GB2263354A

GB2263354A - Labels for the blind.

Info

Publication number: GB2263354A
Application number: GB9300842A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony Graham Addison; Keith James Flint
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-01-16
Filing date: 1993-01-18
Publication date: 1993-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2013-01-18
Also published as: GB9300842D0; GB2263354B

Abstract

In order to assist blind people in identifying locations within a building, a label is proposed which will be positioned on a wall or door, will have a raised boundary indicator 14 and, within the boundary indicator, a raised Braille letter or letters 16 and/or a raised ideogram 18. The label may have a self-adhesive backing. The label may be printed with the corresponding directions for sighted people. <IMAGE>

Description

Labels for the blind The present invention relates to labels for the blind. The invention is particularly applicable for labels in public buildings to assist blind people to identify their location and any local hazards such as steps.

In public buildings labels are generally attached to the doors of rooms to assist sighted persons. However, such assistance is not provided for the blind. It will be appreciated that although a non-sighted person may locate a doorway, they will then require assistance to discover where the doorway leads. This has sometimes caused embarrassment and distress both to the non-sighted person and to others when they have been directed towards wash-rooms or toilets without accurate instructions to determine which of two adjacent doors leads to the men's room and which to the women's room. This embarrassment has been sometimes compounded by a local hazard such as a step in a doorway which has caused the person to stumble on entry into the room and to grab a person in the room to save falling heavily.

The present invention seeks to provide means for assisting blind persons (which includes both non sighted and partially sighted persons) to identify a location and to obtain any other specific information which they may need relevant to the location.

According to the present invention there is provided a label for assisting the blind to identify a location comprising a substantially flat backing material having raised therefrom a boundary indicator within which raised braille letters and/or a raised ideogram are included.

The braille letters and/or the ideogram may be positioned at a predetermined position within the boundary indicator. The label may have a self-adhesive backing and may be formed from a transparent material so that it is relatively inconspicuous when placed in location. Alternatively the label may be formed from an opaque material which can be printed with the corresponding directions for sighted people. The label is preferably mounted at a specific height from the floor to enable blind people to more readily identify the raised boundary indicator on the label.

The boundary indicator can have a variety of forms, and the form of the boundary (eg circle, square, triangle) can indicate the type of information enclosed within it.

The boundary indicator is preferably continuous.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a label in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of a label in accordance with the invention; Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 show alternative forms of braille lettering and ideograms for inclusion within a portion of the label shown in Figure 2; and Figure 7 is a section through part of the label, on the lines VII-VII.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a plastics label 10 having a display surface 12 on which a raised boundary indicator 14 is formed, within which information for the blind is provided. In Figure 1, the information for the blind is located at the centre of the boundary 14 and takes the form of three dots 16 arranged to form the braille character for 'L', to indicate a ladies toilet. Printed on the label is an ideogram 18 often used to indicate a ladies toilet, for the use of sighted people.

To enable blind people to identify the information within the boundary indicator 14, this information will always be located within an area 20, as shown in Figure 2.

Alternative information items for the area 20 are shown in Figures 3 to 5. Referring to Figure 3 the area 20 includes a braille character consisting of four raised dots 22 each of which has a radius of l.Olmm and is raised from the surface of the label by 0.81mm. The four raised dots represent in braille the letter "G" to indicate a men's toilet. Adjacent to the braille character there is a raised ideogram 24 representing steps. The start of the braille character is positioned 9.5mm from the start of the ideogram 24.

If there is no local hazard such as steps in the local environment of the label then the part of the area 20 adjacent to the braille character is left blank as shown in Figure 4. Referring to Figure 4, the braille character 26 which represents the letter "G" consists of four dots 22 spaced apart vertically and horizontally by a distance L2 and L3 respectively which are each equal to 3.25mm.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 the braille symbol shown consists of three equi-spaced dots 16 in line representing the letter "L". The height L4 of the braille character is 6.5mm. The width L5 of the raised ideogram 5 is 2.Omm and the height of the riser L6 and the length of the tread L7 is equal to 3.25mm.

With such dimensions the dots which indicate the braille characters "G" and "L" conform to Giant Dot Character Braille specification. The dimensions are critical and can be scaled up or down in accordance with readily accepted braille character sets. The boundary indicator 14 within which the braille characters and ideograms are located consists of a raised circle having the same cross sectional profile as the braille characters and ideograms.

Figure 7 shows a cross section through the label 10 which has a raised braille profile 28 which stands 0.81mm from the surface 12 of the label 10. The profile 28 has a radius of l.Olmm. An adhesive layer 30 is applied to the back surface 32 of the label 10 to enable the label to be mounted on a surface relevant to its specific location. The label is preferably mounted at a set height from the floor to enable it to be readily located by a blind person. The boundary 14 has a radius of 40mm which is sufficiently large for it to be identified by the blind as a particular label which contains braille information and also a warning of any hazards in the environment.It will be appreciated that the area 20 may contain more than a single braille character and also more than one specific hazard warning if this is the information which needs to be imparted to the blind.

The labels may be transparent so that they are not readily apparent to the sighted who might otherwise vandallse or move the labels. However the labels can also be provided with visible printed information to guide the sighted.

It will be appreciated that the boundary 14 does not have to be in the form of a circle and may alternatively be in the form of a square, triangle or other boundary marker within which the braille characters and ideograms may be found.

Such different boundary markers may indicate the type of information to be found within, in much the same manner as is done by road signs.

It is however prefrred to have a continuous boundary marker.

The labels are particulary useful in public buildings where blind people may need to identify both their location and any local hazard. The form of ideogram may need to be publicised for the blind community so that they become familiar with the indication of the local hazard. The range of ideograms may be extended in the course of time when blind people become familiar with the boundary marking and relatively symbolic initial forms of local hazard.

Claims

1. A label for assisting blind persons to identify a location, the label comprising a substantially flat backing material having raised therefrom a boundary indicator within which raised braille letters and/or a raised ideogram are included.

2. A label as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the label has a self-adhesive backing.

3. A label as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the label is formed from a transparent material.

4. A label as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the label is formed from an opaque material.

5. A label as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the label is printed with the corresponding directions for sighted people.

6. A label as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the boundary indicator is continuous.

7. A label as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the boundary indicator is a circle.

8. A set of labels as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the labels carry different braille letters and/or ideograms within the same boundary indicator, and the braille letters and/or the ideogram on each label are all positioned at the same position within the boundary indicator.

9. A label for assisting blind persons to identify a location, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.