Portable reading device with display capability

• US 7,200,560 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2002
• Issued: 04/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Medaline Elizabeth Philbert
• Original Assignee: Medaline Elizabeth Philbert
• Inventors: Philbert, Medaline Elizabeth
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth; David
• Assistant Examiner(s): YEN, ERIC L
• Application Number:
  US10/299,893
• Publication Number:
  US 20040098262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,596 Days
• Field of Search: 704/260, 704/271, 382/189, 382/313
• US Class Current: 704/271
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems

Abstract

A hand held device that captures information with the capability to read only the captured information, display only the captured information, or simultaneously read and display the captured information. The device includes text-to-voice technology, a flat-panel display, a computer processor, a headphone for private receipt of transmitted information, microphone to receive dictated information, and storage. The device enables blind and/or visual impaired persons to read information anytime and anywhere.

Claims

1. A reading device comprising:

a hand-held reading device, wherein the hand-held reading device'"'"'s functions are done internally without having any external device intervene to capture input printed text information through digital scanning, to reproduce the information via text-to-speech technology, and/or to display information on a flat-panel display;

a memory, wherein the memory saves captured information, wherein the captured information is automatically deleted after being output to the user unless the user indicates that the captured information is to be saved;

a speaker;

a headphone;

a processor communicating with the memory and text-to-speech technology, wherein the processor executes the text-to-speech technology to convert the captured information into a spoken output;

an input device, wherein the input device receives spoken information from a person that is used to train a speech synthesizer in the text-to-speech technology to output speech in that person'"'"'s voice as an optional alternative to the computer'"'"'s synthesized voice;

wherein the spoken output is audibly output to the user using either, or both of, the speaker and the headphone, in either the computer'"'"'s synthesized voice or a person'"'"'s voice that is used to train the speech synthesizer;

image capture buttons, wherein the image capture buttons are on the device in an arrangement that accommodates any of, any combination of, or all of, right-handed users, left-handed users, users with different strengths and preferences, and adhering to ergonomics;

wherein the captured information is audibly read to the user via text-to-speech technology when a Read button on the device, and at least one of the image capture buttons, are activated;

wherein the captured information is displayed on a flat-panel display when a Display button on the device, and at least one of the image capture buttons, are activated;

wherein the captured information is simultaneously converted into speech and displayed on the flat-panel display when both the Read and Display buttons, and at least one of the image capture buttons, are activated;

wherein the memory contains a program code, which, when executed by the processor, allows an interruption in the image capture process,

wherein the image capture process is interrupted when both of the image capture buttons and/or both of the Read button and the Display button, are not sufficiently pressed, where insufficient pressing of a button does not result in the activation of a button,

and allows information captured after the image capture process is resumed to be appended to the information captured before the image capture process was interrupted;

a flat-panel display, wherein the captured information is displayed on the flat-panel display using a scrolling marquee style and the displaying of the captured information is synchronized with the spoken output generated by the text-to-speech technology from the same captured information, and wherein the text is displayed with white words on a black background;

where the user is given the ability to magnify the text to a desirable size without having to display an entire page on the flat-panel display;

navigation buttons,

wherein one of the navigation buttons is an Up navigation button which, when activated, jumps to the first sentence of the previous paragraph in the captured information,

wherein one of the navigation buttons is a Down Navigation button which, when activated, jumps to the first sentence of the next paragraph in the captured information,

wherein one of the navigation buttons is a Left navigation button which, when activated, jumps to the previous sentence in the captured information,

wherein one of the navigation buttons is a Right navigation button, jumps to the next sentence in the captured information;

a Word button that provides the meaning of the most recent word output to the user using a dictionary component, which contains information about a plurality of different words, on the reading device; and

wherein the shortest communicable text describing the button, and a shortest communicable Braille equivalent of the shortest communicable text, are imposed on the Read button, the Display button, and the Word button.