[LINK] Apple patent yesterday

[Stephen Loosley]

United States :Patent Number 8,922,530

Assignee: Apple Inc. (Cupertino, CA)

Date: December 30 2014


Communicating Stylus

Abstract:

A stylus for writing on any type of surface, such as a piece of paper or a whiteboard and subsequently displaying the written images or text on a display of a digital computing device. The stylus may likewise be moved in three-dimensional space and corresponding images displayed on a display of a computing device. The stylus tracks its different positions while a user is writing or drawing and then either stores the data to be uploaded later or transmits the data simultaneously to a computing device. The computing device then displays the images and text drawn on the surface. The computing device may be located anywhere, as long as it is able to communicate with the stylus, and be able to display the written text or images.

Background:

There are a number of different options for entering data into a computing device, including keyboards, mice, styluses, touchscreens, and so on. Some touchscreen computing devices, such as cellular phones, tablet devices and personal digital assistants, allow a user to use his finger to enter data. Other types of computing devices also allow a user to enter data using a resistive-tip plastic stylus. However, styli currently used for entering data with a touch-screen computing device typically require that the tip of the stylus actually contact (or very nearly contact) the touchscreen or another type of specialized surface. The problem with these different types of styli is that they all require that the user write on a specialized surface, whether it be the actual screen of the computing device or specialized paper. There is a need for a stylus that can enter data into a computing device, regardless of the surface with which it is
used.

The invention claimed is: 

One embodiment is a stylus that includes a position sensing device such as an accelerometer, a tip for writing, a transmitter for sending position data, a receiver and a computing device. The stylus may be used for entering data into the computing device without actually touching the device nor requiring any specialized paper. Rather, the stylus is able to enter data into the computing device, corresponding to images or text drawn draw on any surface. 

Additionally, the stylus can enter the data from a distance, such as from across the room, to the computing device. This allows a user in one embodiment to keep the computing device stored, for example with a cellular phone, in his pocket and still be able to use the stylus to enter text or drawings into the device. This makes it easy, for example, in a classroom setting for a user to take handwritten notes and simultaneously create a digital version of those notes. 

Additionally, in another embodiment, the stylus allows for the user to write on a whiteboard mounted on a wall and simultaneously display what he has written on a computing device. (snip)

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=(345%2F179.CCLS.+AND+20141230.PD.)&OS=ccl/345/179+and+isd/12/30/2014&RS=(CCL/345/179+AND+ISD/20141230)

--

Cheers,
Stephen