WO2016035097A2

WO2016035097A2 - School script

Info

Publication number: WO2016035097A2
Application number: PCT/IN2015/000345
Authority: WO
Inventors: Suyog Sharad VAIDYA
Original assignee: Vaidya Suyog Sharad
Priority date: 2014-09-03
Filing date: 2015-09-03
Publication date: 2016-03-10
Also published as: WO2016035097A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic notebook for school children to preserve the art of writing in a natural way. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic notebook which is to be used by school students, following the currently prevalent educational patterns in most countries. Lightweight portable electronic book of the present invention enables user to write, draw, scribble, erase, read, save, retrieve, edit and optionally transfer the handwritten notes to another device or server.

Description

SCHOOL SCRIPT

Field of invention

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic notebook for school children to preserve the art of writing in a natural way. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic notebook which is to be used by school students, following the currently prevalent educational patterns in most countries.

Background of the invention

[0002] With the ubiquity of keyboards and keypads (pop-up keypad /digital keypad) large and small, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. Writing and reading are complementary skills, and they are both important parts of literacy. They enhance and extend communication. A growing body of medical and scientific evidence now shows that it is critically important for children to write by hand in order to acquire proper visual motor integration, grasp, retain and express concepts, as well as to further proper physical brain and neural development.

[0003] Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. University of Wisconsin psychologist Virginia Berninger tested students in grades 2, A, and 6, and found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard— but also generated more ideas when composing essays in longhand [Berninger, V. "Evidence-Based, Developmentally Appropriate Writing Skills K-5: Teaching the Orthographic Loop of Working Memory to Write Letters So Developing Writers Can Spell Words and Express Ideas. " Presented at Handwriting in the 21st Century: An Educational Summit, Washington, D. C., January 23, 2012.]. In other research, Berninger shows that the sequential finger movements required to write by hand to activate brain regions involved with thought, language, and short-term memory.

Evidence from different research studies have shown that writing skill is a process that needs an integration of visual, motor, as well as cognitive or perceptive parts. The perception allows one to remember the shape of the letters that is written while sight and motor skills of the hand enable the writing. Present brain imaging shows that the nerves are also connected to these three components.

[0004] Handwriting makes a person focus on one point alone-the tip of the pen.

However, mechanized writing makes a writer oscillate between the keypad and the monitor.

[0005] Indian application 2974/CHE/2009 discloses an electronic device for writing examinations and a method of writing examinations. The device includes a first module and a second module. The first module includes the first display unit and a metallic sheet. The first display unit is used as a writing pad and capturing responses inputted by the examinee with the help of digital pen to a question. The second module includes the second display unit being used for displaying information related to the examination and the control unit for controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device.

[0006] Indian application 1257/CHE/2008 provides an educational electronic device and method to teach the skill of writing the various basic and advanced derived characters of a desired language. The electronic device consists of a user reference region and a user practicing region placed aside to each other. The user reference region consists of manual switches and buttons to receive the input signals from the users and the device has a LCD screen to display the output character sets or part of the characters.

[0007] Indian application 2584/DEL/1997 relates to a method and apparatus for presenting and gathering text entries in a pen based input device. The apparatus and method allows for the entry of textual information into a computing device using handwriting recognition, character selection, or expression selection. Lists of expressions allow the text entry method and apparatus to anticipate the next character or expression to be entered by the user.

[0008] US201 10287402 provides a method and apparatus for transforming readily available consumer eReaders, such as various models of Amazon Kindles and the Barnes and Nobel Nook, into repurposed digital learning devices which can then also serve as digital writing platforms for children and others to write on digital workbooks and other learning content of the inventor's design.

[0009] US200902531 10 discloses a product created to improve learning, reduce class truancy, raise revenues for schools, teachers, state and federal government. This product uploads audio and video from within classrooms through the internet onto a School Focus computer. The computer converts audio into text and attaches website links to the transcription.

[0010] CN101853579 discloses multifunctional writing device and system for electrification instruction, belonging to one of electronic writing board system devices. The invention aims at producing multifunctional writing device and system for electrification instruction by integrating an electronic writing pen, a dual-screen foldable writing display, a memory, a computer, software and the like.

[001 1] CN 102129789 provides a double-screen display electronic schoolbag. The double-screen display electronic schoolbag comprises a host system, wherein the host system comprises a central processing unit, a display chip communicated with the central processing unit through an internal bus, storage equipment, and an input/output interface. The central processing unit reads display contents according to a user command and transmits the display contents to a display chip for encoding; and the display chip establishes a coordinate system by taking two screens as a benchmark, takes two pages of contents out and respectively outputs the two pages of the contents to the electronic paper screen displays for displaying.

[0012] The electronic devices described in the prior art and those commercially available to date, whilst of some merit, are not entirely satisfactory. Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

[0013] Results from analysis of previous literature on various writing methods and their implications showed that there is a significant difference between handwriting and the use of a mechanized device. Neuroscientists have noted that the shift from handwriting to mechanized or technical writing has serious implications on cognition and skill development. [0014] Although some schools and educational institutions use devices like tablets and laptops, along with paper notebooks, there are a few disadvantages as follows: The tablets and laptops are mass manufactured to serve an audience much wider than school students - hence their target user base is much wider. Thus, the focus is lost with respect to the specific needs of school students;

The devices used have a keypad/ keyboard - which while having its own advantages, do not inculcate the art of writing;

The devices like tablets and laptops also possess features other than what is needed by the students- hence there is a possibility of the student's attention being diverted.

[0015] None of the devices known in the prior art provides the experience of a notebook so as to give the feeling of comfort and familiarity with existing system to students, teachers and parents alike. This allows students to continue the daily tasks of school, by using their existing skills and gives choice and independence with familiarity and comfort. Also, the present invention provides a unique feature of saving the contents of a page "as-is" without any handwriting recognition, so as to minimize further complexity.

[0016] The electronic notebook of the present invention is simple, lightweight and efficient design, with a novel concept to mimic a notebook as much possible, creating the single line, double line, four line and square/box line patterns and providing a means where-by the student can have a few of these devices with him throughout his school academic years instead of having multiple paper notebooks for all the years, which are either sold as waste paper or are to be force-preserved.

Object of the Invention

[0017] Accordingly, the first object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device in the form of an electronic notebook for school children to preserve the art of writing in a natural way in the age of keyboards and keypads.

[0018] Another object is to provide an electronic notebook for writing notes in the school which mimics conventional notebook used in school.

[0019] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook for writing notes in the school which is light weight, rugged, durable and capable of being used lor years and capable of saving reasonably large data so as to enable students to carry a single notebook to school for years instead of taking different subject notebooks.

[0020] One more object of the invention is to provide an electronic notebook device which is simple to use by students of all ages typically from age 5 - 18.

[0021] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook which can be connected to. intranet / internet to serve variety of purposes such as back up of data, transfer of data to teacher's device for evaluation and back to student's device after evaluation etc.

[0022] Another object is to provide an electronic notebook device with easy to use user interface (UI) that enables even primary school children to write in the notebook of the present invention efficiently and save the notes in the device and use at least all basic features of the device thus providing students with an easy method of using device without the help of elders.

[0023] Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook device which is safe for use for children, which is simple, convenient and economical.

Summary of the invention

[0024] University of Wisconsin psychologist Virginia Berninger tested students in grades 2, 4, and 6, and found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard— but also generated more ideas when composing essays in longhand. Accordingly, the first aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic device in the form of an electronic notebook for school children to preserve the art of writing in a natural way in the age of keyboards and keypads. This electronic notebook enables children to write in same manner in which they write in their conventional note books. The finger movements of students while using this electronic notebook device would mimic the finger movement in writing a conventional notebook. For this e-ink material capable of being written on by appropriate digital pen is provided. [0025] Second aspect is to provide an electronic notebook for writing notes in the school which mimics conventional notebook used in school in that it is foldable, has two parts, left and right connected by a means such as hinge and students can write with an electronic pen provided along with it on the screen of the electronic notebook having digital paper and wherein students can create new pages according to a desired type such as square-line, single line, double line, four line notebook, save the written work, copy the work to another section in the notebook / another device, back up the data and notes to any server. The device has preferably the dimension of a standard 100 and/or A-4 page notebook used in the schools. The electronic pen is used as ink pen or as a pencil. It is also provided with an eraser that cari erase the unwanted handwritten notes. Additionally other physical tools such as Ruler, protractor and other geometric tools can be provided. However it is also possible to use physical tools set as the surface of the writable area of the notebook is elevated at the height of the edges of the notebook. The notebook has auto saving feature which is set to save data every few seconds automatically and retrieve the same whenever needed by the student.

[0025] Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook for writing notes in the school which is light weight, rugged, durable and capable of being used for years and capable of saving reasonably large data so as to enable students to carry a single writing notebook to school for years instead of taking different subject notebooks. Thus intention is to reduce the number of books to be carried by the students and help them get rid of heavy schoolbags. The electronic notebook has a rubber cover which makes it shockproof. The automatic upgrades are provided in the software and operating system when they are available. Each such notebook typically saves data from hundreds of notebooks of 200 pages. Thus students can carry only a single notebook to school and back home for the whole day's work. There is no need to keep books in school and they are available all the time to students. Typically in the academic span of 10- 15 years, students can change their books only 2-4 times. Thus, it provides an attractive economic alternative for school going children.. [0026] One more aspect of the invention is to provide an electronic notebook device which is simple to use by students of all ages typically from age 5 to 18. The display of electronic notebook has at least two sections viz, a section with a prebuilt index (section A) and another section with free handwriting style or rough book (section B). For example students of higher standards / grades can use prebuilt index having subjects, sub-subjects and chapters. For example, high school student can select Science as principal subject, physics as sub-subject and chapter 1 as chapter when he or she wants to write notes on the said chapter. First, when student opens the electronic notebook, the student will arrive at the index page on one side display and from a drop down menu as shown in figure 5, choose the corresponding subject, sub-subject and chapter which is displayed on other side display. Further the student chooses a page format, create pages which comes with numbers and start writing. The default page format is provided which is preferably a single line. This is automatically saved under section A in the electronic notebook.

[0027] For younger students or for students who can't select from index, can start writing on default pages provided or choose page format under free handwriting style preferably . section with free handwriting style or rough book and the data written is saved under this section B of the notebook which can be moved by them or their elders to the prebuilt index section.

[0028] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook which can be connected to intranet / internet to serve variety of purposes such as back up of data, transfer of data to teacher's device for evaluation and back to student's device after evaluation etc. School usually have in place / can build an intranet system which connects devices of all students and teachers to school's server. Intranet can be used while in premises of school wherein data from one device can be transferred to another device. Data is transferred from student's device to teacher's device for evaluation and evaluated data is transferred back to student's device. In the operating system which operates the devices, teacher's device is configured to act as a master device whereas student's device is configured to act as slave device. In OTG-USB transfer, only teacher can initiate transfer. In HUB transfer and Intranet teacher can accept or reject notes submitted by students. In presence of intranet, student by clicking "Submit" button can transfer data to teacher's device for evaluation as and when instructed by teachers. Teacher evaluates the data in presence of Intranet or can choose to download data if she wishes to carry it home on her device. If data is copied from one slave, device to another, i.e from device of one student to another, date of such copying and mark "Copied on XYZ date" appears on such data. This is to avoid unnecessary frequent copying against genuine copying allowed by school when student is absent from school on account of illness etc. In Index system, under every subject, sub-subject, chapter there is provided a "Submit" button to transfer data to teacher's device, after clicking which subject data / sub-subject data / chapter data is transferred to teacher's device which is displayed on teacher's device with student's identification such as name or roll number. After teacher's evaluation / comments, the evaluated data is transferred back to student's device. Any mode of transfer can be used such as intranet, direct Wi-Fi, OTG-USB cables or any other similar mode. Intranet is one of the best option which is consistent, systematic and quick. To maintain and manage the intranet system, school can charge students around I R 50 - 500 per year or around USD 10- 100 per year.

[0029] Another object is to provide an electronic notebook device with easy to use user interface (UI) that enables even primary school children to write in the notebook of the present invention with simplicity, efficiently, and save the notes in the device and use at least all basic features of the device thus providing students with an easy method of using device without the help of elders. According to this object, student are able to choose a page from the page format and start writing as they write in the physical notebook. AutoSaving will help young students to save data in the device. With basic training and with a simpler indexing system, it is possible for primary students to use pre-built index system. However if the student is unable to use pre-built index, his or her elders can later transfer the notes to respective subject / sub-subject/chapters from rough book to prebuilt index. Data in both the parts whether under rough book/free handwriting style or under pre-built index is automatically synced in presence of intranet to school's server. Before, end of last session each day, teacher can ensure that devices are in Use at least for 5 minutes (Less than 10 mb data) and thus daily notes are synced on server.

[0030] Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic notebook device which is safe for use for children, simple, convenient and economical, The device supports in-situ charging of the batteries, i.e. if a power adaptor is connected to the device, it charges the batteries, provided the batteries are re-chargeable. Once charged, the notebook can typically be used continuously for at least 10 hrs. The basic usage charged electronic notebook can be used for 2 days. The digital pen holder option can be provided in the electronic notebook which holds the pen and does not allow it to drop and can be used at its reverse end as an eraser.

Brief description of the drawings

[0031]

The invention, will now be further described by means of example, but not in any limiting sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 : It represents the top view, and schematic side view of the device in closed mode and a schematic side view of the device in open mode.

Fig. 2: It represents a frontal perspective view of the device when in open mode, with single line format and square line (box) format

Fig. 3: Various modes of transfer of notes / assignments such as using OTG-USB cable (direct or through HUB) and Wi-Fi

Fig. 4 : Open Book Mode of Slave (Student) electronic notebook with hard control panel

Fig. 5: Open Book Mode of Slave (Student) electronic notebook with Soft control panel and Index system

Fig. 6: Open Book Mode of Slave (Student) electronic notebook with writing interface provided chapter-wise.

Fig. 7: Open Book Mode of Master (teacher) electronic notebook with Class Index

System and Notes Evaluation

Fig. 8: Architecture Diagram of Notebook Fig. 9: Block Diagram representing Flow of Application of Electronic Notebook. Detailed description of the invention

[0032] The device of the present invention is described herein below which is illustrative as shown in the drawings and should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention in any manner whatsoever.

[0033] Reference will now be made in detail to various, embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the subject matter will be described in conjunction with these embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the subject matter to these embodiments. On the contrary, the subject matter described herein is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope. Furthermore, in the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which, like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

[0034] The term "device" and "electronic device" and "electronic notebook" and "electronic book" as used herein are Used interchangeably in the specification. The term "electronic" or "digital" as used herein are used interchangeably in the specification. The term pen and electronic pen are used interchangeably.

[0035] There is provided a lightweight portable electronic book that enables student to write, draw, scribble, erase, read, save, retrieve, edit and optionally transfer the handwritten notes to another device or server comprising

a) Foldable electronic notebook which exposes writing interface when unfolded for preserving art of writing of students in a natural way, by mimicking conventional notebook and which has 1) a writing interface and 2) control panel wherein control panel can be a hard panel with buttons or soft panel such as a toolbar or combination of both hard and soft panel and wherein writing interface has digital paper and is divided into left and right segment mimicking "left and right pages of a conventional notebook in opened state" and is further provided with an option of writing using a pre-built index or choosing rough book / a freestyle for writing as if c one is writing in a rough book and wherein the control panel is further provided with at least one or more of the i) page pattern selector option ii) save icon / button iii) erase icon / button iv) new page icon / button v) previous page icon / button v) next period icon / button

b) stylus or electronic pen for writing notes with hand on digital paper and optionally a holder to hold stylus or electronic pen.

c) Storage unit for saving notes written using either pre-built index or a rough book d) Battery unit

wherein notes written using rough book can be moved to pre-built index section and vice versa and further handwritten notes can be optionally transferred to another device and can be optionally received back from another device and further handwritten notes can be optionally synced on a server.

If student closes the book and opens again, he or she can arrive at the same page where they were when the book is closed unless the battery gets discharged.

[0036] In one embodiment, the electronic device of the present invention is provided with a hard control panel. Refer Figure 4. The control panel is located preferably above the writing interface and has around 12 buttons in each left and right segment selected from at least following buttons

a) page pattern selector buttons - for selecting page type such as single line, double line, square-line book. At least 4-5 types of pages can be selected. b) save button - for saving handwritten notes

c) erase page button - to erase a particular page

d) select erase button - to erase a selected portion such as word, selection can be done by circling around the word with the electronic pen and then pressing select erase button

e) next page button - to add page

f) previous period button - To come back to previous page / previous period's page

g) next period button - This-is used at the beginning of each new period for different subject. When this is pressed, notes written before pressing it are saved as one file h) help button - To take help of teacher

[0037] In another embodiment, the electronic device of the present invention is provided with the soft control panel such as a toolbar. It will have almost same options as that of hard panel however in soft panel may have more options than the hard panel. There is also provided drop down menu to select from "Erase" option such as i) Erase whole page or ii) erase selection and also to select from page pattern selector etc.

Particularly, when student opens the electronic book at least five options are displayed on the as follows and the suitable option is selected by either finger touch or touch of electronic pen

a) Index - Symbolic to pre-built index used to select writing interface under index system or to view notes saved under index system

b) Take notes - Symbolic to Rough book used to start writing in rough book which allows saving of notes date-wise by default and additionally period- wise if student selects next period button at the beginning of each new period

c) View notes - To retrieve notes that had entered in rough book date- wise and optionally period-wise

d) Help - To call for teacher's help

e) Bookmark - To bookmark important notes

[0038] When the student selects Index in electronic book, an index with subjects is displayed on the writing interface and typically includes subjects like Language 1 , Language 2, Language 3, Mathematics, Social science, Science, and optionally Misc. 1 , Misc 2 subjects etc (refer figure 5). Further, whenever present, sub-subjects are selected by clicking subject. In one embodiment, sub-subjects are displayed preferably in smaller font below the subject as shown in figure 5. For example, under Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and under Social Science - History Geography, Civics etc. are displayed preferably in smaller font. Further clicking the subjects when there are no sub-subjects or clicking sub-subjects, chapters are displayed. By clicking a particular chapter, writing interface is accessed under that chapter. A default single line page is provided but student can select the desired page from page ^elector. All notes written under a particular chapter are auto saved and later retrieved from the same chapter using Index system.

[0039] In another embodiment, using intranet. Direct Wi-fi or OTG-USB cable or suitable advanced alternative thereof, student can transfer data to teacher's device for evaluation by clicking 'Submit' button provided next to chapter, sub-subject or subject as provide in figure 5. Teacher receives the student's data which is displayed on her device by Student's identification such as Class and Roll number or name etc. Preferably data under pre-built index is only transferred and not data from rough nook. Student or parents can move or transfer data from rough book to pre- built index and from there to teacher's device.

[0040] Corresponding teacher's device is in nature of master device wherein student's device acts as a slave device. Teacher's device also has either hard or soft control panel or combination of hard and soft panels. Teacher's device also has pre- built index however of classes and not of chapters. Refer figure 7. These classes correspond to actual classes under different naming system in school.

For example history teacher's device has pre-built index of Class Mango, Class Apple, Class Orange, Class Banana and Class Strawberry. The teacher teaches history to Class V division A, Class VI divisions C and D and Class VII divisions B and E. The history teacher's notebook correspond to the respective classes as follows:

Class Mango -> Class VII divisions B; Class Apple -> Class VII divisions E; Class Orange -> Class VI divisions D; Class Banana -> Class VI divisions C Class Strawberry -> Class V divisions A

[0041] Hence, handwritten notes of all students of Class V from their respective history chapters under pre-built section of their notebook are transferred to Class Strawberry under History teacher's pre-built index of classes and teacher can view and evaluate those notes roll number-wise. After evaluation the transfer can take place by different modes such as under intranet, under direct Wi-Fi or by use of OTG-USB cable and similar modes. In simplest OTG-USB mode, OTG cable is connected between student's device and teacher's device either directly or through a hub as shown in figure 3. In a Hub set up, every student is provided with a desk having OTG-USB cable connection port. Alternatively, If school can invest further, intranet is one best option. One admin person can assign to all teachers' devices the respective student's devices such that data under index system from each student is transferred to respective teacher's device in school premises without any hassle.

[0042] Initial technical /admin Help

To every school which subscribe to such system of electronic notebook and intends to place order for the notebooks, initial set up may be provided by the technical assistance of customer care division. An admin person will visit the school and will understand the requirement of school and the facilities available or he or she may advise on use of certain system such as Intranet to School Official. In the initial set up, admin can configure teacher's device to various classes such as mango class to class VII division B so that throughout the year the transfer would not require any further mediator / help. The settings are so easy and user friendly that even school staff can do it themselves without help of any IT admin and for that on-line training / on-site training / user manual can be provided. For example, under system of intranet an Admin person can assign Class Strawberry to Class V division A. Once such assignment is made, transfer mode can be anything and will not affect the location of data on the devices. The speed of transfer may vary based on transfer mode selected.

[0043] In another .embodiment, Teacher can access student's notes, evaluate and / comment on the student's notes and again click "Send" button to send back the evaluated data to same device from which he/she has received the corresponding notes. In presence of intranet this evaluated file overwrites the previous file i.e. file before evaluation. At teacher's end, the electronic notebook is in nature of master device.

Upon opening, it provides following options

1) Class Index - Symbolic to pre-built index. Index contains Classes and further Roll numbers or names under Classes. For example, Class Mango and under that, Roll Numbers 1-50. Class Index is used to view, and evaluate notes received from students and send evaluated notes back to students by clicking on "Send" button provided in the interface under index, system. 2) Create Worksheets - Symbolic to Rough book which allows preparing worksheets / assignments and saving of assignments before sending to a particular class. The screen here has been given a "Send Assignment" icon and further a drop down menu consisting of Classes to select to which class an assignment needs to be sent. For example, Mango Class, Orange Class etc. will appear in drop down menu.

3) View Worksheets - Teacher can view worksheets of students, evaluate the same and send it back to students. Student's notebook (not shown in figure) may have a separate option to receive and send worksheets.

4) Bookmark - To bookmark important notes.

5) Help Index - Student's device is given option to call for Teacher's help. Such help requests can be seen under Help Index. ·

[0044] Although there can be many modes of transfer, without restricting the scope of invention, one best mode is use of intranet which causes instant and systematic transfer of notes.

[0045] The invention intends to provide to school going children an option to carry an electronic notebook in place of heavy schoolbags with 6 - 10 different notebooks or even more. The weight of school bag is very heavy, approximately 5-8 kg. The invention intends to preserve the natural writing style of students as the electronic notebook mimics conventional notebook so closely that with the help of screen display containing e-ink material capable of being written on by appropriate digital pen, students can write in same manner as they do write in conventional notebooks. The electronic notebook with e-ink technology has low power consumption. The electronic notebook is up to 1 kg of weight, preferably around 500 g of weight.

[0046] The device of the present invention is simple, durable and has reasonable memory preferably greater than 10 GB and more preferably around 15 - 25 GB. There is a provision to have more than 25 GB storage capacity.

According to an embodiment, the device has system memory of 2-4 GB and storage memory of 32-128GB.

[0047] The electronic notebook is of A4 size with user friendly interface provided with hand resting surface to retain the feel of writing in the physical notebook. In an embodiment the electronic notebook comprises the dual page screens folded notebook separated by hinge as shown in diagram (Fig. l). Further small rubber bumps are provided on the edges of the screens when both the halves are closed. Alternatively, shock proof rubber cover can be provided. The two page notebook has page pattern selection option through which the user is able to select the desired template for example single line, double line, square/box line, blank, graphic or other page pattern provided in the device.

[0048] In another embodiment the notebook comprises a combination of page pattern loaded as template in the device. Thus students of all ages without the help of elders can use it with ease.

[0049] The new pages in the device are created, matter is written, data is saved in the device conveniently and if desired the written notes are erased and edited and saved in the device.

[0050] The notebook of the present invention also has option of rough book wherein the child selects the page pattern, add notes/add page, writes the notes or draws as he/she writes in the physical rough book which are auto saved. The notes written in the rough book are easy to move under the respective subject file of the notebook.

[0051] For example, in a situation when a student of primary section has written notes or drawn in a page which is auto saved in a rough book option, parents are able to move the notes of such pages under respective subject provided in the notebook under pre-built index section.

[0052] In an embodiment the handwritten notes are saved in the electronic notebook as JPEG image or bitmap or PDF which can be printed by connecting the notebook to external device to which printer is connected or via wireless communication or Wi-Fi.

[0053] In an embodiment, the handwritten notes can be converted to text with the search option to search in notes.

[0054] In an embodiment the notebook is provided with a stylus o pen which is used for writing the handwritten notes. The pen is suitable to write on writing interface made with e ink or electrophoretic ink technology. [0055] In an embodiment, the device supports a flash memory slot. The device has a Save option on the display screen, which saves the entire contents of the device flash memory onto the removable memory stick, if any, inserted in the memory slot.

[0056] The backup of data is taken in memory card. In an embodiment the data saved in the electronic note book is sync to cloud servers.

The electronic notebook supports in-situ charging of the batteries, i.e. if a power adaptor is connected to the device, it charges the batteries provided the batteries are re-chargeable.

[0057] In an embodiment the device comprises the battery through battery port provided in the device. The battery for device is selected from Lithium-ion nonremovable battery around 3000 mAh or two A A size batteries or DC Equivalent or silicon air battery.

[0058] The electronic notebook device is priced reasonably and much economical as compared to tablets, laptops, computers and other keypad or touch screen devices.

Hence, overall it provides great option to school-going children to use it in place of conventional notebooks.

[0059] The features of the electronic notebook of the present invention are described herein below.

[0060] With reference to figure 1 , there is shown the front view of the device in the closed mode. The device is more preferably of the dimension of a standard 100 page notebook and/or A-4 page notebook used in schools.

In an embodiment the electronic notebook comprises two panels which mimics two pages connected by a hinge unit wherein each page of said notebook has size of height of approximately 14- 15cm and width of approximately 8- 10cm. The device cover has a cavity (2) so that the user or student using the device can open it with ease. The cover also includes a label insert groove (1) on top of the device. Such labels might show the name, standard, school, address of the student using the device. The user or student is able to open the device, write notes and save the notes in the device. The device is provided with foldable capacity so that it can be closed when it is not in use. The bottom cover includes a label insert groove. Such labels might show the logo and name of the manufacturer or distributor. There is also a battery compartment and the device is powered by Lithium-ion no n- removable battery around 3000 mAh or standard AA size batteries, preferably rechargeable batteries. The device supports in-situ charging of the batteries, i.e. if a power adaptor is connected to the device, it charges the batteries inserted in the battery compartment, provided the batteries are re-chargeable. The batteries last for 2-3 days with basic usage before needing a charge. The left and right sides are connected by an openable hinge.

[0061] With reference to figure 2 there is shown a frontal perspective view of the device when in open mode, with single line page format, showing the requisite components on the user interaction interface. On the hinge side, there is a provision for storing the digital pen (7). The pen is kept in a position between the two pages in the device when it is not in use. The digital pen supports erase functionality in either of the following ways:

1. The reverse end of the digital pen can be used to erase a selected section or area on the screen or

2. A soft option (4), which when selected/de-selected can turn the digital pen toggle between write and erase modes.

Small rubber bumps (8) are provided on the edges when both the halves of the screen are closed. The edges of the device are flat so as to allow the student to place the fist On the device and write on the device with ease.

The screen/panel can be manufacture using any technology for example Resistive,

Surface acoustic wave, Capacitive, Surface capacitance, Projected capacitance,

Infrared, Strain gauge, optical imaging, Coded LCD and such other technologies and are capable of being written on writing interface by appropriate digital pen (6) in the similar way as the user writes on conventional physical notebook.

In an embodiment, the screen display of panels are made electrophoretic ink (e-ink) material.

The. e-ink paper supports 256 colors of ink - this allows color like grey (resembling pencil written feel, to color like blue, resembling ball-point written feel) to be enabled onto the e-paper. [0062] The writable surface of the device should be covered with toughened EPD (non- flexible) or hard plastic or acrylic, anti-electrostatic or toughened glass such as gorilla glass. The writable area of the device is smudge/ stain free to avoid loss of clarity when being written onto or being read. The device supports a slide On-Off switch (1). The device is capable of switching on, booting up and being in Active mode in preferably less than 5 seconds. The default page displayed is with the content currently written onto - or last state written onto. The page pattern selector (2) is a software implemented selection. The page pattern selector applies to both pages at the same time. The device also has soft buttons to navigate to next two and previous two pages (5). The device has a Save option (3), which shall save the entire contents of the device flash memory onto the removable memory stick, if any, inserted in the memory slot.

The Electronic device comprises of following hardware and software features:

1 ) Power Button

2) Page-Pattern selection soft button

3) Save-to-External Memory soft button

4) Navigate to next two pages soft button

5) Navigate to previous two pages soft button

6) USB port to connect the notebook to external device

7) Charging port provided for charging the notebook

8) Battery unit

9) Memory unit for saving the handwritten notes.

[0063] Figure 8 represents architectural block diagram of some of the essential components of the Electronic Device.

Figure 9 represents flow of applications of the electronic Device.

[0064] In an embodiment, the device can be provide with audio or video options as per the requirements. The Save-to-External Memory soft button (3) initiates a complete copy of the contents of the Internal Storage Memory (ISM) to the inserted SD Card or Memory Stick. If the SD Card or Memory Stick inserted is of a capacity lesser than the capacity of the Internal Storage Memory, the amount of data that can be copied from the ISM to the SD card/ Memory Stick shall be copied. Preferably, an internal battery back-up is provided to the ISM which shall ensure that in the event of a DC supply not being available and the AA sized batteries, the contents of the ISM are preserved.

[0065] With reference to figure 2 which represents a frontal perspective view of the device when in open mode, with square line format, showing the requisite components on the user interaction interface as mentioned in the above description.

[0066] With reference to figure 1 which represents schematic side view of the device in closed mode. The device supports a flash memory slot (1). The device has a Save option, which saves the entire contents of the device flash memory onto the removable memory stick, if any, inserted in the memory slot. The device also supports USB slot (2) to share data between two devices. The device can be classified as a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0, preferably micro USB device with support for OTG (On-The-Go) functionality.

[0067] With reference to figure 1 which represents a schematic side view of the device in open mode position. The device has a DC power inlet (1) and is capable of running on DC supplied by an AC-DC adaptor.

[0068] With reference to figure 3 which represents USB OTG connection initiation. When the A-side of the USB OTG cable is inserted into one device, the device becomes the "host" of the USB connection and it can initiate a "Send". The device to which the B-Side of the cable is connected, becomes the "slave" which can "Receive" the data. The soft-option on the A-Side device changes to "Send" (1). When the OTG connection is initiated, the writable area is overlaid by a hazy overlay which indicates inability to write on at that stage. In an OTG B-side connected mode, a text is displayed on both the pages, stating "Receiving from other device". On sending device, tapping the page will initiate transfer of contents from A-side device to B-side device ("tap-and-send").

[0069] With reference to figure 3 which represents Wi-Fi connection initiation. Alternatively, Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi can be used. The device also supports Wi-Fi direct or Ad-Hoc 802.1 1 a/b/g/n standards so that it is able to connect in an ad-hoc manner with another device connected over the standard. When in connected mode, it is possible to see the list of devices to connect to. When connected, it is possible to "swipe" individual pages to the connected device or use the "tap-and-send" feature mentioned above.

When Ad-hoc WiFi mode is initiated, device enters transfer mode. The soft-option on device changes to "Send/Receive" Toggle between the two options to select either "Send" or "Receive".

Based on the name of the page swiped, it will be inserted into the file system of the receiving device into the appropriate location into the file system. Thus, the page can be seen in the correct order.

[0070] With reference to figure 3 which represents USB OTG or Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi connection during transfer. One device can connect with only one other device in the USB OTG and the Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi mode. The success of transfer in the ad-hoc mode will depend upon the distance between the sending and receiving device and the signal strength. A settings soft-option is available which allows configuring the name of the device. No other operation is allowed on receiving device (B-side device) during transfer. Only page selection operation is allowed during actual transfer on the sending device (A-side device).

The operating system of the device allows to capture the authorship of the user of a notebook in a permanent way.

The user of the notebook has printing option and is able to print the desired page of the notebook from its device. The device supports printing of one page at a time to a printer connected over Wi-Fi connection.

[0071] The device supports a feature in. the index to erase the data in bulk for a particular standard of primary or secondary school or subject with the confirmation note by the user.

[0072] All devices are equipped with a hardware settable mode called Supervisory mode, which will make it possible to use that device as a "Teacher's device". Thus, at the time of placing the order, if a device is ordered with Supervisory mode, it will be activated during manufacturing process only. Supervisory mode has an additional software module active which enables features used only by teachers. Supervisory device allows to categorize the file system storage with the Grade (e.g. Grade 1/2/3), class and name of the student. This is an additional feature which is provided in the Supervisory mode. The supervisory mode is able to pair with one or more devices at a time to transfer the data for review/checking/evaluating the same. The student mode is able to pair with only one device at a time.

For example the teacher's device is paired to student's device to transfer the handwritten notes to teachers for checking. The teachers will check the notes of the students with red ink and transfer the notes back to students.

[0073] In an embodiment, the device is also provided with authorship of the document of a device which means when the document is transferred from one device to another its shows that the authorship of the document from which device it has been transferred.

[0074] In an embodiment, when the document is transferred from one device to another, the transferred document or page of the notebook carries a water mark "copy". For example, in a situation when student A is absent in school due to personal reason from last ten days and he has to write 20-30 pages notes. In such case student A can copies the notes with a watermark "copy" on the copied notes from another device of student B as allowed by teachers or supervisors.

[0075] In an embodiment the notebook is provided with option of flashing the school notifications or competition notification or national exams notifications held in a year or school awareness or training programs provided, by school.

The notebook is water resistant- enough to withstand spills of liquid and food. It is rugged enough to withstand falls from around 4 to 5 feet onto solid surfaces and weighs approximately 500 to lOOOgm.

[0076] In accordance with one of the embodiments the device is to be sold with following accessories:

a) Digital Pen

b) Power cord for charging - maximum 2 meter

c) Micro USB OTG cable - maximum 1 meter

d) Memory stick

e) Rechargeable battery

[0077] In accordance with yet another embodiment the service points should hold following accessories to cater to replacement/ loss/ damage scenarios- Power cord, USB OTG cable, Digital Pen of same specification as above. The service point should also be a collection point for old/ damaged devices- such devices should then be disposed as e-waste at designated collecting points. The service point should provide a replacement device if the device brought in by the customer needs to be kept for service/repairs. At such times the data from the brought in device should be copied into the replacement device. The replacement device should lock-up after a month - this is to prevent unfair customers from using the replacement device and not going back to the service point once their device has been serviced. The replacement device should have a tag stating it is a replacement device. Any device can only be configured as a replacement device in-situ at factory. A set of replacement devices shall be provided to the service points- the reset of the one month timer of the replacement device can only be done at the factory.

[0078] According to further embodiment, it is possible to connect the device to personal computer (PC). When the device is connected to PC, the file. system of the device and the ISM (Internal Storage memory) can be accessed and one can copy the contents of the same onto the PC. When the contents of the ISM are copied onto the ESM (External Storage Memory), the external memory (SD or Memory stick) can then be extracted from the device and put. into card readers or any other means to copy the contents onto PC or other devices. The ISM file system is such that the filled pages are saved in form of preferably .jpeg images or .png images.

[0079] In accordance with another embodiment the technical specification of the electronic notebook are as given below

• Power Requirement: 1 Lithium-ion non-removable battery around 3000 mAh or Two AA size batteries or DC Equivalent

• Resolution: 600 x 1500 pixels, preferable 600 x 800 pixel, each for left and right page

• Width: 18 cm / 7.08 inches

• Height: 24 cm / 9.44 inches

• Hinge: 1 cm (7 inch x 9.4 inch)

• Horizontal & Vertical PPI: 85

• Display Diagonal 30 cm/ U .8 inches • Pixel per inch: 60.0 / 7.08 = 84 pixels per inch

• Colors: 256

• Internal System Memory: Flash RAM 4 GB

• Internal Storage Memory: Flash RAM 32 GB

• USB 3.0 Port - 1 /micro or mini USB (with OTG support) port - 1

• Wi-Fi Direct or 802,1 1 Wi-Fi a/b/g/n Ad-hoc

• External Storage Memory Slot: SD Card Maximum 32 GB storage

capacity/micro SD

• Heat Sink / Dissipation

• CPU: TI OMAP Series or ARM Cortex series/ lGHz

• OS: Android, Embedded Linux or OSE

• Glare-free, Shatterproof, anti-fingerprint writing area

[0080] In accordance with yet another embodiment the storage capacity requirements are as follows.

Number of pages needed for one year for one subject = approximately 500 Number of pages needed for one year for average six subjects = approximately 3000 Number of pages needed for ten years = approximately 30000

Consumption needed per page: 480000 bytes = approximately 0.4 MB

Storage capacity needed = 480000 x 30000 = approximately 14.4 GB

Claims

I claim

1. Lightweight portable electronic book that enables user to write, draw, scribble, erase, read, save, retrieve, edit and optionally transfer the handwritten notes to another device or server comprising

a) Foldable electronic notebook which exposes writing interface when unfolded for preserving art of writing of students in a natural way, by mimicking . conventional notebook and which has 1) a writing interface and 2) control panel wherein control panel can be a hard panel with buttons or soft panel such as a toolbar or combination of both hard and soft panel and wherein writing interface has digital paper and is divided into left and right segment mimicking "left and right pages of a conventional notebook in opened state" and is further provided with an option of writing using a pre-built index or choosing a rough book / freestyle for writing as if one is writing in a rough book and wherein the control panel is further provided with at least one or more of the i) page pattern selector option ii) save icon / button iii) erase icon / button iv) new page icon / button v) next period icon I button b) stylus or electronic pen for writing notes with hand on digital paper and optionally a holder to hold stylus or electronic pen.

2. The electronic book according to claim 1 , wherein soft control panel in the form of toolbar is provided with different options for writing interface under pre-built index and writing interface under rough book.

3. The electronic book according to claim 1 , wherein writing interface with left and right segment is provided with consecutive page numbers and wherein further consecutive pages are accessed by selecting next page icon /button from the control panel. -

4. The electronic book according to claim 1, wherein notes written using pre-built index are saved in the storage unit having identical index- wise file system and notes written using rough book are saved in the storage unit having file system defined by date and period.

5. The electronic book according to claim 1 , wherein handwritten notes are saved in the format selected from the group consisting of JPEG, PNG, doc and pdf.

6. The electronic book according to claim 1 , wherein notes written using pre-built index and saved thereafter are retrieved through an index icon in control panel.

7. The electronic book according to claim 6, wherein notes saved and retrieved are submitted to teacher for evaluation using "Submit" icon in control panel.

8. Lightweight portable electronic book that enables user to write, draw, scribble, erase, read, save, retrieve, edit and optionally transfer the handwritten notes to another device or server comprising

a) Foldable electronic notebook which exposes writing interface when unfolded for preserving art of writing in a natural way, by mimicking conventional notebook and which has 1) a writing interface and 2) control panel wherein control panel can be a hard panel with buttons or soft panel such as a toolbar or combination of both hard and soft panel and wherein writing interface has digital paper and is divided into left and right segment mimicking "left and right pages of a conventional notebook in opened state" and is further provided with an option of choosing from a pre-built index or a rough book to access handwritten notes of students transferred to the user's device for evaluation and wherein the control panel is further provided with at least one or more of the i) page pattern selector option ii) save icon / button iii) erase icon / button iv) new page icon / button v) previous page icon / button vi) v) next period icon / button.

wherein notes received under rough book section can be moved to pre-built index section and vice versa and further evaluated handwritten notes can be optionally transferred back to students devices and further evaluated notes can be optionally synced on a server.

9. Lightweight portable electronic book of claim 8 further comprising section to create worksheets / assignment sheets by the user and optionally transfer such worksheet to another device.

10. An Electronic book according to any of the preceding claims wherein notes are transferred from one device to another through one of the intranet, direct wi-fi, OTG-USB cable and any similar mode of transfer.

1 1. A system usable in school for education having electronic notebook configured to act as Master electronic notebook (teacher's device), another electronic notebook configured to act as Slave electronic notebook (student's device) and a system provided by school for transfer and evaluation of handwritten notes by the student and optionally an initial admin intervention who assigns several students devices in nature of slave devices to a specific teacher's device which is in nature of Master device.

Dated this 3^rd day of September 2015

Agent of the Applicant

HARKAR, Pallavi