WO2000062269A1

WO2000062269A1 - Braille handslate for the blind

Info

Publication number: WO2000062269A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/000953
Authority: WO
Inventors: Grégoire RUBIO
Original assignee: Rubio Gregoire
Priority date: 1999-04-14
Filing date: 2000-04-13
Publication date: 2000-10-19
Also published as: AU4124300A; FR2792446A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a Braille handslate having a writing plate (1) comprising perforations for writing (2) and a mobile template (10). It provides writing devices (40) at two positions which are housed in the perforations for writing (2) in the writing plate (1), each writing device (40) having a first position wherein a writing element is retracted in a perforation for writing (2, 2'), and a second writing position wherein the writing element presents a tip (39) projecting from said writing perforation (2, 2') towards the template (10) to form a writing component, in particular a Braille character. An actuating element enables a blind person to place the writing devices at least in the second position.

Description

WRITING TABLET FOR THE BLIND.

The subject of the present invention is a writing tablet for the blind which has a writing plate comprising groups of writing holes which are arranged so as to form lines and / or columns of writing in Braille characters, thus a strip movable relative to the writing plate according to positions where groups of writing points of the strip are matched with groups of writing holes of the writing plate.

The devices of known types include a tray and inter-point tablet as well as a strip cooperating with a punch which makes it possible to write in

Braille by drilling holes in a sheet of paper placed on the tablet.

This writing technique requires the blind to write backwards and from right to left since the characters pierced by the punch appear in relief on the back of the sheet. This technique requires on the one hand that the blind learn two Braille alphabets, one direct for reading, and the other reversed for writing, and on the other hand that the blind memorize the message to write in order to writing line by line backwards and from right to left.

In addition, the known tablets do not allow corrections to be made and the sheet obtained is not recopiable.

The present invention relates to a Braille writing tablet which allows the blind to write live and therefore to use only one alphabet.

Another object of the invention is to allow corrections to be made to the message. Another object of the invention is to allow a copy of the message on a sheet placed on the strip.

Yet another object of the invention is to allow to add to a written message, patterns, and / or drawings and / or calculations, to form an illustrated message.

Yet another object of the invention is to allow erasure of the message. At least one of the aforementioned objects is achieved according to the invention by a Braille writing tablet, characterized in that it has writing devices with two positions which are housed in the writing holes of at least certain groups. of writing plate writing holes, each writing device having a first position in which a writing element is retracted into a writing hole, and a second writing position in which the writing element writing has one end which protrudes from said writing hole in the direction of the slide to form a writing component, in particular a Braille character, and in that it comprises at least one actuating element making it possible to place the devices 'writing at least according to the second position.

The actuating element may, for example, have an end complementary to said ends of the writing elements to allow their displacement between the first and the second position. Advantageously, at least some of the writing devices are movable by rotation between their first and their second position. Each writing device movable by rotation can then have a piston returned by spring to the first position and which has a region equipped with a ramp. which allows said displacement by rotation between the first and second positions.

The writing tablet may have an erasing tablet having, for each writing device, an erasing device equipped with an inducing erasing ramp, when the erasing tablet is moved relative to the tablet d 'writing, a movement towards said first position of the pistons of the writing device arranged in their second position.

In general, the writing tablet can have erasing devices cooperating with the writing devices, and controlling them collectively to perform an erasing operation which brings the writing devices placed in the second to the first position. position.

The strip can be articulated to allow it to be raised so as to clear the surface of the writing plate to allow reading. To copy the message onto a sheet, the slide can have a printing face allowing, by moving the slide, printing on a sheet previously placed on the writing table, in correspondence with a writing carried out by placing devices writing in their second position.

The invention can also make it possible to write and / or to make inscriptions according to lines and / or columns, in particular for brain games, and for this purpose, the slide can carry groups of writing marks adapted to a writing along the lines, and groups of writing marks suitable for writing according to the columns and it is then likely to be positioned either for writing according to the lines, or for writing according to the columns. To facilitate its positioning, the strip can slide along a groove formed along at least at least one edge of the writing plate and the writing plate has notches for positioning the strip along determined lines and / or columns. To allow patterns and / or drawings and / or calculations to be made, the tablet may have at least one square carried by the strip and having prepositioned marks to allow writing to make inscriptions along lines and / or columns and / or diagonals. It is then advantageous for the writing plate to have additional rows and / or columns of groups of writing holes, which are not writable by the groups of writing points of the strip, but which occupy spaces between the characters and / or between the lines so as to allow continuous writing using at least one so-called square.

The characteristics, advantages of the invention will appear better on reading the description below, in conjunction with the drawings, in which: - the figure shows it in top view of a writing tablet according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

- Figure lb is a detail seen in section of Figure la; - Figures 2a to 2c show a strip according to the invention respectively in top view in side view and in section BB, and Figure 2d is a detail of Figure 2b; Figures 3a and 3b respectively represent a drawing square system cooperating with the aforementioned strip; FIGS. 4a to 4d respectively represent a writing element in a first retracted position, a writing element in the writing position, an actuating element and a detail of the actuating element of FIG. 4c; - Figure 5a shows in section the writing tablet according to the invention cooperating with an erasing tablet, the part circled in Figure 5a being shown enlarged in Figure 5b. According to FIGS. 1a and 1b, a writing tablet designated by the general reference 1 has an upper face 9, two of whose edges have at 4 on a longitudinal edge the letters of the Braille alphabet and on another edge, in 3 d other signs such as the numbers in the Braille alphabet.

The face 9 is pierced with writing holes 2 grouped in groups of six in accordance with the Braille alphabet and the plate has for example 1600 writing holes 2. A strip 10 has a sliding groove 12 and, at the left end of the figure, a mechanism designated by the general reference 20 which allows the slide and the locking of the strip in predetermined positions along a groove 5 to select the lines and / or a groove 6 to select the columns. The strip 10 carries rows of openings 21 and 22. These openings are rectangular in shape, the openings 21 being oriented to write along the lines, and the openings 22 being oriented to allow writing along the columns. There are therefore as many openings 21 as there are characters in a line and openings 22 as there are lines. In this way, writing can be done either on the rows or on the columns. To this end, the openings 21 carry semi-circular notches 24 which form writing marks making it possible to position an actuating element in one of the six possible positions. The same goes for the openings 22 with the semicircular positioning notches 25. The right longitudinal edge of the shelf carries positioning holes and the lower edge a rib 8 'allowing the displacement of the strip along the lines thanks to the pin 12, or according to the columns thanks to the groove 18 located at the end of the extension 28 of the strip (see FIGS. 2a and 2b).

The mechanism 20 has an articulation 18 which makes it possible to raise the strip 10 and thus to clear the surface 9 for reading. The grooves 5 and 6 have the profile shown in Figure lb with a neck region 21 and an enlarged region 22 having an outer edge 23, and an inner edge 24 provided with positioning notches 25. A shoe 14 is housed in the part lower 22 and has a leaf spring 16 which comes to bear on the surface 23 and on the opposite, a notch 17 complementary to the notches 25. The shoe carries a pin 15 housed in the neck region 21 of the groove 5 or 6 and which allows the translation of the strip 10. The clearances are sufficient to allow by a movement to the left in the drawing to press the spring 16 and to release the notches 17 from the complementary notches 25, which makes it possible to move the strip 10 in the various possible positions for selecting the rows and columns of the writing plate 1.

A pin 12 returned to a low position by a spring 12 'makes it possible to position the strip 10 in horizontal writing. For this purpose, the lower part 12 "of the pins 12 is housed in holes corresponding to the lines. In vertical writing, the pin 12 can be placed in the raised position.

A bracket 30 (Figure 3a) has one or more sides provided with semicircular indexing notches 26 similar to the notches 24 and 25 and which form writing marks adapted to the drawing. In the example shown, two sides 31 and 32 have been shown forming diagonals and two sides 33 and 34 forming rows and columns. This square 30, once placed in a given position on the strip 10, allows for patterns, including drawings. For to facilitate this operation, the shelf 1 has additional holes 2 '(see FIG. 3b) which complete the spaces between the lines of groups of characters 2 and between the characters 2 themselves. In the example shown, the step p is the same in both directions, so that the space between the lines or between two groups of characters is equal to twice this step p.

A preferred embodiment of the writing device is shown in Figures 4a to 4d. This embodiment is given simply by way of example. In fact, in the context of the present invention, each writing point 2 and possibly 2 ′ is equipped with a device of the bistable type, the two positions of which can be selected from the notches 24, 25 and / or 26 of the strip 10 and / or square 30. Actuation mechanisms other than mechanical can be implemented, for example magnetic means, or coding systems. In the example shown, the writing devices consist of pistons 40 which slide in the holes 2, 2 ', and which are provided with an end 39 having a determined profile, for example a fluted conical profile. The piston rod 41 is recalled by a spring 42 which rests on a shoulder 43 of the plate 1 and on a shoulder 44 of a wider cylindrical part 45 which extends the rod 41 and at the opposite end of which is disposed a conical profile 46 which forms a ramp complementary to a ramp 47 carried by an annular cylindrical region 55 fixed relative to the wafer 1. Finally, the piston 40 is extended downwards by a cylindrical region provided with a primer thread 49 which cooperates with a complementary thread initiator 51, of a part 50 which is carried by an erasing device 70. The function. "Is as follows: in the position shown in FIG. 4a, the pistons 40 are in the retracted position and the ends 39 are flush with the surface 9 of the plate 1. After positioning the slide, the blind man uses a punch 60 whose frustoconical end 61 ends in a profile 62 complementary to the profile 39. After having housed the end 63 in one of the notches 24, 25 or 26, it suffices to lower the punch 60 for fear that the profiles 62 and 39 come into coincidence, which allows the pistons 40 to be rotated by a fraction this turn, for example a quarter turn, which, thanks to the ramp 47 places the corresponding piston in the position shown in FIG. 4b in which the end 33 protrudes from the surface 9. Thus, a point has been written on the plate 1. Because the protruding end 39 is situated on the side of the upper face 9 that the plate 1, the writing s '' performs in positive according to alp habet Braille normal In case of error, it suffices to perform the reverse rotation and the piston returns to the first position shown in Figure 4a. The erasure is carried out by bringing the element 50 closer so as to engage it with the thread initiator 49, which has the effect of producing a counter-rotation which arrives the piston in the retracted position (FIG. 4a). All of the elements 50 are carried by a receptacle 70 in which the plate 1 is mounted with the interposition of a spring 71. The elements 50 are integral with the base 75 of the erasing device 70. It suffices to press on the wafer 1 by compressing the spring 71 to effect the above-mentioned approximation and thus erase all of the writing points. We are thus brought back to the original state.

Once the message has been written, a sheet of paper is placed on the face 9 of the wafer and the ruler e 10 is subjected to translation, the underside of which is 13 is arranged so as to produce an effect similar to that which is obtained with the “iron” copying device used for bank cards. The sheet is perforated at the point where the profiles 39 are in the protruding position. A locking device (not shown) prevents the relative movement of the plate 1 and the receptacle 70 during this copying step. It is possible to make as many copies as desired before erasing the tablet 1 by the process described above.

Claims

CLAIMS 1) Writing tablet for the blind with a writing plate comprising groups of writing holes, which are arranged so as to form lines and / or columns of writing in Braille characters, as well as a strip movable relative to the writing plate, according to positions where groups of writing points of the strip are mapped to groups of writing holes of the writing plate characterized in that it has two position writing devices (40) which are housed in writing holes (2, 2 ') of at least some groups of writing holes (2) of the writing plate (1), each writing device (40) having a first position in which a writing element (39) is retracted into a writing hole (2, 2 '), and a second writing position in which the writing element writing has one end (39) which protrudes from said th hole writing (2, 2 ') in the direction of the strip (10) to form a writing component, in particular of a Braille character, and in that it comprises at least one actuating element (60) making it possible to place the writing devices (40) at least in the second position. 2) Writing tablet according to claim

1, characterized in that the actuating element (60) has an end (62) complementary to said ends (39) of the writing elements (40) to allow their movement between the first and the second position.

3) Writing tablet according to claim

2, characterized in that at least some writing devices (40) are movable by rotation between their first and their second position. 4) Writing tablet according to claim

3, characterized in that each writing device movable by rotation has a piston (40) returned by spring (42) to the first position and which has a region (46) equipped with a ramp (47) which allows said displacement by rotation between the first and second position.

5) writing tablet according to claim 4, characterized in that it has an erasing tablet (70) having, for each writing device an erasing device (50) equipped with a ramp (51) inducing, when the erasing tablet (70) is moved relative to the writing tablet (1), a movement towards said first position of the writing devices (40) arranged in their second position. 6) Writing tablet according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it has erasing devices (50) cooperating with the writing devices, and collectively control them to perform an erasing operation which returns to the first position the writing devices (40) placed in the second position.

7) Tablet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the strip (10) is articulated to allow it to be raised so as to release the surface (9) of the writing plate (1) to allow reading .

8) Tablet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the strip (10) has a printing face (13) allowing, by displacement of the strip (10), printing on a sheet previously placed on the writing table (1), in correspondence with a writing carried out by placing writing devices (40) in the second position. 9) Tablet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slide (10) carries groups (21, 22) of writing marks (24) suitable for writing along the lines and groups of writing marks writing (25) suitable for writing according to the columns and in that it is capable of being positioned either for writing along the lines, or for writing according to the columns.

10) Tablet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slide (10) is sliding along a groove (5, 6) formed along at least one edge of the writing plate and in that the writing plate (1) has notches (25) for positioning the strip (10) along lines and / or columns.

11) Tablet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has at least one square (30) carried by the strip (10) and having pre-positioned writing marks (26) to allow drawing according to rows and / or columns and / or diagonals.

12) Shelf according to claim 10, characterized in that the writing plate (1) has additional rows and / or columns of groups of writing holes (2 '), which are not writable by the groups of writing marks (24, 25) of the strip (10), but which occupy spaces between the characters and / or between the lines so as to allow continuous drawings using at least one so-called square ( 30) .