Patent Publication Number: US-2005124376-A1

Title: Auxiliary guiding device for the blind

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an auxiliary guiding device for the blind, and more particularly to an auxiliary guiding device having a radio frequency identification system and a sound guiding function to assist the blind with navigating information (such as a district or a road name) at the current location.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In daily life, the blind have various methods of guidance via touch, such as Braille or a guiding stick. The information generated by touch is very limited. For example, when a blind person uses an elevator, guidance information informing how to push buttons and operate the elevator up and down is insufficient. Another example, tactile guiding strips disposed on sidewalks are insufficient in that they indicate a crossing but not direction or location. Furthermore, most of afore-mentioned guidance information is obtained by touch, passively providing the guidance information. The content this information is restricted, and therefore inconvenient and insufficient for navigation.  
      A “guiding device of a guiding brick having automatic notifying function in advance” is disclosed in Taiwan No. 433,295. The guiding device mainly includes a magnetic device that is mounted on a guiding stick and a guiding brick. Attractive or repulsive forces generated by of the opposing magnetic poles notify the blind in advance about the status of the road ahead.  
      The technology of the radio frequency identification system (RFID) is widely known and basically uses radio signals to transmit data. The radio frequency identification system mainly includes two portions, an electronic tag  10  and reader  20  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) respectively. The principle is that the radio frequency transceiver module  201  of the reader  20  emits radio waves of a specific frequency to the electronic tag  10  through an antenna  202  to the electronic tag  10  and then the data and identification code stored in the chip  101  of the electronic tag  10  are transmitted. The reader  20  and electronic tag  10  have an alternating magnetic field between them to induce a current. The induced current in the antenna  102  of the electronic tag  10  is rectified and filtered by electronic components, such as diodes and capacitors, and then generates enough electric power to transmit data to the reader  20 . Simultaneously, the reader  20  receives the data or identification code transmitted by the electronic tag  10  through the antenna  202  and the radio frequency transceiver module  201 . Then, the data is processed by a microprocessor  203 . For example, after the codes of the data are changed, the processed data is output to another device, such as a display or a data output device, connected to the reader  20 .  
      The data transmitting functions between the reader  20  and the electronic tag  10  are to read the data stored in the chip  101  of the electronic tag  10  and write and edit data in the chip  101 . U.S. Pat. No. 6,639,514 B1, entitled “Method For Selecting And Writing Into RFID-Transponders”, discloses the correlative technology for writing data. The advantage of the electronic tag  10  is it doesn&#39;t need a battery, doesn&#39;t need to be touched, doesn&#39;t need a special surface, and therefore doesn&#39;t get damaged. The secret code of a chip can&#39;t be copied, the safety is high, the chip life-time is long, therefore the radio frequency identification system is widely applied, and more recently, to animal chips, car chips that guard against burglaries, the restraint of entrance guard, the restraint of parking area, the automation of production line, the management of material and supplies, and so on.  
      Although the radio frequency identification system is widely used, most of radio frequency identification systems are used for the activities of the correlative business. There is no actual example how to solve the problem of walking for the blind by utilizing a radio frequency identification system.  
      Accordingly, there exists a need for an auxiliary guiding device for the blind to navigate safely.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary guiding device for actively assisting and guiding the blind by means of speech broadcasting.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary guiding device for providing the blind with the corresponding geographical guidance or environment guiding information.  
      In order to achieve the foregoing objects, the present invention provides an auxiliary guiding device for the blind including a guiding brick, a reader, text-to-speech (TTS) component and a power supply unit. The guiding brick is embedded with an electronic tag including a memory chip and a first antenna connected to the memory chip, wherein the memory chip stores, reads, and writes guidance information. The reader has a radio frequency transceiver module, a second antenna and a microprocessor, wherein the radio frequency transceiver module emits the energy of a radio wave to the electronic tag through the second antenna to drive the electronic tag to transmit guidance information to the radio frequency transceiver module  411  and then the microprocessor converts radio signals to digital data. The TTS component has an input terminal of digital data to convert data transmitted by the microprocessor to analog signals, such that the analog signals drive a synthesizer and the input data broadcast as speech. The power supply unit provides the necessary power for the reader and TTS component.  
      The auxiliary guidance device for the blind according the present invention can update the guidance information stored in the memory chip of the electronic tag at any time by utilizing the data writing function of the reader. The guidance information includes the correlative geography guiding information or environment guiding information at the location of the guiding brick, such as a road name of an intersection, an important signpost, a direction to follow, and so on. Via the reader installed in the guiding stick, the blind get the guidance information stored in the guiding bricks.  
      The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of radio frequency identification system (RFID) in the prior art.  
       FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of an auxiliary guiding device for the blind according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a sectional schematic view of a guiding brick embedded with an electronic tag.  
       FIG. 4  is a plan schematic view showing an embodiment of an arrangement of guiding bricks embedded with an electronic tag at an intersection.  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective exploded schematic view of a guiding stick according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       FIG. 2  shows a functional block diagram of an auxiliary guiding according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The auxiliary guiding stick includes an electronic tag  30  and a guiding unit  40 .  
      The electronic tag  30  includes a memory chip  301  and a first antenna  302  connected to the memory chip  301 . Basically, the memory chip  301  is a semiconductor component, can store, read, and write data.  
      The guiding unit  40  can emit radio waves to the electronic tag  30  for driving the electronic tag  30 , and then the data stored in the memory chip  301  are transmitted, thereby reading the data stored in the memory chip  301  of the electronic tag  30  and actively notifying the blind by means of sound mode.  
      Recently, the technology of IC design has been extensively developed, and therefore the memory chip  301  of the electronic tag  10  not only has the basic memory components of semiconductors but also can be designed to have components, such as diodes and capacitors, to convert radio waves emitted by the guiding unit  40  to necessary electric power. Only the first antenna  302  (such as a printed circuit board or the winding of enamel-insulated wires) disposed on the surface of the electronic tag  30  can generate electric energy in the electronic tag  30  by means of an induced electromotive force, and therefore the electronic tag  30  does not need an additional power source or other component and for very low cost.  
      The guidance unit  40  includes a reader  41 , a text-to-speech (TTS) component  50  and a power supply unit  70 .  
      The reader  41  has a radio frequency transceiver module  411 , a second antenna  412  connected to a radio frequency transceiver module  411 , and a microprocessor  413 . The radio frequency transceiver module  411  emits the radio waves with a specific frequency to the electronic tag  30  through the second antenna  202 . The first antenna  302  and the second antenna  412  have an alternating magnetic field to induce a current. The UHF bandwidth (862˜928 MHz) emits a radio wave of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The induced electromotive force in the first antenna  302  is generated by induction, is rectified and filtered by electronic components, such as diodes and capacitors, and then generates enough electricity that the electronic tag  30  can transmit data to the reader  20  through the second antenna  412  and the radio frequency transceiver module  411 . Simultaneously, the reader  41  receives the data transmitted by the electronic tag  30  through the second antenna  412  and the radio frequency transceiver module  411 , and then the data is converted to digital data by a microprocessor  413  and output.  
      Basically, the text-to-speech (TTS) component  50  is a TTS chip that has been developed. The TTS component  50  has an input terminal  501  of digital data for converting the digital data transmitted by the microprocessor  413  to analog signals, then an output terminal  502  outputs the analog signals. The analog signals drive a sound generating component  51  (such as a speaker, a buzzer or the like), and the input digital data are broadcasted by speech. Recently, the widely used TTS chip can receive the digital data with input format of uniform code (UNICODE) and broadcasts text from the data by via synthesized speech.  
      Basically, the power supply unit  70  is a battery for providing the necessary electric power to the afore-mentioned components.  
      In addition, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned microprocessor  413  is further provided with an operating interface. The operating interface includes a power switch  61 , a volume controller  62  and a distance adjuster  63 . The user switches on or off the guiding unit  40  by utilizing the power switch  61 , adjusts the output volume of the sound generating component  51  by utilizing the volume controller  62 , and adjusts the reading distance between the reader  41  and the electronic tag  30  by utilizing the distance adjuster  63 . The high frequency of UHF is used in the present invention, and therefore the reading distance is about a few meters.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3 , a preferred embodiment that relates to the above-mentioned electronic tag  30  embedded in a guiding brick  80  in order to assist and guide the blind. According to the construction, a cavity  801  is formed in the guiding brick  80  by using a drill, or the cavity  801  is integrally formed in the guiding brick  80  in advance. Then, a watertight gel covers and seals the electronic tag  30  in the cavity  801 . Basically, the building location of the guiding brick that is embedded with the electronic tag  30  can depend on the necessary geography, guidance information or external environment. For example, only four corners are the building locations according to a crossroads (shown in  FIG. 4 ).  
      A responsible person can update the guidance information stored in the memory chip  301  of the electronic tag  30  at any time by utilizing the data writing function of the reader  41 . The guidance information includes the correlative geography or description of the environment at the location of the guiding brick  80 , such as the name of a road or intersection, an important signpost, a direction to follow, and so on. By utilizing the reader  41  installed in the guiding stick  90 , the blind receives the information stored in the guiding bricks for safe navigation.  
      Referring to  FIG. 5 , it shows a preferred embodiment that the guiding unit  40  is installed in the guiding stick  90  for the blind, wherein the second antenna  412  is disposed around the bottom end (as close as possible) of the guiding stick  90  such that the second antenna  412  closely approaches the electronic tag  30  embedded in the guiding brick  80 . In addition, the radio frequency transceiver module  411 , the microprocessor  413 , the TTS component  50  and the power supply unit  70  can be assembled into a portable container  91 , thus a convenient wearable device. A typical connecting wire  92  connected the second antenna  412  to the radio frequency transceiver module  411  disposed in a container  91 . The connecting wire  92  has connector, such as an earphone plug  93  to connect the radio frequency transceiver module  411  of the container  91  by means of assembling and disassembling for convenience.  
      The electronic tag is a component doesn&#39;t require a battery and (excepting for damage and breakdown) can be used for a long time.  
      Data stored in the electronic tag can be repeatedly read and written to, and therefore the guidance information thereof can be updated by a responsible person if necessary.  
      The reader is a high frequency transmitting device, and therefore the receiving distance of the reader is longer than that of lower frequency devices for example infrared. Furthermore, the reception distance can be varied according to the user&#39;s requirements.  
      Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is not used to limit the invention. It is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.