JPH0741564U - Braille display device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Braille can be used easily in a wide range. [Structure] A pair of plate-shaped rotating bodies provided so as to be rotatable coaxially with each other, and a pair of point wheels 12 having an octagonal sectional shape orthogonal to the center of rotation are provided. And 8 sides 21 on each of the point wheels 12
In addition, the protrusions 22 corresponding to the eight combinations of the protrusions forming the Braille in one row in the vertical direction are formed. Further, by using the rotation drive unit 19, by electrical control,
The rotation position of the point wheel 12 is rotated by 45 degrees.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention has a pair of octagonal plate-shaped rotating bodies that can rotate coaxially with each other. For each of the point wheels, protrusions corresponding to one vertical row of Braille are formed on eight side surfaces, and one point is formed. The present invention relates to a Braille display device that displays Braille using a combination of a protrusion on the side surface of the wheel and a protrusion on the other side surface of the wheel.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In the general public, printed materials from newspapers and magazines can be used for a wide range of prints, and prints can also be used with a display device equipped with a CRT display or LCD display. There is. On the other hand, for visually impaired people, it is possible to use a book or document that has been printed in advance as an array of kana characters, and the array of kana characters is 3 points in the vertical direction and 2 points in the horizontal direction. It was converted to a combination of 6-point projections, and the combination of the converted projections was formed on a special paper as a braille book or printed matter in Braille type.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, braille books have the problem that they are limited in type because it takes time to create them. In braille type printed matter, the number of prints is only one. There was a problem that it was time-consuming to create.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and Braille can be easily used in a wide range by displaying and changing the Braille by electric control. It is to provide a braille display device capable of doing the above.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a Braille display device of the present invention is a pair of plate-shaped rotating bodies that are provided so as to be rotatable coaxially with each other, and have a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation center of 8 A pair of prismatic point wheels and the eight side faces of each of the pair of point wheels are associated with each of the eight combinations in the vertical row of protrusions that make up Braille. As a configuration including a protrusion formed at a position on a side surface that is defined and a rotation drive unit that is provided corresponding to each of the point wheels and that moves the rotation position of the point wheel by 45 degrees by electrical control. There is.

[0006]

[Action]

 Braille is composed of a protrusion formed on the side surface of one of the point wheels and a protrusion formed on the other side of the point wheel. The protrusions formed on each side face are associated with each of the eight combinations of the protrusions that form the Braille in one vertical column. Braille types are therefore indicated as a combination of one of the eight sides of one point wheel and one of the eight sides of the other point wheel.

When the point wheel rotates 45 degrees, the side surface at a predetermined position replaces the adjacent side surface. Further, the rotation driving unit provided corresponding to each of the point wheels moves the rotation position of the point wheel by 45 degrees by electrical control. Therefore, by electrical control, an arbitrary side surface of each point wheel is positioned at a predetermined position. In other words, Braille of any kind will be displayed by electrical control.

[0008]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the Braille display device, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are a side view and a front view of the display mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 1, the braille display device includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case 51 having a size of 210 mm in the lateral direction and 35 mm in the depth direction, and a display mechanism 50 provided therein. It is a configured device. The upper panel 54 of the case 51 is a panel having a step formed by a finger plate 52 on the front side and a rear panel portion 53 formed one step higher than the finger plate 52.

Further, the finger plate 52 is formed with 30 pairs of slits 55 having a width of slightly more than 1 mm and a length of about 10 mm in the lateral direction, with two slits 55 approaching each other as a pair. The distance between the pair of slits 55 is approximately 1 mm, and the distance between the combination of the pair of slits 55 and the adjacent pair of slits 55 is approximately 2 mm.

Reference numeral 11 in the drawing denotes a fixed shaft fixed to the case via a supporting member (not shown). The fixed shaft 11 has a pair of point wheels 12 (see FIG. 2 (a)), which are plate-shaped rotating bodies having an octagonal cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction of the fixed shaft 11, in pairs. 13 (see FIG. 2 (a)), and are rotatably provided coaxially with each other. Moreover, the point wheels 12 and the slits 55 correspond to each other one to one, so that the number of the point wheels 12 is 30 pairs.

As a mechanism for rotating the point wheel 12 by 45 degrees, a rotation drive unit 19 is provided as shown in FIG. The rotation drive unit 19 includes an electromagnet 15 arranged around the point wheel 12, a movable iron piece 16 whose one end is pivotally supported, an arm 17 connected to the movable iron piece 16, and a side surface of the point wheel 12 having a side wall 45. It is composed of pins 14 formed at a pitch interval. That is, the attracting force of the electromagnet 15 moves the movable iron piece 16, and the arm 17 moves with this, so that the tip of the arm 17 contacts the pin 14, and the point wheel 12 rotates in the direction A in the figure. However, a stopper 18, which is a spring member, is provided to stop the point wheel 12 when it has rotated 45 degrees. That is, each time the electromagnet 15 is energized, the point wheel 12 is rotated by 45 degrees.

The number of such rotation driving units 19 corresponding to the number of point wheels 12 is provided, so that all the point wheels 12 are individually rotated.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the Braille projections, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the projections formed on each side surface of the point wheel 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, Braille is displayed depending on which of the six positions in the two rows arranged in the horizontal direction and the three rows arranged in the vertical direction. Therefore, when paying attention only to the arrangement in the vertical direction, there are eight combinations of protrusions, including the case where there is no protrusion. Therefore, each of the eight combinations is associated with each of the eight side surfaces 21a to 21h of the point wheel 12 (see FIG. 2 (a)). Then, each of the side surfaces 21a to 21h is formed with a protrusion 22 at a position determined by a corresponding combination.

The operation of the Braille display device thus configured will be described below.

First, a control unit (not shown) supplies a current to the electromagnet 15 of each rotation drive unit 19 to rotate each point wheel 12 to return it to the reference position. That is, a sensor (not shown) for detecting the reference position is provided in the vicinity of each of the point wheels 12, and a current is supplied to the electromagnet 15 until the sensor operates. At this time, the side surface 21h of each point wheel 12 is located in the slit 55. That is, the protrusion 22 does not protrude from the slit 55 of the finger plate 52.

In this state, the control unit displays the first braille by using the pair of left end point wheels 12 and displays the next braille by using the pair of right side point wheels 12 below. In order to display the braille, the electromagnet 15 corresponding to each point wheel 12 is supplied with the current for the number of times corresponding to the type of braille to be displayed.

That is, assuming that the first braille is “A”, the side wheel 21c is positioned at the slit 55 for the leftmost point wheel 12, so the electric current is supplied to the electromagnet 15 three times, and the point wheel 12 is moved. Rotate 135 degrees in the direction of arrow A. Further, the point wheel 12 adjacent to the right side of the point wheel 12 does not need to be rotated, so that no electric current is supplied to the suction portion 15.

As a result of the above, regarding the pair of slits 55 on the left end, the protrusion 22 is located only on the depth side of the slit 55 on the left side. Further, the right side slit 55 has no protrusion 22. Therefore, the pair of point wheels 12 on the left end will display the braille “A”.

If the braille to be displayed is “U”, the control unit controls the number of times the current is supplied to the electromagnet 15 so that the side surfaces 21c of the pair of point wheels 12 are located in the slits 55. To do. Also, in the case of other Braille, the number of times the current is supplied to the electromagnet 15 is controlled according to the Braille to be displayed.

With the above-described control, 30 pairs of Braille characters are displayed on the finger plate 52 by the 30 pairs of point wheels 12. When the reading is completed, the next 30 braille characters are displayed. Therefore, a current is supplied to the suction unit 15 a predetermined number of times corresponding to each braille character.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the projections 22 formed on the side surfaces 21a to 21h have been described in the case of the arrangement shown in FIG. 4, but other arrangements may be used. It is possible to have a configuration showing eight combinations of 22 types.

Regarding the number of the point wheels 12, it has been described that there are 30 pairs of brailles of 30 characters. However, as another configuration, for example, 40 pairs of brailles have 40 characters. Can be configured to be displayed.

The rotation drive unit 19 can also be configured, for example, by using a latch mechanism, or by rotating the point wheel 12 with a stepping motor or the like.

[0027]

[Effect of device]

 The Braille display device according to the present invention is a pair of plate-shaped rotating bodies that are rotatably provided coaxially with each other, and is provided with a pair of point wheels having an octagonal cross section orthogonal to the center of rotation. Then, on each of the eight side faces of each of the point wheels, there are formed protrusions corresponding to eight combinations of the protrusions forming the Braille in one row in the vertical direction. Further, by using the rotation drive unit, the rotational position of the point wheel is moved by 45 degrees by electrical control. Therefore, it is possible to display and change any Braille by electrical control.Therefore, electrical data transmission means via a recording medium such as a floppy disk or a wired electrical connection such as a telephone line is used. Since Braille can be displayed on the other side by means of data transmission, it is possible to easily use Braille in a wide range.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment of a braille display device of the present invention and is a plan view of the braille display device.

2A and 2B are a side view and a front view of a display mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of Braille protrusions.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a protrusion formed on each side surface of the point wheel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12-point wheel 19 Rotation drive 21a to 21h Side 22 Protrusion 50 Display mechanism

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A pair of plate-shaped rotating bodies provided so as to be rotatable coaxially with each other, and having a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the center of rotation of 8
A pair of prism-shaped point wheels and eight side surfaces of each of the pair of point wheels are referred to as a vertical row of protrusions forming Braille.
Corresponding to each of the combination of species, provided in correspondence to each of the point wheel and the protrusion formed at the position on the side surface determined by this correspondence,
A braille display device, comprising: a rotation drive unit that moves the rotation position of the point wheel by 45 degrees by electrical control.