Typewriting machines – Typing by other than type-face or type-die – Character formation by impact
Patent
1985-10-03
1987-03-17
Pieprz, William
Typewriting machines
Typing by other than type-face or type-die
Character formation by impact
434113, 434114, B41J 332
Patent
active
046503528
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an apparatus for performing raised dot formations, said apparatus comprising a running belt forming an endless loop and having a great number of holes adapted to receive balls therein. Particularly said dot formations are meant to represent symbols of the Braille-code type readable to people with visual defects.
Books suitable for reading by blind people generally consist of pages of stiff paper material wherein the Braille symbols are formed by raised dots or embossments grouped in matrices of 2.times.3. The absence of one or more of the six dots in the matrix makes the symbols distinguishable and each representative of the corresponding alpha-numerical character. Such books are hard to manufacture and expensive, and are also bulky and difficult to handle.
The object of the invention is to replace such permanent registration of literature or the like by a running and temporary exposition of successive small parts of the matter in question and to make said exposition readable to people with visual defects.
In an apparatus of the above-mentioned kind the object of the invention is reached in principle by filling a great number of holes in the running endless belt with balls, sorting-out certain balls in a group of holes at a sorting station so as to form a Braille symbol of dots represented by balls extending above the upper face of the belt, reading-off the symbol by tactile perception at an exposition area and then erasing the symbol by filling all holes anew with balls for the next turn of the belt. The essential characterizing features of the apparatus according to the invention are set forth in the following claims.
The invention will now be more closely described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIGS. 1-3 refer to a first embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 1 shows the same as viewed from a vertical longitudinal plane,
FIG. 2 is a view taken from above, and
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragment of the apparatus taken at an inclined angle from above.
FIG. 4 shows a first modification of the details of FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 shows a second modification thereof in vertical section.
In the drawings, an endless belt 11 is laid in a loop around two parallel rollers 13, 15 rotary about generally horizontal axes 14, 16, one of them driven by a motor 17 (or other powering means). The belt is moved in the direction of the arrow without slippage, perforation holes 19 at the edge of the belt engaging pegs 21 on the roller 15. The belt comprises an upper substantially horizontal or slightly inclined path 18, a semicircular path 20 around the roller 15, a lower substantially horizontal or preferably slightly upwardly inclined path 22 and a semicircular path 24 around the roller 13. Between the rollers 13, 15 the upper belt path 18 rests upon and is drawn in contact with an underlying support 23 in the shape of a table. Closely situated parallel grooves 27, 28 in the upper face of said table extend in the direction of travel of the belt 11.
The belt is perforated by a great number of small through holes 29 adapted to receive spherical balls 31 and of a slightly greater diameter than that of the balls. The holes are arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows and are dimensioned and spaced so as to form square groups corresponding to the Braille matrix system. The balls are made of steel, but some suitable plastic or ceramic material may be used instead. A preferred diameter of the balls is of the order of 1.6 mm, and the thickness of the belt 11 is of the order of 0.2 mm.
The belt holes are filled with balls at an area A of the lower path 22 of the belt loop, and after turning around the roller 13 the belt arrives at a second area B located close to the starting end of the upper run 18 of the belt.
At said area there are provided means for selectively removing some of the balls from positions within the belt holes. Said means form a sorting station, in which selected balls are allowed to drop out by the action of gravity. From there the b
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patent: 2521338 (1950-09-01), Bryce et al.
patent: 2891324 (1959-06-01), Zuk
patent: 3624772 (1971-11-01), Grunwald
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patent: 4463676 (1984-08-01), Harada et al.
patent: 4500293 (1985-02-01), Eltgen
patent: 4551102 (1985-11-01), Meinzer
Abstracts of DE3134356 & FR2494469 (data base generated).
Nassimbene, "Ball & Belt . . . Display" IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 18, No. 7, pp. 2294-2295, 12/75.
Pike, "Piezoelectric Braille Module", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 1433-1434, 9/76.
Tophin, "Braille Display", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 19, No. 7, pp. 2565-2566, 12/76.
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