RU2729545C1 - Multi-level communicator with assistant call button - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to audio engineering and specifically to design of a sound recorder and a sound-reproducing device. Said technical result is achieved due to use of clock buttons instead of flexible keyboard and integration of communicator with radio module for call of assistant. Communicator consists of upper and lower halves of housing, connected by self-tapping screws. On the lower half-case under the cover there is a battery compartment designed for four penlite batteries or accumulators, batteries of standard size AA. Also on lower half-case under handle of device there are control elements: recording button, on-button, volume control and banks switch. On the upper half-body there is a face panel consisting of 16 keys fixing the grids, a microphone, an assistant call button, a light-emitting diode and a speaker.

EFFECT: technical result of the present invention is a clear tactile response of each message playback key, availability of an assistant call system built into the communicator, improved quality and loudness of sound, duration of operation of the batteries.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to audio equipment, and in particular to the design of a sound recording and sound reproducing device.

There are a number of severe conditions arising from past diseases (such as stroke, brain tumors) or craniocerebral trauma, characterized by complete or partial loss of a person's ability to self-serve, severe speech disorders and other higher mental functions. There are also a number of disorders (for example, autism) in which verbal communication with others causes a person great psychological discomfort. Many people with the ailments listed above have violations of fine motor skills of the fingers. To ensure the ability to interact with such people and meet their emerging needs, special devices are being developed. Such devices allow patients with speech and motor impairments to alert the people around them about the needs they are experiencing.

A device for calling a medical staff is known, comprising a calling device installed next to a patient, and a receiving device (display panel, pager) installed next to a medical staff. The ringing device is a plastic case with several push-button switches located on the front side. Each of the pushbutton switches, when pressed, sends a signal corresponding to that pushbutton to the receiving device. The receiving device recognizes from which ringing device the signal is sent and which button switch was pressed, and in a certain way (corresponding to the type of receiving device) signals this to the medical personnel (https://medbells.ru/systema-vyzova-medpersonala/medbeep-signal/ med-53v, date of treatment 06/20/2019).

The disadvantage of the device is the limited information functionality. The device allows you to make a regular call, make an emergency call and cancel a call, but does not allow people with speech disorders to explain to others what exactly is needed, what happened, what kind of help is needed.

A device is known - a communicator for people with speech impairments, containing a housing, a touch screen with a front surface and sensors, a speaker, a control unit, a memory unit, a digital-to-analog converter, and a speaker, a control unit, a memory unit and a digital-to-analog converter are installed in the housing, and the touch screen installed in the housing with access to its front surface, a hole is made in front of the speaker in the housing, the sensors are grouped into at least two grouping zones, and in each grouping zone the sensors are divided into related to the first area and related to the second area, the memory unit is made with the provision the possibility of storing the file corresponding to the first area, the file corresponding to the second area, and the file corresponding to both the first area and the second area of one grouping zone, the control unit is connected to the touch screen and the memory unit and is configured to transfer the file corresponding to the first area, for displaying it by the sensors of the first area, the file corresponding to the second area, for displaying it by the sensors in the second area, and, upon receiving a signal from the sensor related to one of the grouping zones, transmit a file corresponding to the first area and the second area of this grouping zones, from a memory block to a digital-to-analog converter and then from a digital-to-analog converter to a speaker - prototype (RF patent 181997 U1; IPC: А61В 5/16, G06F 1/16; 04/03/2017).

The elements of the device are installed in the housing 1 (Fig. 1), which is a part of the device that provides installation and protection of all other elements. The body 1 can be made one-piece or composite, made of metal or plastic. In general, the shape of the body 1 is close to a parallelepiped, the length and width of which significantly exceed the height. On the side of one of the largest faces of the parallelepiped in the housing 1, an opening is made in which the touch screen 2 is located. The housing 1 is also provided with holes for pushbutton switches 4 and a speaker. In addition, additional holes and voids can be made in the housing 1.

The touch screen 2 is a touch sensitive device for displaying visual information and entering information. The surface of the touch screen 2, which is facing the side opposite to the inner volume of the housing 1, forms the front surface 3. The front surface 3, when using the device, faces the user. The shape of the front surface 3 is close to a rectangle. The sensitive part of the touchscreen 2 is a collection of individual sensors. All sensors are grouped into at least two grouping zones 5. The sensors in each grouping zone 5 are divided into sensors located in the first area 7, and sensors located in the second area 6. Moreover, the first area 7 and the second area 6 are located next to each other. There can also be sensors located within a certain grouping zone 5, but not related to the first area 7 or the second area 6.

Pushbutton switch 4 is a switch that is triggered (closes or opens an electrical circuit) from the axial movement of the drive in the form of a button due to the impact on it of the pressing force of the human operator (in accordance with GOST 22614-77 "Switches and pushbutton switches. General ergonomic requirements "). Pushbutton switches 4 are located in the holes in the housing 1, and they can be located on any part of the housing 1 that is free from other elements.

A speaker is a device for converting electrical vibrations into sound vibrations. The speaker is located in the cabinet 1 so that the wide part of the speaker cone faces the holes in the cabinet 1, and the sound from the speaker passes through these holes.

A memory block is a storage device for data. The memory block contains data from files of three types, files of two types - graphic and text files are sent to the sensors, respectively, of the first area 7 and the second area 6 of each grouping zone 5. Moreover, only graphic files can correspond to the sensors of the first area 7, and the sensors of the second area 6 - as text and graphic files. Sound files (third type) are also recorded in the memory block. Each sound file is associated with graphic and text files sent as a signal to the sensors of the first area 7 and the second area 6 of a certain grouping zone 5.

A DAC is a device for converting a digital (eg binary) code into an analog (electrical) signal.

The power supply is a device for supplying all elements with electricity. For example, a battery can be used as a power supply.

The control unit is a part of the device that controls all the elements of the device. A microprocessor can be used as a control unit. The control unit is configured to send signals from the memory unit to the sensors of the first area 7 and the second area 6 (all sent information is converted in a standard way into the kind of signal that can be used by the receiving element). Moreover, the signal for the sensors of the first area 7 corresponds to information of a graphical type in the form of pictures, photographs, for the sensors of the second area 6 - information of a text type in the form of a word or phrase, and its graphical representation is also possible. Files with information for the sensors of the first area 7 and the second area 6 of one grouping area 5 are correlated by the control unit with each other, this reflects the fact that the information of the graphic type and of the text type is interconnected in meaning. In addition, the control unit is configured to receive signals from the sensors of each grouping zone 5 and send from the memory unit a signal with the data of the DAC sound file and then the dynamics. In this case, the control unit sends data from an audio file, which is correlated by the control unit with files with graphic and text information sent as a signal to the sensors of the first area 7 and the second area 6 of the grouping zone from which the control unit received the signal. This reflects that the audio information corresponding to the grouping zone is meaningfully associated with information of the graphic and text type corresponding to the first area 7 and the second area 6 of the same grouping zone 5. The control unit, memory unit, DAC and power supply are located inside the housing 1.

Pushbutton switches 4, touch screen 2, memory unit are connected to the control unit. The DAC can be connected to the memory unit directly or through the control unit. A speaker is connected to the DAC. Speaker, control unit, memory unit, DAC are connected to the power supply. The power supply can be cabled to an external power supply - prototype.

The disadvantage of the device is that the touch screen does not provide a clear tactile response, which degrades the feedback between the device and the user. In particular, a clear understanding that the touch button was pressed, but no signal, for example, was received, may be additional information about a device malfunction or about low battery power. On the touchscreen, the only "response" is the fact that the signal is being played back. In cases where the device is faulty, or there is simply no sound file in the desired cell, only a tactile "click" can make it clear whether a key press actually occurred.

The technical result of the present invention is a clear tactile response of each key for playing messages, the presence of an assistant call system built into the communicator, improved sound quality and volume, battery life and suitability for people with fine motor skills.

The specified technical result is achieved thanks to the use of tact buttons instead of a flexible or touch keyboard, the integration of the communicator with the radio module for calling the assistant, as well as the fixing grille delimiting the buttons between each other, which excludes accidental pressing of the wrong key.

The invention is illustrated by a drawing (Fig. 2).

The communicator consists of the upper and lower body halves 1, 2, connected with self-tapping screws 3.

On the lower half-case, under the cover 4, there is a battery compartment 5, designed for four "finger" batteries or rechargeable batteries, AA size batteries. Also on the lower half-case under the grip of the device are the controls: record button 8, power button 9, volume control 10 and bank switch 11.

On the upper half-case there is a front panel, consisting of 16 keys 6, delimiting the fixing grille 7, microphone 12, assistant call button 13, LED 14 and speaker 15.

The essence of the invention.

The bank selector allows you to select one of several banks of sound files. The design presented in the application contains 10 banks. Each bank contains 16 files and is associated with 16 keys on the front panel. Pressing the key allows you to play the corresponding sound file from the currently selected bank using the built-in speaker 15. Simultaneous pressing of the record button 8 and one of the keys 6 allows you to record into the microphone 12 a new sound file instead of the old one.

The playback volume is adjusted with the volume knob 10. LED 14 with different lighting modes (constant light, slow blinking, fast blinking) displays the battery charge level, the sound recording process or the process of synchronizing the assistant call button 13 with the corresponding alarm system.

The assistant call button can be synchronized with various systems such as "smart home" or other signaling systems both at home and in special institutions, which allows you to call for help directly from the device.

The keyboard for playing recorded sounds is implemented with tact buttons. The tact buttons have a distinct tactile "click" when pressed.

A helper calling system, previously not used in similar devices, is now integrated into the communicator within the scope of the present invention. Now, when used in rooms equipped with smart home systems or other signaling systems, the communicator can act as a portable assistant call button.

The radio button module is made as a separate board installed inside the case and powered by the communicator batteries. The pusher of the call button is displayed on the front panel. The communicator LED by its glowing mode (constant or intermittent) and blinking frequency not only reflects the device status (on / off) and the battery charge level, but also the state of pairing the radio module with the alarm system.

The fixing grid, located on the front panel of the communicator, delimits the buttons from each other, which is a prerequisite for working with people with impaired motor skills (elderly people, people with autism, people with specific disorders of the musculoskeletal system and motor disorders), thus excluding accidentally pressing the wrong key.

The communicator can be used not only as an individual device, but also as an accessory for educational and rehabilitation programs in specialized educational institutions, as an inventory in medical clinics, etc. Such establishments are often equipped with their own signaling systems for calling an assistant, to which you can now connect from the proposed device. Thus, the presence of a radio module significantly expands the functionality of the communicator when used in such establishments, and the presence of a delimiting grid makes it accessible to people with impaired motor skills.

Claims (1)

A multilevel communicator with a call button for the assistant, which reproduces pre-recorded voice messages by pressing the corresponding keyboard keys, characterized in that tact buttons with a pronounced tactile click are used in the communicator instead of a flexible keyboard, the communicator is integrated with the assistant call radio module and a fixing delimiting grid is located on the communicator's front panel ...

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