Patent Application
20220087890
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The disclosure relates to navigating devices and more particularly pertains to a new navigating device for guiding a visually impaired user while walking.
The prior art relates to navigating devices including a communication device that incorporates wireless communication into a variety of everyday devices. The prior art discloses a walking stick that includes gps location capabilities and that is in wireless communication with surveying equipment for performing a geological survey. The prior art discloses a variety of walking canes that have gps navigation capabilities. In at least one instance the walking canes are able to be synchronized with a personal electronic device.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cane that is gripped by a visually impaired user to assist the visually impaired user with walking. A biometric scanner is coupled to the cane to scan the visually impaired user's fingerprint. A first transceiver is integrated into the cane and the first transceiver is in wireless communication with a global positioning system (gps) for gps navigation. A second transceiver is integrated into the cane and the second transceiver is in wireless communication with a personal electronic device. A speaker is coupled to the cane to emit audible sounds outwardly therefrom related to gps navigation for guiding the visually impaired user.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A control circuit 26 is integrated into the cane 12 and the control circuit 26 receives an actuate input. An electronic memory 28 is integrated into the cane 12 and the electronic memory 28 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The electronic memory 28 stores data comprising the visually impaired user's fingerprint. Additionally, the electronic memory 28 stores data comprising operational software and the electronic memory 28 stores data comprising a plurality of pre-determined verbal commands. The electronic memory 28 may comprise digital memory such as RAM or other similar type of miniaturized data storage.
A biometric scanner 30 is coupled to the cane 12 and the biometric scanner 30 scans the visually impaired user's fingerprint. The biometric scanner 30 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The control circuit 26 receives the actuate input when the biometric scanner 30 scans a fingerprint that matches the visually impaired user's fingerprint stored in the electronic memory 28. Moreover, the biometric scanner 30 is disposed on the bend 18 to enhance the visually impaired user's ability to locate the biometric scanner 30. The biometric scanner 30 may be an electronic fingerprint scanner of any conventional design.
A first transceiver 32 is integrated into the cane 12 and the first transceiver 32 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The first transceiver 32 is in wireless communication with a global positioning system (gps) 34 to receive the physical location of the cane 12 from the gps 34. The first transceiver 32 is turned on when the control circuit 26 receives the actuate input. Additionally, the first transceiver 32 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like.
A second transceiver 36 is integrated into the cane 12 and the second transceiver 36 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The second transceiver 36 is in wireless communication with a personal electronic device 38, such as a smart phone or other similar device with wireless communication capabilities. In this way an assistant to the visually impaired user can be informed of the visually impaired user's location. The second transceiver 36 is turned on when the control circuit 26 receives the actuate input. Additionally, the second transceiver 36 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like and the second transceiver 36 may employ Bluetooth communication protocols.
A speaker 40 is coupled to the cane 12 to emit audible sounds outwardly therefrom and the speaker 40 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The speaker 40 emits audible directions related to gps navigation to guide the visually impaired user while the visually impaired user is walking. In this way the visually impaired user can navigate city streets or other geographic location without assistance. Additionally, the speaker 40 is turned on when the control circuit 26 receives the actuate input.
A microphone 42 is coupled to the cane 12 to detect audible sounds and the microphone 42 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The microphone 42 communicates the pre-determined commands to the electronic memory 28 when the visually impaired user speaks the pre-determined verbal commands. In this way the microphone 42 facilitates voice control of the operational software in the electronic memory 28. The microphone 42 is turned on when the control circuit 26 receives the actuate input and the microphone 42 may be an electronic microphone 42 of any conventional design.
A camera 44 is coupled to the cane 12 for capturing imagery. The camera 44 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26 and the camera 44 is turned on when the control circuit 26 receives the actuate input. The camera 44 may comprise a digital camera of any conventional design, and the camera 44 includes a lens 46 that is mounted to the cane 12. The camera 44 may facilitate the assistant to the visually disabled user to view imagery of the area in which the visually disabled user is walking.
A power supply 48 is integrated into the cane 12 and the power supply 48 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The power supply 48 comprises a rechargeable battery 50 that is positioned inside the cane 12 and the rechargeable battery 50 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 26. The power supply 48 comprises a charge port 52 that is integrated into the cane 12 to receive a power cord 54 from a charger. Additionally, the charge port 52 is electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery 50 for charging the rechargeable battery 50. In an alternative embodiment 56 as is shown in
In use, the visually impaired user touches the biometric scanner 30 to unlock the control circuit 26 in the cane 12. In this way the microphone 42 is actuated to record verbal commands spoken by the visually impaired user, such as gathering gps 34 navigation data for a selected destination. The speaker 40 emits verbal directions for the visually impaired user to follow thereby facilitating the visually impaired user to navigate city streets without assistance. Additionally, the camera 44 facilitates the assistant to view imagery captured so the assistant can help the visually impaired user to identify landmarks or buildings.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
