Tactile sensing device

Education and demonstration – Means for demonstrating apparatus – product – or surface... – Means for comparing characteristics of plural articles or...

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C434S402000, C434S404000, C434S247000, C040S306000, C217S011000, C217S058000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06419497

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device that allows a user to utilize tactile senses in order to distinguish between a plurality of different surface textures.
2. Background of the Prior Art
One of the objectives in teaching visually impaired individuals, especially those individuals that are born blind, as well as developmentally challenged individuals, is teaching such individuals various textures of objects. Many devices and methods are known in the art to help such persons learn and distinguish among a variety of textures associated with objects. However, many prior art devices are relatively complex in design and construction and are unnecessarily difficult for use by the target user. This results in a device that is costly and tends to result in frustration in device use by the user resulting in early termination of the learning process. Other prior art devices and methods rely on haphazardly collecting various textured surfaces and arbitrarily introducing such surfaces to the target user. This tends to result in the user not obtaining the entire block of knowledge desired.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a device that allows a user to learn a plurality of different surface textures and to distinguish among the various surfaces. The device must be of relatively simple design and construction and must be relatively easy to use. The device must allow the systematic presentation of the various surfaces to the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The tactile sensing device of the present addresses the aforementioned needs in the art. The tactile sensing device allows a user, through tactile sensation, to be exposed to a variety of different surfaces each having a different texture. The device is of relatively simple design and construction and is relatively simple to use. The device allows the user to be exposed to the various textures in a straightforward and systematic fashion.
The tactile sensing device of the present invention comprises a body member having a plurality of sides. An opening having a rim is disposed within each of the plurality of sides, each opening has a plate member rotatably disposed within the opening, each plate member has a first surface and second surface, each first surface has a first texture thereon and each second surface has a second texture thereon. Each of the first textures is unique with respect to each other and each of the second textures is unique with respect to each other. The body member may be a generally rectangular solid and may be hollow. A hollow chamber is disposed within an end of the body member and is separated from the opening by a wall. A latchable door is attached to the body member for gaining access to the chamber. Each opening has a first shape and each plate member has a second shape that generally corresponds to the first shape. Each plate member rotates about an axis disposed along a plane of the opening. A magnet is attached to the rim of each opening and each plate member has a magnetically sensitive portion that corresponds to the magnet in order to limit rotation of the plate member within the opening or a magnet is attached to each plate member and the rim of each opening has the magnetically sensitive portion that corresponds to the magnet. Each of the first textures may also be unique with respect to each of the second textures. Each of the first textures and each of the second textures are chosen from the group consisting of a rough flexible pile surface, a furry surface, a soft fabric surface, a cushiony textured surface, a soft bumpy surface, a textured metallic surface, a hard bumpy surface, a fine granular surface, and a Braille character surface. Other textures can also be used.


REFERENCES:
patent: 1595115 (1926-08-01), Myers
patent: 1789228 (1931-01-01), Froboese et al.
patent: 2121246 (1938-06-01), Gordon
patent: 2172172 (1939-09-01), Mount
patent: 2364609 (1944-12-01), Almquist
patent: 2817915 (1957-12-01), Chatkin
patent: 3484105 (1969-12-01), Winston
patent: 3510964 (1970-05-01), Dahners et al.
patent: 3726027 (1973-04-01), Cohen et al.
patent: 3745673 (1973-07-01), Jimerson et al.
patent: 3793756 (1974-02-01), Kay et al.
patent: 4146977 (1979-04-01), Barberi
patent: 4262432 (1981-04-01), Hachimura
patent: 4458435 (1984-07-01), Ackerman
patent: 5562459 (1996-10-01), Durlach
patent: 5598667 (1997-02-01), Dykes
patent: 5720617 (1998-02-01), Var
patent: 3518890 (1985-12-01), None

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Tactile sensing device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Tactile sensing device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tactile sensing device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2864538

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.