Abstract:
A sound recorder and player has a main body that is shaped to be held in the palm of either the right or left hand, with finger grips that associate recorder/player functions with each finger of the hand. A principal tactile feature enables the user to identify quickly the orientation of the device with respect to a person&#39;s thumb. The device is compact so as to minimize space requirements for carrying it, and it is rounded both for comfort in the hand and to reduce snagging and potential difficulty in removing it from, or putting it into, a pocket or bag.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention of sound recorders and players was especially significant to persons with impaired vision as a substitute for or supplement to writing and reading. This is especially true with the advent of portable and pocket-sized devices. While a person can learn the position of the various controls on a pocket recorder by touch, such recorders are not designed specifically to help the sight-impaired. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention is a sound recorder and player that can be operated easily entirely by feel. It comprises a main body that is shaped to be held in the palm of either the right or left hand, with finger grips that associate recorder/player functions with each finger of the hand. A principal tactile feature enables the user to identify quickly the orientation of the device with respect to a person&#39;s thumb. Another inventive feature is that the device is compact so as to minimize space requirements for carrying it, and it is rounded both for comfort in the hand and to reduce snagging and potential difficulty in removing it from, or putting it into, a pocket or bag. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the present invention. 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the present invention. 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the present invention. 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a right side view of the present invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is a left side view of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 6  is front view of the present invention shown gripped in the hand of a user with the top tipped slightly toward the plane of view. 
           [0009]      FIG. 7  is a front view of the present invention shown gripped in the hand of a user with the top tipped slightly away from the plane of view. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The following is a detailed description of the drawings, in which like features are represented by like reference characters in each of the drawings.  FIG. 1  is a front view of the present invention showing a substantially spherical body  10  containing recording and playback components well known in the arts. Projecting outwardly from the body  10  is a first, thumb-orienting nub  1 , a second orienting nub  2 , a third orienting nub  3 , and a fourth orienting nub  4 . 
         [0011]    The first nub  1  is covered with mini-nubs  5  (only two of many referenced in this view) which provide a recognizable texture to the first nub  1 . The first nub  1  is positioned as the end-most nub in the series of four nubs. A vision-impaired person can identify the first, thumb-orienting nub  1  by the feel of its mini-nubs  5 . Thus, a vision-impaired person can tell that he/she should position his/her thumb, right or left hand, on the side of the first nub  1  opposite the second nub  2 . The other fingers then naturally fall in place with the index finger lying between the first nub  1  and the second nub  2 , etc. Means of distinguishing the first nub from the rest of the nubs by tactile feel other than by the use of mini-nubs, such as by, e.g., flattening of the top of the first nub, also fall within the scope of this invention. 
         [0012]    The invention also includes function buttons on the surface of the body  10  which can be manipulated by a user&#39;s fingers to cause the device to perform necessary record/playback functions. Just clockwise in this view from the nub  1  is a record button  6 . Between the nub  1  and the nub  2  is a stop button  7 . A play button  8  is between the nub  2  and the nub  3 . A fast forward button  9  is between the nub  3  and the nub  4 . Counterclockwise from the nub  4  is a rewind button  13 . Further counterclockwise from the rewind button  13  is a delete button  11 . A speaker grille  12  covering a speaker is at the bottom. Clockwise from the nub  1  is an electronic, e.g., USB, port  15 . A sight-impaired user who desires to use this port will be able to distinguish its character and identity by its shape. 
         [0013]    The centroids of all of the above features (except the nubs  1 - 4  and mini-nubs  5 ) lie along a great circle of the body  10 , which appears in this view as the circumference of the circle  14 . This makes the invention bilaterally symmetrical, namely, that the rear view is a mirror image of this front view, rendering the invention operable by left-handed and right-handed persons with equal facility. 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the present invention, identifying the same elements as identified in  FIG. 1  that are visible from the top. 
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the present invention identifying the same elements as identified in  FIG. 1  that are visible from the bottom. 
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a right side view of the present invention identifying the same elements as identified in  FIGS. 1 and 2  that are visible from the right side. 
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a left side view of the present invention identifying the same elements as identified in  FIGS. 1 and 2  that are visible from the left side. 
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is front view of the present invention shown gripped in the hand of a user with the top tipped slightly toward the view. The user&#39;s hand, shown here in dashed lines as environmental structure, indicates that the user has located nub  1  by the feel of the mini-nubs  5  and the array of the other nubs to one side of it. This person appears to prefer using his/her right hand and has placed his/her right thumb  60  in a position on the opposite side of the nub  1  from the other nubs. (A left handed person would hold the device rotated 180 degrees about its vertical axis, in the other hand.) The position of the right handed person&#39;s thumb in this view happens to be on top of the record button  6  (not visible in this view). The other fingers will naturally fall into position as shown, with the index finger on top of the stop button  7  (not visible in this view), the middle finger on top of the play button  8  (not visible in this view), the ring finger on top of the fast forward button  9  (not visible in this view), and the little finger on top of the rewind button  13  (not visible in this view). 
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a front view of the present invention shown gripped in the hand of a user with the top tipped slightly away from the view. This view shows, importantly, that the delete button  11  cannot be pressed without a deliberate motion of the little finger further counterclockwise around the body  10 . It also shows that in normal use, the speaker grille  12  is positioned on the invention so as not to be obstructed by the user&#39;s hand. 
         [0020]    In the invention as depicted, the bases of all of the nubs and the peripheries of all of the buttons are substantially round. This is only evident in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , in which only the play button  8  and the speaker grille  12  appear round because they are viewed at an angle normal to the surface of the body  10 . At other angles, therefore, these features may take on an ovoid shape or a kidney shape as shown. The port  15  will generally have a rectangular shape peculiar to its electronic function. The function buttons  6 - 9 , and  13  may be oval if, as described below, the distance between the nubs separating them is less than  1 / 2  inch. 
         [0021]    The optimum ranges of dimensions for the device, producing an unexpectedly superior result over significant deviations therefrom, are: 
         [0022]    the body  10  is substantially spherical with a great circle diameter of 2.25 inches; 
         [0023]    the nubs  1 - 4  are  7 / 16  inch diameter by  1 / 2  inch high separated by  1 / 2  inch spacing; 
         [0024]    the record, stop, play, fast forward and rewind buttons  6 - 9  and  13  should be spaced with their centroids 60 degrees apart from each other along the great circle upon which their centroids lie, and should be at least  1 / 2  inch wide as measured along the great circle, or, if this width is narrower than  1 / 2  inch because the dimensions of the body and nubs do not allow it, the diameter of these buttons perpendicular to the great circle should be at least  1 / 2  inch; 
         [0025]    the delete button  11  should be  1 / 4  inch in diameter, with its centroid spaced 30 degrees from the centroid of the rewind button along the great circle; 
         [0026]    the speaker grille  12  should be diametrically opposed to the play button  8  along the great circle, and should be  1 / 2  inch in diameter; and 
         [0027]    the port  15  should have its centroid spaced 30 degrees from the centroid of the record button  6 . 
         [0028]    Also optimal is that the body and nubs should be made of semi-rigid (i.e., deformable by hand pressure) elastic material (e.g., rubber). One or more bright colors is also desirable to assist persons with some ability to see. 
         [0029]    The scope of this invention, however, is meant to include variations in the shapes and dimensions shown, so long as the principal features described above, enabling quick positioning of the fingers and easy access by feel to the features and related function buttons, are retained. 
         [0030]    It is also intended, within the scope of this invention, that it comprise either a compartment for batteries, with a door (not shown) accessible from the surface of the body  10 , or a jack for an external power source (not shown) embedded in the surface of the body  10 , or both.