Claims
- 1. A pen for writing encoded lines, comprising:
a writing pen body having a writing end; an ink reservoir in the body; a data and logic processing unit in the body that includes memory with identification data; an ink jet writing head in the body in fluid communication with the reservoir, and in control communication with the processing unit; a global positioning system receiver in the body in data communication with the processing unit; a stylus extending from the writing end of the body with a pressure transducer in signal communication with the processing unit for sensing pressure on the stylus; and logic in the data and logic processing unit that organizes data from the global positioning system receiver and the memory, and causes the processing unit to send a data stream to the writing head that produces a line of ink on the writing surface with embedded information encoded in the form of line segments of at least two different lengths, creating an encoded line.
- 2. The pen of claim 1, further including an optical motion sensor in the writing end of the body, in data communication with the processing unit, that senses motion of the writing end of the body relative to a writing surface in contact with the stylus; and wherein the logic in the processing unit causes the data stream to be transmitted to the writing head at a rate proportional to the speed of motion of the writing end of the body relative to a writing surface in contact with the stylus.
- 3. A pen for writing encoded lines, comprising:
a writing pen body having a writing end; an ink reservoir in the pen body; a data and logic processing unit in the body that includes memory; identification data in the memory that uniquely identifies the pen; an event counter in memory that uniquely identifies a usage of the pen; an internal clock in the processing unit that provides timestamp data to the processing unit; an ink jet writing head in the pen body in fluid communication with the reservoir, and in control communication with the processing unit; a global positioning system receiver in the pen body that provides the current geographic location of the pen to the processing unit; a stylus extending from the writing end of the body with a pressure transducer in signal communication with the processing unit for sensing pressure on the stylus; an optical motion sensor in the writing end of the body, in data communication with the processing unit, that senses motion of the writing end of the body relative to a writing surface in contact with the stylus; compilation logic in the data and logic processing unit that organizes input data and signals from the global positioning system receiver, the stylus, and the motion sensor, along with the identification data, event counter, and timestamp, and causes the processing unit to send a control data stream to the writing head that produces a line of ink on the writing surface with embedded information encoded in the form of line segments of at least two different lengths; and signaling rate control logic in the processing unit that causes the data stream to be transmitted to the writing head at a signaling rate proportional to the speed of motion of the writing end of the body relative to a writing surface in contact with the stylus.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 60/353,611 filed Feb. 1, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60353611 |
Feb 2002 |
US |