Abstract:
A handheld electronic device comprising a main body, a stylus and a non-contact sensor is provided. The main body has a containing slot, and the stylus having a sensing region is suitable for being inserted into the containing slot. The non-contact sensor is disposed beside the containing slot. The non-contact sensor outputs a sensing signal for identifying the position of the stylus when the stylus moves in the containing slot and the sensing region of the stylus passes the non-contact sensor. By detecting the position of the stylus in a non-contact manner, the reliability and the lifetime of the handheld electronic device are improved, and a higher sensing precision is also provided.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 96141565, filed on Nov. 2, 2007. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of specification. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a handheld electronic device, and in particular, to a handheld electronic device capable of identifying the position of a stylus by using a non-contact method. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A handheld electronic device is an electronic device which can be held and operated in a user&#39;s hand and is portable because of small size and light weight. Common handheld electronic devices in the current market include, for example, a mobile phone, a multimedia player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pocket PC, a handheld game console, and a handheld global positioning system (GPS). 
         [0006]    Some of the handheld electronic devices (e.g. PDA) in the current market are equipped with touch screens which provide input interfaces and display interfaces at the same time. In order to be used with the touch screens, the handheld electronic device is equipped with a stylus, and thereby the user can touch items displayed on the screen to select them or input words by using the stylus, so as to perform the functions built in the handheld electronic device. 
         [0007]    Usually, a traditional handheld electronic device has a containing slot disposed inside. When the user does not use the stylus, the stylus can be inserted into the containing slot of the main body for the convenience of storing and carrying. Moreover, a switch is usually disposed on a main body of the handheld electronic device. Therefore, when the user wants to use the handheld electronic device, the switch must be pressed manually in order to control the electronic device to switch from a sleeping status to a working status, namely, the screen of the handheld electronic device is switched on. At this moment, if the user wants to use the stylus, the user call pull out the stylus from the containing slot. When the user does not use the handheld electronic device, the users need to press the switch manually in order to control the electronic device to switch from the working status to the sleeping status, namely, the screen of the handheld electronic device is switched off. Thereafter, the user also inserts the stylus back into the containing slot. 
         [0008]    The user needs to press the switch manually no matter when using the handheld electronic device or when deciding not to use the handheld electronic device, which leads to inconvenience in use. Moreover, due to the mechanical design of the switch, the switch can be worn down after a long time of use, and thereby reducing the reliability and the service life of the products. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention relates to a handheld electronic device capable of identifying a position of a stylus by means of a non-contact method, so that users can control operation of the handheld electronic device easily and conveniently. 
         [0010]    The present invention relates to a handheld electronic device identifying a position of a stylus by means of a non-contact method for performing a predetermined function, and thereby the convenience in use is enhanced. 
         [0011]    The present invention also relates to a stylus applying in the aforementioned handheld electronic device and a method for operating the handheld electronic device. 
         [0012]    In order to describe the present invention more specifically, a handheld electronic device mainly including a main body, a stylus and a non-contact sensor is set forth hereinafter. The main body has a containing slot. The stylus has a sensing region and is suitable for being inserted into the containing slot. The non-contact sensor is disposed beside the containing slot. The non-contact sensor outputs a sensing signal when the stylus moves in the containing slot and the sensing region of the stylus passes the non-contact sensor. The main body is suitable for accepting the sensing signal and performing a predetermined function according to the sensing signal. 
         [0013]    Furthermore, a stylus, suitable for being inserted into a containing slot of a main body of a handheld electronic device is provided. The handheld electronic device has a non-contact sensor disposed beside the containing slot. The stylus has a sensing region and is suitable for being inserted into the containing slot, the non-contact sensor outputs a sensing signal when the stylus moves in the containing slot and the sensing region of the stylus passes the non-contact sensor. The main body is suitable for accepting the sensing signal and performs a predetermined function according to the sensing signal. 
         [0014]    A method for operating the handheld electronic device is also provided. The method comprises taking the stylus out from the containing slot so as to enable the main body to performing a predetermined function according to the sensing signal. 
         [0015]    In light of the above, according to the present invention, the position of the stylus in the containing slot of the main body is identified by using the non-contact sensor to detect the sensing region of the stylus. On the other hand, according to the present invention, a predetermined function can be performed by the main body of the handheld electronic apparatus according to a position of the stylus, so that the convenience in use is enhanced. 
         [0016]    In order to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
           [0018]      FIGS. 1 and 2  respectively are a schematic view illustrating a handheld electronic device with a stylus thereof stored in a main body and a schematic view illustrating a handheld electronic device with a stylus pulled out from the main body according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are schematic views illustrating relative movements between a non-contact sensor and a sensing region of the stylus. 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view schematically illustrating the stylus according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]      FIGS. 1 and 2  respectively are a schematic view illustrating a handheld electronic device with a stylus thereof stored in a main body and a schematic view illustrating a handheld electronic device with a stylus pulled out from the main body according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the handheld electronic device  100  mainly includes the main body  110 , the stylus  120  and other elements. The main body  110  has a containing slot  112  for containing the stylus  120 . 
         [0022]    According to the present embodiment, in order to identify the position of the stylus  120  by a non-contact method, a non-contact sensor  130  is disposed beside the containing slot  112  of the main body  110 , and the stylus  120  has a sensing region  122  corresponding to the non-contact sensor  130 . A position of the sensing region  122  can be designed to enable the sensing region  122  to pass the non-contact sensor  130  after the stylus  120  is inserted into the containing slot  112 , and thereby the non-contact sensor  130  can detect the sensing region  122  and output a sensing signal when the sensing region  122  passes by. Moreover, the main body  110  is suitable for accepting the sensing signal and performing a predetermined function according to the sensing signal. 
         [0023]    More specifically, according to the present embodiment, the positions of the stylus  120  and the main body  110  of the handheld electronic device  100  can be identified by the sensing signal.  FIGS. 3A and 3B  are schematic views illustrating relative movements between the non-contact sensor  130  and the sensing region  122  of the stylus  120 . As shown in  FIG. 3A , when users do not use the stylus  120  and insert the stylus  120  into the containing slot  112  of the main body  110 , the sensing region  122  of the stylus  120  passes the non-contact sensor  130  along a direction D 1 , and thereby a sensing signal S 1  is generated. As shown in  FIG. 3B , when the users want to use the stylus  120  and pull out the stylus  120  from the containing slot  112  of the main body  110 , the sensing region  122  of the stylus  120  passes the non-contact sensor  130  along an opposite direction D 2 , and thereby another sensing signal S 2  is generated. In other words, different sensing signals are generated when the stylus  120  passes the non-contact sensor  130  along different directions. Thereby, a relative position of the stylus  120  to the main body  110  can be identified based on different sensing signals. 
         [0024]    It should be noted that according to the present embodiment, the non-contact sensor  130  can identify the position of the stylus  120  by using a non-contact magnetic sensing method and no direct contacts are required between the stylus  120  and the non-contact sensor  130 . Furthermore, because the non-contact sensor  130  can detect the stylus  120  within a specific distance from the non-contact sensor  130 , the alignment tolerance between the main body  110  and the stylus  120  can be larger. 
         [0025]    In practice, the afore-mentioned non-contact sensing method according to the present embodiment can be performed by using a magnetic sensing method. In other words, the non-contact sensor  130  can be, for example, a magneto-resistive sensor (MR sensor) while the sensing region  122  can be, for example, a magnetic region. According to the present embodiment, a magnetic element can be disposed in a proper position inside the stylus  120  for forming the sensing region  122  of the stylus  120 .  FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the stylus  120 , wherein the stylus  120  mainly includes a hollow body  120   a , and a magnetic element  150  is disposed in the hollow body  120   a  for forming the aforementioned sensing region  122 . The magnetic element  150  has an S pole and an N pole, and the S pole and the N pole are arranged in a direction substantially parallel to a long direction of the stylus  120 . Therefore, the non-contact sensor  130  can output different sensing signals when the stylus  120  is stored in the main body  110  or pulled out from the main body  110 . According to the present embodiment, the magnetic element  150  is, for example, a common permanent magnet or other elements having the same property. 
         [0026]    According to other embodiments of the present invention, other non-contact sensing methods can be utilized instead of the aforementioned magnetic non-contact sensing method. For example, the non-contact sensor can be a photo sensitive sensor. The photo sensitive sensor can identify the position of the stylus through the variations of the external light. According to different types of the photo sensitive sensor, the sensing region of the stylus can be a transparent region, an opaque region or a reflective region. 
         [0027]    Furthermore, in order to increase the convenience of using the handheld electronic device for the users, the present invention can further incorporate the aforementioned sensing method for identifying the position of the stylus with a control of operation, so that the handheld electronic device can automatically perform a predetermined function according to the position of the stylus. The position of the stylus usually varies with the usage status of the handheld electronic device. For example, the predetermined function can control a display screen to switch on and switch off. Moreover, the predetermined function can execute or close a certain application program. For example, when replying to a message, a handwriting tablet or a keyboard can automatically be switched off as the stylus is inserted back into the containing slot. When executing a built-in game, the game can be automatically closed as the stylus is inserted back into the containing slot. In addition, the above-mentioned predetermined function can be an alert sound provided by the main body. Moreover, the display screen of the main body is locked, and the stylus is inserted into the containing slot. The presetting function can be unlocking the display screen when the stylus is taken out from the containing slot. 
         [0028]    More specifically, when users want to use the touch control function provided by the handheld electronic device, they usually pull out the stylus from the main body first. The aforementioned habit can be utilized to design the predetermined function of switching on and switching off the display screen, for example. Referring to  FIG. 3B , the non-contact sensor  130  outputs the sensing signal S 2  at this moment, the main body  110  can receives the sensing signal S 2  to switch on the display screen of the main body  110  according to the sensing signal S 2 . In other words, the users can directly watch and use the display screen right after pulling out the stylus  120 . 
         [0029]    Moreover, referring to  FIG. 3A , when the users do not use the handheld electronic device, the stylus  120  is inserted back into the main body  110 . At this moment, the non-contact sensor  130  outputs the sensing signal S 1  accordingly, and the main body  110  can receive the sensing signal S 1  to switched off the display screen automatically. 
         [0030]    In summary, according to the present invention, a non-contact sensing method is utilized to detect the sensing region of the stylus for controlling the display screen to switch on and switch off. Therefore, compared with a prior art, the handheld electronic device of the present invention provides higher reliability and longer lifetime. Furthermore, by using the method of sensing the position of the stylus to perform a predetermined function, the convenience of using the electronic handheld device can be enhanced. 
         [0031]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed description.