AU596904B2 - Creation of Inventions and Patents with Artificial Intelligence

AU596904B2 – Information input sheet
– Google Patents

AU596904B2 – Information input sheet
– Google Patents
Information input sheet

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Publication number
AU596904B2

AU596904B2
AU20056/88A
AU2005688A
AU596904B2
AU 596904 B2
AU596904 B2
AU 596904B2
AU 20056/88 A
AU20056/88 A
AU 20056/88A
AU 2005688 A
AU2005688 A
AU 2005688A
AU 596904 B2
AU596904 B2
AU 596904B2
Authority
AU
Australia
Prior art keywords
sheet
information input
insulators
conductive
resistive layer
Prior art date
1987-07-31
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)

Expired

Application number
AU20056/88A
Other versions

AU2005688A
(en

Inventor
Masafumi Moriwaki
Shigeaki Sano
Eiichi Tanaka
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)

Toppan Edge Inc

Original Assignee
Toppan Moore Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
1987-07-31
Filing date
1988-07-27
Publication date
1990-05-17

1988-07-27
Application filed by Toppan Moore Co Ltd
filed
Critical
Toppan Moore Co Ltd

1989-03-02
Publication of AU2005688A
publication
Critical
patent/AU2005688A/en

1990-05-17
Application granted
granted
Critical

1990-05-17
Publication of AU596904B2
publication
Critical
patent/AU596904B2/en

2008-07-27
Anticipated expiration
legal-status
Critical

Status
Expired
legal-status
Critical
Current

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Classifications

G—PHYSICS

G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING

G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING

G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements

G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer

G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form

G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means

G06F3/045—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Description

COMMONWALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 19%2 o* r~ NAME ADDRESS ced,”et’n OF APPLICANT: &v nt Toppan Moore Company, Ltd. -rc o 6 Kandasurugadai 1-chome Chiyoda-ku Tokyo Japan, NAME(S) OF INVENTrOR(S): Masafumi MORIWAKI Shigeaki SANO Elichi TANAKA ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLUISON Patent Attorneys if 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTILED: Information~ input sheet The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performdig it known to mne/us:- 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the 4 structure of an information input sheet, and more D particularly to an information input sheet to be o 5 mounted on the information input board of a handwritten 0000 on information input terminal by which the information 0o o regarding a coordinate position of the sheet where a pressure is being applied can be detected.
o0 A system wherein handwritten characters, 0 00 0 *0 10 marks, figures and the like are read in real time by a handwritten information input terminal, and the read-out information is sent to a memory and processor apparatus such as a computer to efficiently handle 00 business matters, has now been popularized.
Various types of such a handwritten information input terminal have been proposed. Generally, handwritten information, characters are detected from the coordinate positions of the characters. In particular, a flexible conductive sheet is placed upon a resistive substrate with insulating spacers interposed therebetween. As a character is written with a pen on the conductive sheet, the pen pressure forces the conductive sheet to deform and contact the resistive substrate. Electric leads are connected to the horizontal and vertical side edges of the 2 r 1 resistive substrate and to the conductive sheet to measure the resistance values at the pen position in the horizontal and vertical directions. The coordinate values of the pen position on the conductive sheet can be identified from the measured resistance values.
Insulators for electrically insulating the flexible conductive sheet from the resistive substrate trtt are formed in a mesh pattern, a dot pattern or the like. It is important to select the proper dimension and interval of insulators because these factors have a great influence upon the quality of inputted image, the smoothness of writing and the like.
Examples of the layered structure applicable to an information input sheet are disclosed in USP.
No. 3,911,215 by Hurst et al., filed on March 18, 1974 and issued on October 7, 1975 and in USP. No. 4,636,582 by Moriwaki et al., filed on August 29, 1984 and issued on January 13, 1987.
Irrespective of the types of insulator pattern, if the tip of a pen applying a pressure to the flexible conductive sheet is thicker than a certain value relative to the interval between insulators, the insulator prevents the conductive sheet from contacting the resistive substrate even if a pen pressure is being applied. A conventional flexible conductive sheet is thin relative to the dimension of an insulator. Therefore, the interval between 6einsulators is set small so as not toAsensitive to 3 72 I- I_ 4 1 undesired pressure other than the pen pressu-~.
2 Accordingly, the smaller the interval between insulators i 3 set, the thinner the tip of an allowable pen becomes. III 4 addition to the above restriction, if a pen of thin tip is used with a thin flexible conductive sheet, it may be 6 located just upon the lattice of a mesh insulator or upon a 7 dot insulator so that the insulator prevents the conductive 8 sheet from contacting the resistive substrate. In this 9 case, the coordinate position cannot be detected so that the input image becomes discontinuous. Further, a thin 11 conductive sheet has insufficient elasticity required for a 12 proper function of the conductive sheet, and a pen is likely 13 to scratch the thin sheet at above an insulator .to thus 14 loose the smoothness of writing.
16 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION S 17 18 An object of the present invention is to provide a r 19 novel information input sheet solving at least one of the 20 above-described problems. To achieve the above object, 21 according to embodiments of the present invention, the 22 thickness of a flexible conductive sheet is set greater than 23 an average distance between the edges of adjacent insulators 24 so that as the flexible conductive sheet deforms under a pressure, the flexible conductive sheet contacts a resistive 26 substrate (resistive layer) while embracing some of a 27 plurality of insulators.
28 29 According to the present invention, there is provided an information input sheet comprising: 31 a flexible conductive sheet; 32 a resistive layer mounted facing said conductive sheet; 33 and 34 a plurality of insulators disposed uniformly or substantially uniformly between said conductive sheet and 36 said resistive layer to define a space therebetween, upon 6application of a pressure to the surface of said conductive 38 900223,kxspe.003toppan,4 2C\ 900223,kXlp.003. toppan.4 1 I 5 1 sheet, said conductive sheet being deformed at the portion 2 where said pressure is being applied and contacting said 3 resistive layer; wherein 4 the thickness of said conductive sheet is selected so as to be substantially the same as or greater than an 6 average distance between the edges of adjacent insulators, 7 and substantially the same as or greater than an average 8 width of said insulators, whereby as said conductive sheet 9 is deformed at the portion where said pressure is being applied and contacts said resistive layer, it embraces some 11 of said plurality of insulators.
12 13 Sheet structures of embodiments of this invention as 14 described above can present the advantageous effects that an undesired pressure other than a pen pressure is not 16 detected, and a pen having any of a wide range of tip 17 thicknesses can provide a continuous image input and a *rt 18 smoothness of writing.
19 S. 20 Embodiments of the present invention will now be 21 described, by way of example only, with reference to the 22 accompanying Figures, in which: 23 24 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS S 26 Fig. 1 is a cross section of an embodiment of an 27 information input sheet according to the present invention; 28 29 Fig. 2 shows a part of the sheet shown in Fig. 1 as viewed from the bottom; C~ 31 32 Fig. 3 is a cross section of the sheet embodiment shown 33 in Fig. 1 while a pressure is being applied by a pen; 34 Figs. 4A to 4D show various examples of the contact state between the conductive layer and the resistive layer; 3′ and 900223,kxspe.003,toppan5 .77 5a Fig. 5 input board invention.
is a perspective view showing using the information input an information sheet of this 4 4~1 6 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 7 8 The embodiments of the information input sheet of this 9 invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4.
11 Fig. 1 is a cross section of an embodiment of the 12 information input sheet according to the present 13 14 I Z 16 t 17 18 18 tt*l It, t 19 21 22 23 t 2 4 26 S 27 28 29 31 32 33 34 36 3 e 3 8 1 9
C
0 kxlspe.003. toppan.6
AI
1 invention. A flexible conductive sheet is constructed of an elastic layer 2 made of a flexible material such as polyurethane and a conductive layer 1 which is formed by coating conductive ink on the bottom surface of the elastic layer 2. A shield layer 3 is provided on the top surface of the elastic layer 2 by coating conductive ink thereon. The shield layer 3 is grounded at the ground potential point (not j shown) of the information input sheet to eliminate static electricity from hand and shield external noises. There is further provided a transparent protective film 5 on the shield layer 3, the transparent protective film 5 having a Shore hardness greater than that of the elastic layer 2. Frames for title and operation entries, figures, symbols, lc- Me-ow’s OF 0- rpru~k %\et 4legends and the like are printedon the bottom surface I, of the protective film 5. Desired information is inputted with a pen on the protective film 5 in handwriting. The conductive layer i, elastic layer 2, shield layer 3 and protective film 5 are laminated one upon another as shown in Fig. 1. The laminated structure as a whole is constructed such that the structure allows flexibility with deformation and restoration sufficient for a certain pen pressure.
In this embodiment, insulators 7 of a dot pattern are formed on the bottom surface of the conductive layer by coating insulating ink by means of a printing technique. The insulators 7 have proper elasticity -6- 1Z1 1 so as to be deformed and crushed upon application of a pen pressure on the sheet. Fig. 2 shows a part of the insulators 7 and the flexible laminated structure as viewed from the bottom. Each insulator 7 is generally of a trapezoid shape with its central portion gradually projecting downward. The insulators 7 are disposed at an equal pitch over the bottom oo 0 surface of the conductive layer i. The present 0 0invention is not limited to the shape shown in Fig.
0000 1O~ 2, but the shape of the insulator 7 may be a circle or other shares.
It is preferable that the thickness of the 000o elastic layer 2 made of polyurethane is in the range of about 0.3 to 1.0 mm, and the thickness of the
ON
0 o protective film 5 is in the range of about 0.05 to 0.2 mm. It is preferable that the Shore hardness of e0 the elastic layer 2 and the protective film 5 is in q o o0 the range of 650 to 950, the Shore hardness of the protective film 5 being set greater than that of the elastic layer 2. The condition that the elastic layer 2 is softer in Shore hardness than that of the protective film 5 provides improvement in the recovery and response to the pen pressure on the writing surface is improved. The condition that the protective film 5 is harder than the elastic layer 2 provides smooth pen moving in the transverse direction and light reaction to the operator. It is also preferable that the bottom side t of a trapezoid 7 1 of the dot type insulator 7 is in the order of 0.3 to 0.4 mm, and the height h is about 0.01 to 0.07 mm, and the pitch d between adjacent insulators is about 0.15 to 0.5 mm. The bottom side of the dot type insulator 7 is preferably greater than five times the height h.
A resistive layer 6 having a predetermined resistivity and attached on the top surface of an insulating substrate 8 made of such as bakelite or glass epoxy is disposed under the insulating layer 7.
An aluminum shield box 9 grounded to the ground potential point covers the information input sheet except the pen input surface of the sheet. Instead of using the aluminum shield box 9, a conductive plate such as an aluminum plate connected to the ground potential point may be placed under the insulating substrate 8 and a box made of plastics may be used to cover the information input sheet. Such shielding prevents noises entering from the bottom surface of the information input sheet. Unless a pen is pushed against the input surface of the protective film the conductive layer 1 and the resistive layer 6 are spaced apart by the insulators 7 and electrically Iopen-circuited (insulated) as shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a cross section of the information input sheet constructed as above wherein a writing utensil, an input contact member or the like is pushed against the input surface of the sheet. Elements 8 I7 1 designated by identical reference numerals to those in Fig. 1 represent like elements, so the description therefor is omitted. In Fig. 3, reference numeral denotes the tip of a writing utensil or pen. As seen from Fig. 3, upon application of a pen pressure by the pen tip 10 to the information input sheet in the direction indicated by an arrow, the laminated cflexible structure deforms while the polyurethane A elastic layer 2 deforms with some of the spaces between lift S i0 adjacent insulators being filled with the elastic layer 2. Therefore, the conductive layer 1 coated on the elastic layer 2 is pushed downward by the de:ormed elastic layer 2 and contacts a partial area of the resistive layer 6 while embracing some of the insulators within the area. Such deformation of the elastic layer 2 is realized under the condition that the thickness of the elastic layer 2 is set subtI 4 stantially the same as or greater than an average distance between the edges of adjacent insulators 7, and substantially the same as or greater than an average length of bottom sides k of the insulators 7.
Since the shield layer 3 and the protective film are also flexible, the thickness of the elastic layer 2 may be considered as including the thicknesses of the shield layer 3 and the protective film 5. If the elastic layer 2 is made of a flexible layer (elastomer) containing a conductive material such as carbon, the conductive layer 1 need not be provided.
9 -I 1 The material of the dot type insulators 7 is selected from those materials softer than that of the elastic layer 2. Preferably, the soft nature of the material is determined such that although the insulator 7 is more or less crushed upon application of a pen pressure, it deforms while being pushed into the elastic layer 0 2 without extending laterally. In this embodiment, 0m 0.o, since the insulator 7 is deformed and crushed upon
*WWI
application of a pen pressure, it helps the conductive 10 layer 1 contact the resistive layer more broadly, which also results in an improved smoothness of writing.
With the construction as above, the conductive Slayer 1 can contact the resistive layer 6 upon application of a pressure by a writing utensil of any tip thickness. Such contact may occur under too high a pressure by a palm or a finger. However, assuming ALf that the ordinary pressure applied to the sheet when a p.F\or a finger is placed thereon is substantially the same as a pen pressure, the conductive layer 1 cannot contact the resistive layer 6 because the pressure per unit area by the qLaor finger is coni siderably low as compared with that by the writing utensil. Therefore, undesired input due to the touch by a palm or finger can be avoided.
Figs. 4A to 4D show the contact state between the conductive layer 1 and the resistive layer 6 upon application of a pen pressure to the LU
SON
1 information input sheet of the above embodiment according to the present invention. In Figs. 4A to 4D, a black solid circle represents the insulator 7, and a hatched portion represents a contact area between the deformed conductive layer 1 and the resistive layer 6. A difference between the contact states of Figs. 4A and 4B results from a different thickness of a pen tip. A thinner pen is used in Fig. 4A than in Fig. 4B. Two hatched portions in 4444 4 Z Fig. 4A indicate that a pen was pushed twice against the sheet at two different positions. In both the ST cases, it can be understood that the conductive layer 1 is deformed by a pen pressure with some of the spaces between insulators 7 being filled with the t tP elastic layer 2 and reliably contacts the resistive layer 6 over a broad area. Fig. 4C shows the case 41 Is. where a pen locates just upon one of the insulators 4′ 4 7. Also in this case, the elastic layer 2 is deformed by a pen pressure and hence the conductive layer 1 is deformed to contact a partial area of the resistive layer 6 while embracing some of a plurality of insulators 7 within the area. Fig. 4D shows the case where an insufficient pen pressure is applied or a palm or finger touches the sheet. In this case, the conductive layer 1 and the resistive layer 6 are not allowed to contact each other.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an information input board of a handwritten information input 11 t I i rI g 1 1 I $9 o) ,t 1 terminal to which the information input sheet of this invention is applicable.
The information input sheet shown in Fig. 1 is represented by reference numeral 11 and is disposed on the board with the protective film 5 facing upward.
An entry form sheet 12, various types of which may be provided for different users, is placed on the information input sheet 11. Necessary information is depicted in the entry form sheet 12 with a pen 13 10 so that the information is supplied to the information input sheet in the form of pen pressure. An input information display 14 may use, a liquid crystal display panel on which handwritten information such as characters and symbols are displayed. The 15 information input board is connected to a control unit 15 via a cable. The control unit 15 can recognize handwritten information using a built-in CPU and store the data in a memory, and supply power to the information input sheet. The control unit 15 is coupled to a host computer (not shown) to process the inputted information.
12
A

Claims (4)

1. An information input sheet comprising: a flexible conductive sheet; a resistive layer mounted facing said conductive sheet; and a plurality of insulators disposed uniformly or substantially uniformly between said conductive sheet and said resistive layer to define a space therebetween, upon application of a pressure to the surface of said conductive sheet, said conductive sheet being deformed at the portion where said pressure is being applied and contacting said resistive layer; wherein the thickness of said conductive sheet is selected so as to be substantially the same as or greater than an average distance between the edges of adjacent insulators, and substantially the same as or greater than an average width of said insulators, whereby as said conductive sheet is deformed at the portion where said pressure is being applied and contacts said resistive layer, it embraces some of said plurality of insulators.

2. An information input sheet according to claim i, wherein said plurality of insulators are fixedly connected to the surface of said conductive sheet facing said resistive layer.

3. An information ;nput sheet according to either one of the preceding claims, wherein said conductive sheet comprises a flexible material sheet, and a conductive material sheet for contacting said resistive layer.

4. An information input sheet according to claim 3,
900223.kxlspe.003. toppan. 13 J :II- 14 wherein said flexible material sheet is provided with a conductive layer for electrically shielding said resistive layer. a ta 4r r t r ai Il An information input sheet according to claims 3 and 4, wherein said resistive layer is provided on a substrate, and said information input sheet further comprises a print sheet covering the top surface of said conductive layer, and a protective sheet covering the top surface of said print sheet. 6. An information input sheet according to claim wherein the thickness of said flexible material sheet and said protective sheet is selected to be in tIe range of 0.3 to 1.0 mm and in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm, respectively. 7. An information input sheet according to either one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the Shore hardness of said flexible material sheet and said protective sheet is selected in the range of 65° to 95′, and said Shore hardness of said protective sheet is selected greater than that of said flexible material sheet. t t 4L Ii %r- I t i 8. An information input sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said plurality of insulators are made of a flexible material. 9. An information input sheet according to any one of cla\ims 1 to 8, wherein said average distance between the edges of said plurality of insulators, and said average width of said insulators, are the same or substantially the same. 900223.kxlspe.003.toppan14 ->2 15 An information input sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said plurality of insulators are dot type insulators. 11. An information sheet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 S 21 22 23 in 24 S 26 t 27 28 29 C 31 32 33 34 36 DATED this 22nd day of February, 1990. TOPPAN MOORE COMPANY LIMITED By its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON 4 1.kxlspe.003,

AU20056/88A
1987-07-31
1988-07-27
Information input sheet

Expired

AU596904B2
(en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number
Priority Date
Filing Date
Title

JP62-192072

1987-07-31

JP19207287A

JP2666929B2
(en)

1987-07-31
1987-07-31

Information input sheet

Publications (2)

Publication Number
Publication Date

AU2005688A

AU2005688A
(en)

1989-03-02

AU596904B2
true

AU596904B2
(en)

1990-05-17

Family
ID=16285167
Family Applications (1)

Application Number
Title
Priority Date
Filing Date

AU20056/88A
Expired

AU596904B2
(en)

1987-07-31
1988-07-27
Information input sheet

Country Status (5)

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Link

EP
(1)

EP0301842B1
(en)

JP
(1)

JP2666929B2
(en)

AU
(1)

AU596904B2
(en)

CA
(1)

CA1306777C
(en)

DE
(1)

DE3852729T2
(en)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party

Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title

CA2006788C
(en)

1988-12-29
1999-07-27
Shigeaki Sano
Portable type data input terminal

JPH02178822A
(en)

1988-12-29
1990-07-11
Toppan Moore Co Ltd
Signal input sheet

US5227590A
(en)

1991-05-17
1993-07-13
Ncr Corporation
Handwriting capture device

US5120906A
(en)

1991-05-17
1992-06-09
Ncr Corporation
Handwriting capture device

JPH05143749A
(en)

1991-11-15
1993-06-11
Video Res:Kk
On-line inspection system

US7369122B2
(en)

2001-12-14
2008-05-06
3M Innovative Properties Company
Touch panel spacer dots and methods of making

GB2547032B
(en)

2016-02-05
2020-05-20
Ford Global Tech Llc
A vehicle human interface assembly

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party

Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title

US3911215A
(en)

1974-03-18
1975-10-07
Elographics Inc
Discriminating contact sensor

PT74026B
(en)

1980-12-15
1983-07-01
Moore Business Forms Inc
Improvements in or relating to character recognition devices

US4636582A
(en)

1983-08-31
1987-01-13
Toppan Moore Co., Ltd.
Signal input sheet having a conductive shield layer

JPS62105538U
(en)

1985-12-20
1987-07-06

1987

1987-07-31
JP
JP19207287A
patent/JP2666929B2/en
not_active
Expired – Fee Related

1988

1988-07-27
AU
AU20056/88A
patent/AU596904B2/en
not_active
Expired

1988-07-27
DE
DE19883852729
patent/DE3852729T2/en
not_active
Expired – Lifetime

1988-07-27
EP
EP19880306935
patent/EP0301842B1/en
not_active
Expired – Lifetime

1988-07-28
CA
CA000573245A
patent/CA1306777C/en
not_active
Expired – Lifetime

Also Published As

Publication number
Publication date

CA1306777C
(en)

1992-08-25

EP0301842B1
(en)

1995-01-11

DE3852729D1
(en)

1995-02-23

EP0301842A3
(en)

1990-05-02

AU2005688A
(en)

1989-03-02

EP0301842A2
(en)

1989-02-01

JP2666929B2
(en)

1997-10-22

DE3852729T2
(en)

1995-07-13

JPS6436323A
(en)

1989-02-07

Contact information