Registers – Records
Patent
1981-05-20
1983-11-29
Pitts, Harold I.
Registers
Records
235473, 235488, G06K 1900
Patent
active
044182783
ABSTRACT:
A page fabricated with embedded optical fibers is used as an input/output device to facilitate man-machine communication. Pinhole-size perforations in the surface of the page serving as entry/exit ports are located above ends of the embedded optical fibers, thereby to expose the ends of the fibers to the top surface of the page, with the fibers being routed beneath the surface of the page to exit points at the edge of the page. As an input device, information is entered by marking the page with a pencil such that pencil lead is deposited in a selected perforation to prevent light from passing through the perforation in the page and into the underlying optical fiber, the state of the fiber being detected and converted into one bit of information. The user's actions in marking the page may be guided by pictures and words printed on the page, which may be made of paper. As an output device, selected optical fibers are driven with a light source which results in a display of information by light emanating from the perforations at the ends of the driven fibers. In a further embodiment, a light path is established by a fiber embedded in the page, in which the fiber is separated along its length at a point under a perforation, with occluding material deposited through the perforation for blocking transmission of light through the fiber. In another embodiment a matrix of fibers is embedded in a page, with connections of a row and a column at a crossover point being provided by a coupling fiber spliced therebetween, the coupling fiber being separated under a perforation in the paper through which occlusive material may be deposited to selectively block the optical coupling between the row and column. In a still further embodiment, the embedded fiber optic page may be used with either light-detecting or light-emitting pens.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3728521 (1973-04-01), Borough
patent: 3872236 (1975-03-01), Swengel
patent: 4011543 (1977-03-01), Soref
patent: 4021664 (1977-05-01), Ormsby
patent: 4104618 (1978-08-01), Townsend
patent: 4254407 (1981-03-01), Tipon
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