Holding and Using an Electronic Pen and Paper

An apparatus comprising:

• an elongate pen body,
• a first electrical contact on a surface of the pen body,
• a writing tip disposed at an end of the pen body, and
• a light source disposed near the writing tip.

A method comprising:

• attaching a sensing device to a clipboard,
• attaching paper to the clipboard,
• writing on the paper using a writing instrument coupled to the sensing device, and
• generating at the sensing device a record of the writing of the writing instrument.

A method comprising:

• positioning a sensing device in a known location relative to a pre-printed form,
• writing on the form using a writing instrument wirelessly coupled to the sensing device,
• generating a record of the writing of the writing instrument, and
• associating the record with fields on the form.

An apparatus comprising:

• a housing containing electronics used in determining locations of a writing instrument based on wireless signals,
• the housing defining a chamber in which the writing instrument may be held when not in use,
• the electronics including three electrical contacts, such that when the writing instrument is present in the chamber, at least two of the contacts will couple to contacts on the writing instrument,
• the electronics to detect which electrical contacts are coupled to the contacts on the writing instrument, and provide a voltage to the identified contacts to charge a power supply in the writing instrument.

An apparatus comprising:

• an elongate pen body,
• a first electrical contact on a surface of the pen body,
• a light source disposed near an end of the pen body,
• in which the light source comprises a light guide having an optically conductive portion and an optically reflective portion, the optically reflective portion also being electrically conductive and constituting a second electrical contact.

An apparatus comprising:

• a housing containing electronics used in determining locations of a writing instrument based on wireless signals,
• the housing defining a chamber in which the writing instrument may be held when not in use,
• a clipboard sized to accommodate a sheet of paper,
• the housing and the clipboard having mating features to removably couple the housing to the clipboard.

A light guide adapted for use in a writing instrument, the light guide comprising:

• a first section having a first diameter and defining an axis,
• a tapered section coaxial with the first section and having a first end of the first diameter coupled to the first section and a second end of a second diameter,
• the first section being adapted to receive light and direct it to the tapered section, and
• the second end of the tapered section being adapted to reflect light received from the first section from a path generally parallel to the axis to a path exiting the light guide in a direction generally perpendicular to the axis.

An apparatus comprising:

• an elongate pen body,
• a writing tip disposed at an end of the pen body,
• a light source disposed near the writing tip,
• a switch to detect when pressure is applied to the writing tip, and
• a contact for receiving power to charge electronics within the apparatus.

An apparatus comprising

• a pen body,
• a light guide partially disposed within the pen body, and outside diameter of the light guide being about equal to an inside diameter of the pen body,
• a light source disposed within the pen body,
• a fiber optic fiber configured to couple light from the light source to the light guide, and
• a reflector disposed at an end of the light guide outside the pen body.