US-12619322-B2 - Pen and touch input system or controller

US12619322B2US 12619322 B2US12619322 B2US 12619322B2US-12619322-B2

Abstract

A pen and touch input system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a touch input device including a sensor unit and a control unit for controlling the sensor unit and a stylus pen interacting with the touch input device.

Inventors

Seyeob Kim
Ho Jun Moon
Bonkee Kim
Young Ho Cho
Hwanhee LEE
Giduk KIM
Joohyun Go
Mun Sub BYUN
Hyoungwook Woo
Kiryoung Jung

Assignees

HIDEEP INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20241112
Priority Date: 20220607

Claims (20)

1 . A controller for controlling a touch input device including a sensor unit and capable of interacting with a stylus pen, wherein the sensor unit comprises: a first pattern extending in a first direction; a second pattern disposed adjacent to the first pattern and extending in the first direction; a third pattern extending in a second direction different from the first direction; and a fourth pattern disposed adjacent to the third pattern and extending in the second direction, wherein a plurality of first patterns and a plurality of second patterns are arranged in the second direction, and a plurality of third patterns and a plurality of fourth patterns are arranged in the first direction, wherein first ends of the plurality of first and third patterns are electrically connected to the controller, and second ends thereof are electrically opened, and wherein second ends of the plurality of second patterns are electrically connected to each other, and second ends of the plurality of fourth patterns are electrically connected to each other, wherein the stylus pen comprises: a body part; a tip exposed to the outside in the body part; an inductor part comprising a ferrite core disposed in the body part and a coil wound in multiple layers around at least a portion of the ferrite core; and a capacitor part disposed in the body part and electrically connected to the inductor part to form a resonance circuit, wherein the controller is configured to sense the stylus pen by using at least one sensing pattern among the plurality of first to fourth patterns.
2 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to drive the stylus pen by using at least one driving pattern among the plurality of first to fourth patterns.
3 . The controller of claim 2 , wherein the controller allows: a driving signal to be outputted to at least one driving pattern among the plurality of driving patterns; and a driving signal opposite to the above-described driving signal to be outputted to at least another driving pattern among the plurality of driving patterns.
4 . The controller of claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises a recording medium in which a program is recorded for executing: a process of outputting a driving signal to at least one driving pattern among the plurality of driving patterns; and a process of outputting a driving signal opposite to the above-described driving signal to at least another driving pattern among the plurality of driving patterns.
5 . The controller of claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises a plurality of driving circuit units for pen driving, wherein the controller controls to apply: a driving signal to at least one driving pattern through at least one driving circuit unit for pen driving through at least one driving circuit unit for pen driving among the plurality of driving circuit unit for pen driving; and a driving signal opposite to the above-described driving signal to at least another driving pattern through at least another driving circuit unit for pen driving among the plurality of driving circuit units for pen driving.
6 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein any one of the first to fourth patterns comprises a plurality of diamond patterns and a connection pattern configured to connect two adjacent diamond patterns among the plurality of diamond patterns.
7 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the first pattern or the third pattern has an opening, and the second pattern or the fourth pattern is disposed in the opening of the first pattern or the third pattern, respectively.
8 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the first pattern or the third pattern surrounds the second pattern or the fourth pattern, respectively.
9 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the first pattern and the second pattern are disposed on the same layer, or the third pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed on the same layer.
10 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first pattern and at least a portion of the second pattern are disposed on a first layer, and at least a portion of the second pattern and at least a portion of the fourth pattern are disposed on a second layer.
11 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein second ends of the plurality of second and fourth patterns are electrically connected to each other through a via.
12 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to apply a driving signal for touch sensing to at least one first pattern among the plurality of first patterns and receive a sensing signal received from at least one third pattern among the plurality of third patterns.
13 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a recording medium in which a program is recorded for executing: a process of applying a driving signal for touch sensing to at least one first pattern among the plurality of first patterns; and a process of receiving a sensing signal received from at least one third pattern among the plurality of third patterns.
14 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises: a plurality of driving circuit units for touch sensing; and a plurality of sensing circuit units for touch sensing, wherein the controller controls to: apply a driving signal for touch sensing to at least one driving pattern among the plurality of first or third patterns through the plurality of driving circuit units for touch sensing, and receive a sensing signal for touch sensing received from at least one sensing pattern among the plurality of first or third patterns through the plurality of sensing circuit units for touch sensing.
15 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls to sense the pen based on an output value from at least one a first sensing pattern among the plurality of sensing patterns the at least one sensing pattern and an output value from at least one a second sensing pattern among other the at least one sensing patterns different from the first plurality of sensing patterns.
16 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a recording medium in which a program is recorded for executing: a process of sensing the pen based on an output value from at least one a first sensing pattern among the plurality of the at least one sensing patterns and an output value from at least one a second sensing pattern among other the at least one sensing patterns different from the first plurality of sensing patterns.
17 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a plurality of sensing circuit units for pen sensing, wherein the controller controls to sense the pen based on: an output value from at least one a first sensing pattern among the plurality of the at least one sensing patterns, which is sensed through at least one a first sensing circuit unit for pen sensing among the plurality of sensing circuit units for pen sensing; an output value from at least one a second sensing pattern among other the at least one sensing patterns different from the first plurality of sensing patterns which is sensed through at least one a second sensing circuit unit for pen sensing among the plurality of sensing circuit units for pen sensing; wherein at least a portion of the sensing circuit unit for pen sensing is used for touch sensing.
18 . The controller of claim 1 , further comprising a capacitor connected to a pattern of the second end among the plurality of second patterns or the plurality of fourth patterns.
19 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the second pattern is a bar pattern disposed in the first pattern and extending in the first direction, and the fourth pattern is a bar pattern disposed in the third pattern and extending in the second direction, wherein the pen and touch input device further comprises: a plurality of fifth patterns disposed between the plurality of first patterns, having a shape corresponding to and overlapping a main pattern part of the third pattern, and electrically connected to the fourth pattern; a capacitor connected to a pattern of the second end among the plurality of fifth patterns; a plurality of sixth patterns disposed between the plurality of third patterns, having a shape corresponding to and overlapping a main pattern part of the first pattern, and electrically connected to the second pattern; and a capacitor connected to the pattern of the second end among the plurality of sixth patterns.
20 . The controller of claim 1 , further comprising at least one trace directly connected to a portion at which the patterns disposed on the second end are electrically connected to each other and disposed outside an active area of the touch input device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 18/330,549, filed on Jun. 7, 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,141,375, that claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0069181, filed on Jun. 7, 2022, and to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0069182, filed on Jun. 7, 2022, the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein, for all purposes. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a pen and a controller, and more particularly, to a touch input system including a sensor unit and interacting with a stylus pen and a controller for controlling a device. A touch sensor is provided in various touch input devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, laptop computers, digital broadcasting terminals, personal digital assistants (PDA), portable multimedia players (PMP), navigation units, slate PCs, tablet PCs, ultrabooks, and wearable devices. The touch sensor in the touch input device may be disposed on a display panel that displays an image or a portion of the touch input device. As a user touches a touch sensor to interact with the touch input device, the touch input device may provide an intuitive user interface to the user. The user may use a stylus pen for a precise touch input. The stylus pen may be classified into an active stylus pen and a passive stylus pen depending on whether a battery and an electronic component are provided therein. Although the active stylus pen has an excellent basic performance and provides additional functions (pen pressure, hovering, buttons) in comparison with the passive stylus pen, the active stylus pen is expensive and uses a rechargeable battery as power. Thus, not many users substantially use the active stylus pen except for some advanced users. Although the passive stylus pen is inexpensive and does not require a battery in comparison with the active stylus pen, the passive stylus pen is difficult to recognize a precise touch in comparison with the active stylus pen. In recent years, however, technologies of an electro magnetic resonance (EMR) method that is an inductive resonance method and a capacitive resonance method are proposed to realize a passive stylus pen capable of recognizing a precise touch. Although the EMR method is excellent in writing and drawing quality that is a key function of the stylus pen, the EMR method has a great thickness and requires more costs because a separate EMR sensor panel and a separate EMR driving IC are necessarily added in addition to a capacitance touch panel. The capacitive resonance method uses a general capacitance touch sensor and a general touch controller IC to increase a performance of the IC and support a pen touch without additional costs. In the EMR method or the capacitive resonance method, a resonance signal is required to have a large amplitude to more accurately distinguish a touch caused by the stylus pen. Thus, a driving signal transmitted to the stylus pen needs to have the almost same resonance frequency as that of the resonance circuit contained in the stylus pen. However, according to a typical EMR method or a typical capacitive resonance method, although the resonance frequency is the same as a frequency of the driving signal, signal transmission is difficult because of extremely great attenuation of the signal transmission. As a result, despite attempts of many touch controller IC vendors for a long time, no companies have succeeded in mass production yet because a sufficient output signal is not produced. Thus, a feature of how to design structures of the internal resonance circuit and the pen is a key factor to manufacture an EMR or capacitive resonance stylus pen capable of producing a maximum output signal. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides a pen including a stylus pen producing sufficient output signals, a touch input system interacting with a stylus pen, and a controller for controlling a device. The present disclosure also provides a pen including a multifunctional touch input device capable of driving a stylus pen and detecting a position of the stylus pen and a controller for controlling a touch input system. The present disclosure also provides a pen including a touch input device capable of solving a limitation in which an output voltage of a sensing circuit unit is varied depending on positions of a stylus pen and a controller for controlling a touch input system. The problem to be solved in the present invention is not limited to the above-described problems. An embodiment of the present invention provides a pen and touch input system including: a touch input device including a sensor unit and a control unit configured to control the sensor unit; and a stylus pen configured to interact with the touch input device. Here, the sensor unit includes: a first pattern extending in a first direction; a second pattern disposed adjacent to the first pattern and e