WO2003032889A1

WO2003032889A1 - Laser device for guiding blind people

Info

Publication number: WO2003032889A1
Application number: PCT/IB2001/001919
Authority: WO
Inventors: Arben Vrapi
Original assignee: Arben Vrapi
Priority date: 2001-10-12
Filing date: 2001-10-12
Publication date: 2003-04-24

Abstract

Here is presented a guiding device for blind people. The device comprises a laser beam emitter and a set of several detectors focused in the laser ray path but each with a different view field. Depending on the distance of the surface where the laser beam has pointed only a detector is ON (the one with the proper field of view) and this detector sends a signal to a sound device, which emits an audible sound. Each detector corresponds to a certain distance and controls the proper frequency of the sound in order for the person to identify the distance by the device's output sound.

Description

TITLE OF INVENTION

LASER DEVICE FOR GUIDING BLIND PEOPLE

Field Of Invention

The present invention relates to laser devices and laser beam detectors and more specifically in using the above mentioned for guiding blind people or measuring distances.

Background Art

Many tries have been made to give a solution to the problem of guiding blind people. For this purpose are used sticks for side walking or guiding dogs. Some more technologic instruments are laser canes and orienting devices based on waves. These use the laser light ore any wave to identify an object and its distance from the light ore wave source.

The present invention uses the technique of measuring distances with the means of a laser emitter and its detectors and converts the distance measured to an audible sound so that the user can recognize the distance of an object by the device's sound output. The purpose of the invention is to provide a not-expensive device with fine recognizing quality.

Disclosure Of Invention

This invention presents a device and method for guiding blind people. The said device consists of a Laser beam emitter, a set of several detectors with different view fields focused in the laser ray path 9 and a sound device controlled by said detectors. Each detector (shown more in detail in fig 7) comprises a sensor 62 encapsulated in a pipe 60 where is also placed a lens 61 for converging the view to the sensor. The pipe has a certain length so that the entire detector focuses a smaller field of view.

The detectors are set to recognize the point where the laser beam has run into an object. So here can be used color detectors for detecting the red point of the laser beam on any surface. The blind person holds this guiding device in his hand and continually moves it around the desired path. The laser beam points to a surface in this path and one of the detectors, the one that have the proper field of view, detects the Laser point. For illustrative purposes we have presented a device with 8 detectors. In fig 1 is

5 presented a schematic view of the said device. Referring to fig 1, the detectors 21 through 28 are attached to a movable branch 20, which is pivotally attached to the laser emitter main body 10 at the point 11. There is also a thump plate 30, which can move forward or backward sliding in the channel 16 of the body 10. This thumb plate rests in two main positions 12 and 13 by the means of an elastic plate

10 15(shown more in details in fig 5). By setting the thumb plate 30 in the said two positions the person controls so with the means of the connecting branch 31 the angle position of the main branch 20. The thumb plate 30 when moving toward a third position 14, serves to fold up the device (shown in fig 2), which can then be stored in the pocket. When the device is folded the thump plate 30 turns off the

15 main switch 50 shutting so down the device.

Each detector field of view is calibrated to focus a point (represented with points 8 in fig 1) in a given distance in the laser ray path 9. The detectors are connected by the means of wires 29 to a sound device and each of them controls the output of a certain frequency bandwidth. The total bandwidth of all the detectors is less than

20 the bandwidth of audible sound. In -fig 3 is shown an illustrative conversion scale between the distance measured and the sound frequency emitted from the device. In a given moment only one of the detectors is focusing the laser point on the said surface so the bandwidth controlled by this detector is the only that causes an audible sound in the given frequency.

25 When the laser beam points to more distant object, it enters the field of view of another detector causing so another audible sound in a higher frequency. When the laser beam points to a more nearby object it enters the field of view of one of the detectors controlling a certain bandwidth in lower frequency. The audible sound can be outputted to earphones 40 for more convenient hearing. So by moving around the laser beam the blind person takes information about the distance of objects or the level of different surfaces by associating a certain frequency of the sounds to a given distance or level. For a more convenient use the output sound frequencies can be those of the basic musical notes. The number of the detectors varies according the desired quality of recognizing distances.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig 1 is a schematic view of the guiding device presented in this invention. Fig 2 shows the folded device that can be stored easily in the pocket.

Fig 3 is an illustrative conversion scale between the distance measured and the output sound frequency of the said device.

Fig 4 is a schematic electronic circuit that can be used to process the signal generated from the detectors and to output an audible sound in a certain frequency. Fig 5 is a partial longitudinal section of the device where is shown how the thumb plate 30 can rest in two position 12 and 13, setting so two different angles for the main branch 20.

Fig 6 is cross-section of the device where is shown how the thumb plate 30 is attached to the body 10. Fig 7 illustrates a focusing device for the detector.

Claims

Claims What I claim is:

1. A guiding device for blind people comprising: a. A laser emitter b. A set of laser beam detectors focused on the laser ray path, capable of recognizing the point of the laser beam on a certain surface. c. A sound device whose audible output frequency is coordinated according the distance of the surface where the said laser beam has pointed.

2. The device described in claim 1 and that with the appropriate electronic conversions can be used to measure distances.

3. The set of laser beam detectors as described in claim 1 where the detectors are attached on moveable branch, which can be set at two different angles controlling so the distance covered by the detectors.

4. A thumb plate, which is used to set the movable branch in a given working angle. This is also used to Shut Down the device.