Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device – Stylus
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-25
2004-04-27
Hjerpe, Richard (Department: 2674)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display peripheral interface input device
Stylus
C178S019010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06727897
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a selector pen, and more particularly to a selector pen for touch screen that has a structurally simplified switch and could be manufactured at lowered cost.
With the highly advanced computer technology, various kinds of electronic products have been developed to have compact volume and increased functions. For example, there are many applied electronic products having key-controlled functions directly provided on a screen thereof. The screen is provided with a sensing membrane via which user's instructions are entered. Such screen is referred to as a touch screen and was originally developed for big-size screens for general computers but has currently been employed on small-size liquid crystal display (LCD) for electronic dictionary, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. To enter instructions or to select options on the touch screen, a selector pen (that is, a light pen) is usually needed to touch the screen, though the instructions and the selections may also be entered by handwriting.
FIG. 1
is an exploded perspective view of a conventional selector pen
10
. As shown, the selector pen
10
mainly includes a barrel
1
, a transparent head
2
, a light-emitting means
3
, and a switch
4
.
The barrel
1
is a hollow tube with the transparent head
2
fixedly connected to a front end thereof and the light-emitting means
3
mounted therein. A rear end of the barrel
1
is provided with an internal screw thread
11
for the switch
4
to screw thereinto.
The transparent head
2
is a substantially conic body having a blunt front point
21
and allows light emitted from the light-emitting means
3
inside the barrel
1
to pass therethrough.
The light-emitting means
3
includes a circuit board
31
having a light emitter
32
, which is preferably a light emitting diode, connected thereto; a big spring
33
connected to a positive electrode of a power input of the circuit board
31
; a small spring
34
connected to a negative electrode and located at a center in the big spring
33
; and a battery
35
having a front outer peripheral surface forming a positive electrode to contact with the big spring
33
and a bar-shaped negative electrode forward projected from a center of the positive electrode to extend into the big spring
33
for contacting with the small spring
34
. When a special light emitting diode is used, such as a white light emitting diode that needs a voltage higher than that for general light emitting diodes, the circuit board
31
is additionally provided with a voltage booster circuit
36
, so that the voltage rises from low to high voltage to provide the special light emitting diode with normal working voltage.
The switch
4
includes a fixing seat
41
, a movable rod
42
, and a cap
43
. The fixing seat
41
is a hollow tube generally divided into a lower half and an upper half. An upper outer periphery of the lower half is provided with a collar
411
having an outer diameter corresponding to that of the barrel
1
, and a lower outer periphery of the lower half below the collar
411
is provided with an external screw thread
412
for engaging with the internal screw thread
11
of the barrel
1
. The upper half of the fixing seat
41
is provided at an inner upper end with an internal screw thread
413
. The movable rod
42
is provided around a lower portion of an upper half with an external screw thread
421
corresponding to the internal screw thread
413
of the fixing seat
41
, immediately above the external screw thread
421
with a diameter-reduced gear
422
, and above the gear
422
with a shaft
423
. The cap
43
has an open lower end communicable with a stepped internal space defined by the cap
43
. The stepped internal space of the cap
43
includes a first recess
431
most close to the open lower end for receiving the fixing seat
41
and the movable rod
42
, a second recess behind the first recess for receiving the gear
432
, and a third recess behind the second recess for receiving the shaft
433
. The movable rod
42
is rotatably, upward and downward movably mounted in the fixing seat
41
through engagement of the external screw thread
421
with the internal screw thread
413
.
When the light-emitting means
3
is mounted in the barrel
1
, the light emitter
32
is caused to face forward and contact with the transparent head
2
, and the big and the small springs
33
,
34
are located behind the light emitter
32
to correspond to the positive and the negative electrodes, respectively, of the battery
35
. Due to a spring force applied by the big spring
33
on the battery
35
to push the latter backward, the small spring
34
is normally prevented from electrically contacting with the bar-shaped negative electrode of the battery
35
. And, the switch
4
is connected to the barrel
1
by screwing the fixing seat
41
to the rear end of the barrel
1
with a front-end surface of the movable rod
42
normally pressed against a rear-end surface of the battery
35
.
FIG. 2
is a sectional view of the assembled selector pen
10
, wherein the light-emitting means
3
is not electrically made to emit light.
For the selector pen
10
to emit light, simply turn the cap
43
in a predetermined direction, so that the gear
422
received in the second recess
432
of the cap
43
is brought to rotate. At this point, the external screw thread
421
of the movable rod
42
is guided by the internal screw thread
413
of the fixing seat
41
to move forward, bringing the movable rod
42
to push against the battery
35
and accordingly compress the big spring
33
. At this point, the bar-shaped negative electrode of the battery
35
is gradually moved forward to eventually contact the small spring
34
to make the light emitter
32
for the latter to emit light, as shown in FIG.
3
. When the cap
43
is turned reversely, the movable rod
42
is brought to move backward and the light emitter
32
is turned off, accordingly, as shown in FIG.
2
.
The above-described conventional selector pen
10
has the following disadvantages in its structure and operation:
1. The cap
43
includes a stepped internal space providing three recesses of different inner diameters. The middle one of the three recesses is configured to receive the gear
422
, making it difficult and time-consuming to manufacture components for the switch
4
.
2. Due to the switch
4
that is difficult and time-consuming to manufacture, the selector pen
10
is produced at increased cost.
3. When the cap
43
is turned clockwise or counterclockwise relative to the barrel
1
to turn on or off the light-emitting means
3
, the internal and the external screw threads
413
and
421
, due to their very delicate structure and therefore insufficient supporting pressure, tend to slip relative to one another, causing the switch
4
to lose its intended control function.
4. The switch
4
is not designed with means for actually defining exact number of turns of the switch
4
in order to turn on or off the light-emitting means
3
. When the cap
43
is overly turned, for example, when the battery
35
is exhausted, the screw threads
413
and
421
tend to slip relative to one another or even break.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a selector pen that has improved but simplified switch structure to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages existing in the conventional selector pen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a selector pen for touch screen, on which a simplified switch is provided to turn on or off a light-emitting means mounted in a barrel of the selector pen, so that the selector pen could be manufactured at lowered cost and effectively emit light when necessary.
To achieve the above and other objects, the selector pen for touch screen of the present invention mainly includes a barrel, a transparent head connected to a front end of the barrel, a light-emitting means mounted in the barrel to emit light that passes through the transparent head to i
Aminzay Shaima
Hjerpe Richard
Senton Enterprise Co., Ltd.
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