Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1988-11-04
1991-02-05
Lall, Parshotam S.
Boots, shoes, and leggings
364559, 364460, 235105, 377 242, G01C 2200
Patent
active
049911260
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
Up to now, orientation for persons walking or riding in the open country was only possible with the use of diverse auxiliary aids, such as maps and compasses. The electronic handling of compasses and maps required a good deal of knowledge and experience and was nevertheless a slow and complex procedure, totally failing in the event of poor visibility. In any case, in choosing footpaths and running courses one was restricted to paths plotted on a map or at least dependent on finding fixed points of orientation. With or without the use of maps and compasses orientation always demanded steady attention, a good eyesight and high visibility.
Visually handicapped or blind people had hardly a chance to venture long-distance walking in town and country unaccompanied by either a person or a seeing-eye dog.
An automatic portable navigation device usable for walkers was presented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,942. Contrary to the present invention, that device is a fully mechanical, complicated model working on air pressure, with all the disadvantages of a precision mechanics construction, and is therefore no longer suited to present-day technical standards and requirements. Since that U.S. patent publication, no further or better solutions in the field of automatic orientation devices for walkers have been suggested.
Radio direction finders have the disadvantage of being subject to postal registration, as they might jam other devices. If one tried to run each apparatus on a separate radio frequency, more widespread use would be impossible. Besides, at least one additional radio station and good reception are necessary.
Electronic auto-navigation equipment is familiar in aviation, navigation, missile and vehicular technics. Thus, navigation equipment for road vehicles is known through the German disclosure document DE No. 29 41 331 A1, in the case of which-based on route and direction gauging through substraction of a distance vector and a target vector fed in over a feeding unit--a differential target vector is calculated. With that former invention the user had, at least before starting his tour, to feed in target vectors via keyboards or other feeding appliances. He had to measure out the coordinates on the road map and transfer them to the feeding unit. This procedure was complicated and not fit for everyone. Computer-suited contraptions such as light pens developed with respect to the mentioned defects had rendered the device yet more expensive. For common car drivers such devices are not only very costly, but also require high skills in working them, especially concerning correct transfer and feeding in of coordinates taken from road maps or charts.
Moreover, such navigation devices were not exchangeable from vehicle to vehicle, because the navigation device had to be demagnetized and adjusted to the respective vehicle at a high cost.
With this invention under consideration, however, which is light, small and cheap, any simple person and, above all, the visually handicapped and the blind are in a position to find their destination and their way back when running, walking or riding, without possessing any technical skill and without having to transfer coordinates from maps. The electronic automatic orientation device (EAOD) of the invention does not require any further aids or special handling, and, as it works independently and automatically, it is of considerable value to any hiker in emergency, and for the visually handicapped and the blind.
PRINTED MATTER
US-PS No. 4 416 066, US-PS No. 4 220 996, US-PS No. 4 053 755,
GB-PS No. 1 582 062, DE-OS NO. 25 02 176, DE-OS No. 33 08 431,
DE-OS No. 29 12 915.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an electronic-automatic orientation device according to the present invention;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic illustrations of a direction signal generating means for use with the invention illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a stride motion converter according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrati
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Lall Parshotam S.
Zanelli Michael
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