Transaction terminal and adaptor therefor

• US 20060181515A1
• Filed: 02/11/2005
• Published: 08/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: McCall, Melvin D., Fletcher, Donna M., Fitch, Timothy R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,723,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0018 Constructional details, e.g. of drawer, printing means, input means

Abstract

A transaction terminal (10) having a touch screen (20) disposed in a recess (30) in the terminal housing (12) includes an adaptor (25) for facilitating use of the touch screen by persons that are vision-impaired, hearing-impaired or dexterity-challenged. The adaptor (25) is selectively positionable in operative engagement with the touch screen (20). The adaptor (25) includes an insert (50) and a keypad (60, 160, 260). The insert (50) is supported on terminal housing (12) with deck (52) disposed over and in spaced relationship to the touch screen. The deck (52) has at least one discrete opening therethrough. The keypad includes at least one key juxtaposed relative to said least one discrete opening in said deck of the insert. Upon depression of the key, contact is made with a selected portion of the touch screen (20).

Claims

1. A transaction terminal comprising:

a terminal housing having a touch screen disposed within a recess in said terminal housing; and

an adaptor an adaptor for guiding vision-impaired persons in use of said touch screen, said adaptor including an insert having a deck, said insert supported on said terminal housing with said deck disposed over and in spaced relationship to said touch screen, said deck having at least one discrete opening therethrough, and

a keypad associated with said insert, said keypad having at least one key juxtaposed relative to said least one discrete opening in said deck of said insert, said at least one key adapted upon depression to contact a selected portion of said touch screen region of said display screen.

2. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein said keypad comprises an overlay pad disposed superadjacent said deck of said insert, said overlay pad having an observe surface marked with a raised indicia indicating a depress zone over said at least one discrete opening in said deck of said insert.

3. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 2 wherein said overlay pad is adhesively mounted to an upper surface of said deck of said insert.

4. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one key of said keypad includes a dome-shaped contact on a lower surface of the keypad.

5. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein said keypad comprises an underlay pad disposed subadjacent said deck of said insert, said underlay pad having a raised key extending upwardly into said at least one discrete opening in said deck of said insert.

6. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 5 wherein said overlay pad is adhesively mounted to a lower surface of said deck of said insert.

7. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein said deck of said insert has a plurality of discrete openings therethrough and said keypad has a plurality of keys having a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of discrete openings in said deck of said insert.

8. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein insert includes a flanged portion extending outwardly from said deck of said insert for supporting said insert atop said housing.

9. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 further comprising a raised indicia associated with at least one of said at least one opening through said deck of said insert and said at least one key of said keypad, said indicia identifying a specific depress zone.

10. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 wherein said indicia comprises a Braille indicia.

11. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 further comprising an opening positioned over a portion of said touch screen said opening not associated with any of said plurality of keys.

12. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 1 further comprising a switch element with at least two switching states, including a first switching state when said insert is operationally engaged with said touch screen and a second switching state when said insert is not operationally engaged with said touch screen region of said display screen.

13. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 12 wherein each switching state activates a corresponding virtual display on said touch screen.

14. A transaction terminal comprising:

a terminal housing having a touch screen disposed within a recess in said terminal housing; and

an adaptor an adaptor for guiding vision-impaired persons in use of said touch screen, said adaptor including an insert having a deck, said insert supported on said terminal housing with said deck disposed over and in spaced relationship to said touch screen, said deck having at least one discrete opening therethrough, and

a depressible contact disposed in juxtaposition with said at least one discrete opening in said insert, said depressible contact adapted to move under a depression force into contact said selected portion of said touch screen.

15. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 14 wherein said depressible contact comprises a contact button disposed within said at least one discrete opening connected by a spring arm to a portion of said deck bounding said at least one discrete opening through said deck of said insert.

16. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 14 further comprising a keypad associated with said insert, said keypad having at least one key juxtaposed relative to said least one discrete opening in said deck of said insert, said at least one key supported on said depressible contact.

17. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 16 further comprising an overlay panel disposed atop said insert, said overlay panel having an observe surface marked with a raised indicia identifying a specific depress zone associated with said at least one discrete opening in said insert.

18. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 17 wherein said indicia comprises a Braille indicia

19. A transaction terminal comprising:

a terminal housing having a touch screen disposed within a recess in said terminal housing; and

an insert having a deck, said insert supported on said housing with said deck disposed in operative engagement with said touch screen, said deck having at least one discrete opening therethrough providing access to a selected portion of said touch screen, said at least one discrete opening in said deck including a concavely contoured recess, said recess generally conforming to a human finger tip.

20. An insert for use in connection with a transaction terminal having a a touch screen region, said insert comprising a deck adapted to be supported on the terminal over the touch screen, said deck having at least one discrete opening therethrough through which a user may touch a selected portion of the touch screen.

21. An insert as recited in claim 20 wherein said at least one discrete opening in said deck of said insert includes a concavely contoured recess, said recess generally conforming to a human finger tip.

22. An insert as recited in claim 20 further comprising a raised rim extending upwardly from said deck, said raised rim extending about the periphery of said at least one discrete opening through said deck.

23. An insert as recited in claim 20 further comprising a indicia identifying a specific depress zone associated with said at least one discrete opening in said insert.

24. An insert as recited in claim 23 wherein said indicia comprises Braille indicia.

25. An adaptor assembly for adapting a display screen having a touch screen for use by the vision-impaired, said touch screen surrounded by a raised frame, said adaptor comprising:

an insert having a deck, said insert adapted to be supported by the raised frame surrounding said touch screen with said deck disposed over the touch screen region of said touch screen, said deck having a plurality of discrete openings therethrough providing access to selected portions of said touch screen; and

an overlay disposed atop said deck, said overlay having a plurality of keys displayed on an observe side thereof, said plurality of keys having a one-to-one correspondence with said plurality of discrete openings through said deck, one key being juxtaposed over each of said plurality of discrete openings through said deck.

26. An assembly as recited in claim 25 wherein said insert includes a plurality of depressible contact buttons, said plurality of contact buttons having a one-to-one correspondence with said plurality of discrete openings through said deck, one contact button within each of said plurality of discrete openings, each of said plurality of contact buttons connected by a spring arm to a portion of said deck bounding the respective discrete opening through said deck in which said respective contact button is disposed.

27. An assembly as recited in claim 26 wherein each of said plurality of contact buttons has a dome-shaped portion on a lower surface thereof.

28. An assembly as recited in claim 25 wherein said overlay comprises an embossed member having an upper observe side and a lower reverse side, said plurality of keys being embossed therein on the observe side of said member.

29. An assembly as recited in claim 28 wherein each of said overlay includes a plurality of dome-shaped contacts disposed on the lower reverse side of said member, said plurality of dome-shaped contacts having one-to-one correspondence with said plurality of keys, one dome-shaped contact being juxtaposed with a respective one of said plurality of keys.

30. A transaction terminal for use by vision-impaired persons and fully-sighted persons, comprising:

a terminal housing having a touch screen, said touch screen operative to display a plurality of virtual buttons thereon, said virtual buttons being activated by touch; and

an adaptor for guiding vision-impaired persons in use of said touch screen, said adaptor having a deck having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of discrete openings therethrough, said adaptor being selectively positionable into a first position in which said adaptor is operatively positioned over and a spaced relationship above said touch screen.

31. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 30, further comprising a switch element having at least having at least two switch states, including a first switching state when said insert is operationally engaged with the touch screen and a second switching state when the insert is not operationally engaged with the touch screen.

32. A transaction terminal as recited in claim 31, wherein, the switch element is adapted to activate a corresponding virtual display on the touch screen.