Education and demonstration – Communication aids for the handicapped – Tactile reading aid
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-27
2003-03-25
Banks, Derris H. (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Communication aids for the handicapped
Tactile reading aid
C434S115000, C434S112000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06537071
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for automatically feeding and inserting members, both spherical and non-spherical, such as ball bearings and elongated members with a rounded tip, respectively, into pre-drilled holes to form Braille letters on architectural and other signs.
BACKGROUND ART
Signs in buildings that direct people from place to place or identify locations sometimes have a message both in print, to be read by sighted people, and in Braille to be read by blind people. There has been a general trend toward putting Braille on signs, but this trend has been greatly accelerated because of federal legislation requiring that Braille be placed on architectural signs, both new and old.
There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,245,744 and 5,403,189 a method and apparatus for placing spherically shaped members into holes on sign faces to form Braille letters. Those patents, however, required manually inserting each member into a hole, which was both time consuming, labor intensive and inefficient. The present invention automates that process, thereby allowing for increased productivity and savings of both time and labor cost.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for applying Braille to a sign face that overcomes the aforementioned problems.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically feeding and inserting members, both spherical and non-spherical, into pre-drilled holes thereby creating Braille letters or cells on an architectural or other sign face.
A device is disclosed for storing and automatically feeding and inserting spherically and non-spherically shaped members or the like into pre-drilled holes formed in a sign face, whereby Braille letters are formed in the sign face.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for placing Braille letters on an architectural sign face.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for placing Braille letters on an architectural sign face which is inexpensive and which is simple to use.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for economically, easily, quickly and dependably inserting spherically and non-spherically shaped members or the like into holes in a sign face for making Braille signs.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a simple, automatic and dependable apparatus for inserting spherically and non-spherically shaped members into the holes formed in the sign face by the aforementioned apparatus.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3598042 (1971-08-01), Boyd
patent: 3876051 (1975-04-01), Joffe
patent: 4261663 (1981-04-01), Grimnes
patent: 4772205 (1988-09-01), Chlumsky
patent: 5245744 (1993-09-01), Edgerton
patent: 5720616 (1998-02-01), Schuler
patent: 5746518 (1998-05-01), Ogawa
patent: 5803741 (1998-09-01), Deng
patent: 6241405 (2001-06-01), Burman
Birch David F.
Rahamim Reuven
Accent Signage Systems, Inc.
Banks Derris H.
Fernstrom Kurt
Huusko Gary L.
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