PATENT ABSTRACT
A hand-held, portable apparatus has been disclosed to facilitate the viewing of an object by the human eye. The apparatus provides an electronic camera unit disposed on a holder mechanism and in electrical communication with an image processor module to capture the image of an object and format the image for display on a display device also disposed on the holder mechanism. At least one user-interfaced control mechanism is also disposed on the holder mechanism and in electrical communication with the image processor module for controlling the operations of the module to regulate display of the image by the display device. In this way the viewing of an object by the human eye is facilitated by the use of camera and the image enhancing features of the image processor module.

PATENT DESCRIPTION
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    (Not Applicable)  
         STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    (Not Applicable)  
         FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention is generally directed to viewing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention is directed to apparatus for facilitating viewing of an object by human eye.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The use of viewing aids for the human eye has long been known in the art. Presently, a number of viewing aids utilize various image magnification and enhancement to better aid the human eye in viewing of a desired object, person or text. These existing devices, however, suffer from several shortcomings that hinder their effectiveness or a viewer&#39;s desire to use them.  
           [0005]    Generally, in their most common form, these devices utilize an optical lens such as a magnifying glass to enlarge the view of an object as perceived by the human eye. Due to the convex nature of the lens, however, only a small portion of the lens may be effectively utilized for focusing on an object without undesirable shifting of the object from view, resulting in image stabilization problems that can be quite distracting to the user. Achieving focusing is also an issue which requires the user to physically move the glass in order to obtain a focused image. The optical lens also requires ample lighting for proper viewing. In addition, a typical magnifying glass only magnifies, and provides no additional features such as color contrast or other forms of image enhancement.  
           [0006]    Other forms of magnifying glasses have tried to address the illumination issue by use of a lamp installed on some frame portion of the magnifying glass. This however, suffers from the shortcomings of loss of brightness from the light source as the gain to the image size increases. Furthermore, the provided illumination oftentimes lacks uniformity and typically cannot be adjusted in intensity. In addition, the foregoing problems of achieving focusing and lack of additional features such as color contrast or other forms of image enhancement still remain at issue.  
           [0007]    A third form of visual aid is the use of electronic camera in conjunction with a separate video monitor. Disadvantages associated with this approach is the lack of portability of the whole system, complicated connections and setups, and excessive cost. In addition, human physiology may also be compromised in form of neck and back strain, and even nausea from visual disorientation as a user is required to constantly shift focus from the camera to the video monitor. In addition, the camera unit in this setting is fixed in orientation, thus requiring that the object be brought to the instrument, which may not always be possible or convenient.  
           [0008]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that is small in size, portable, and capable of providing illumination and a variety of image enhancement and magnification features to facilitate the viewing of an object by human eye.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    These and other objects are achieved by apparatus of the present invention. In a broad aspect, the present invention provides novel apparatus for facilitating viewing of an object by human eye. The apparatus includes a holder mechanism having a support portion with opposing first and second support surfaces, at least one light source disposed on the holder mechanism first surface to illuminate at least a portion of the object and at least one electronic camera unit disposed on the holder mechanism first surface, the camera being operative to record at least one image of the object.  
           [0010]    The apparatus further includes at least one image processor module in electrical communication with the camera unit to format the recorded image for display, at least one image display device having a display region, the display device disposed on the holder mechanism second surface and in electrical communication with the image processor module to display the formatted image on the display region, and at least one user-interfaced control mechanism disposed on the holder mechanism and in electrical communication with the image processor module for controlling the operations of the module to regulate display of the image by the display device.  
           [0011]    A more detailed understanding of these features, and of additional features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will be provided to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following Detailed Description of the Invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings, which will now first be described briefly.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a three dimensional front view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1 and illustrating additional features thereof.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram illustrating the electronic layout and operations of the image processor of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]    Referring more particularly to the Drawings, the present invention is directed to facilitating viewing of an object by human eye. This is accomplished in accordance with the teachings of the present invention by providing an apparatus having an electronic display device that displays images of an object captured by a camera incorporated in the apparatus and formatted by an image processing unit also located within the apparatus. In this way, the formatted images can be viewed by the user at virtually any desired level of magnification and enhancement simply by controlling the image processing unit of the apparatus.  
         [0016]    Turning now to the Drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a three dimensional front view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the viewing device  1  in part includes a display region  100  disposed on the support portion  200 , along with the user-interface control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302  disposed along handle portion  201 . As explained in more detail in conjunction with FIG. 2 below, the control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302  provide various ways for a user to desirably modify and manipulate the images shown on display region  100 .  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 provides a cross-sectional view further illustrating the additional understanding and features of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the viewing device  1  includes a support portion  200  having opposing surfaces  200   a  and  200   b . At least one light source  500  is disposed on one of the holder mechanism&#39;s opposing surfaces, such as opposing surfaces  200   b , to illuminate at least a portion of a desired object to be viewed.  
         [0018]    The viewing device  1  also includes electronic camera unit  600  disposed on the same opposing surface as the light source  500 , to capture at least one image of the object, desirably as illuminated by the light source  500 . Once an image of the object is captured, it is transmitted to the image processor module  400  which formats and enhances the captured image for display on the display unit  100  of the display device  101  located on the surface opposite to that of the camera unit  600 . The operations of the image processor module  400  are explained in more detail in conjunction with FIG. 3 below.  
         [0019]    The viewing device  1  further includes at least one of user-interface control mechanisms  300 ,  301  or  302  disposed on the apparatus, such as on the handle portion  201 , and in electrical communication with the image processor module  400  for controlling the operations of module  400  to regulate display of the image by the display device  101  by a user. The user can regulate the display device  101  in various ways that include but are not limited to adjusting the magnification or enhancement of the displayed image on display region  100 , changing preferences such as auto power-off time, saving and recalling stored images as well as adjusting the illumination intensity of the light source  500  and the focusing operations of the camera unit  600 .  
         [0020]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the viewing device  1  includes an internal power source  700 , such as a rechargeable battery, that is housed in the handle portion  201  or support portion  200  to provide operational power to at least one of the camera unit  600 , the image processor system  400 , light sources  500  and image display device  101 . External power sources such as adapters or transformers can also be connected to the viewing device  1  through power port  701  to provide power to the viewing device  1  as well as to recharge the rechargeable batteries.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 provides a circuit block diagram illustrating in more detail the operations of the image processor module  400 . As shown, the image processor module  400  includes processor system  405  and memory medium  406 . The processor  405  is in electrical communication with the camera unit  600 , the light sources  500 , the display device  100  and the control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302  (not shown) In addition to formatting the captured image for display, the processor system  405  also monitors and controls the operations of the above components and receives operational instructions from the user via user inputs on the control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302 . These instructions include but are not limited to instructions to adjust the magnification level, illumination intensity, and the focusing resolution level of the displayed image on the display region  100 . In addition, the instructions may also include instructions to adjust the focusing characteristic of the camera unit  600 , zoom mode, image enhancement such as color mapping, edge detection, and inverse video display, as well as the illumination intensity of the light source  500 .  
         [0022]    The processor  405  is in electrical communication with the image memory storage medium  406  for storage and retrieval of the pre-stored and/or user-inputted instructions as well as captured and formatted images.  
         [0023]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3, the processor system  405  includes sub-processors  401  and  402  having dedicated memory storage mediums  403  and  404 . 1  In this configuration, one of the sub-processors, such as  401  is dedicated to initializing the camera unit  600  and managing the transferring of raw image data from the camera unit  600  into the memory storage medium  403 . The other sub-processor, such as  402 , is dedicated to receiving user instructions from the control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302  and transferring data from memory storage medium  404  into display device  100 . This sub-processor also performs image modification and manipulations as data is transferred from memory storage medium  403  to memory storage medium  404 . In this way, faster processing of the images and the user-inputted instructions is achieved. In addition, each of the sub-processors is provided with its own memory storage unit, such as memory storage mediums  403  and  404  to store instructions and images for that processor.  
         [0024]    In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the image processing module  400  is a programmable image processing module and can receive new preprogrammed instructions such as by inclusion or interfacing with an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) unit. In addition, an optical alpha-numeric character recognition module can also be included to recognize words and numbers in the image of a text. Also included is a voice synthesizer module to output sound patterns corresponding to the pronunciation of these recognized words and numbers.  
         [0025]    Other features and functions of the image processing module  400  may include, but not limited to: image or text processing and enhancement for flat or curved objects; image stabilization such as by auto focus and by auto track/cancellation of image jitter due to small hand movements, focus track, auto zoom, selectable or variable zoom, freeze frame and no movement of image opposite to hand motion; color shifting; brightness and contrast enhancement; infrared photography and edge detection and line drawing conversion. In addition, the processor  405  and storage medium  406  can be any commercially available product adapted to user interfacing features of the control mechanism and having features of image processing, data storage and other functions performed by the image processor as disclosed herein.  
         [0026]    Returning to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the user-interface control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302  are now discussed in greater detail. As illustrated, control mechanisms  301 ,  302  represent a manual input button for selecting at least one operation of the image processor module  400 , such as adjusting the illumination on the displayed image. In an exemplary embodiment, the user may use button  301  to browse through a menu and make a selection, then use button  302  to commit that selection to the image processor module  400 , such as for execution or storage. Control mechanism  300  is a finger-operated selection device that allows browsing, selecting, and committing of the operations with an adjusting rolling switch. Other equally effective finger operated selection devices such as a sliding switch (not shown) may also be used in conjunction with the present invention. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a graphic user interface (GUI) device may be used, alone or in combination with the above control mechanisms for browsing, selecting and committing of the operations of the image processor module  400 . The GUI device may also be displayed in a portion of the display region  100 . Other control mechanisms such as a voice input device may also be used.  
         [0027]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention the camera unit  600  is a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera unit and the display device  101  is a liquid crystal display (LCD) device. It should be emphasized that neither display region  100  nor the support portion  200  need be formed as the generally rectangular structure of FIG. 1 in order to come within the scope and teachings of the present invention. Rather, it is contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention to form display region  100  and the support portion  200  in a wide variety of geometric shapes ranging from simple bars and crescents through polygons, circles, and the like.  
         [0028]    It should also be noted that only the fundamental features of viewing device  1  are illustrated in the figures. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional surface features, shapes, and details may be provided as desired, including projecting handling knobs, curbs, tabs, additional buttons, or the like as well as adjustable support members to hold the viewer at a fixed distance from an object thus to free the user from having to hold the device during extended viewing and reading time.  
         [0029]    Additionally, support portion  200  and handle portion  201  can be formed of any available electrically compatible material having sufficient compressive and tensile strength to function in its intended environment as a support ground to the components of the present invention. Exemplary materials include grade metals such as stainless-steel and durable ceramics as well as grade plastics and composites. In the exemplary embodiment of the viewing device  1  shown in the figures, support portion  200  and handle portion  201  are formed of grade plastics. However, it should be emphasized that this is not a limiting feature of the present invention and that alternative materials may be utilized as appropriate.  
         [0030]    In its simplest form, handle portion  201  is integrally fixedly disposed on a segment of support portion  200 , although other methods of connection such as pins, pivots, hinges and rotational devices may also be equally used. It should also be noted that handle portion  201  is not essential to the overall operations of the present invention, with the control mechanisms  300 ,  301  and  302 , as well as the power unit  700  and power port  701  can all be disposed on support portion  200 .  
         [0031]    Other embodiments, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the foregoing specification as well as through practice of the invention and alternative embodiments and methods disclosed herein. Therefore, it should be emphasized that the specification and examples are exemplary only, and that the true scope and spirit of the invention is limited only by the following claims.