Abstract:
An X-Y video camera support and positioning system for enhancing viewing for persons with poor vision. The system includes a positioning device that receives input from a four button control panel, which allows precise positioning of a video camera above a stage. The images from the video camera are output onto a monitor, where they are displayed. The system is low cost and extremely easy to use.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a magnified viewing mechanism and system, more particularly to a mechanism and system for magnifying materials too small for people with poor eyesight to otherwise see. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Macular degeneration is the imprecise historical name given to a group of diseases that cause sight-sensing cells in the macular zone of the retina to malfunction or lose function and results in debilitating loss of vital central or detail vision. 
   The retina contains an extraordinary photosensitive array of cells that line the back of the eye. The light falling onto these cells in the retina is transformed into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain centers that process and interpret them. 
   The most concentrated collection of photosensitive cells in the retina, including those that enable critical color and fine detail vision, are found in the Bulls-Eye center zone in an area called the macula. 
   Macular degeneration can cause different symptoms in different people. Sometimes only one eye loses vision while the other eye continues to see well for many years. The condition may be hardly noticeable in its early stages. But when both eyes are affected, reading and close up work can become difficult. 
   A case of adult macular degeneration is diagnosed every three minutes in the United States of America. One in six Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 will be affected while one in four Americans between 64 and 74 will be stricken. One in three over the age of 75 will be affected. Each year 1.2 million of the estimated 12 million people with macular degeneration will suffer severe central vision loss. Each year 200,000 individuals will lose all central vision in one or both eyes. 
   The only proven treatment is laser photocoagulation, but only 10–15% of eyes with wet macular degeneration are treatable with laser. Then recurrences after laser treatment are common (70% in 5 years). The average visual acuity 3 years after treatment is usually 20/200 to 20/250. 
   Patients rarely lose all of their vision from macular degeneration. Though they have poor central vision, most can walk around, dress themselves, and perform many of their normal daily tasks. 
   In order to facilitate some of the normal daily tasks of people with macular degeneration, several vision enhancement systems have been developed. These systems usually include some type of a video camera and a monitor. The user moves a book or magazine or picture underneath the camera, and the item shows up on the monitor. 
   The problem with these systems, however, is that they are prohibitively expensive and hard to maneuver. Some systems have portable headset systems and cost several thousand dollars. Others are very inexpensive, but require the user to move the item of interest underneath the camera, which can be unnatural and hard to learn. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention addresses the foregoing needs by providing an inexpensive system for vision enhancement that is extremely easy to use. A positioning device receives input from a four button control panel, which allows precise positioning of a video camera above a stage. The images from the video camera are output onto a monitor, where they are displayed. The camera can be moved left, right, up and down over the image, which is very natural and easy to learn. Instead of having to physically move an image under a stationary camera, the user can simply use up, down, left and right buttons to move the camera while the image stays stationary. With long enough cables or a remote control, the user does not have to be near the positioning device, potentially keeping it hidden in a corner of the room. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of the system, showing the relationship between the control panel, the positioning device, the camera, the stage, and the monitor. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of the control panel. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the positioning system, showing how the positioning system moves the camera around above the stage. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the first motor and associated belts, showing how the motor makes the belts and turning rod rotate. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the belt system, showing how the second belts are connected to the turning rods and mounting plates. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the rubber belt system, showing how the rubber belt is connected to the second motor and the mounting plates. 
       FIG. 7  is a wiring diagram of a representative switching circuit for the different motors. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring now to the figures, a preferred embodiment of the system is shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  shows an X-Y video camera support and positioning system. The positioning device  100  receives input from a control panel  200 , which allows precise positioning of a video camera  300  above a stage  500 . Any type of material may be placed on the stage  500 , but it is anticipated that items such as drawings, books, newspapers, magazines and pictures will be used most commonly. The images from the video camera  300  are output onto a monitor  400 , where they are displayed. Examples of monitors are television sets and computer monitors. Magnification of the image is controlled by the video camera  300 , and available magnifications will vary from model to model. In a preferred embodiment, stage  500  and positioning device  100  will be in a self-contained unit, connected by mounting wall  600 . Preferably, the mounting wall will have an opening at the bottom so that large items, such as newspapers, will not have to be folded up against the mounting wall in order to be read. Rather, the portion of the page not being read will stick through the opening at the base of the mounting wall. 
   In a preferred embodiment, the camera  300  is permanently mounted perpendicular to the stage  500 , and the positioning device  100  moves the camera in a plane perpendicular to the camera  300  and parallel to the stage  500 . In other embodiments, however, the camera  300  may swivel side to side (although this would create a slightly skewed picture). 
   The control panel  200 , illustrated in  FIG. 2 , contains four buttons, an up button  202 , a down button  204 , a left button  206  and a right button  208 . The user will have to position items in the correct orientation on the stage so that the four buttons correspond to actual up, down, left and right movement. When correctly aligned, the user uses the control buttons to place the video camera over the item on the stage, and views a magnified image on the monitor. For example, to read a book using the system, the user would use the control buttons to find the upper left portion of a page, then pan to the right using the right control button  208 , then back to the left and down using the left  206  and down  204  control buttons. The user would repeat this process all the way down the page, and then repeat the whole process for the next page. In another embodiment, rather than utilizing a four button control panel, a joystick would be used. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates how the positioning device  100  receives instructions from the control panel  200  and maneuvers the camera  300  accordingly. The positioning device contains a first set of parallel rods  102  and a second set of parallel rods  104 . These rods are preferably stainless steel and male threaded on their ends. Other possible materials include aluminum, plastic, vinyl, and any other material from which cylindrical rods are made. Stainless steel is preferable because of its uniformity and rigidity. The rods can be of any length, but should be longer than any material anticipated being used on the stage. Preferably the rods are twenty inches in length. The video camera  300  is held inside a carriage  106  by set screws  126 . The camera has a control area  302  and a lens  304 . The control area  302  has controls for adjusting the magnification and focus. Alternatively, a camera with manual focus and manual zoom may be used. 
   The carriage lies along the second set of parallel rods  104 . The first set of parallel rods  102  are connected at their ends to perimeter plates  112 , connected by nuts  114  over the threads of the rods  102 . Alternatively, the rods could be welded to the perimeter plates. The perimeter plates  112  are preferably constructed of aluminum, but may alternatively be constructed of any metal or plastic strong enough to keep the positioning device  100  rigid. The positioning device  100  may be connected to mounting wall  600  by wall connector plates  108  and turnbuckles  116 . The mounting wall  600  can be any material, but preferably is matched to the surrounding furniture of the user&#39;s living area. The wall connector plates  108  attach to the mounting wall by screws  110 . Other items instead of screws may be used, however, such as nails or lag screws. For most of the connections on the positioning device, screws and bolts are preferable to more permanent connections such as welds. The reason for this is that screws and bolts give the user of the positioning device a much higher degree of control over the system, allowing the user to easily fix any problems with carriage movement caused by rods no longer being parallel, one rod being slightly higher than another, etc. 
     FIGS. 4–6  illustrate the motor and belt system. The carriage  106  can move in four directions through the use of a first motor  130  and a second motor  128 . The first motor  130 , attached to the mounting wall  600 , controls the motion of bushings  118  along the first set of parallel rods  102 . Preferably the motor  130  is attached to the mounting wall  600  with a silicone material, so as to minimize the amount of motor noise transmitted to the mounting wall. In a preferred embodiment, the motor is coupled to a turning rod  132  by a first timing belt  134 . Two second timing belts  136  span the distance between turning rod  132  and perimeter plate  112 . The second timing belts  136  are attached to mounting plates  122 . As the first motor  130  runs, the second timing belts  136  move on an elliptical path, in turn making mounting plates  122  and bushings  118  travel between the two perimeter plates  112 . Limit switches  140 , attached to the mounting plates  122 , stop the motor  130  when the limit switches make contact with the perimeter plate  112 . The second motor  128  is attached to the carriage  106  and controls the position of the carriage along the second set of parallel rods  104 . In a preferred embodiment, a rubber belt  138  is attached to both mounting plates, and wrapped around motor  128 . As second motor  128  operates, the carriage moves along the path of the rubber belt  138 . Limit switches  142 , attached to the carriage  106 , stop the motor  128  when the limit switches  142  make contact with the mounting plates  122 . 
   The first motor  130  can be connected to the bushings in a number of ways, including a chain pulley system or a rubber cog system between perimeter plates  112 . Similarly, the second motor  128  can use a chain pulley system or a rubber cog system to move the carriage  106  between mounting plates  122 . 
   The first set of rods  102  is connected to the second set of rods  104  by mounting plates  122  and the bushings  118 . The bushings slide back and forth along the first set of rods  102 , controlled by the first motor  130 , which itself is controlled by the up  202  and down  204  buttons of the control panel  200 . The bushings  118  preferably have an inner diameter at least ⅛″ larger than the outer diameter of rods  102 . This is so there is less friction between bushings  118  and rods  102 . The bushings  118  can be connected to the mounting plates  122  in any number of ways, including gluing and welding. The ends of the second set of rods  104  are connected to the mounting plates  122  by nuts  124  over the threads of the rods  104 . Alternatively, the rods could be permanently welded to the mounting plates. 
   While the preferred embodiment uses tracks comprised of parallel rods, similar tracks may be used as well. For example, instead of bushings on a rod, wheels on a track could be used. Alternatively, an electromagnetic track could be used. For some different types of tracks, such as an electro-magnetic track, parallel tracks would not be necessary. There could be two single tracks, with the video camera mounted below the two tracks. 
   The motors  128 ,  130  can be connected to the control panel  200  by wires, or alternatively by RF signal or infrared. Any number of wires are acceptable, including, but not limited to, category 5 cables, coaxial cables, IEEE 1394 “fire wire”, standard 4 or 6 wire cable, telephone cables. 
   The video camera  300  can be connected to the monitor  400  through any of the commercially available cables for audio/visual (A/V) connections, or again by infrared or RF signal. 
     FIG. 7  shows the wiring diagram of the motors  128 ,  130 . Power comes from terminals  150 . Directional switches  160  determine whether the motor runs forward or in reverse. Electrical Limit switches  170 , electronically coupled to limit switches  140  and  142 , stop the motor when the limit switch  142  contacts either of the mounting plates  122  (for motor  128 ), or when limit switch  140  contacts either of the perimeter plates  112  (for motor  130 ). Inductor  180  controls the four switches  190 , which start the motor. All four switches  190  are switched in unison.  FIG. 7  shows the wiring diagram for only motor  130 , but the wiring diagram for motor  128  is identical. 
   Although the present invention has thus been described in detail with regard to certain preferred embodiments, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various adaptations and modifications of the present invention may be accomplished without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the detailed description as set forth above is not intended to limit the breadth of the present invention, which is instead defined by the appended claims and their appropriately construed legal equivalents.