Method and means for telecommunications by deaf persons utilizing a small hand held communications device

• US 5,200,988 A
• Filed: 03/11/1991
• Issued: 04/06/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fon-Ex Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Fon-Ex Incorporated
• Inventors: Riskin, Bernard N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F.
• Application Number:
  US07/666,954
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: 379/52, 379/97-99, 379/96
• US Class Current: 379/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2475 for a hearing impaired user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision

Abstract

A telecommunications device adapted to be positioned between the sending telephone and the line connection thereof or attachable with respect to a sending telephone by way of an audio coupling wherein the DTMF (Digital Tone Multiple Frequency) keypad of the Touch-Tone telephone is utilized to spell words on a visual display device of the communications device which can be used in combination with a packet network telecommunications system having access nodes with word guessing capability wherein the word is spelled letter-by-letter and is compared against a dictionary of words having the DTMF keypad code. The code is displayed on the screen initially with the word then being telecommunicated to a remote electronic database dictionary which guesses the most frequently used word and displays it on the display screen of the hand held device. The so-chosen word can be indicated as a positive match wherein it is stored for transmission or as a negative match wherein the next most frequently used word matching that DTMF keypad code is provided by the remote electronic dictionary for display on the visual display screen. A message is created in this fashion word-by-word and is then transmitted through a telephone line interface to a remotely located receiving location wherein reception can be in any conventional manner or can be through another similarly positioned hand held communication device associated with a receiving telephone.

Claims

1. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote receiving location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad, comprising the steps of:

a) spelling a word letter-by letter with one keystroke per letter by utilizing the DTMF keypad on the sending telephone;

b) displaying the word letter-by-letter in numerical DTMF keypad code on the visual display means of the hand held communications device;

c) entering of a completed word signal on the DTMF keypad after completion of said spelling of the word letter-by-letter in numerical DTMF keypad code;

transmitting of the displayed numerical DTMF keypad code, responsive to said entering of a completed word signal, to a remotely located electronic databank having a dictionary of words with their associated numerical DTMF keypad codes stored therein;

e) matching of the transmitted numerical DTMF keypad code with respect to at least one of the words of the dictionary at a remote receiving location, the words of the dictionary for each specific numerical DTMF keyboard code being ordered according to frequency of usage thereof;

f) sending back by a remote receiving location of the most frequently used matching word for display upon the visual display means;

g) entering of a match signal on the DTMF keypad to determine whether the displayed word is the correct matching word for the DTMF keypad code originally entered at the sending telephone, said entering of a match signal including possible signals of a positive match and a negative match;

h) transmitting of a next word signal to the remotely located electronic databank responsive to a negative match signal;

i) sending back by a remote receiving location of the next most frequently used matching word for display upon the visual display means responsive to a negative match signal;

j) entering of a next match signal on the DTMF keypad to determine whether the next displayed word is the correct matching word for the DTMF keypad code originally entered at the sending telephone, said entering of a next match signal including possible specification of a positive next match and a negative next match;

k) repeating of the steps of said transmitting of a next word signal by a small hand held communication device, said sending back of the next most frequently used matching word by a remote receiving location and said entering of a next match signal responsive to a negative next match signal by the user;

l) storing of a displayed word in digital format responsive to a positive match signal by a small hand held communication device; and

m) transmitting of at least one displayed word of a message in digital format by a small hand held communication device to a remote receiving location.

2. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 wherein said displaying of the word letter-by-letter in numerical DTMF keypad code includes displaying of the word letter-by-letter onto a twenty character visual display screen included in the hand held communications device.

3. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 wherein said sending back of the most frequently used matching word for display includes displaying of the most frequently used matching word on a twenty character visual display screen included in the hand held communications device.

4. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 wherein said sending back of the next most frequently used matching word for display includes displaying of the next most frequently used matching word on a twenty character visual display screen included in the hand held communications device.

5. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including attaching of the hand held communications device with respect to a discrete power source.

6. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including audio coupling of the hand held communications device with respect to the sending telephone.

7. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 wherein said transmitting of the displayed numerical DTMF keypad code is communicated to a telecommunications access node to facilitate analysis thereof.

8. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 7 further including receiving of the transmitted code at the telecommunications access node by a computerized processing means to facilitate searching of the remotely located electronic databank dictionary.

9. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including plugging of the sending telephone into the hand held communications device to facilitate displaying of the word letter-by-letter and possible matching words on the visual display means and to facilitate reception of signals by the hand held communications device from the DTMF keypad of the sending telephone.

10. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including plugging of the sending telephone into the hand held communications device and plugging of the hand held communications device into the telephone wall jack which normally receives the plug of the sending telephone to facilitate displaying of the word letter-by-letter and possible matching words on the visual display means and to facilitate reception of signals by the hand held communications device from the DTMF keypad of the sending telephone.

11. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including plugging of the sending telephone into the hand held communications device to facilitate reception of the completed word signal from the DTMF keypad thereof.

12. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad as defined in claim 1 further including decoding of signals sent to the visual display means to facilitate the display of characters thereupon.

13. A method for telecommunications particularly usable by deaf persons from a sending telephone to a remote receiving location utilizing a small hand held communications device attachable with respect to the sending telephone having a DTMF keypad, comprising the steps of:

a) attaching of the hand held communications device with respect to the sending telephone;

b) spelling a word letter-by-letter with one keystroke per letter utilizing the DTMF keypad on the sending telephone;

c) displaying the word letter-by-letter in numerical DTMF keypad code on a twenty character visual display means of the hand held communications device;

d) entering of a completed word signal on the DTMF keypad after completion of said spelling of the word letter-by-letter in numerical DTMF keypad code;

e) transmitting of the displayed numerical DTMF keypad code, responsive to said entering of a completed word signal, to a remotely located telecommunications access node having an electronic databank with a dictionary of words with their associated numerical DTMF keypad codes stored therein;

f) receiving of the transmitted code at the telecommunications access node by a computerized processing means to facilitate searching of the remotely located electronic databank dictionary;

g) matching of the transmitted numerical DTMF keypad code with respect to at least one of the words of the dictionary at a remote receiving location, the words of the dictionary for each specific numerical DTMF keyboard code being ordered according to frequency of usage thereof;

h) sending back by a remote receiving location of the most frequently used matching word for display upon the twenty character visual display means;

i) entering of a match signal on the DTMF keypad to determine whether the word displayed on the twenty character visual display mans is the correct matching word for the DTMF keypad code originally entered at the sending telephone, said entering of a match signal including possible signals of a positive match and a negative match;

j) transmitting of a next word signal to the remotely located electronic databank responsive to a negative match signal;

k) sending back by a remote receiving location of the next most frequently used matching word for display upon the twenty character visual display means responsive to a negative match signal;

l) entering of a next match signal on the DTMF keypad to determine whether the next displayed word is the correct matching word for the DTMF keypad code originally entered at the sending telephone, said entering of a next match signal including possible specification of a positive next match and a negative next match;

m) repeating of the steps of said transmitting of a next word signal by a small hand held communications device, said sending back of the next most frequently used matching word by a remote receiving location and said entering of a next match signal responsive to a negative next match signal by a user;

n) storing of a displayed word in digital format responsive to a positive match signal by a small hand held communication device; and

o) transmitting of at least one displayed word of a message in digital format by a small hand held communication device over a packet transport network to a remote receiving location.

14. A hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons for use with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunications to a remote receiving location, said telecommunications device comprising:

a code input means being attachable with respect to the sending telephone and adapted to receive a numerical DTMF keypad code therefrom corresponding to a desired word from the DTMF keypad of the sending telephone, said code input means further including an input jack means operatively connecting the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of DTMF keypad codes upon said visual display means;

b) a visual display means comprising a twenty character liquid crystal display device for displaying numerical DTMF keypad codes received from the sending telephone and for displaying words thereupon received from the telephone line means to facilitate telecommunications by deaf persons;

c) a decoding matrix means adapted to receive DTMF keypad codes from said code input means and words in digital format for facilitating display thereof upon said visual display means; and

d) an output means being attachable with respect to the telephone line means associated with said sending telephone to facilitate communication of said decoding matrix means with respect to said telephone line means, said output means including an output jack means operatively connecting the telephone line means associated with the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of words received from the telephone line means.

15. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons for use with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said telecommunications device comprising:

a) a code input means being attachable with respect to the sending telephone and adapted to receive a numerical DTMF keypad code therefrom corresponding to a desired word from the DTMF keypad of the sending telephone;

b) a visual display means for displaying numerical DTMF keypad codes received from the sending telephone and for displaying words thereupon received from a telephone line means to facilitate telecommunications by deaf persons;

c) a decoding matrix means adapted to receive DTMF keypad codes from said code input means and words in digital format for facilitating display thereof upon said visual display means; and

d) an output means being attachable with respect to a telephone line being associated with said sending telephone to facilitate communication of said decoding matrix means with respect to a telephone line means.

16. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said visual display means comprises a liquid crystal display device.

17. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said code input means includes an input jack means operatively connecting the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of DTMF keypad codes upon said visual display means.

18. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said output means includes an output jack means operatively connecting the telephone line means associated with the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of words received from the telephone line means.

19. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said code input means includes an audio coupling means operatively connecting the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of DTMF keypad codes upon said visual display means.

20. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said output means includes an audio coupling means operatively connecting the telephone line means associated with the sending telephone with respect to said decoding matrix means to facilitate display of words received from the telephone line means.

21. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 wherein said visual display means includes a twenty character visual display device.

22. An improved hand held telecommunications device particularly usable by deaf persons with a sending telephone having a DTMF keypad and being connected to a telephone line means and for use with an access node apparatus having a remotely located electronic dictionary to facilitate telecommunication to a remote receiving location, said improved telecommunications device as defined in claim 15 further including a battery power source means to facilitate electrical operation of the hand held telecommunications device.