JPH06289775A - Braille character reading sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a sensor, which detects braille character projecting arrangement as a braille character reader by providing a pressure sensor mechanism and a scanning mechanism that presses down the pressure sensor mechanism over the characters and sweeps them. CONSTITUTION:A pressure sensor mechanism 10 consists of members, whose resistive values vary when a pressure is applied to them, for example, plural piezoelectric transducing elements 11 employing conductive rubber. The elements 11 are placed in one row with a pitch, which is smaller than the distance between projecting parts 2 of a braille character 1, are insulated against each other and every element has terminals from which signals are taken. The elements 11 are placed over the main surface of an insulated base plate, are covered by a common insulated and flexible film and are pressed by the parts 2 from the film side. In the mechanism 10, a row of the elements 11 has a length that is equivalent to the length of braille character and the direction of the row is parallel to the up and down directions. The scanning mechanism 20, which presses down the mechanism 10 over the character 1 and sweeps them, sequentially sweeps the rows that are constituted by rows of characters 1 and are more than one.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a Braille character reading sensor for detecting an array of protrusions on a Braille character to read the Braille character.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional device for reading the above projections, there is an embossed character reading device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-257380. This conventional example is shown in the perspective view of FIG. 6A, and the pressure-sensitive roller 3 covered with pressure-sensitive conductive rubber whose resistance value changes according to the applied pressure.
1, the pressure-sensitive roller 31 scans the embossed card 32 while rotating and passes through the embossed portion 33, and detects an embossed character by the change in the resistance value due to the pressure from the embossed portion 33. It is a thing. The mode of the detection is shown in the output characteristic diagram of FIG. 6B, and the embossed character can be read by identifying the change pattern of the current accompanying the change of the resistance value.

[0003]

However, the Braille character cannot be read in this conventional example. that is,
In reading Braille characters, it is necessary to identify the array of protrusions arranged in a matrix, whereas the current in FIG. 6B depends only on the pressing length of the pressure-sensitive roller 31 in the axial direction. Because the pressure position is not shown, the change pattern of the current may be the same for different Braille characters.

The present invention is for reading Braille characters.
An object of the present invention is to provide a Braille character reading sensor capable of detecting the arrangement of protrusions in Braille characters.

[0005]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In order to achieve the above object, the Braille character reading sensor according to the present invention has a plurality of piezoelectric conversion elements 11 arranged in a line at a pitch smaller than the spacing between the protrusions 2 of the Braille character 1 with reference to FIG. The pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 and the row of the piezoelectric transducers 11 move the braille character 1 in a direction perpendicular to the row while pressing the braille character 1, and cross the braille character 1 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction. 1 and a scanning mechanism 20 for sweeping by pushing it up.

In the Braille character reading sensor, firstly, the pressure sensitive mechanism 10 includes the piezoelectric conversion element 11.
Is a length including one character of the Braille character 1, and the scanning mechanism 20 sequentially sweeps each line with respect to one or more rows of the Braille character 1. It is characterized by that.

As the second feature, the pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 has a length in which the columns of the piezoelectric transducers 11 include both row ends of all the rows with respect to one or more rows composed of the braille characters 1. The scanning mechanism 20 makes a column of the piezoelectric conversion element 11 parallel to the row and sweeps in a direction perpendicular to the row.
It is characterized by that.

As the third feature, the pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 has a length in which the row of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 includes one Braille character 1, and the scanning mechanism 20 has the pressure-sensitive mechanism on the main surface of the finger portion. 1
It is characterized in that 0 is fixed and it is a glove or a finger sack that sweeps by moving the attached hand.

[0009]

In the pressure sensitive mechanism 10, since the plurality of piezoelectric conversion elements 11 are arranged in a line at a pitch smaller than the interval between the protrusions 2 in the direction perpendicular to the sweep direction, the scanning mechanism 20 operates the pressure sensitive mechanism 10. If you press down on the Braille character 1 and sweep, the combination of the time series signals output by the individual piezoelectric conversion elements 11
The arrangement of the protrusions 2 on the Braille character 1 can be detected.

[0010] In the above-mentioned item 1, all the Braille characters 1 can be read by sweeping each line for the Braille characters 1 arranged in one or more lines. Further, in the above-mentioned No. 2, all the Braille characters 1 can be read by one sweep with respect to the Braille characters 1 arranged in one or more lines.

In the above item 3, all the Braille characters 1 can be read by sweeping the item 1 by moving the hand.

[0012]

EXAMPLE An example of a Braille character reading sensor according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 is a schematic side view (a) and a plan view (b) of the pressure-sensitive mechanism, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the first embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the third embodiment (a).
(B), and the same reference numerals denote the same objects throughout the drawings.

In FIG. 2, the pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 includes a plurality of piezoelectric conversion elements 11 made of a material, such as conductive rubber, whose resistance value changes due to pressurization, at a pitch smaller than the spacing between the protrusions 2 of the Braille character 1. It is arranged so as to be insulated from each other and arranged in a line, and the signal output terminal 12 is provided for each piezoelectric conversion element 11. The piezoelectric conversion element 11 is arranged on the main surface of the insulating substrate 13 and covered with a common insulating flexible film 14, and is pressed by the protrusion 2 from the insulating flexible film 14 side.

The protrusion 2 of the Braille character 1 described in FIG. 1 has a substantially hemispherical shape and normally has a diameter of about 1 mm and a height of 0.
The distance is about 6 mm, and the matrix-like arrangement interval is about 2 mm. In consideration of this point, the arrangement pitch of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 is set to about 1 mm aiming at 1/2 of the interval of the protrusions 2, and the size of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 is slightly smaller than the above-mentioned 1 mm in the pitch direction. About 0.9 mm, and the direction perpendicular to this is about 1 mm. The arrangement pitch may be made finer by making the dimension in the pitch direction smaller. The length of the line in which the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 are lined up corresponds to the example described below. The number of piezoelectric conversion elements 11 is determined by this length.

In FIG. 3, this first embodiment is the case of the above-mentioned first case. In the pressure-sensitive mechanism 10, the row of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 has a length including one character of the Braille character 1, and the direction of the row is parallel to the vertical direction in the drawing. The scanning mechanism 20 that pushes the pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 on the Braille character 1 to sweep it sequentially sweeps each row with respect to one or more rows constituted by the braille character 1, that is, one row. It sweeps in the left-right direction in the figure and then sweeps the next row in the same manner, and is constituted by a normal two-dimensional scanning mechanism. All the Braille characters 1 can be read by the sweep that is sequentially repeated for each line.

In FIG. 4, the second embodiment is the case of the second case described above. The pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 has a length in which the columns of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 include both row ends of all the rows with respect to one or more rows composed of the braille characters 1 and the direction of the columns is as shown in the figure. It is parallel to the left-right direction (row direction). The scanning mechanism 20 for sweeping by pressing the pressure sensitive mechanism 10 on the Braille character 1 sweeps in the vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the line) of the figure, that is, moves across the entire length of one line to the next line. The sweep is performed as described above, and is configured by a normal one-dimensional scanning mechanism. Here, all the Braille characters 1 can be read by one sweep.

In FIG. 5, the third embodiment is the case of the third case described above. The pressure-sensitive mechanism 10 has a length in which the row of the piezoelectric conversion elements 11 includes one Braille character 1 as in the case of the first embodiment. The scanning mechanism 20 is
The figure (a) is a glove, and the figure (b) is a finger sack, and the pressure sensitive mechanism 10 is fixed to the principal surface of the finger portion in all cases, and the same sweep as in the case of the first embodiment is carried out by moving the attached hand I do.
And all the Braille characters can be read by this sweep. The third embodiment may be in the form of a so-called hand scanner.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a Braille character reading sensor capable of detecting the arrangement of protrusions in Braille characters for reading Braille characters.
It has the effect of making it possible to decipher Braille characters by a computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view and plan view of a pressure-sensitive mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view and an output characteristic diagram for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Braille character 2 Braille protrusion 10 Pressure sensitive mechanism 11 Piezoelectric conversion element 12 Signal extraction terminal 13 Insulating substrate 14 Insulating flexible film 20 Sweeping mechanism 31 Pressure sensitive roller 32 Embossing card 33 Embossing part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pressure-sensitive mechanism (10) in which a plurality of piezoelectric conversion elements (11) are arranged in a line at a pitch smaller than the spacing between the projections (2) of Braille characters (1), and the piezoelectric conversion elements (10). The pressure sensitive mechanism (1) is arranged so that the row of (11) moves in a direction perpendicular to the row while pressing the braille character (1) and crosses the braille character (1) laterally or vertically.
Scanning mechanism (2)
0) and a Braille character reading sensor. 2. The pressure-sensitive mechanism (10) has a length in which a row of the piezoelectric conversion elements (11) includes one Braille character (1), and the scanning mechanism (20) is Braille. The Braille character reading sensor according to claim 1, wherein each row is sequentially swept with respect to one or more rows composed of a row of characters (1). 3. The pressure-sensitive mechanism (10) includes both row ends of all rows with respect to one or more rows in which the columns of the piezoelectric transducers (11) are composed of a braille character (1). The scanning mechanism (20) makes the column of the piezoelectric conversion element (11) parallel to the row and sweeps in a direction perpendicular to the row. Braille character reading sensor described in 1. 4. The pressure-sensitive mechanism (10) has a length in which a row of the piezoelectric conversion elements (11) includes one braille character (1), and the scanning mechanism (20) is a finger. The Braille character reading sensor according to claim 1, wherein the pressure-sensitive mechanism (10) is fixed to the main surface of the part, and the glove or finger sack is swept by the movement of the attached hand.