Electronic menu system with audio output for the visually impaired
First Claim
1. An electronic restaurant menu system for providing audio information regarding menu items, said menu system comprising:
- a portable electronic device having a housing;
a battery power source contained within said housing;
a computer processor in electrical communication with said power source;
means for storing data including a plurality of audio files in electrical communication with said computer processor, said audio files comprising information relating to restaurant menu options;
a speaker in electrical communication with said computer processor to provide audio output;
said housing including a plurality of manually actuated buttons;
means for individually illuminating each of said manually actuated buttons;
a faceplate removably attached to said housing in covering relation with said plurality of manually actuated buttons, said faceplate including embossed structure corresponding to each of said buttons to allow the user to locate said buttons by tactile sensation; and
said faceplate including indicia corresponding to each of said buttons, said indicia including text identifying information corresponding to each button.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic talking menu system for the visually impaired includes a battery powered portable electronic, audio output device having large back-lighted buttons corresponding to menu items. Each button corresponds to contents of the restaurant'"'"'s menu, such as appetizers, drinks, seafood, desserts, etc. Pressing a particular button activates a pre-recorded description of the menu item, or menu items within the selected category. An electronic menus system thus provides a system for enabling a visually impaired person to review and select desired menu items using audio feedback. Delivery of pre-recorded content is accomplished via either a logically-managed service wherein formatted sound files are uploaded to a memory card from a personal computer via the Internet, and/or a courier-based service wherein formatted memory cards are delivered to restaurants via a third party parcel delivery service with a round-robin mailer to exchange memory cards.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An electronic restaurant menu system for providing audio information regarding menu items, said menu system comprising:
- a portable electronic device having a housing;
a battery power source contained within said housing;
a computer processor in electrical communication with said power source;means for storing data including a plurality of audio files in electrical communication with said computer processor, said audio files comprising information relating to restaurant menu options; a speaker in electrical communication with said computer processor to provide audio output; said housing including a plurality of manually actuated buttons; means for individually illuminating each of said manually actuated buttons; a faceplate removably attached to said housing in covering relation with said plurality of manually actuated buttons, said faceplate including embossed structure corresponding to each of said buttons to allow the user to locate said buttons by tactile sensation; and said faceplate including indicia corresponding to each of said buttons, said indicia including text identifying information corresponding to each button. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
- a portable electronic device having a housing;
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5. An electronic restaurant menu system for providing audio information regarding menu items, said menu system comprising:
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a portable electronic device having a housing, said housing including a front; a battery power source contained within said housing; a computer processor in electrical communication with said power source; means for storing data in electrical communication with said computer processor, said data including audio files comprising information relating to restaurant menu options; a speaker in electrical communication with said computer processor; said speaker is configurable between first and second configurations while remaining in electrical communication with said computer processor, in said first configuration said speaker is supported by said housing, and in said second configuration said speaker is extended from the housing by the user; a plurality of manually actuated input buttons disposed on the front of said housing, each of said buttons in electrical communication with said computer processor and configured to activate at least one of said audio files upon actuation whereby information relating to restaurant menu options is provided as audio output by said speaker; means for individually illuminating each of said plurality of manually actuated buttons; and a faceplate removably attached to said housing in covering relation with said front, said faceplate including indicia and embossed structure corresponding to each of said buttons, said indicia including text identifying menu related information corresponding to the button, said embossed structure including Braille characters. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification