The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 03, 2000
Filed:
May. 18, 1998
Koen J Weijand, Rockanje, NL;
F.J. Tieman B.V., Rockanje, NL;
Abstract
A Braille device includes a plurality of Braille cells that comprise a plurality of pins that are actively positioned to present information to a user via tactile feel. The Braille device also allows the user to depress at one or more of the pins in order to make a selection analogous to point and click of a mouse. To allow the user to move a screen cursor and make selections via the Braille pins, the Braille cell includes pin position sensing circuitry that senses the position of each of the plurality of Braille pins. A system controller (e.g., a CPU) reads the information from the sensing circuitry to determine which pins, if any have been depressed. Advantageously, the Braille pins are used as an output device that allows a user to read information, and also as an input device by allowing the user to depress the Braille pins in order to make a selection. In addition, depositing the electronics onto the piezoelectric bimorph reduces the overall size of the Braille device.