JP5119834B2 - Handwriting input system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention has at least a pen for a user to input handwriting by handwriting, a receiving device for detecting the position coordinates of the pen and outputting the coordinates, and a display device for displaying the handwriting using the coordinate output. The present invention relates to a handwriting input system equipped with a computer.

  Conventionally, a liquid crystal device has been equipped with a receiving device for coordinate input of a pen, and the input unit and the display unit are integrated, and handwritten input is performed within a predetermined frame of the input unit, thereby saving handwritten handwriting data. There is also known a handwriting input system that performs character recognition using a character recognition program in a computer connected to a receiving device and a liquid crystal device. These are widely adopted and used in personal computer liquid crystal devices equipped with a pen input unit or small pocket computers.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-6919 (paragraphs 1 to 5, FIGS. 2 and 11)

  In the patent document, a method is described in which the input frame is not provided at a predetermined place, but a minimum input frame is provided in the vicinity of the text that is sequentially input and output through character recognition to increase the area of the input frame. Has been. However, in the case where the input unit and the display unit are integrated in this way, it is necessary for the user to input directly into the character entry frame displayed on the liquid crystal device, and the size of the input handwritten character is the liquid crystal I had to enter it so that it would fit in the text box displayed on the device. Also, inputting to an input device attached to the liquid crystal device is different from the sense of actually writing with paper and a pen, and a stylus such as a stylus that does not write at the tip is placed on the pen. Since the input is performed while the pen is slid on the liquid crystal surface or the like, the user cannot perform input with the pen naturally and at a high speed, unlike writing with a paper and a pen. Also, when the pen input frame is attached to the liquid crystal screen, the weight of the input device increases, so the user can place it at any position and input it, or use it at any angle depending on the viewing angle of the LCD I could not.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is a pen having a handwriting that can be written on paper and capable of acquiring the position coordinates of the pen, and for acquiring the position coordinates from the pen. In a handwriting input system comprising a receiving device that receives the signal of the pen, detects the position coordinates of the pen and outputs the coordinates to the computer, and a calculator having a display device that displays the handwriting from the position coordinates of the pen from the receiving device, Relative coordinates are calculated based on the position coordinates where the pen is first pressed, and the obtained pen coordinate value is calculated for each predetermined pen position coordinate data number or each predetermined number of times the pen is pressed. The character height of the handwriting is determined by calculating the range of coordinates obtained from the maximum and minimum values of the handwritten data displayed in relative coordinates, and fits within the display frame of the handwriting provided on the display device and is appropriate. big Handwriting that automatically enlarges / reduces the relative coordinate value of the pen to the display frame coordinates so that it can be displayed, transfers the displayed handwriting data to other processing, and erases the display of the handwriting in the display frame An input system is proposed.

  In the present invention, by constructing the handwriting system, the user can use the pen on the conventional paper without being aware of the writing position and the height of the characters within the output range of the position coordinates of the pen. By writing, it is possible to input the handwriting that is being written to the computer, and it is possible to confirm that the handwriting is correctly input by displaying the character currently being written on the display device as needed.

  In order to acquire the coordinates of the pen, an ultrasonic transmitter is built in the pen, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the receiving device, and the ultrasonic wave is received by the receiving device. An ultrasonic method for obtaining position coordinates, a capacitance method for obtaining the position coordinates of a pen by arranging a conductive pattern for capacitance detection within the input range of the pen, and providing a circuit for changing the capacitance of the pen There is a resistive film system in which a resistive film is arranged in the input range of the pen, the pressure of the pen tip by pen writing is detected, and the position of the pen is detected by a change in resistance value. In the ultrasonic method and the capacitance method, it is necessary to incorporate a circuit for transmission in the pen.

A writing instrument such as a refillable ballpoint pen is attached to the pen, and when the pen is pressed onto a sheet or the like, writing can be performed on the sheet with ink or the like in the writing instrument.
The pen with built-in oscillation circuit has a built-in pressure detection sensor connected to the writing instrument inside the pen to detect when the pen tip is pressed on the paper and to detect the position coordinates of the pen on the receiver. Send a signal. Further, since the oscillation circuit in the pen requires a power source, the power is supplied by a battery built in the pen, an electromagnetic induction system, or a cable connection. The pen needs to have a function to change the writing instrument when the ink runs out.

The receiving device incorporates a receiving circuit corresponding to a method for obtaining coordinates. In the receiving circuit, a predetermined resolution / quality value is acquired as an XY two-dimensional absolute coordinate value by using a predetermined position in the input range of the pen as an origin by a position acquisition method by a method.
As for the quality of the position coordinates to be acquired, it is desirable to output with a quality of 50 dpi or more in order to acquire characters of about 5 mm of general writing. Also, the pen state information when the pen is pressed on the paper (writing state) or the pen is separated from the paper surface (non-writing state) is also output at the same time. Further, the coordinate output time interval is preferably 30 times or more per second so as not to lose the handwriting.

  The receiving device and the computer are connected for communication. As a connection method, communication using a wired cable such as USB or RS-232C or wireless communication such as a wireless LAN and BLUETOOTH can be used. A communication speed of 32 kbps or higher is required to reduce the time from writing to handwriting data being displayed on the screen.

  The computer is connected to a display device, and can perform graphic display by dot display so that writing from a pen can be displayed. In the computer, it is desirable that a plurality of application programs are simultaneously activated and displayed on the display device. Each application program displayed on the display device can be displayed at an arbitrary position, the display size can be freely changed, and display / non-display must be switched.

  In the computer, there is a communication unit that receives the position coordinates of the pen sent from the receiving device, and a pen coordinate input program activated in advance stores the position coordinates of the pen in a storage device in the computer. The position coordinates stored when the position coordinates from the pen are displayed are sent to a handwriting display program that has been activated in advance, and the XY coordinate value data obtained from the handwriting is converted into the coordinate values of the display area, Coordinate values from the writing state to the non-writing state from the pen are continuously written as a dot group with a predetermined line width in the graphic memory in the display device, and the inputted XY coordinate values are used as handwriting lines. Is displayed. As for how to connect the lines between the points, when interpolation processing such as spline interpolation is performed on the coordinate values of the pen, continuous lines are displayed smoothly, so that the display quality can be improved. In addition, if there is abnormal data such as data that is clearly out of the area or has a large difference from the previous point position due to noise or the like, it is desirable to automatically discard the data before display.

    In the handwriting display program operating in the computer, the handwriting input immediately before input by the user is displayed in the display frame of the program of the display device. This is because if all the data entered on the paper is displayed, all data on a wide range of paper will be displayed depending on the resolution and size of the display device, and the handwriting entered immediately before will be displayed in a small size. Can not be confirmed. In addition, other application programs are also running on the display device, and the entire screen area of the display device cannot be used to display handwriting. Therefore, it is necessary to display the handwriting input immediately before without using much screen area. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a handwriting display area in a part of the screen area of the display device and display the handwriting input immediately before. However, in a handwriting input system that allows you to write freely within the coordinate input range of the pen, if the enlargement ratio of the coordinate value from the pen coordinate position to the display area is constant, characters will be displayed in a large size. Because it exceeds the range of the frame, when a part of the character is displayed or a small size character is entered, it will be displayed small with a margin in the display frame, making it difficult to check the handwriting .

  In the present invention, the enlargement ratio used when converting the coordinate value of the reference pen position to the display frame is determined in advance. In general, the character height when writing is set to about 7mm, and when the character height of about 7mm is entered with a pen, the enlargement ratio is set to the initial value so that it fits in the display frame height. As determined. Since the height of the display frame can be freely changed by the user's operation, the enlargement ratio changes even when the height of the display frame is changed. However, when the user enters a character with a height of 7 mm or more, if there is a point to be displayed outside the display frame, a part of the handwriting is not displayed. In order to avoid this, in the present invention, when the number of coordinate values of the handwriting exceeds the set value by using the setting value stored in advance as a setting value for reviewing the enlargement ratio of the display frame, the Y of the coordinates input up to that point The minimum value is subtracted from the maximum value, the height of the character is calculated, the enlargement rate is re-determined from the ratio to the display frame width, and the displayed handwriting is displayed again at the new enlargement rate. The setting value that defines the interval for reviewing the enlargement ratio may be an elapsed time since the pen was pressed. When the enlargement ratio of the display frame is changed each time, when inputting handwriting, generally only the first few strokes do not output coordinate data up to the handwriting indicating the maximum Y value that determines the original character height. For this reason, the enlargement ratio frequently changes, and it becomes difficult for the user to visually recognize the handwriting due to frequent redrawing of the display frame, and the processing load of the computer increases.

  However, when the user is performing handwriting, a point where the outside of the display frame is displayed may occur in rare cases with the above-described enlargement ratio. This is because, for example, when the character “one” having a small character height is continuously entered and characters having a high character height are continuously entered, the enlargement ratio of the display frame becomes inappropriate. In order to avoid this, when a point to be displayed outside the display frame occurs after the enlargement factor is determined, the enlargement factor can be calculated again and redrawn. Further, for example, when a character whose character height is lower than the preset minimum character height is input, the character width is obtained by subtracting the X value of the pen pressed away from the X value as it is away from the page. Can be used as a substitute character height.

  The displayed position coordinate data needs to be deleted after the user confirms the input of the handwriting. When erasing is performed, the user may press the erase button on the display, or when the preset time has elapsed when the pen is separated from the paper, the handwriting displayed is automatically erased from the screen. May be.

  The obtained pen position coordinate data is sent to another process operating on the computer. The interval at which the pen position coordinate data is sent to other processing may be transmitted at any time during display, or may be transmitted at the interval of erasing the displayed handwriting. Other processes for receiving the pen position coordinate data include a process of storing the pen position coordinate data in an auxiliary storage device in the computer, or character recognition for converting the pen position coordinate data into the character code. It may be a process.

  For example, when performing character recognition processing using the obtained position coordinate data of the pen, by starting a character recognition program on a computer and sequentially performing character recognition processing, by outputting a character code as a recognition result, It can be output as text data and used in other applications. At this time, since the pen position data is sent continuously, if the pen position coordinate data is sent to the character recognition program during the input of one character, it may cause a recognition error. In order to prevent this, data may be transmitted after determining the character separation from the character spacing, and when the preset time stored after the pen leaves the paper, the character entry is completed. It may be determined that it is not in the middle, and pen coordinate data may be sent to the character recognition program.

For example, when the handwriting is written horizontally, the characters are entered from the left to the right, and the pen position coordinate is greatly changed from the right side to the left side when writing in the next line. If the X value of the position coordinate of the pen changes greatly from a predetermined value, it is determined that the line entered with the pen has changed, and a line feed code is inserted into the character code output by the character recognition program. As a result, it is possible to perform line breaks using character codes in the same way as handwriting line breaks.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples.
1 and 2 schematically represent the configuration so that the apparatus drawings are not complicated. The present invention is not limited to the following examples, and includes various modifications within the technical scope of the present invention. Moreover, in each Example, the same referential mark was attached | subjected about the same structure.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a handwriting input system of the present invention. The pen 1 has a plurality of infrared light emitting elements 2 and ultrasonic transmission elements 3, and includes a sensor that can detect the writing state and a circuit board (not shown) that controls them. A refill such as a ballpoint pen is inserted in the pen tip of the pen 1, and an internal sensor detects the writing state by weighting when writing. When the writing state is detected, the circuit of the pen 1 periodically gives signals to the infrared ray generating element 2 and the ultrasonic wave transmitting element 3 to simultaneously emit infrared light and transmit ultrasonic waves. The receiving device 4 receives the infrared light emission from the pen 1 by the infrared light receiving element 6 and starts a built-in timer. The plurality of ultrasonic receiving elements 5 receive the ultrasonic waves that arrive late, and measure the time from receiving the infrared signal to receiving the ultrasonic signal. Each measured time is converted into a distance, and converted into two-dimensional pen position coordinate data using a triangle method from the positional relationship of each ultrasonic receiving element. The obtained position coordinates are sent from the receiving device 4 to the computer 10 through the communication cable 9. In the embodiment, communication from the receiving device 4 to the computer 10 is connected by USB communication. In the computer 10 such as a personal computer, a handwriting processing program created exclusively for the handwriting input system operates and receives pen position coordinate data. The display device 11 is connected to the computer 10 and displays handwriting and other application programs.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a flowchart of a program for displaying handwriting in the computer of the present invention. First, from a state in which nothing is displayed in the display frame, a determination is made to wait until the pen is pressed on the paper surface, the pen position coordinates are received by the receiving device 4, and the pen position coordinates are input to the computer 10 through communication. To do. Next, in step 2, the pen position coordinates are input, and the pen position coordinates are stored and stored using the first point as the relative coordinate origin. Next, in step 3, the enlargement ratio for display is set to an initial value that is predetermined and stored. In step 4, it is determined whether the position coordinates of the next pen are output, and in step 5, the position coordinates of the pen are stored. In step 6, by subtracting the pen position coordinate stored in step 2 from the pen position coordinate stored in step 5, a relative coordinate value with the initial pen pressing position as the origin is calculated in step 6. . In step 7, the stored enlargement factor is multiplied by the relative coordinate value calculated in step 6, and the display origin position of the display frame is added to this as an offset value. The reason why the offset value is added is that the handwriting does not always start from the upper right point, and therefore writing from the origin of the handwriting to the negative side can be considered for the XY coordinates. In step 8, drawing is performed by setting in the memory of the screen of the display device 11 so as to form a continuous line between the two points of the previous and present display position coordinate values in step 7. As a result, the handwriting is displayed on the display device 11.

Next, the step of changing the display enlargement ratio is shown. If it is determined in step 4 that the pen is not pressed on the paper, whether or not to erase the handwriting displayed in step 9 is determined by the elapsed time since the pen leaves the paper and displayed. If the handwriting is not erased,
When the number of strokes away from the paper surface is stored as the number of strokes in step 10 and the number of strokes exceeds the predetermined number of strokes, the maximum value of each of the XY coordinate values of the relative coordinate values stored in step 6 And the minimum value, and the width and height of the relative coordinate values. Next, a new enlargement ratio is determined by dividing the width and height of the relative coordinate values from the width and height of the display frame. In step 12, the display position coordinate value of the handwriting displayed at the new enlargement ratio changed in step 11 is recalculated. In step 13, the previous handwriting is erased, and the handwriting is redrawn based on the new enlargement ratio obtained in step 12.

  Next, the change step for erasing the display is shown. If the pen has left the paper surface in step 9 and the predetermined time has passed, the user determines that the input has been interrupted or the character entry has been completed, and the handwriting being displayed is erased in step 14. In the computer 10, a program for performing character recognition processing for converting pen position data into character code is activated in advance, and in step 15, the pen position coordinate data is transmitted to the next character recognition processing.

FIG. 3 shows a display frame of the present invention. This display frame 27 shows an example when the user enters characters in horizontal writing. When the display frame is in the erased state, the display point 30 where the pen is first pressed is drawn at the positions of the offset amount X31 and the offset amount Y32 of the display frame coordinates, which are predetermined setting values. Subsequently, the input pen position coordinates are continuously drawn as relative coordinate values. The offset amount X31 is for making a margin for display because the character input by the user may be written on the left side of the display point 30 where the pen is first pressed. The offset amount Y32 is set at a position slightly above the center of the display frame. This is because, based on experience values, characters are often written from the top to the bottom, but the lower case letter “l” (el) in the cursive script and the writing order value are wrong, so that writing begins from the bottom. Therefore, it is desirable to set it near the center of the display frame height 28.

The display frame height 28 and the display frame width 29 can be freely set by the user. When the display frame height 28 or the display frame width 29 is changed, it is possible to follow the display of the handwriting and perform drawing by performing the above-described step of changing the enlargement ratio.

Handwriting input system configuration diagram of the present embodiment Flowchart of a program for displaying handwriting in the computer of the present invention Illustration of display frame of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pen 2 Infrared light emitting element 3 Ultrasonic transmission element 4 Receiving device 5 Ultrasonic receiving element 6 Infrared light receiving element 7 Board 8 Paper 9 Communication cable 10 Computer 11 Display apparatus 12 Step 1
13 Step 2
14 Step 3
15 Step 4
16 Step 5
17 Step 6
18 Step 7
19 Step 8
20 Step 9
21 Step 10
22 Step 11
23 Step 12
24 Step 13
25 Step 14
26 Step 15
27 Display frame 28 Display frame height 29 Display frame width 30 Display position coordinates when pen is first pressed 31 Offset amount X
32 Offset Y

Claims (2)

  A pen that has a handwriting that can be written on paper and that can acquire the position coordinates of the pen, receives a signal for acquiring the position coordinates from the pen, detects the position coordinates of the pen, and calculates the coordinates In a handwriting input system equipped with a calculator with a display device that displays handwriting from the receiving device's output position and the pen's position coordinates from the receiving device, the relative coordinates are calculated based on the position coordinates of the pen first pressed. From the maximum value and the minimum value of the handwriting data displayed for the relative coordinates of the obtained pen coordinate values for each predetermined number of pen position coordinate data or for each predetermined number of pen presses. By calculating the required coordinate range, the character height of the handwriting is determined, and the relative coordinate value of the pen is displayed in the display frame coordinates so that it fits within the display frame of the handwriting provided on the display device and can be displayed in an appropriate size. Handwriting input system dynamically scaled and then displayed, and transfers the handwriting data that is the display for other processing, characterized by erasing the display of the handwriting in the display frame.   2. The handwriting input system according to claim 1, wherein a character recognition program for converting the handwriting coordinate data into a character code is executed in the computer, the state where the pen is separated from the writing surface is detected, and the receiving device or the display device is detected. The handwriting input system which starts the timer built in and transmits the coordinate data of the inputted handwriting to the character recognition program when a predetermined time elapses when the pen is separated from the writing surface.