Background

[0001] An electronic device may allow a user to input commands via a number of different devices. The number of different devices may include a computer keyboard, a computer mouse, and a pen that can be mechanically and/or electronically coupled to the electronic device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0002] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a pen holding device according to the disclosure.

[0003] Figure 2A and 2B illustrate an example of a pen holding device according to the disclosure.

[0004] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a pen holding device with a snap feature according to the disclosure.

[0005] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a system including a pen holding device according to the disclosure.

[0006] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a pen holding device with a plurality of connectors according to the disclosure. Detailed Description

[0007] A pen holding device may be coupled to an electronic device and receive and couple to a pen. A user can attach and detach the pen from the pen holding device for use with the electronic device. For example, the user may use the pen to input a number of commands to the electronic device via the pen. The pen holding device may include a particular coupling mechanism to couple the pen to the pen holding device. For example, the pen holding device may include a magnet to provide a magnetic coupling between the pen and the pen holding device. However, in such approaches, a particular coupling mechanism may not be securely couple the pen to the pen holding device. For example, mere magnetic coupling may allow for free orientation (i.e., movement of the pen) of the pen along a longitudinal axis of the pen and/or such free orientation may weaken the magnetic coupling between the pen and the pen holding device. For instance, the pen may be inadvertently detached from the pen holding device.

[0008] The disclosure is directed to pen holding devices and systems including pen holding devices. For example, a pen holding device can include a connector coupled to a receiver to couple the pen holding device to an electronic device, and the receiver including a magnet and a pen clip holder to couple a pen (e.g., a stylus or other type of pen) via the magnet and the pen clip holder. Notably, the pen holding device, as described herein, can strengthen the coupling between the pen and the pen holding device by providing two or more coupling mechanisms such as a magnetic coupling and a frictional coupling that are employed at the same time..

[0009] As used herein, a frictional coupling refers to a coupling between a pen and a pen holding device, in which the pen holding device is to, when coupled to the pen, limit movement of the pen within the pen holding device via a frictional force. As used herein, a magnetic coupling refers to a coupling between a pen and a pen holding device, in which the pen holding device is to, when coupled to the pen, limit movement of the pen within the pen holding device via a magnetic force.

[0010] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a pen holding device 1 10 according to the disclosure, in various examples, the pen holding device 1 10 can comprise a connector 1 10-2 coupled to a receiver 1 10-1 to couple the pen holding device 1 10 to an electronic device (not shown), and the receiver 1 10-1 including a magnet 1 15 and a pen clip holder (not shown) to couple a pen 120 via the magnet and the pen clip holder (not shown).

[0011] in various examples, the receiver 1 10-1 can include a magnet 1 15 to couple the pen 120 to the receiver 1 10-1. For example, as illustrated in Figure 1 , the receiver 1 10-1 can include the magnet 1 15, The magnet 1 15 coupled to the receiver 1 10-1 can provide a magnetic coupling between the receiver 1 10-1 and the pen 120. for example, the pen 120 can be formed at least in part of a metal (e.g., steel, etc.) that is readily coupled to the magnet 1 15, The pen 120 can be a stylus to interact with an electronic device and/or another type of pen such as those including ink or other writing materials. In various examples, the magnet 1 15 can be positioned adjacent to the pen dip holder to couple the pen via both the magnet and the pen clip holder at the same time. For example, when the pen 120 is being coupled to the pen clip holder 1 10, the magnetic coupling and the frictional coupling can occur at the same time as the magnet 1 15 is positioned adjacent to the pen clip holder.

[0012] in various examples, the receiver 1 10-1 can include a pen clip holder (not shown in Figure 1 ) to couple the pen 120 to the receiver 1 10-1. For example, as detailed with respect to Figure 2, the receiver 1 10-1 can include the pen dip holder to couple a pen clip 120-1 of the pen 120. By providing two different coupling mechanisms such as magnetic coupling and frictional coupling, the pen holding device can strengthen the coupling between the pen 120 and the pen holding device 1 10 in contrast to other approaches that may employ a lone type of coupling mechanism by itself.

[0013] in some examples, the receiver 1 10-1 can be unremovably coupled to the connector 1 10-2 to prevent a disassembly of the pen holding device. For example, the pen holding device 1 10, as described in Figure 1 , can comprise two different

components: the receiver 1 10-1 and the connector 1 10-2 that can be coupled to each other in an unremovable manner (i.e., nonremovabiy coupled). In some examples, the pen holding device 1 10 can comprise a plastic connector (e.g., a connector 1 10-2) and a metal receiver (e.g., a receiver 1 10-1 ), in which the metal receiver is insert-molded into the plastic receiver to form a pen holding device. In some examples, the plastic connector can be glued to the metal receiver. However examples are not limited so. For example, the pen holding device 1 10 can be a continuous metal body that is manufactured by a computer numeric control (CNC) machine.

[0014] In various examples, the receiver 1 10-1 includes a snap feature (not shown) to couple and detach the pen, as describe herein. For example, when coupling the pen 120 as illustrated in Figure 1 , the snap feature of the receiver 1 10-1 can flexibly open wide to couple the pen 120, and restore its original state once the pen 120 is coupled to the receiver 1 10-1.

[0015] in various example, the connector 1 10-2 includes a flexible end 1 12 forming a flexible U-shaped end disposable against a surface of a standardized interface of the electronic device to removably couple the pen holding device 1 10 to the electronic device (not shown). For example, as illustrated in Figure 1 , the connector 1 10-2 can include a connector 1 12 that is a U-shaped and flexible, as described herein. For example, when being coupled to the standardized interface, the flexible end 1 12 can be compressed to be deformabiy coupled to the standardized interface by exerting spring tension against the surface of the standardized interface. When decoupled from the standardized interface the flexible end 1 12 can restore to its original state/shape.

[0016] Figure 2A and 2B illustrate an example of a pen holding device 210 according to the disclosure. The pen holding device 210 illustrated in Figure 2A and 2B can be analogous to the pen holding device 1 10 as illustrated in Figure 1. For example, the receiver 220-1 and the connector 210-2 of the pen holding device 210 illustrated in Figure 2A and 2B are analogous to the receiver 1 10-1 and the connector 1 10-2 of the pen holding device 1 10 as illustrated in Figure 1 , respectively.

[0017] Figure 2A illustrates an example of the pen holding device 210 with a pen clip holder 214. In various examples, the receiver 210-1 can couple a pen clip of the pen (not shown) to provide additional frictionai coupling via the pen clip holder 214. For example, the pen clip holder 214 can be specialized in coupling the pen clip (e.g., a pen clip 120-1 ). in this example, the pen holding device 210 can be designed to fit for the pen (not shown) such that frictionai force that may exerted to the pen while the pen (not shown) is coupled to the pen holding device. By providing additional mechanism of coupling the pen to the pen holding device, the pen clip holder 214, as illustrated in Figure 2A, can further strengthen the frictionai coupling as described herein.

[0018] Figure 2B illustrates an example of a pen holding device 210 according to the disclosure. In various examples, as described herein, the receiver 210-1 can couple the pen (not shown) moving along an axis 240, as described herein. For example, the pen (not shown) can be siideiy inserted into the receiver 210-1 along the axis 240 such that the pen (not shown) can be coupled to the receiver 210-1. However, examples are not limited so. For example, the receiver 210-1 can couple the pen (not shown) moving along an axis perpendicular to the axis 240. In this example, the receiver 210-1 can include a snap feature to flexibly coupe the pen (not shown) moving along the axis perpendicular to axis 240, and to provide the coupling between the receiver 210-1 and the pen (not shown), as described herein.

[0019] in various examples, the receiver can, upon coupling the pen clip, limit an orientation of the pen along a longitudinal axis 240 of the pen to secure the coupling between the pen and the receiver. For example, a pen holding device without a pen clip holder (e.g., 240) may allow for free orientation (i.e., rotation and movement of the pen) of the pen along a longitudinal axis 240 of the pen and/or such free orientation may weaken the magnetic coupling and the frictionai coupling between the pen and the pen holding device. For instance, the pen may be inadvertently detached from the pen holding device. By not allowing the free orientation of the pen along the longitudinal axis 240 of the pen, the pen holding device 210 may secure the coupling between the pen holding device 2 0 and the pen.

[0020] in some examples, the pen holding device 210 may include the pen clip holder 240 without a magnet 215 that provides the magnetic coupling. For example, the connector 210-2 may couple the pen to the pen holding device 210 via the pen clip holder 214 without the magnet 215 such that the pen can be coupled to the pen holding device 210 via the frictionai coupling without the magnetic coupling, in some examples, a length of the connector 210-2 along the longitudinal axis 240 can be designed to provide a stronger frictionai coupling between the pen holding device 210 and the pen. For instance, the length of the connector 210-2 can be extended along the longitudinal axis 240 to provide more surface area of the connector 210-2 that can be in contact with the pen. By providing more surface area, the pen holding device 210-2 can limit the orientation of the pen coupled to the pen holding device 210-2 along the longitudinal axis 240 without a pen clip holder 214,

[0021] In various examples, the connector 210-2, as illustrated in Figure 2B, can couple the pen holding device 210 to the electronic device (not shown) via a standardized interface of the electronic device. For example, the connector 210-2 can include a flexible end 212 disposable against a surface of a standardized interface (not shown) of the electronic device to removably couple the pen holding device 210 to the electronic device (not shown). For example, when being coupled to the standardized interface, the flexible end 212 can be compressed to be deformabiy coupled to the standardized interface, and restore its original state upon completing the coupling to exert spring tension by disposing itself against the surface of the standardized interface. Although examples are not limited so, the flexible end, as illustrated in Figure 2A, can form a U-shaped end.

[0022] in some examples, a receiving surface of the receiver 210-1 can be concave. For example, the receiving surface of the receiver 210-1 that can, when coupled to the pen, be in contact with the pen can be concave such that the pen with a circular longitudinal surface can fit to the receiving surface of the receiver 210-1. In this examples, the magnet 215 that can be included in the receiver 210-1 can also be a curved-shape (e.g., concave) to fit into the concave-shaped receiver 210-1 , and to provide more surface area of the magnet 215 that can be in contact with the pen. By having a receiver 210-1 specialized for a longitudinal surface of a pen, the pen holding device 210 can provide a stronger magnetic and frictionai coupling between the pen and the pen holding device 210,

[0023] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a pen holding device 310 with a snap feature 316 according to the disclosure. The pen holding device 310 illustrated in Figure 3 is analogous to the pen holding device 1 10 and 210 as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively. For example, the receiver 310-1 of the pen holding device 310 can be analogous to the receiver 1 10-1 and the receiver 210-1 as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively. [0024] !n various examples, the receiver 310-1 includes a snap feature 318 to couple and detach the pen. In this example, the plurality of flexible ends can provide the snap feature 316 for the coupling by flexibly opening wide to receive the pen (not shown), and restore its original state once the pen is coupled to the receiver 310-1. For instance, when the pen is completely coupled to the receiver 310-1 , the plurality of flexible ends can restore its original state to hold the pen (not shown) such that pen (not shown) can be coupled to the pen holding device 310 via a frictional coupling. By flexibly coupling and detaching the pen from the pen holding device 310, the snap feature 316 may prevent the pen holding device 310 that holds the pen via the frictional coupling from being broken when coupling or detaching the pen.

[0025] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a system 400 including a pen holding device 410 according to the disclosure. As illustrated in Figure 4, the system 400 can include a pen holding device 410, a pen 420, and an electronic device 430. The pen holding device 410 illustrated in Figure 4 is analogous to the pen holding device 1 10, 210, and 310 as illustrated in Figure 1 , Figure 2, and Figure 3, respectively. As illustrated in Figure 4, the pen holding device 410 can include a receiver 410-1 and a connector 410-2 that are analogous to the receiver 1 10-1 , 2 0-1 , and 310-1 , and the connector 1 10-2, 210-2, and 310-2 as illustrated in Figure 1 , Figure 2, and Figure 3, respectively.

[0026] In various examples, the system 400 can comprise the electronic device

430 to which the pen holding device 410 can be coupled to, and the pen holding device 430 to removably couple the pen 420 to the pen holding device 430 via a magnet 4 5, and a pen clip holder (not shown). For example, the pen holding device 410 can include the receiver 410-1 and the connector 410-2 that can be unremovabiy coupled to each other, although examples are not limited so.

[0027] The receiver 410-1 can include the magnet 415 to provide a magnetic coupling between the pen 420 and the pen holding device 410. The receiver 410-1 can also include the pen clip holder (not shown) that is analogous to the pen clip holder 214 as illustrated in Figure 2. For example, the receiver 410-1 can, upon coupling the pen clip 420-1 , limit an orientation of the pen 420 along a longitudinal axis (e.g., an axis 240 as iliustraied in Figure 2B) of the pen to secure the coupling between the pen 420 and the receiver 420-1 .

[0028] !n various examples, the electronic device 430 can include a plurality of standardized interfaces. For example, as illustrated in Figure 4, the electronic device 430 may include a plurality of standardized interface 430-1 , 430-2, 430-3, and 430-4. Although examples are not limited so, at least some of the plurality of standardized interface of the electronic device can include different form factors. For example, as described here, the plurality of standardized interfaces 430-1 , 430-2, 430-3, and 430-4 can include a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a micro secure digital (SD) card, a ensington lock, a cable lock, and/or a universal serial bus (USB) standardized interface, among other possibilities. As used herein, the form factor refers to a physical size and shape of a standardized interface. The pen holding device 410 can include a plurality of connectors (e.g., a connector 410-2 as illustrated in Figure 4) to be coupled to the electronic device via the plurality of standardized interfaces 430-1 , 430-2, 430-3, and 430-4.

[0029] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a pen holding device 510 with a plurality of connectors (e.g. connectors 512-1 and 512-2) according to the disclosure. The pen holding device 510 illustrated in Figure 5 is analogous to the pen holding device 1 10, 210, 310, and 410 of Figure 1 , Figure 2, Figure 3, and Figure 4,

respectively. As illustrated in Figure 5, the pen 520 is coupled to the pen holding device 510, as described herein, via a magnet (not shown) and a pen dip holder (not shown) that are analogous to the magnet 1 15 and the pen clip holder 214 as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2B.

[0030] in various examples, as illustrated in Figure 5, the pen holding device

510 can include a plurality of connectors. For example, the pen holding device 510 can include a plurality of connectors 512-1 and 512-2 as illustrated in Figure 5. Each of the plurality of connectors 512-1 and 512-2 can be coupled to a respective standardized interface of the electronic device. In some examples, although examples are not limited so, the connector 512-1 can be coupled to a HDMI standardized interface of the electronic device (not shown), and the connector 512-2 can be coupled to a cable lock of the electronic device (not shown). In some examples, the connector 512-1 can be coupled to the cable lock, and the connector 512-2 can be coupled to a USB standardized interface. By having a plurality of connectors by which the pen holding device 510 can be coupled to the electronic device at the same time, the pen holding device 510 can provide a stronger coupling between the pen holding device 510 and the electronic device than other approaches that may employ a particular type of coupling mechanism by itself. However, the disclosure is not limited so. For example, pen holding device 510 may include a connector (as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2) to couple the pen holding device 510 to a standardized interface of the electronic device. For example, the pen holding device 510 can include a connector that can be coupled to a kensington lock standardized interface of the electronic device. Although examples are not limited so, the pen holding device 510 with the connector for the Kensington lock standardized interface may be a continuous metal body.

[0031] in various examples, at least one of the plurality of connectors can include a flexible end, as described herein. For example, at least one of the plurality of connectors 512-1 and 512-2 can include a flexible end, and when coupled to the standardized interface, the flexible end can provide spring tension to secure the coupling between the connector and the standardized interface, as described herein.

[0032] Since many examples can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the system and method of the disclosure, this specification merely sets forth some of the many possible example configurations and implementations. In the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration how a number of examples of the disclosure can be practiced. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to practice the examples of this disclosure, and it is to be understood that other examples can be used and that process, electrical, and/or structural changes can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0033] The figures herein follow a numbering convention in which the first digit corresponds to the drawing figure number and the remaining digits identify an element or component in the drawing. Elements shown in the various figures herein can be added, exchanged, and/or eliminated so as to provide a number of additional examples of the disclosure. In addition, the proportion and the relative scale of the elements provided in the figures are intended to iilustrate the examples of the disclosure, and should not be taken in a limiting sense.