personnel. For banks and other institutions, signature can be directly signed on the display screen on the back side of the input device and the original handwriting signature will be saved without the need to save the signature on paper, thus saving time, labor and cost.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201720113538.2 | Feb 2017 | CN | national |
