GB2355433A

GB2355433A - Electronic touch sensitive panel for ring binder

Info

Publication number: GB2355433A
Application number: GB9924749A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wayne Gilbert
Original assignee: Celestica Ltd
Current assignee: Celestica Ltd
Priority date: 1999-10-19
Filing date: 1999-10-19
Publication date: 2001-04-25
Also published as: GB9924749D0

Abstract

A ring binder type personal organiser includes an insert 10 in the form of an electronic touch sensitive panel 20 to enable data written by a pen 250 on an overlying sheet of paper 220 to be carbon copied in electronic form. Alternatively the overlying sheet may be pre-marked 300 with numbered regions 310 to enable the panel to act as a calculator. An LCD panel 80 performs a range of functions depending upon the application of the insert. Output port 100 is provided for exporting data to a printer or computer.

Description

2355433 INSERT FOR PERSONAL ORGANISER This invention relates to an insert

for a personal organiser or time manager of the ring binder type.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an insert for a personal organiser of the ring binder type, comprising attachment means adapted to allow the insert to be attached to a ring binder of the personal organiser, a processor means, and a touch-sensitive panel arranged such that, in use, pressure applied to a sheet overlaid on the said touch-sensitive panel causes data to be received and captured by the processor means via the said touch-sensitive panel.

As is well known, personal organisers of the ring binder type are typically paper-based. The present invention provides an electronic insert having a touch-sensitive panel, in combination with a processor means which is capable of receiving and capturing data via the touch sensitive panel when pressure is applied to an overlaid sheet.

Preferably, the processor means is arranged to capture a copy of information written onto the sheet overlaid upon the touch sensitive panel. Thus, the insert may act as an electronic "carbon copier"; a user may write for example onto a piece of paper in his or her personal organiser. If that piece of paper overlays the touch-sensitive panel, then the panel may receive and capture a copy of the writing on the sheet. This can usefully be downloaded to a pc, for example. This arrangement provides an electronic copy of any information entered into the personal organiser whilst retaining the simplicity and convenience of a paper copy as well.

Alternatively, a surface of the touch-sensitive panel may be subdivided into a plurality of predetermined regions, each associated with a predetermined data input to the processor means, such that pressure applied to one of a plurality of predetermined regions on the overlaid sheet causes data associated with a corresponding one of the predetermined regions to be received and captured by the said processor means. A selection of different formats of sheet may be overlaid onto the touch sensitive panel, with the panel itself being subdivided into different predetermined regions depending upon the layout of the sheet. For example, the sheet may be laid out as a calculator, depression of a numeric "key" represented on the sheet transferring pressure to a corresponding region of the panel; this in turn causes an electronic signal representing the number on the sheet to be received and captured by the processor means.

Preferably, the processor means is further programmed to process the received and captured data, for example by character recognition algorithms or by simple bitmap conversion. optionally the processor means includes a memory arranged to store the received and captured data. A system on chip (SoC) is particularly suitable as it has high performance yet requires relatively little power.

The touch-sensitive panel may be a generally flat plate. In that case, the touch-sensitive panel may have first and second opposing elongate faces, each of which are touch-sensitive. This allows both the text copying function. and the, for example, calculator sheet overlay to be carried out whether the insert is on the left-hand side or right-hand side of the personal organiser. Indeed, one of the two opposing elongate f aces may be set up to copy text written onto an overlaid piece of paper, whereas the other opposing face may be subdivided into regions to carry out the calculator overlay function.

The insert may further comprise an electronic display panel arranged to display the data received and captured by the said processor means. This is particularly useful if the insert has a processor which is programmed to character-recognise text received by the touch-sensitive panel when a user writes onto a piece of paper overlaying that touch-sensitive panel. The electronic display is also useful when the touch-sensitive panel is subdivided into regions for carrying out a calculator function, for example.

Preferably, the insert further comprises communication means for exporting data received and captured by the processor means. For example, an IRdA port may be provided to allow captured data to be exported directly to a printer, many of which now have IRdA ports themselves. Alternatively, the data can be exported to a personal computer by a serial link, for example.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a personal organiser, comprising a touch-sensitive panel, a processor means, and a sheet arranged in use to overlay the touch sensitive panel such that pressure applied to the sheet causes data to be received and captured by the processor means via the said touch-sensitive panel.

The touch-sensitive panel of the device also advantageously includes the preferred feature set out above.

The invention also extends to a personal organiser comprising a cover, a ring binder mounted upon the inside of the cover, together with such a device, the touch-sensitive panel being constrained within the personal organiser by co-operation of the ring binder with the attachment means of the touch-sensitive panel.

In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of electronically copying written information, comprising overlaying a sheet over a touch-sensitive panel and marking the sheet with written information, whereby a processor receives and captures a copy of the information marked upon the said sheet when it overlays the touch-sensitive panel.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of entering data into an electronic device including a touch-sensitive panel and a processing means comprising dividing the touch-sensitive panel into a plurality of defined panel regions each having a data input to the processor means associated therewith, dividing a sheet into a plurality of defined sheet regions, and overlaying the sheet over the touch-sensitive panel such that the defined sheet regions are substantially in registry with the defined panel regions, whereby pressure applied to a defined sheet region causes data associated with a corresponding panel region to be received and captured by the processor means.

The invention may be put into practice in a number of ways, and one embodiment will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the following Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an insert embodying the present invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of the insert of Figure 1, attached within a personal organiser; Figure 3 shows a sheet being overlaid onto the insert of Figure 1 when attached within the personal organiser of Figure 2; Figure 4 shows the insert of Figure 1 overlaid with a piece of paper, showing how the insert, in a first embodiment, records information written onto that sheet with a pen; and Figure 5 shows the insert of Figure 1 overlaid with a sheet representing a calculator keypad.

Referring first to Figure 1, a schematic view of an insert 10 embodying the present invention is shown.

The insert is rectangular in plan view and has a typical height of 150 mm and a typical width of 100 mm so as to fit into the more popular sized personal organisers. As explained in connection with Figures 2 and 3 below, this allows the insert 10 to f it into a personal organiser/time manager such as is manufactured by Filofax(D.

The insert 10 comprises a housing 20 formed typically of a plastics material, and having upper and lower faces 30,40. The housing 20 has holes 50 formed along one side between the upper and lower faces 30, io 40. The holes 50 allow the housing 20 to be held by a ring binder in a personal organiser as- will be described in connection with Figures 2 and 3.

A touch sensitive panel 60 is inlaid into the housing 20. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, touch sensitive panels respond to pressure applied to their surface to generate data in a manner determined by a processor to which the panels are attached. The specific form of the touch sensitive panel 60 shown in Figure 1 is not a feature of the present invention, although specific implementations will be described in connection with Figures 4 and S.

It is however preferable that the touch sensitive panel 40 is rectangular, relatively thin, and indeed touch sensitive on both accessible faces. For example, the touch sensitive panel 60 manufactured by Microtouch has a thickness of 3 mm or less and is currently preferred. This is inlaid so as to have its two accessible faces flush with the upper and lower faces 30,40 of the housing 20.

The lower part of the front face 30 of the housing 20 supports a processor unit 70. The processor unit 70 comprises a microprocessor (not shown) in communication with the touch sensitive panel 60 and with a volatile or non-volatile memory. A low power, high performance processor/memory such as an ARM9 implementation in a system on chip (SoC) solution is preferred. The processor unit 70 also houses a power source (not shown) such as a lithium ion battery which is relatively compact and long lasting. Finally, the processor unit comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD) 80, which performs a range of functions depending upon the application of the insert. Although the processor unit 70 is typically slightly thicker than the touch sensitive panel 60, the insert 10 is still typically thin enough to be relatively flexible, and also robust enough to be inserted into a personal organiser or time manager.

To enable the transfer of data from the microprocessor/memory to an external device such as a printer or a personal computer (pc), an output port 90 is provided. In Figure 1, this is shown to be an IRdA port, as this device requires minimum space. Of course, a serial or even parallel port could be provided should space allow.

Located on the side of the upper face 30 of the housing 20 opposite to the holes 50 is a page detector strip 100, also inlaid into the housing 20 and in communication with the microprocessor. The detector strip 100 detects when a sheet overlays the upper face 30 of the insert 10 and, more particularly, the type of sheet employed, as will be explained in more detail in connection with Figures 4 and 5 below. A second page detector strip (not shown) may likewise be affixed to the lower face 40 of the housing 20 for a similar purpose.

Figures 2 and 3 show the insert 10 of Figure 1 attached within a personal organiser 200. The personal organiser is of the FilofaxO type, for example, having a ring binder 210 fixedly mounted on the inside spine of the organiser 200. As is well known, the ring binder can be opened up to allow pages of paper to be inserted, and, in this case, the insert of Figure 1 as well.

To use the insert 10, it is first attached to the ring binder 210 by inserting the rings of the ring binder 210 through the holes 50 in the housing 20. In the example shown in Figures 2 and 3, the insert is arranged so that the holes 50 are on the left hand side, i.e. the insert lies on the right hand side of the organiser 200 when open. Next, a sheet of paper 220 (in the illustrated embodiment), also held within the personal organiser, is moved from the left to the right hand side of the organiser 200 such that it overlays the insert 10 and more particularly overlays the touch sensitive panel 20. Any suitable writing implement can then be used to write onto the upper surface 230 of the sheet of paper 220. The touch sensitive panel 20 acts as an electronic "carbon copier" by detecting the pressure applied to it through the sheet of paper 220 as it is written upon.

The text or other graphical annotations made upon the sheet of paper 220 are thus converted to electronic form whilst retaining the simplicity and convenience of a paper copy as well.

Figure 4 shows this principle in more detail. The sheet of paper 220 is shown overlaid over the insert 10. Writing 240 on the sheet of paper 220 is received and captured by the touch sensitive panel 20, operating under the control of the microprocessor. The microprocessor in particular records the precise location and movements of the tip of a writing instruments such as a pen 250 as it passes over the sheet of paper 220 overlaying touch sensitive panel 20. The microprocessor stor es an accurate trace of the graphical movements of the pen 250 in a desired format. A number of programs have been developed to enable character recognition or simple data "bitmap" storage, and these do not form a part of the present invention.

The LCD 80 may provide status information as data is captured by the touch sensitive panel under the control of the microprocessor. This may, for example, allow user control of the data transfer between the insert 10 and a pc, or provide general control processes for applications running on the device. It is particularly preferred that the LCD permits a mixture of pixel and icon displays. An audible "beep" may also be provided to advise of low battery, device failure and so forth.

once one side of a sheet of paper 220 has been completed, a new page may be inserted over the device. The ARM9 Soc (used to exemplify the present embodiment) can store facsimiles of multiple pages of writing, without the need to dump these to a pc.

It will be appreciated that, if the insert 10 has a touch sensitive panel which is touch sensitive on both the upper and lower face, then data can be input whichever side of the personal organiser the insert is lies upon in use.

Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of an insert 10' for a personal organiser. The structure of the insert 101 may be physically identical to that of the insert 10 shown in Figure 1. However, unlike the processor of the insert shown in Figures 3 and 4, the processor of the insert shown in Figure 5 is not programmed to receive information written or drawn onto an overlaid sheet of paper 220. Instead, the touch sensitive panel 20 of the insert 10 is overlaid in use with a premarked sheet 300. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, the premarked sheet has a plurality of numbers marked thereon to simulate a calculator. The touch sensitive panel is notionally divided into separate regions 310, indicated by dotted lines in Figure 5, under the control of the microprocessor. Each number (or other function) an the premarked sheet, laid out as a calculator, registers or lines up with an individual one of the separate regions into which the microprocessor has subdivided the touch sensitive panel, when the premarked sheet overlays the touch sensitive panel. Thus, pressing the numeral 11111 on the premarked sheet, for example, causes pressure to be exerted onto the region 310-1 of the touch sensitive panel 20. The processor associates pressure in this region of the touch sensitive panel to be a decimal 11111 input and stores this input value accordingly. The LCD display 80 may then display this input number, so that the LCD display acts as a calculator display in this embodiment.

Clearly, a variety of different premarked forms could be used, with the corresponding programming of the processor being uploaded as necessary via the IRdA port, for example. The page detector strip 100 is particularly useful if multiple different premarked sheet formats are employed. The page detector strip may in particular inform the microprocessor of the particular format of the premarked sheet 300, so that pressure applied to the premarked sheet 300 can be correctly understood and processed by the microprocessor.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An insert for a personal organiser of the ring binder type, comprising attachment means adapted to allow the insert to be attached to a ring binder of the personal organiser, a processor means, and a touch sensitive panel in communication with the processor and arranged such that, in use, pressure applied to a sheet overlaid upon the said touch sensitive panel causes data to be received and captured by the processor means via the said touch sensitive panel.

2. The insert of claim 1, in which the processor means is arranged to capture a copy of information written onto the sheet overlaid upon the touch sensitive panel.

3. The insert of claim 1, in which a surface of the touch-sensitive panel is subdivided into a plurality of predetermined regions each associated with a predetermined data input, such that pressure applied to one of a plurality of predetermined regions on the overlaid sheet causes data associated with a corresponding one of the predetermined regions to be received and captured by the processor means via the said touch-sensitive panel.

4. The insert of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, in which the processor means is further programmed to process the received and captured data.

5. The insert of any one of the preceding claims, in which the processor means includes a memory arranged to store the received and captured data.

6. The insert of any one of the preceding claims, in which the processor means is a system on chip (SoC).

7. The insert of any preceding claim, in which the touch-sensitive panel is a generally flat plate.

8. The insert of claim 7, in which the touch- sensitive panel has f irst and second opposing elongate faces each of which are touch-sensitive.

9. The insert of any of the preceding claims, further comprising an electronic display panel arranged to display the data received and captured by the processor means.

10. The inert of any of the preceding claims, further comprising communication means for exporting data received and captured by the processor means.

11. A device for insertion into a personal organiser, comprising a touchsensitive panel, a processor means, and a sheet arranged in use to overlay the touch-sensitive panel such that pressure applied to the sheet causes data to be received and captured by the processor means via the said touchsensitive panel.

12. The device of claim 11, in which the sheet is formed of a markable material, the processor means being arranged to receive and capture a copy of marks made upon the sheet overlaid upon the touch-sensitive panel.

13. The device of claim 11, in which the touch sensitive panel is subdivided into a plurality of predetermined panel regions each associated with a predetermined data input to the processor means, and the sheet is subdivided into a corresponding plurality of predetermined sheet regions, pressure applied to one of the predetermined sheet regions when the sheet overlies the touch-sensitive panel causing data 12 - associated with a corresponding one of the predetermined panel regions to be received and captured by the said processor means.

14. The device of claim 11, 12 or 13, in which the processor means is further programmed to process the received and captured data.

15. The device of any of claims 11 to 14, in which the processor means includes a memory arranged to store the received and captured data.

16. The device of any of claims 11 to 15, in which the processor means is a system on chip (SoC).

17. The device of any of claims 11 to 16, in which the touch-sensitive panel is a generally flat plate.

18. The device of claim 17, in which the touch sensitive panel has first and second opposing elongate faces each of which are touch-sensitive.

19. The device of any of claims 11 to 18, further comprising an electronic display panel arranged to display the data received and captured by the processor means via the said touch-sensitive panel.

20. The device of any of claims 11 to 19, further comprising communication means for exporting data received and captured by the processor via the touch-sensitive panel.

21. The device of any of claims 11 to 20, further comprising a detector arranged adjacent to the touch-sensitive panel and under the control of the said processor means, the detector indicating to the processor means when a sheet overlays the touchsensitive screen.

22. The device of any one of claims 11 to 21, further comprising attachment means for attaching the touch-sensitive panel to a ring binder.

23. A personal organiser comprising a cover, a ring binder mounted upon the inside of the cover, and the device of claim 22, the touch-sensitive panel being constrained within the personal organiser by co-operation of the ring binder with the attachment means of the touch-sensitive panel.

24. A method of electronically copying written information, comprising overlaying a sheet over a touch-sensitive panel and marking the sheet with written information, whereby a processor receives and captures a copy of the information marked upon the said sheet via the touch-sensitive panel.

25. A method of entering data into an electronic device including a touchsensitive panel and a processor means, comprising: dividing the touchsensitive panel into plurality of defined panel regions, each having a data input to the processor associated therewith, dividing a sheet into a plurality of defined sheet regions, and overlaying the sheet over the touch-sensitive panel such that the defined sheet regions are substantially in registry with the defined panel regions, whereby pressure applied to a defined sheet region causes data associated with a corresponding panel region to he received and captured by the processor means.

26. An insert for a personal organiser substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

27. A device for insertion into a personal organiser substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

28. A personal organiser substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

29. A method of electronically copying written information substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

30. A method of entering data into an electronic device substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.