RU2280429C1 - Walking-stick for invalid by vision - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: medical equipment.

SUBSTANCE: walking-stick for invalid by vision has stick provided with handle and receiver-transmitter, data processing unit and signaler, all connected with electric circuit. Receiver-transmitter is mounted in stick for change in angle of inclination to axis of stick at plane of symmetry of walking-stick and it is provided with aid for quick control of angle of inclination during usage.

EFFECT: improved comfort, improved efficiency.

7 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The claimed invention relates to medical equipment, in particular to a device for orienting the blind in the environment, and can be used with the independent movement of the blind in a non-deterministic setting.

The ultrasonic cane "UltraCane" is known, the material about which was published, for example, in the Yorkshire Post on February 1, 2005, the section "Busiess week", the article "Sound idea offers help to the blind". More information about the UltraCane cane is available on the Internet at www.soundforsight.co.uk . The "UltraCane" cane contains 2 rigidly mounted ultrasonic transceivers, an information processing device and an alarm device in the form of vibration sensors mounted in the cane handle. The appearance of the receiving emitters of the UltraCane cane is given in Appendix 2. The axis of one receiving emitter when using the cane is directed forward towards the user (to detect remote obstacles in the direction of travel), the axis of the second - at a certain angle above the horizon (to detect obstacles at head level) . Receivers emit ultrasonic pulses and receive reflected echoes. Depending on which of the channels the echo signal is received, the information processing device includes one or another vibration sensor, and the user can tentatively judge the location of the obstacle.

A disadvantage of the known “UltraCane” cane is that the directivity axes of the ultrasonic receiving emitters are rigidly fixed relative to the cane, and the user cannot change, for example, the height of the viewing area according to his height or any other preferences.

Also known is the cane "LaserCane", adopted as the closest analogue, a material about which was published, for example, in the journal "Photonics" for June 2003, section "Accent on application", article "Lasers assist the Blind". More detailed information about the LaserCane cane is available on the Internet at www. lasercane.com/lasercane.htm .

The "LaserCane" cane uses 3 laser pick-ups, the rays of which are directed when using the cane, respectively:

- straight ahead;

- forward and slightly up to detect upper level obstacles;

- forward and slightly down to detect lower level obstacles, such as curbs.

The advantage of the LaserCane cane compared to the UltraCane cane is that the direction of the location beam, in this case the laser beam, which is responsible for detecting upper-level obstacles, namely at the height of the shoulders and head, can be adjusted by the user before starting operation. This allows, in particular, to take into account the angle at which the user is used to holding the cane while walking, as well as to avoid the detection of "unnecessary" obstacles located at a safe height above the user's head (see excerpt from htth: //nurion.net/page9) .

The disadvantage of the LaserCane cane is that directly during operation, the direction of the location rays relative to the axis of the cane stick remains unchanged, and the user cannot change the angle of inclination of the location rays relative to the axis of the cane stick at any time.

Scanning of the viewing area in the horizontal plane is carried out thanks to the usual technique of working with a cane for the blind, i.e. by periodically swaying the cane left and right, and scanning up and down, for example, when searching for or clarifying the location of small-sized obstacles, is possible only by raising and lowering the cane, which is inconvenient for the user and dangerous for others if the device is used in a crowded place.

Another drawback inherent in both LaserCane and UltraCane canes is the use of two (three) transceivers to expand the viewing angle in the vertical plane and, accordingly, the complexity of the signal coding system on the indicator, as the user must distinguish between hazard signals corresponding to different sectors of the field of view.

In terms of the accuracy of determining the direction of an obstacle in the vertical plane, the task in both cases is solved very roughly: in the "UltraCane" cane there are only two gradations in the elevation angle representation, and in the "LaserCane" cane - three.

The task of the invention is the transition from a discrete presentation of angular information to a continuous one and an increase in the efficiency of controlling the angle of inclination of the emitter relative to the axis of the stick during the movement of the user.

This problem is solved due to the fact that in the cane for the visually impaired, containing a stick with a handle, a transceiver installed in the cane with the ability to change the angle of inclination in the common plane of symmetry of the stick and the handle, the information processing unit and the signaling device, the transceiver is equipped with an operational angle control its inclination to the axis of the stick in the process of movement of the user.

The receiver in the cane can be installed by means of an axis located perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane and equipped with at least one control lever, the free end of which is brought to the surface of the handle.

The free end of the control lever can be brought to the top of the handle surface.

The free end of the control lever can be brought to the bottom of the surface of the handle.

The transceiver can be equipped with a return spring, which is attached to the handle at one end and connected to the transceiver at the other end.

The receiver can be equipped with a gear wheel rigidly connected to it, mounted by means of an axis perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane, while part of the gear protrudes above the surface of the handle.

The receiver can be equipped with a stopper, which is mounted on the handle and engages with the gear.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the operational controllability of the inclination angle of the emitter relative to the axis of the stick in the process of movement of the user.

Due to the presence of a control lever, the free end of which is brought out to the upper part of the handle surface, it became possible to control the angle of inclination of the emitter by, for example, a thumb holding a cane, which allowed the user to carry out arbitrary scanning of the probe beam in the plane of symmetry of the cane.

Due to the presence of a control lever, the free end of which is brought out to the lower part of the handle surface, it became possible to control the angle of inclination of the transceiver by, for example, the index finger of a hand holding a cane.

Due to the presence of a return spring, the transceiver automatically returns to its original position when the user ceases to act on the lever, which ensures a certain direction of the probe beam relative to the axis of the stick, previously known to the user.

Due to the presence of a gear attached to the receiver, it became possible to manually control the angle of inclination of the receiver relative to the axis of the stick, the dimensions of the elements protruding beyond the handle are minimized, and the mechanical reliability of the cane in the event of its fall or accidental mechanical influences on the cane is increased.

Due to the presence of a stopper, it became possible to fix the angle of inclination of the emitter relative to the axis of the stick in any position that is convenient for the user at the moment of his movement, which allowed to release the finger acting on the manual control element, namely the gear wheel.

In Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.3 presents examples of the implementation of the canes, in the context.

A cane for the visually impaired (Fig. 1) contains a stick 1, a handle 2, a transceiver 3 mounted in the handle by means of an axis 4, an information processing unit 5, a power supply 6 and an alarm 7. The axis 4 is perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane. Structurally, the transceiver 3, the information processing unit 5, the power supply 6 and the signaling device 7 are located inside the handle 2 and are interconnected by an electric circuit 8. The transceiver 3 is mounted with the possibility of changing the angle α of the inclination of its axis 9 relative to the axis of symmetry 10 of the stick 1 in the common plane of symmetry of the stick 1 and handles 2, i.e. in the plane of symmetry of the cane. A control lever 11 is attached to the transceiver 3, the free end of which is brought out to the upper part 12 of the surface of the handle 2. Fig. 2 shows an example of a walking stick when the control lever 13 is attached to the transceiver 3, the free end of which is brought to the lower part 14 of the handle 2 surface. The transceiver 3 is provided with a return spring 15, one end of which is fixed to the handle 2 (Fig.1, 2), and the other end is connected to the transceiver. Figure 3 shows an example when the receiver-emitter 16 is equipped with a gear wheel 17 rigidly connected to it, mounted by means of the axis 18 on the handle 2, while a part of the gear 17 extends above the upper part 12 of the surface of the handle 2. The axis 18 is perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane. In this case, the transceiver 16 is equipped with a stopper 19, which is mounted on the handle 2 and engages with the gear wheel 17.

In general, the cane operates as follows.

When the free end of the control lever 11 is located on the upper part 12 of the surface of the handle 2 (Fig. 1), the direction of the directional axis 9 of the receiver 3 relative to the axis of symmetry 10 of the stick 1 can be quickly adjusted by the user, for example, by means of the thumb acting on the control lever 11.

When the free end of the control lever 13 is pulled out to the lower part of the surface of the handle 2 (Fig. 2), the user can quickly adjust the direction of the directional axis 9 of the receiver 3 relative to the axis of symmetry 10 of the stick 1, for example, by means of the index finger of the hand, acting on the control lever 13.

In the presence of a return spring 15, which is fixed at one end by a handle 2 and connected to the transceiver 3 at the other end, the position of the directional axis 9 of the transceiver 3 relative to the axis of symmetry 10 of the stick 1 is unambiguously determined, namely, if there is no effect on the control lever 11 (or 13) from the user side, the transceiver 3 is in the extreme initial position, predetermined by the user.

In the presence of a gear wheel 17 (Fig. 3), rigidly connected with the transceiver 16, the user can quickly adjust the angular position of the axis 20 of the directivity of the transducer 16 relative to the axis of symmetry 10 of the stick 1, for example, by means of a thumb holding a cane.

If there is a stopper 19 (Fig. 3), the transceiver 16 can be fixed by the user relative to the handle 2 in the most convenient angular position at the current moment of movement of the user.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the operational controllability of the inclination angle of the emitter relative to the axis of the stick in the process of movement of the user.

Claims (7)

1. A cane for the visually impaired, comprising a stick with a handle, as well as an emitter mounted on a cane with the possibility of changing the angle of inclination to the axis of the stick in the plane of symmetry of the cane, an information processing unit and an annunciator, characterized in that the emitter is equipped with operational control the angle of its inclination to the axis of the stick in the process of movement of the user. 2. The cane according to claim 1, characterized in that the pickup emitter in the cane is mounted by means of an axis located perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane and equipped with at least one control lever, the free end of which is brought to the surface of the handle. 3. The cane according to claim 2, characterized in that the free end of the control lever is brought to the top of the handle surface. 4. The cane according to claim 2, characterized in that the free end of the control lever is brought out to the lower part of the handle surface. 5. A cane according to any one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the transceiver is provided with a return spring, which is attached to the handle at one end and connected to the transceiver at the other. 6. The cane according to claim 1, characterized in that the transceiver is equipped with a gear wheel rigidly connected to it, mounted by means of an axis perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the cane, while part of the gear wheel protrudes above the surface of the handle. 7. The cane according to claim 6, characterized in that the transceiver is equipped with a stopper that is fixed to the handle and engages with the gear.

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