Claims
- 1. In a refreshable Braille display including a plurality of refreshable Braille cells mounted in a row in a housing for reading by a user moving a finger along said row of cells between opposite ends of said row, the improvement comprising an encoder mounted in said housing adjacent one end of said row, a rotatable wheel associated with said encoder for causing said encoder to generate at least one pulse each time said wheel is rotated a predetermined increment, and a programmable controller adapted to operate said Braille cells to display text and to scroll the displayed text by a predetermined increment in response to said at least one pulse when said wheel is rotated through an increment.
- 2. The refreshable Braille display of claim 1, and wherein said encoder produces two out of phase pulse signals as said wheel is incrementally rotated, and wherein said programmable controller is adapted to scroll text displayed on said Braille cells in one direction when said wheel is rotated in one direction and is adapted to scroll text displayed on said Braille cells in an opposite direction when said wheel is rotated in an opposite direction.
- 3. The refreshable Braille display of claim 2, and wherein said rotatable wheel includes a plurality of detents which can be felt by a user each time said wheel is rotated through a predetermined increment.
- 4. The refreshable Braille display of claim 3, and further including a second rotatable wheel and a second encoder mounted at an end of said row of Braille cells opposite said one end.
- 5. The refreshable Braille display of claim 4, and wherein each of said encoders include a switch which is actuated by depressing the wheel associated with said encoder, and wherein said programmable controller is responsive to actuation of an encoder switch to change the increment in which text is scrolled in response to said at least one pulse from such encoder.
- 6. The refreshable Braille display of claim 5, and wherein said programmable controller is a notetaker including a program controlled computer having a memory, and a keyboard for entering text data into said memory.
- 7. A refreshable Braille display comprising a plurality of Braille cells arranges in a row and adapted to display a line of text, an encoder located adjacent an end of said row of cells, a rotatable navigation wheel connected to said encoder, said encoder being adapted to generate pulses when said navigation wheel is rotated, and means for scrolling text displayed on said Braille cells in response to rotation of said navigation wheel.
- 8. A refreshable Braille display according to claim 7, and wherein said navigation wheel has a plurality of detents which can be felt by a user when said navigation wheel is rotated through a predetermined increment, and wherein said encoder generates a predetermined pulse pattern when said navigation wheel is rotated through said predetermined increment.
- 9. A refreshable Braille display according to claim 8, and wherein encoder generates a first predetermined pulse pattern when said navigation wheel is rotated in one direction through a predetermined increment and a second predetermined pulse pattern when said navigation wheel is rotated in an opposite direction through a predetermined increment.
- 10. A refreshable Braille display according to claim 7, and further including a second encoder located adjacent an opposite end of said row of cells, a second rotatable navigation wheel connected to said second encoder, said second encoder being adapted to generate pulses when said navigation wheel is rotated, and wherein means also scrolls text displayed on said Braille cells in response to rotation of said second navigation wheel.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Applicants claim priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/309,275 filed Aug. 1, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60309275 |
Aug 2001 |
US |