Patent ID: 7746326
Filing Date: 2010-06-29
Classification: G02B,G06F

Abstract:
1. A coordinate input apparatus comprising: a photo transmission/reception unit having a phototransmitter which projects light along a plane of an input region, and a photoreceptor which detects incoming light, said photoreceptor being controlled by control signals to have detection periods during which the incoming light is detected; a reflector which is arranged on a rim portion of the input region, and configured to reflect incident light from the phototransmitter in said photo transmission/reception unit toward the photoreceptor in that photo transmission/reception unit; a pointing device including a transmission unit configured to transmit an optical signal including information regarding a unique identifier based on a pointing operation, and used to make the pointing operation for pointing to an arbitrary position in the input region; a detection unit configured to detect a shade formed by the pointing operation of said pointing device and the optical signal that is transmitted from the transmission unit based on the pointing operation, using said photo transmission/reception unit; and an output unit configured to determine which one of the plurality of shades corresponds to the optical signal, in accordance with the positions of the plurality of shades and a position at which the optical signal is detected, to calculate a coordinate value of the position on the basis of the determined one of the plurality of shades corresponding to the optical signal, and to append the identifier included in the optical signal to the coordinate value calculated on the basis of the determined one of the plurality of shades.