Communications: electrical – Tactual indication – With input means
Patent
1981-04-08
1983-10-04
Caldwell, Sr., John W.
Communications: electrical
Tactual indication
With input means
128733, 128782, 340573, G08B 2100, A61B 510
Patent
active
044081928
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
Reference is hereby made to the Microfiche Appendix comprised of one fiche containing 26 frames.
This invention relates to communication. In a particular aspect this invention relates to communication by disabled persons.
It is well known that persons who are disabled by accident, illness or congenital defects can have great difficulty in communicating with others.
Various communicators are known which can be used by disabled persons. One communicator uses motion of the eyeball in a manner similar to the motions of writing and by means of sensors that motion is reproduced as letters or drawings on a visual display; that communicator although excellent is tiring and difficult to use. Further, it must be used with some order of rapidity to be effective. Another communicator utilized a visual display to display letters, a cursor was scanned across the letters and when it was in a position representing a desired letter a signal was given by a cursor to store that letter. The stored letter and other stored letters were then displayed as a word. That communicator is also excellent but relied on the ability of the user to react in sufficient time to cursor movement to select a desired letter.
Although the above described communicators work well they are not suited to all disabled persons particularly those who are so severely disabled as to have insufficiently fast controllable reactions.
The present invention provides a method of communicating characterized by sequentially, detecting at least one of a positive voluntary muscle movement of a first character being time indeterminate above a threshold as an electrical signal of first character, and a positive voluntary muscle movement of a second character being time indeterminate above a threshold as an electrical signal of second character, and detecting a positive voluntary muscle movement of a third character being time indeterminate above a threshold as an electrical signal of third character, and interpreting the signals produced as a code representing a communication, translating the code into a signal adapted to produce a visual display, and visually displaying the communication on a visual display device.
The present invention also provides apparatus for communicating characterized in comprising means for producing a first electrical signal in response to a positive voluntary muscle movement of first character being time indeterminate above a threshold, means for producing a second electrical signal in response to a positive voluntary muscle movement of second character being time indeterminate above a threshold, means for producing a third electrical signal in response to a positive voluntary muscle movement of third character being time indeterminate above a threshold, means for translating at least one of said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal and said third electrical signal as a code into an output signal adapted to produce a visual display.
The apparatus preferably comprises a visual display device which may be a separate element.
Although the muscle movements of first, second and third character are not time determinate in the sense that the period of their existence determines whether the first, second or third electrical signal is produced or translated, problems such as spurious triggering, tremor and contact bounce or similar phenomena suggests that each of the movements of first, second and third character should be sustained over a threshold being a minimum period of time. That minimum period of time may be variable to suit various users.
The code used may require for a single symbol that several of said first electrical signal and/or several of said second electrical signal be given sequentially. Said third electrical signal may be conveniently used to designate the end of a code for a symbol and several of said third electrical signal can be used to designate the end of a word and/or sentence.
In a preferred aspect, such as is produced of said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal are stored in a m
REFERENCES:
patent: 3022878 (1962-02-01), Seibel et al.
patent: 3241115 (1966-03-01), Maling
patent: 3507376 (1970-04-01), Kafafian
patent: 3831296 (1974-08-01), Hagle
A Communication System Prosthesis by Steadman et al., pp. 93-95.
Forward Kevin E.
Ward Geoffrey A.
Caldwell Sr. John W.
Myer Daniel
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