Communication apparatus for the handicapped
First Claim
1. For use with a network utilizing telephone signals to enable a handicapped calling party to communicate over said network with a called party by the use of a code format for identifying various characters assigned to dial positions on a telephone-type dial, said code comprised of at least two telephone signals, one signal identifying a dial position of said telephone-type dial, and another signal identifying one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters assigned to said position, said telephone signals being selected and transmitted in a predetermined sequence, apparatus comprising:
- means for decoding said telephone signals from said called party to provide decoded signals;
means connected to said decoding means for registering said decoded signals in said predetermined sequence;
means responsive to said registering means for converting said decoded signals into a decoded character in accordance with said code format;
encoding means manually operable by said calling party for providing encoded characters corresponding to a message of said calling party;
a speech synthesizer responsive to said encoding means for transmitting said encoded characters as spoken words over said network to said called party;
an output device; and
means connected to said output device, responsive to said converting means, for energizing said output device in such a manner that a human being is able to sense said decoded characters;
whereby a calling party is able to communicate with a called party over standard telephone lines, said calling party being able to spell-out words by transmitting speech corresponding to said encoded characters corresponding to a message of said calling party, said apparatus being further able to decode telephone signals to thereby receive words spelled out by said called party by use of said code format.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication device coupled to a standard telephone which has an alphanumeric rotary dial or pushbutton keyboard. A simple, easily-learned code (11) is utilized which can be transmitted over telephone lines (14) using the rotary or push-button digits (10). To communicate, the called party enters the appropriate position for the letter of the alphabet to be communicated. A second entry identifies which one of the plurality of letters (or the number) is intended to be transmitted. The calling party has apparatus (18, 20) attached to the telephone set (16) which decodes the two-digit coded entry, and converts the two-digit code to a standard machine-readable format which can be displayed on a standard output device (26) such as an alphanumeric display or, for blind persons, a braille or similar output device. The calling party can transmit a message to the called party, by keying characters into a keyboard (22). The keyed-in characters are converted to speech by speech synthesizer (28) for transmission to the called party.
98 Citations
8 Claims
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1. For use with a network utilizing telephone signals to enable a handicapped calling party to communicate over said network with a called party by the use of a code format for identifying various characters assigned to dial positions on a telephone-type dial, said code comprised of at least two telephone signals, one signal identifying a dial position of said telephone-type dial, and another signal identifying one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters assigned to said position, said telephone signals being selected and transmitted in a predetermined sequence, apparatus comprising:
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means for decoding said telephone signals from said called party to provide decoded signals; means connected to said decoding means for registering said decoded signals in said predetermined sequence; means responsive to said registering means for converting said decoded signals into a decoded character in accordance with said code format; encoding means manually operable by said calling party for providing encoded characters corresponding to a message of said calling party; a speech synthesizer responsive to said encoding means for transmitting said encoded characters as spoken words over said network to said called party; an output device; and means connected to said output device, responsive to said converting means, for energizing said output device in such a manner that a human being is able to sense said decoded characters; whereby a calling party is able to communicate with a called party over standard telephone lines, said calling party being able to spell-out words by transmitting speech corresponding to said encoded characters corresponding to a message of said calling party, said apparatus being further able to decode telephone signals to thereby receive words spelled out by said called party by use of said code format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. The method of utilizing telephone signals to enable a handicapped calling party to communicate over a network with a called party by the use of a code format for identifying various characters assigned to dial positions on a telephone-type dial, said code comprised of at least two telephone signals, one signal identifying a dial position of said telephone-type dial and another signal identifying one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters assigned to said position, said telephone signals being selected and transmitted in a predetermined sequence, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) decoding said telephone signals from said called party to provide decoded signals; (2) registering said decoded signals in said predetermined sequence to provide registered decoded signals; (3) converting said registered decoded signals into decoded characters in accordance with said code format; (4) inputting characters from a manually operable input device; (5) encoding said inputted characters to provide encoded characters; (6) transmitting said encoded characters over said network to said called party by means of a speech synthesizer; and
,(7) energizing an output device in such a manner that a human being is able to sense said decoded characters; whereby said calling party is able to communicate with said called party over standard telephone lines, said calling party being able to spell out words by transmitting speech corresponding to characters inputted from said manually operable input device, and to receive words spelled out by said called party by use of said code format. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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Specification