Patent Publication Number: US-9424759-B2

Title: Braille display device and method of constructing same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to co-pending application Ser. No. 13/407,364 filed on Feb. 28, 2012, and entitled “Braille Display Device and Method of Constructing Same,” which is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of priority to application Ser. No. 12/856,253 filed on Aug. 13, 2010, and entitled “Electromechanical Tactile Braille Cell Assembly,” Now U.S. Pat. No. 8,177,558, issued May 15, 2012, which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to application Ser. No. 12/189,449 filed on Aug. 11, 2008, and entitled “Electromechanical Tactile Braille Cell Assembly”, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,797, issued Aug. 17, 2010, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 10/711,423 filed on Sep. 17, 2004, and entitled “Electromechanical Tactile Cell Assembly”, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,410,359, issued Aug. 12, 2008, which claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 60/481,979 filed on Jan. 30, 2004, and entitled “Electromechanical Braille Cell and Braille Cell Assembly.” The contents of all the foregoing applications are fully incorporated herein for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a Braille display device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a refreshable display device employing a construction that is easily manufactured, repaired, and/or serviced. 
     2. Description of the Background Art 
     A Braille display is an electromechanical device that connects to a computer by way of a wired or wireless connection. The display consists of a line of tactile cells. Typical displays include 20, 40, or even 80 cells. Each cell, in turn, contains six or eight tactile pins that move up and down in response to electrical voltage. The tactile pins can be driven by mechanical, electromechanical, piezoelectric, pneumatic, or magnetic effects. When in the raised position, the pins extend above a tactile surface and can be felt by a user. By raising certain pins and keeping others below the tactile surface, individual Braille characters can be generated. The series of cells together represent a line of text. After a line has been read the user can refresh the display to allow for additional lines to be presented and read. Braille displays are often combined with other hardware and software to make up an integrated unit. For instance Braille displays are connected in place of video monitors to serve as the display unit, and many units incorporate speech output of the screen prompts. In this regard, computer software is employed to convert a visual image in a screen buffer of the computer into text to be displayed on the Braille display. 
     Electromechanical tactile cells for use in refreshable Braille displays and graphical tactile displays are known in the art. An exemplary tactile cell as known in the art consists of eight piezoelectric reed elements corresponding to eight tactile pins. The necessary electrical connections and driving forces are provided to actuate the reeds, thereby causing the tactile pins to protrude above a tactile surface to allow the Braille character or graphic element to be displayed. The Braille cells known in the art have not been designed for manufacturability and ease of repair and replacement. 
     The present state of the art employs piezoelectric bimorph reeds to drive the tactile pins. The bimorph reeds have a common center conductor positioned between two piezoelectric transducers. A simple circuit drives the center conductor and fixes the outer conductor. This arrangement additionally requires that special metallic plating be applied to the outer piezoceramic contacts to enable soldering of the leads to the printed circuit board. 
     The need for such special metallic plating and individual attachment of the leads increases the manufacturing costs associated with each Braille cell. Current technology requires the use of sixteen hand-soldered leads, requiring thirty two hand-soldered solder joints to establish the electrical connections for each Braille cell in the display. Precise positioning of the reeds is necessary to ensure that the tactile pins extend a definite distance beyond the tactile surface upon actuation of the reed and fully retract below the surface upon request. This precise positioning and alignment of the reeds with the upward trajectory of the tactile pins proves to be very difficult with hand-soldering manufacturing techniques. Additionally, replacement of the reeds for repair of the Braille cell is complicated due to the large number of hand-soldered leads employed in the design. 
     Prior art Braille cells employ one individual tactile pin cap per individual Braille cell. The tactile pin cap serves to position and align the pins, and provides the cursor control buttons. The Braille cells and associated tactile pins caps positioned adjacent to each other establish the tactile surface. The use of individual cell caps for each Braille cell increases the manufacturing cost and the cost of materials. Additional stabilizers are necessary to position and align the individual cell caps. Strict tolerances are required to provide an acceptable tactile feel for the reader. The reader is sensitive to the separation that is inherent between each cell with this design. This unevenness between each cell plagues all Braille displays known in the prior art. To tactile users, the tactility of the grooves and cell-to-cell unevenness is comparative to the noise or flicker on a computer monitor experienced by a visual user. Additionally, maintenance and replacement of the individual tactile pins is often necessary. Contaminants that build up on the pins must be removed or the pins must be replaced upon excessive wear. 
     Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved electromechanical tactile cell for use in a refreshable Braille display. Improvements in manufacturability and repair are necessary in addition to enhancements in the tactile experience of the user. There is a need for an improved means for securing the piezoelectric reeds to the printed circuit board and establishing the necessary electrical connections. There is additionally a need for an improved alignment procedure for the individual cells that enhances the user interface and allows for easy maintenance of the tactile pins. 
     However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this field that the identified improvements should be made nor would it have been obvious as to how to make the improvements if the need for such improvements had been perceived. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One of the advantages afforded by the present Braille display is that it can be made in a very small form factor thereby permitting the display to be transportable and hand held. 
     Another advantage of the disclosed display is that it can be constructed with minimal labor thereby minimizing manufacturing time and costs. 
     Yet another advantage is realized by constructing a Braille cell assembly with the aid of an alignment guide, whereby contacts associated with the cell assembly can be quickly and properly oriented upon a printed circuit board. 
     A further advantage is achieved by providing housings to hold a series of Braille pins, thereby allowing the pins to be easily installed and removed from the Braille display for replacement and/or repair. 
     The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the Braille display of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1A  is a cross-section of the Braille display taken along Line  1 A- 1 A of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed view of the Braille display with the upper cover removed. 
         FIG. 3  is a detailed view of the inside of the upper cover of the Braille display. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a four cell mounting block for housing the tactile pins associated with the Braille display. 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of a six cell mounting block for housing the tactile pins associated with the Braille display. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the mounting block of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a Braille cell assembly interconnected to a backplane board. 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of a Braille cell assembly. 
         FIG. 8  is a top perspective view of the Braille cell assembly of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a series of contacts mounted to an alignment guide. 
         FIG. 9A  is a perspective view of the alignment guide being registered with a printed circuit board. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the contacts removed from the alignment guide. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 PARTS LIST 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 20 
                 Display 
               
               
                 22 
                 Power Port 
               
               
                 24 
                 USB Port 
               
               
                 26 
                 Braille Cells 
               
               
                 28 
                 Cursor Router Buttons 
               
               
                 34 
                 Rocker Key 
               
               
                 36 
                 Push Button 
               
               
                 38 
                 Braille Keys 
               
               
                     38(a) 
                 Outer Braille Keys 
               
               
                     38(b) 
                 Inner Braille Keys 
               
               
                 42 
                 Space Bar 
               
               
                 44 
                 Selector Buttons 
               
               
                 46 
                 Rocker Bars 
               
               
                 48 
                 Panning Buttons 
               
               
                 52 
                 Housing 
               
               
                 54 
                 Upper Cover 
               
               
                 56 
                 Lower Tray 
               
               
                 58 
                 Openings in Upper Cover 
               
               
                 62 
                 Backplane Board 
               
               
                 64 
                 Braille Cell Assemblies 
               
               
                 66 
                 Tactile Pins 
               
               
                 68 
                 Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 
               
               
                 72 
                 Bimorph Reeds 
               
               
                 74 
                 Mounting Block 
               
               
                 76 
                 Housing of Mounting Block 
               
               
                     76(a) 
                 Locking Feature on Mounting Block 
               
               
                 78 
                 Depending Forward Edge of Block 
               
               
                 82 
                 Channel in Upper Cover 
               
               
                 84 
                 Walls with Upper Cover 
               
               
                     84(a) 
                 Locking Feature on Walls 
               
               
                 86 
                 Rounded Upper Extent of Pins 
               
               
                 88 
                 Collar 
               
               
                 92 
                 Plate 
               
               
                 94 
                 Female Electrical Connector 
               
               
                 98 
                 Male connector on Backplane Board 
               
               
                 104  
                 Stops on PCB 
               
               
                 106  
                 Contacts 
               
               
                 108  
                 Base of Contact 
               
               
                 112  
                 Support Arm of Contact 
               
               
                 114  
                 Biasing Arm of Contact 
               
               
                 116  
                 Fulcrum Point 
               
               
                 118  
                 Alignment Guide 
               
               
                 122  
                 1 st  Surface 
               
               
                 124  
                 2 nd  Surface 
               
               
                 126  
                 Alignment Tabs 
               
               
                 128  
                 Alignment Apertures 
               
               
                 132  
                 Peripheral edge 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present disclosure relates to a Braille display. The display supports an array of individual Braille cells with corresponding tactile pins. A Braille cell assembly controls the operation of each cell. The cell assembly includes a number of reeds that are attached to a printed circuit board (PCB) via electrical contacts. The reeds function to selectively lift tactile pins that generate Braille characters that can be felt by the user. The tactile pins associated with a series of cells are housed together in modular blocks. The Braille characters generated by the display correspond to visible characters, such as characters on a computer screen. The display is refreshable to allow for the sequential display of lines, paragraphs, or pages. In accordance with the disclosure, the display is constructed in a manner that minimizes labor and manufacturing costs and that permits the size of the display to be greatly reduced. The various components of the present invention, and the manner in which they interrelate, are described in greater detail hereinafter. 
     Braille Display Device 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a Braille display  20  manufactured in accordance with the present disclosure. The side of display  20  includes a power button and a power port  22  for coupling display  20  to a conventional wall outlet. Alternatively, display  20  can be battery powered. A micro B USB port  24  is also included for coupling display  20  to a device such as a computer. Display  20  can alternatively be coupled via a wireless connection, such as Bluetooth®. 
     Refreshable Braille cells  26  are aligned across the front of display  20 . In the depicted embodiment, display  20  includes a row of 40 Braille cells with 320 individual tactile pins. Displays utilizing other cell arrangements, such as 20 or 80 cells, are within the scope of the invention. It is also within the scope of the invention to use a portable 14 cell arrangement. The cells  26  extend across a monolithic surface. As a result, there are no spaces or gaps between adjacent cells  26  of display  20 . A cursor routing button  28  is associated with and located above each Braille cell  26 . For sake of clarity, not all cells  26  and buttons  28  have been labeled with reference numerals. Cursor routing buttons  28  are used to move the cursor to a particular point or to select text. These serve as function keys or panning buttons. At either end of the display are a rocker key  34  and push button  36 . Rocker key  34  is used to scroll up or down through the text being displayed. Push button  36  is a toggle control that selects whether the rocker key scrolls  34  through lines, paragraphs or pages of material. Display  20  can be programmed by the user to determine the scroll rate and the sensitivity of rocker keys  34 . 
     A series of keys  38  are also aligned along the back of display  20 . These include six inner keys  38 ( b ) and two outer keys  38 ( a ). In the depicted embodiment, keys  38  are Braille keys and are similar to those found on a conventional Perkins style keyboard. Keys  38  are angled inwardly towards the center line of the display to conform to the natural placement of a user&#39;s fingers. The space between the keys is not uniform. Namely, the two outer keys  38 ( a ) are spaced further apart than the inner keys  38 ( b ). The outer keys  38 ( a ) are spaced further away to accommodate the natural extension and placement of a user&#39;s pinkey. A space key  42  is also centrally located adjacent the front edge of display  20  and is accessible via the user&#39;s thumbs. 
     The front surface of display  20  also contains selector buttons  44  that control an auto advance feature. Also included are rocker bars  46  for controlling upward and downward movement of the lines being displayed by Braille cells  26 . Panning buttons  48  are also included that allow for panning left or right one display width. Display  20  includes an outer housing  52  formed from an upper cover  54  and a lower tray  56 . Upper cover  54  and lower tray  56  can be injected molded from an impact resistant plastic. The upper cover and lower tray ( 54  and  56 ) are releasably joined together, such as by screws or other mechanical fasteners (not shown). As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , upper cover  54  includes openings  58  to accept tactile pins and keys associated with the display.  FIG. 3  is an illustration of upper cover  54  in an inverted or upside down configuration so as to display features on the inner surface of cover  54 . 
     A backplane board  62  is secured within the interior of housing  52  (note  FIG. 6 ). As is known in the art, a series of Braille cell assemblies  64  are interconnected to backplane board  62 . For sake of clarity,  FIG. 6  only shows only cell assembly  64 , but a series would be included in a complete display  20 . Backplane board  62  includes an integrated motherboard. An example of a Braille cell assemblies being secured to a backplane board is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,410,359 to Murphy et al. The contents of the &#39;359 patent are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. Each Braille cell assembly  64  (note  FIG. 6 ) corresponds to an individual Braille cell  26  and supports a corresponding number of either six or eight tactile pins  66 . More specifically, each cell assembly  64  includes a printed circuit board (PCB)  68  to which six or eight bimorph reeds  72  are secured. In the preferred embodiment, eight reeds  72  are included, with four reeds  72  being removably fastened to each side of PCB  68 . The lower extent of each tactile pin  66  contacts the distal end of a corresponding reed  72 . As explained in more detail hereinafter, an individual tactile pin  66  can be selectively raised by applying a voltage to the corresponding reed  72 . The applied voltage creates a bending moment in the corresponding reed  72  which, in turn, flexes the distal end of reed  72  upwardly to lift an associated pin  66 . 
     Reeds  72  are preferably parallel polled bimorphs. As is well known in the art, bimorphs are flexure elements that consist of two expander plates bonded to a metal vane. The polarization of the plates causes one plate to expand and the other to contract upon the application of a voltage. This, in turn, causes the bimorph to bend. Bimorphs can either be series polled or parallel polled. In a series polled bimorph, the plates are polarized in the same direction with respect to the vane. In a parallel polled bimorph, the plates are polarized in opposite directions with respect to the center vane. In the series type bimorphs, electrical connections are made to the two outer plates (via electrodes) and no connection is made to the center vane. In the parallel type bimorphs, one electrical lead goes to the center vane and the other lead goes to the two outer plates (via electrodes). Examples of series and parallel polled bimorphs are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,367,806 to Murphy et al. Contents of the &#39;806 patent are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. Although either parallel or series polled bimorphs can be employed in connection with the present disclosure, parallel polled bimorphs are preferred. 
     Modular Mounting Blocks 
     In accordance with the present disclosure, tactile pins  66  are held in groups via a mounting block  74 . Each mounting block includes a housing  76  with an array of apertures. Blocks  74  can support pins  66  in either four or six cell arrangements.  FIG. 4  illustrates a four cell mounting block  74 ;  FIG. 4A  illustrates a six cell mounting block  74 . Each block  74  further includes a depending forward edge  78 . Depending forward edge  78  is received within a channel positioned within the lower tray  56  of housing  52  (note  FIG. 1A ). As best illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the inside surface of upper cover  54  includes a channel  82  formed from two opposing walls  84 . Walls  84  are adapted to receive a block  74  in a friction-type fit. To accomplish this, walls  84  include locking features  84 ( a ) (which may be male features) that snap fit into corresponding locking features  76 ( a ) (which may be female features) within housing  76  (note  FIG. 1A ). Walls  84  span the length of upper cover  54 . Thus, a series of different blocks  74  can be snap fit into the length of channel  82 . For example, for the 40 cell display depicted in  FIG. 1 , a series of ten, four cell blocks  74  can be snapped into channel  82 . 
     During assembly, mounting blocks  74  can be initially held within upper cover  54  and thereafter inserted into the forward edge of lower tray  56 . Once positioned, the lower extent of each pin  66  contacts the reed  72  of an associated cell assembly  64 . Different configurations of mounting blocks  74  can be utilized depending upon the size of display  20 . For instance, for a portable display utilizing 14 total Braille cells, one six cell block and two four cell blocks can be utilized. In a display using 20 Braille cells, two six cell blocks and two four cell blocks can be utilized. Still yet other arrangements can be used for different sized displays. One benefit of encasing the tactile pins  66  in modular groups via blocks  74  is that it creates a more serviceable product. In prior art units, pins  66  would become loose and scatter when removing the cover. Modular arrangements of pins also eliminates tolerance stack up across the length of the display. By providing the blocks  74  in four and six cell arrangements, a variety of sized displays  20  can be created. 
     As best illustrated in the exploded view of  FIG. 5 , each of the tactile pins  66  includes a rounded upper extent  86  that is adapted to be extended above cover  54  and felt by the user. A collar  88  is also included about each pin along its length. A plate  92  is secured over top of each mounting block  74  via a snap fit connection (note  FIG. 5 ). Plate  92  includes apertures that are sized to accommodate the upper extent  86  of pins  66  but that are smaller than collars  88 . Thus, plates  92  function in limiting the upward travel of pins  66 . Plate  92  is particularly useful during the assembly process. Namely, after installing blocks  74  into channel  82  of upper cover  54 , pins  66  may be inverted as cover  54  is mated with lower tray  56 . 
     Braille Cell Assemblies 
     The Braille cell assemblies  64  are described next. Each cell assembly  64  includes a PCB that is removably and electronically coupled to backplane board  62 . When secured, PCB&#39;s  68  are perpendicular to backplane board  62 . The total number of cell assemblies  64  involved will correspond to the number of Braille cells  26  contained within display  20 . Each PCB includes a female electrical connector  94  at its proximal end. This female electrical connector  94  is adapted to be coupled to a corresponding male connector  98  on the backplane board  62 . PCBs  68  can be removed and replaced as needed. Each PCB  68  also includes a series of stops  104  along the intermediate extent (note  FIG. 7 ). The function of stops  104  is described in greater detail hereinafter. 
     A series of bimorph reeds  72  are interconnected to either side of the PCB  68  by way of electrical contacts  106 . More specifically, four reeds  72  are connected to each side of PCB  68 . The distal end of each reed  72  is positioned beneath a corresponding tactile pin  66  (note  FIG. 1A ). Upon the application of a voltage, an individual reed  72  applies the upward force necessary to expose a corresponding pin  66  through upper housing  54 . Each PCB  68  controls the operation of an individual Braille cell  26 . Each of the contacts  106  includes a base portion  108 , a support arm  112 , and a biasing arm  114 . Base portion  108  can include a series of apertures to decrease the weight of the contact. Each base  108  is adapted to be soldered to a PCB  68  using any of a variety of well known soldering techniques. When installed, support arm  112  of contact  106  is perpendicular to the face of PCB  68  and parallel to the backplane board  62 . Additionally, biasing arm  114  is angled at approximately a 45° angle relative to support arm  112 . Contacts  106  are preferably mounted in a staggered or stairstep arrangement. Namely, with reference to  FIG. 7 , the uppermost contact  106  is closest to the proximal end of PCB  68  and the lowermost contact  106  is closest to the distal end of PCB  68 . When installed, reeds  72  have a similar staggered configuration. The staggered arrangement of reeds  72  allows the pins  66  to be aligned in rows. Each row of the Braille cell  26  corresponds to one side of the PCB  68 . 
     When soldered in place, contacts  106  are separated from one another and are electrically insulated. Adjacent contacts  106  form a fulcrum point  116  for an associated bimorph reed  72 . As indicated in  FIG. 7 , each of these fulcrum points  116  is created between the biasing arm  114  of an upper contact  106  and the support arm  112  of a lower and adjacent contact  106 . When so arranged, biasing arm  114  forms an electrical contact with an electrode on the upper surface of reed  72  and support arm  112  of the immediately adjacent contact  106  forms an electrical contact with an electrode on the lower surface of reed  72 . Reed  72  is configured to bend about this fulcrum point  116  upon application of a voltage to upper and lower contacts  106 . Each of the bimorph reeds  72  is adapted to be inserted into one of these fulcrum points  116 . The intermediate extent of the bimorph  72  is then placed adjacent to a corresponding stop  104 . Stop  104  functions in limiting the downward bending moment of reed  72  and otherwise prevents interference between adjacent reeds  72 . Stops  104  thereby permit reeds  72  to be more closely positioned and allows for much tighter tolerances. 
     Once installed, the electrical connectors ( 94  and  98 ) provide voltage to the corresponding PCB  68  and allow voltage of opposite polarity to be delivered to the contacts  106  on PCB  68 . Namely, a negative voltage is applied to a first series of contacts  106  and a positive voltage is applied to a second series of contacts  106 . Thus, for example, a positive voltage may be applied to the upper most contact  106  while a negative voltage is applied to the adjacent and lower contact  106 . Adjacent contacts  106  are exposed to voltages of opposite polarity. This, in turn, allows opposite polarity voltage to be applied to the upper and lower surfaces of an individual reed  72 . Namely, biasing arm  114  can apply a positive voltage to the upper surface of reed  72  while the lower support arm  112  of an adjacent contact  106  applies a negative voltage to the lower surface of the same reed  72 . By applying the voltage in this manner, each bimorph reed  72  can be bent upon application of opposite polarity voltage. As a result, a corresponding tactile pin  66  is lifted. The pin  66  is lowered when the voltage is removed. 
     Method of Installing Contacts 
     The present disclosure also relates to an improved method for installing the electrical contacts  106  upon a PCB  68 . The method utilizes an alignment guide  118  for orienting a series of contacts  106  upon PCB  68 . Alignment guide  118  includes first and second surfaces ( 122  and  124 ) that are angled with respect to each other. In the depicted embodiment, the first and second surfaces ( 122  and  124 ) are at a right angle to each other. Alignment tabs  126  are formed at either end of second surface  124 . Alignment tabs  126  are dimensioned to fit into corresponding apertures  128  present on PCB  68 . The series of contacts  106  are releasably secured to a peripheral edge  132  of the second surface  124  of guide  118 . Contacts  106  are preferably connected to the second surface  124  via a score line. The score line is frangible and allows the contacts  106  to be separated by bending alignment guide  118  after contacts  106  have been soldered to PCB  68 . In the depicted and preferred embodiment, a series of five contacts  106  are secured to the second surface  124  of alignment guide  118 . 
     The installation method involves positioning the alignment guide  118  with the attached contacts  106  upon the PCB  68 . As best illustrated in  FIG. 9A , this is accomplished by inserting the tabs  126  on guide  118  into the alignment apertures  128  of PCB  68 . With the alignment guide  118  so positioned, the series of contacts  106  are properly aligned and spaced upon PCB  68  and are ready to receive reeds  72  between adjacent contacts  106 . Base portion  108  of each contact  106  is adapted to rest against the surface of PCB  68 . This also places each of the contacts  106  in a staggered relationship to each other. Namely, with reference to  FIG. 7 , the uppermost contact  106  is closest to the rearward edge of PCB  68  and the lowermost contact  106  is closest to the forward edge of PCB  68 . This arrangement allows the bimorph reeds  72  to be similarly arranged in a staggered—or stairstep—fashion. 
     Once the contacts  106  have been properly positioned via the alignment guide  118  (and tabs  126  and apertures  128 ), they are ready to be affixed to PCB  68 . In the preferred embodiment, the base  108  of each contact  106  is soldered into place. This can be done via a conventional soldering iron. Other known soldering techniques can be employed, such as wave soldering or reflow soldering. In the preferred embodiment, an infrared (“IR”) reflow solder process is employed. Regardless of the technique employed, an electrical contact is formed between the base  108  of each contact  106  and an underlying circuit upon PCB  68 . 
     When properly oriented (as in  FIG. 7 ), the support and biasing arms ( 112  and  114 ) of each contact  106  are perpendicular to the face of PCB  68 . Additionally, the biasing arm  114  is oriented at approximately a 45° angle to the interconnected support arm  112 . A space is created between the lower extent of a biasing arm  114  and the support arm  112  of an adjacent contact  106 . This space is the fulcrum point  116  into which a bimorph reed  72  is inserted. As noted, in the preferred embodiment, five different contacts  106  are secured to each side of PCB  68 . This results in the formation of four fulcrum points  116  between the adjacent contacts  106 . As illustrated, the biasing arm  114  of the lowermost contact can be eliminated. Likewise, the support arm  112  of the uppermost contact, while present, is unused. 
     Once the contacts  106  are soldered, the alignment guide  118  can be removed. This is achieved by bending the alignment guide  118  with respect to the soldered contacts  106 . The user preferably uses the first surface  122  of the guide  118  as a handle to bend the guide  118  back and forth until the score line is broken. Once the score line is broken, the soldered contacts  106  are separated from alignment guide  118 . The alignment guide  118  can thereafter be disposed. A new alignment guide  118  can then be used to align and solder another series of five contacts  106  to the opposite side of PCB  68 . After the contacts  106  are secured to each side of PCB  68 , the bimorph reeds  72  can be inserted into the corresponding fulcrum points  116 . This process is the repeated for each Braille cell assembly  64  of the display  20 . 
     The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.