AU2007203354A1 - Method Of Arranging Tactiles & Device - Google Patents

Description

Method Of Arranging Tactiles Device Field of Invention -'00 0 The present invention relates exclusively to tactile indicators that are positioned on a Vf) walking surface in order to provide tactile and/or visual indication to a blind or visually-impaired M person who walks on the surface.

The invention also relates to a method of installing such tactile indicators on the walking 5 surface.

The present invention is solely limited to the field of such tactile indicators for blind or visually-impaired people, and hence the specification and the scope of the appended claims do not cover any other type of article or method that is unrelated to such tactiles.

0 Background Tactile ground surface indicators are protrusions that are located on ground surfaces, or walking surfaces, on which blind or visually-impaired people walk. Such tactile indicator are found typically in and around buildings and stairs, or along the side kerbs of roads. These tactile indicators forewarn the blind or visually-impaired people of an upcoming obstruction or hazard which they will encounter if they continue to walk in a particular direction.

These tactile indicators are particularly needed when the environment, which surrounds the obstruction or hazard, does not provide the blind person with sufficient indication of the presence of the obstruction or hazard. For instance, in a wide-open hotel lobby, there may be no indication of the presence of stairs. Hence, tactile indicators are placed just ahead the stairs, so that visually-impaired people will be aware of the stairs ahead.

Tactile ground surface indicators can be located, for example, in the approach to steps, edges of railway platforms, traffic crossings and ramps, and so forth.

When a visually-impaired person feels the tactile indicators under his feet, or perhaps is able to see the tactile indicators using any limited vision capability, it is an indication to the visually-impaired person that the next steps should be taken with caution, because of the presence of some obstacle or potential hazard.

In Australia, for example, the shape and configuration of tactile indicators is defined by Australian Standard AS/NZS 1428.4:2002 ("the Australian Standard"), entitled "Design For 2 Access And Mobility. Part 4: Tactile Indicators". This Australian Standard defines the term "Tactile Ground Surface Indicators" as Areas of raised ground surface texture treatment, 0 designed to provide blind or vision-impaired pedestrians with warning and/or directional orientation information. This is the definition used in this specification.

It is found that the majority of people, who are regarded as blind or visually-impaired, do 0 actually possess some degree of vision. This vision, however slight, can be used to visually detect the tactile indicators.

tf These tactile indicators are often in the shape of dots on the ground surface.

en Accompanying prior art Figure 1A shows a plan view of tactile indicators 10 which are C, arranged according to a grid pattern on the ground surface 20. In the prior art, in order to create 0 5 such arrangement of dots, each of the tactile indicators is in the form of a short, discrete, disclike object, such as in prior art Figure lB. Hence, a problem with the prior art is that it takes considerable skill, care and many man-hours for a person to arrange each of those disc-like objects 10, individually, in correct alignment on the ground surface 20. It is a time-consuming process to glue each dot, one by one, to the ground-surface. Often, in one square metre, there can 0 sometimes be around 400 of these tactile indicators. Moreover, the distance between the dots is mandated by the Australian Standard, hence, the person has to take great care to maintain the prescribed dimensions. For this reason, the financial cost of installing these grids or arrangements of tactile indicators is very high, typically in the region of a thousand or more dollars to install per square metre.

It must be noted that the long time, needed to install these tactiles, is a major inconvenience. These taciles are installed in public walking surfaces, such as in public buildings, at train and bus stops, at traffic lights etc. Sometimes, when tactiles are installed at road curbs, part of the road has to be blocked, which can cause delays to traffic etc. Hence, for the duration that a workman is installing these tactiles, the public is prevented from entering that area, leading to inconvenience.

Moreover, the workperson that creates these arrangements of dots has to exercise great care or skill, and hence it is possible that some workpersons may inadvertently produce shoddy workmanship, resulting in incorrectly aligned dots, which would produce an unpleasant appearance. In short, the manual installation process-involving placement of individual tactiles, one tactile at a time-is fraught with higher costs, longer time for installation, and the possibility of shoddy workmanship in aligning the tactile dots Installation Problems 0 0The tactile indicators are usually made of metal, stainless steel, or sometimes from stone, concrete or other suitable hard material.

The tactile indicators 10 can be adhered to the ground surface 20 with an adhesive, such 0O 0 as epoxy adhesive. In prior art Figure 1B, the tactile indicators 10 are adhered to the ground surface 20 using an adhesive.

tf The use of adhesives, to fasten the tactiles 10 directly onto the ground 20, has created en several major problem in this particular industry.

First, it usually takes several hours for the adhesive to fully set, and during this setting O 5 period the individual tactiles are vulnerable to being accidentally moved out of alignment, for S instance, by being kicked by a person walking on the ground surface 20. During the adhesive drying period, such undesirable agitation can either cause the partially-adhered, individual tactiles 10 to become completely dislodged, or at least shifted away from its desired position of alignment. In the latter case, if this misalignment is not discovered in time, then, by the time the 0 adhesive has dried, the tactile 10 will have become fully adhered to the surface in the misaligned position. This would then requires further time and effort to remove and replace the misaligned tactile.

Problem of Installing Tactiles On Concrete Pavement and the like Tactiles are frequently required to be installed on concrete surfaces in public places, such as on footpaths etc. The concrete surfaces of such surfaces often have linear grooves 21, typically showing the demarcation of individual concrete slabs.

These grooves 21 in the concrete surfaces 20 pose a problem because, often, when tactiles are arranged in ordered, grid-like arrays, such as in Figure 1A, occasionally the arrangement results in parts of the ideal grid being located over a groove in the concrete.

Figure IC illustrates the problem where a tactile 10, if it were to be placed in its orderly position amidst the perfect array, would inadvertently be located over a groove 21 in the walking surface Thus far, the approach taken by installation workmen is to install tactiles on either side of the groove, thereby disrupting the ideal grid-like appearance of the arrangement. Figure 1D shows a plan view of a grid, where the right hand column of tactiles has had to be positioned on the right side of the groove 21 in the concrete surface 20. The circles 22, in dotted lines, indicate where the tactiles should have been located to maintain a perfect grid arrangement.

In addition to marring the visual appearance of the grid, this departure from the perfect S grid can often violate the installation codes or building specifications. However, the workmen 0 still proceed to install tactiles on either side of the groove 21, departing from creating a perfect grid, by reasoning that they are compelled to do so, since the presence of the groove in the concrete surface leaves them with no alternative.

0O 0 In response to this problem, another solution, which workpersons use, is to use a filler material to fill the groove in the concrete. Then, the tactile is installed on top of the filler tf) material. However, this introduces another problem, because the filler material becomes an area en of weakness, which can lift out of the groove, for example, when the tactile is kicked by a person walking on the surface. Hence, the use of a filler material is not an ideal solution.

o Installation On Non-Planar Surfaces A further problem with concrete walking surfaces, in public places, is that the surfaces are sometimes not perfectly planar. For example, a concrete ramp surface at a bus stop might 0 have surfaces that have a slight curvature, rather than being perfectly planar. This can sometimes make it impossible for the perfectly planar undersurfaces of the tactiles to be seated on the cement surface that has a slight curvature. Figure 1E shows two examples which have been exaggerated so as to clearly illustrate the problem of having to install tactiles, which have perfectly flat undersurfaces, on walking surfaces 20C that are not perfectly planar.

An object of the present invention is to overcome or ameliorate any one or more of the problems in the prior art, or alternatively to provide an improved alternative.

Summary of Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a method of providing an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, the method including: providing a sheet having an upper and a lower surface; attaching an arrangement of a plurality of tactile indicators to the sheet so as to have at least part of each of the discrete tactile indicators protruding above the upper surface of the sheet, so as to form a tactile indicator device; and fastening the lower surface of the sheet of the tactile indicator device to the walking surface, such that the protruding parts of the tactile indicators, which protrude above the upper surface of the sheet, are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface. 0 3Preferably, the sheet is a flexible sheet.

Preferably, each of the tactiles is discrete and separate from the other tactiles.

O Preferably, fastening of the lower surface of the tactile indicator device to the walking surface is achieved by use of an adhesive between the lower surface and the walking surface.

f) Preferably, the method includes using the sheet to hold part of any one or more of the Cfl discrete tactile indicators over small gaps or grooves in the walking surface.

Preferably, the tactile indicator and the sheet are made from different materials.

O 5 Preferably, the tactile indicator device is such that, prior to installation on the walking S surface material, the tactile indicator device is able to be rolled up in the manner of a rolled carpet.

Preferably, the method includes using the sheet of the tactile indicator device to hold at least part of any one or more of the discrete tactile indicators over small gaps or grooves in the 0 walking surface.

Preferably, each of the discrete tactiles on the sheet are able to be made from different colours in order to create a words, or patterns, or the like.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tactile indicator device, adapted to provide, in use, an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, wherein the device comprises: a sheet having an upper and a lower surface; and a plurality of discrete tactile indicators attached to the sheet so as to have at least part of each of the discrete tactile indicators protruding above the upper surface of the sheet.

Preferably, wherein the sheet is a flexible sheet.

Preferably, the flexible sheet is adapted, in use when attached to the walking surface, to conform to portions of the walking surface that are non-planar.

Preferably, each of the tactile indicators is provided with attachment means that enables attachment of the tactile indicator to the sheet.

Preferably, the attachment means includes a shaped portion on the tactile indicator that enables attachment thereof to the sheet.

Preferably, the attachment means includes one or more discrete portions that enable S attachment of the tactile indicator to the sheet.

0Preferably, the tactile indicator and the sheet are made from different materials.

3Preferably, the tactile indicator device is such that, prior to installation on the walking surface material, the tactile indicator device is able to be rolled up in the manner of a rolled 0O 0 carpet.

Preferably, each of the discrete tactiles on the sheet are able to be made from different t) colours in order to create a words, or patterns, or the like.

en3 en3 According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a discrete tactile O 5 indicator adapted, in use, to be attached to a flexible sheet so as to have at least part thereof S protruding above the upper surface of the sheet to form part of a tactile indicator device.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of applying discrete tactile indicators to a walking surface, the method including: attaching a 0 plurality of discrete tactiles to a sheet, and then attaching the sheet to the walking surface.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet of material with discrete tactiles attached thereto adapted to be attached to a walking surface.

Drawings In order that the invention might be more fully understood, embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1A is a prior art plan view of an array of tactile indicators.

Figure 1B shows a cross-sectional, side view of a known tactile indicators having a perfectly planar undersurface; Figure IC illustrates a problem when the location of placement of the tactile, dictated by a perfect grid array, would require a tactile to be placed on a location where there is a groove in the concrete pavement surface; Figure 1D is a plan view of an imperfectly installed array of tactiles, necessitated because of the perfect grid location overlapped a groove in the concrete walking surface, thus requiring the workman to install the tactiles to one side of the groove, thus not being able to create a perfect grid; Figure 1E illustrates another problem in the prior art when known tactiles, which have S perfectly planar undersurfaces, have to be installed on non-planar walking surfaces (the 0 S curvature of the surfaces are exaggerated in the drawing, for the sake of illustration); 3Figure 2 is a side, cross-sectional view of part of an embodiment of a tactile indicator device of the present invention; 0O 0 Figure 3 shows a plan view of a larger part of the tactile indicator device of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side, cross-sectional view of the tactile indicator device of Figure 2, shown here in use, when adhered and fastened to the ground walking-surface; Figure 5A shows a side view of a first embodiment of a tactile which is used in the tactile C, indicator device of Figures 2 to 4, shown with the tactile attached to the sheet; 0 5 Figure 5B shows a side view of the tactile of Figure 5A when it is detached from the C, sheet; Figure 6A shows a side view of a second embodiment of an alternative tactile, shown with the tactile attached to the sheet; Figure 6B shows an underside view of the tactile of Figure 6A; and 0 Figure 7 is a cross-sectional, side view of the Figure 2 to 4 when secured to a walking surface, with the tactile being positioned at least partially over and above a groove in the surface.

Australian Standard defines certain proportions for the tactile indicators, and also distance proportions between adjacent tactiles, however, the accompanying drawings are not draw precisely to these standards, and are merely for illustration.

Description Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 2 shows a side, cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a tactile indicator device, in the form of a tactile-studded sheet device The tactile-studded sheet device 50 includes a sheet 60 having an upper 70 and a lower surface A plurality of discrete tactile indicators are attached to the sheet device 50. In Figure 2, only one such tactile 100A is shown.

In Figure 2, each discrete tactile 100A has at least a part of its structure protruding above the upper surface 70 of the sheet The plan view of Figure 3 shows the sheet device 50 having an array of tactiles 100OA, arranged in a perfect, orthogonal grid. In Figure 3, for the purpose of illustration of the sheet device 50, only a few tactiles are shown fastened to the sheet 70,80, however, in practical embodiments there can be hundreds or thousands of such tactiles attached to the sheet. In the embodiment, each of the tactiles is discrete and separate from the other tactiles on the sheet.

Figure 4 shows the sheet device 50 of Figure 2, in use, adhered to a walking surface that has a curvature (the suffix C refers to "curvature"). The lower surface 80 of the sheet 60, in use, is fastened to the ground surface 0 In the embodiment of Figure 4, the sheet device 50 is fastened to the concrete surface of a pavement by use of a thin layer of adhesive 90, between the lower surface 80 of the sheet and the upper surface of the walking surface C€3 C€ Each of the plurality of tactiles 100A is attached to the sheet 60, and then the lower S surface 80 of the sheet 60 is fastened to the ground surface 20, 20C. As a result, the ground surface 20, 20C is provided with an arrangement of tactiles that can be detected by blind or S visually-impaired persons who walk on the ground surface 20, In the embodiment, the sheet 60, with hundreds or thousands of tactiles attached thereto, is able to be fastened to the walking surface 20, 20C preferably by use of an adhesive. Even though it takes some time for this adhesive to set and dry, in the meantime, the individual 0 discrete tactiles are much less vulnerable to dislodgement, because they are held in place on the sheet 60. The sheet 60 is much less easy to dislodge, compared to the prior art where individual tactiles can be kicked out of alignment by people walking on the surface.

Also, as a result of the tactile-studded sheet device 50 being fastened onto the surface of the walking surface 20, 20C, the method of installation of the present embodiment thus avoids those prior art methods that require physical alteration of the surface, such as drilling or creating holes or other such damaging alterations to the surface.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to adhere the sheet tactile-studded sheet device to the walking surface without any alteration to the surface--although the user may, of course, perform any alterations to the surface if desired.

Attaching the Tactiles To The Sheet Figure 5A shows a side view of a first embodiment of a tactile 100A that is used in the tactile-studded sheet device 50 of Figures 2 to 4.

The tactile 100A is provided with attachment means that enables attachment of the tactile 100A to the sheet The attachment means of the tactile 100A includes an upper cap 110, preferably with a circumferential, bevelled edge 120. When the tactile 100A is attached to the sheet 60, the projecting rims of the upper cap 110 prevents downward movement of the cap, because the rim of the cap 110 cannot move beyond the point where the lower edge of the cap 110, 120 abuts the S upper surface 70 of the sheet 0In addition, the attachment means of the tactile 100A includes a stem 130 which, in use, extends through the thickness of the sheet 60. The stem 130 fits into a hole in the sheet, and the stem limits the amount of lateral movement of the tactile from side to side within the sheet.

0O 0 Preferably, the cross-section of the stem 130 is of equivalent dimension to the diameter of the hole in which it fits, in order to minimise the amount of side-to-side movement of the tactile 100A when attached to the sheet. Preferably, there should be negligible side-to-side movement.

en In addition, the attachment means of the tactile 100A also includes a base circumferential C, rim 140A which projects outwardly, and which circles the lower base of the stem 130. The base o 5 rim 140A prevents upward movement, because the base rim cannot move upwards beyond the C, point where it abuts the lower surface 80 of the sheet The attachment means includes a shaped portion that enables attachment of the tactile to the sheet. The shaped portion is made up of features described above. For instance, in Figure the shape of the outer edge of the upper cap 110, 120, together with the shape of the surface of 0 the stem 130, plus the shape of the lower rim 140A, all of these three shaped regions together form a shaped portion, namely a shallow groove 150 that circles the periphery of the tactile 100OA. This groove 150 enables attachment of the tactile 100A to the sheet The shape of the shallow groove 150 is shown in Figure 5B, which shows the discrete tactile 100A when it is separate from the sheet.

In other embodiments, there can be modifications. For instance, the cross-section of the stem 130 may be in the shape of a square, triangular, octagon, or other shape. The height of the stem depends on the thickness of the sheet In other modifications, the upper surface of the tactile 100A can be modified, for example, the upper surface can be shaped like a mushroom, without a distinct bevel.

In other embodiments, in order to facilitate installation of the tactiles 100A onto the sheet, either the upper cap 110 or the lower rim 140A may be removable, for example, by a screw-thread mechanism. This would make it easier to insert the stem 130 into the hole in the sheet, achieving a tight fit, and thereafter attaching either the cap 110 or the rim 140A to secure the tactile 100A in place in the sheet In other embodiments, the tactile 100A can be pressed into the hole in the sheet where, at the instant when the tactile 100A is thus pressed, the hole in the flexible sheet 60 is deformed and slightly enlarged to allow insertion of either of the larger portions 110, 140A.

Then, once the stem is in place in the hole, the flexible sheet reforms to close around the stem.

Hence, in such embodiments, it is preferable for the material of the sheet 60 to have a degree of resilience or elasticity, such as is found in rubber and other such resilient materials. 0 0An added advantage of using materials, such as rubber, to create the flexible sheet 60 is that such materials have a natural slip resistance, which is beneficial in the context of people having to walk in the surface of the sheet 0O 0 Another Embodiment of a Tactile en3 tiFigure 6A shows a side view of a second embodiment of a tactile 100B. This modified tactile 100B is similar to the first, except that the second embodiment is provided with one or O 5 more discrete portions that enable attachment of the tactile indicator to the sheet. In Figure 6A, S the discrete portions are in the form of projecting claws 140B that point radially, outwardly away from the radial axis A-A of the tactile 100B.

In other embodiments, the attachment means can be embodied in different forms. For example, a further embodiment can include a rim that are screw-mounted onto the lower end of 0 the stem 130.

Figure 6B shows an underside view of the modified tactile 100B of Figure 6A, showing the manner in which the claws 140B point radially, outwardly away from the centre of the tactile 100B.

The invention can include other modifications of tactiles. For example, the shape of the claws 140B can be modified to being triangular, rectangular or curved. The number of such claws can vary in number.

Ease of Installation An advantage of the embodiment in Figures 2 and 3 is ease and speed of installing a large number of tactiles on the walking surface 20, 20C. Since the tactiles are attached beforehand to the sheet 60 of the sheet device 50, typically during manufacture, the amount of time needed to adhere the tactile-studded sheet device 50 to a footpath 20, for example, can be very short, and certainly far shorter that the many man-hours needed for a workman to individually install hundreds and thousands of tactiles directly onto the walking surfaces, which are often in public places.

It must be remembered that, in the prior art, a major reason why installation of tactiles on walking surfaces was such an expensive and time-consuming task, was because of the need for the workman, working on location, to carefully align the tactiles into a predetermined pattern, 11 typically a grid. In contrast, in the present embodiment of Figures 2 to 4, the alignment of the tactiles 100OA, for instance in a grid, is created perfectly during manufacture. 0 0During manufacture, holes are cut into the sheet 60. This is preferably done by a cutting machine, where the alignment of the grid of holes is achieved by automated, mechanised production processes. Thus, the ability to align the tactiles in a perfect grid or pattern is achieved 0 perfectly during manufacture through the automated cutting of the grid of holes. It therefore can avoid the need for a workman to perform the task, on site, of laboriously aligning hundreds or V thousands of individual, discrete tactiles in place on the walking surface n The method of manufacture also involves attaching the tactiles 100A to the sheet 60. This C, is carried out typically in the factory. During manufacture, an arrangement of tactiles is attached O 5 to the sheet, with at least part of each tactile protruding above the upper surface of the sheet, so C, as to form the tactile-studded sheet device Perfect alignment of the tactiles, in the grip or other required pattern, is achieved at the factory, by perfectly creating a grid of holes in a sheet, and inserting tactiles into the holes in the sheet. Thus, the quality of the process and final product is less reliant on the carefulness, or lack 0 thereof, of the individual workman who would install the tactiles. In the past, it is observed that some workman can provide shoddy workmanship, and can exhibit a lack care when aligning the tactiles on the walking surface. Hence, the prior art methods are vulnerable and are almost wholly dependent on the degree of care exhibited by the particular workman who installs the tactiles. In contrast, in the embodiment, the tactile-studded sheet device 50, of the present embodiment, assures perfect alignment of the tactiles 100A, because that alignment can be achieved in the factory, rather than at the end location.

Flexible Sheet In the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4, the sheet 60 is preferably flexible.

The embodiment is made from a suitable flexible material such as natural or synthetic rubber. Other flexible plastics or polymer materials may be used, although it is preferred that the flexible material is hard-wearing to minimize degradation caused by abrasion, since these tactiles are typically installed on surfaces where people walk on the tactiles. Hence, the sheet material 60, in use, is likely to experience a significant degree of abrasion caused by people walking on the upper surface 70 of the tactile-studded sheet device The flexibility of the sheet, in the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4, is an advantage because, if the sheet were to be inflexible, or substantially rigid, then if a workman were to flex the sheet during installation, for instance, such a rigid sheet may be more susceptible to cracking.

Prior to installation on the walking surface, in the embodiment, the tactile-studded sheet device 50 is able to be rolled up like a rolled carpet. This is particularly advantageous where 0 significantly large surface areas can be provided with tactiles, simply by unrolling a tactile-laden carpet onto the large surface. For example, some rolls of tactile-laden sheet material may have a length in the order of dozens or potentially hundreds of meters. On this scale of size of hundreds 0 of meters of tactiles on the surface, the speed of installing tens of thousands of tactiles would be exceedingly less than the time that would be required to manually and individually install tens of V4) thousands of tactiles. For instance, an entire bus stop terminus, or a train station platform, may en potentially be laid out with tactiles on the surface by applying one large roll of tactile-laden sheet material to the walking surface.

O 5 Thus, the advantage of the present embodiment is particularly evident if there is need to install a sizeable number of tactiles over large surface areas.

Another advantage of the embodiment is that the relative softness of the sheet material makes it easier to cut to size, given the relative ease of cutting the soft rubber sheet material.

Moreover, the use of a flexible or supple sheet material 60 overcomes or minimises the 0 problems inherent in more brittle, rigid materials, such as ceramic, which can be susceptible to breakage and snapping, when subjected to load, bending or torsion.

Different Materials: Tactile Sheet Before manufacture, in the embodiment, the tactiles 100A and the sheet material 60 are separate items, initially created separately, and then assembled together to form the sheet device This means that the tactiles and sheet can be, and are preferably, made from different materials, which can be individually selected to maximise the performance characteristics of each of the two components.

For example, the tactiles 100A can be made from very hard, rigid metallic or ceramic materials which resist abrasion and wear, while the sheet 60 can be made of a flexible, supple material, as mentioned.

This ability to make each component from different materials avoids having to compromise the performance characteristics of both the components-which might have been the downside, if the both tactiles and sheet were to have been formed as a single-piece, integral item, made from the same material.

For example, in an embodiment, another advantage is that the sheet material 60 can, not only adapt to non-planar surfaces, but also sharp bends 23 in the walking surface, for example in Figure 8. Such characteristics would be difficult to achieve, if both tactiles and sheet were to have been formed as a single-piece, integral item, made from the same material. This is because S the type of flexible material, for the sheet 60-if it were to possess such a degree of flexibility as shown in Figure 8-would, at the same time, likely be too soft and supple to perform adequately in the parts that perform the role of tactiles 100A.

oSimilarly, if both the sheet and the tactile portions were to be made of one hard material, 0 as one integral product, then the degree of hardness that, on one hand, benefits the tactile part of the product would, on the other hand, leave the sheet part of the product more vulnerable to cracking if the product were to be flexed, bent or subjected to bending stress.

n Another example, where the resilience of the flexible sheet material 60 is an advantage is C, where these tactiles are installed on road-side kerbs. Here, if a car were to accidentally mount the 0 5 kerb, the use of a resilient flexible material in the embodiment makes the tactile-studded sheet C, device 50 less susceptible to damage from such loads or impact.

In the embodiment, the tactiles 100A can be made of metal, stainless steel, hard plastics such as hard polyurethane, or even hard, tough ceramics.

0 Installation on Non-Planar Surfaces Another advantage of the flexibility of the sheet is the ease of installing the tactiles on a non-planar walking surface.

As mentioned above, with conventional, piece-by-piece installation of discrete tactiles, there is a difficulty in installing the tactiles on ground surfaces 20 that are non-planar, for example, surfaces that have some degree of curvature. This problem arises because each individual tactile has a perfectly flat undersurface.

In contrast, the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4 is provided with a flexible sheet 60. As seen in Figure 3, the flexible sheet 60 is able to be laid on the walking surface, such that it is able to conform to parts of the walking surface 20 that are non-planar.

By way of background, prior art Figure 1D illustrated the problem of the lower undersurface of the tactile being unable to be co-planar with the non-planar surface 20C (C refers to "curved").

In the present example of the embodiment in Figure 3, even in such instances where the perfectly-flat, lower surface 180 of the tactile 100A is not perfectly co-planar with the slightly curved ground surface 20C, the overall sheet 60, which is adhered to the surface 20, 20C, is capable, nevertheless, of holding the tactile 100A in place on the surface 20, 20C of the walking surface.

In the embodiment, the tactiles, which are attached to the sheet, are specifically designed to be discrete and individual. Even though the individual tactiles, in the embodiment, are made 0 from rigid, non-flexible material, nevertheless, the web of the sheet material 60, that connects the tactiles together, is able to flex and conform to undulations in the walking surface 20, 00 0 Spanning Gaps In The Walking Surface if As mentioned in the preamble, in relation to prior art Figure IC, there is a problem en associated with maintaining the arrangement of tactiles, strictly in conformance with a perfect C, grid pattern, when, in some positions, parts of the perfect grid overlap grooves or other surface O 5 imperfections in the walking surface, such as grooves in the concrete paving.

C, In contrast to prior art Figure IC, the diagram in Figure 7 shows how the tactile-studded sheet device 50, of the present embodiment, is adapted, in use, to span across small gaps or grooves 21 in the walking surface. The sheet device 50 is able to hold at least part or all of any one of the discrete tactiles 100A over small gaps or grooves 21 in the walking surface. This 0 allows the perfect grid to be maintained, even when that degree of grid-perfection requires one or more of the tactiles to be located over or on top of defects in the walking surface.

Colours In further embodiments, each of the different, discrete tactiles on the sheet can be made from different colours. This provides the user with an option of creating patterns, or even words, or the like, which are created from the selection of coloured tactiles to create the words or patterns. For instance, tactiles placed at a taxi stop could be arranged, in different colours, to create the word TAXI among the grid arrangement of tactiles.

In this specification, where the words comprise or comprises or derivatives thereof are used in relation to elements, integers, steps or features, this is to indicate that those elements, steps or features are present but it is not to be taken to preclude the possibility of other elements, integers, steps or features being present.

The embodiments of the invention have been described by way of example only, and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims which, as mentioned at the outset, only relate solely and exclusively to the field of tactile indicators that are provided on a surface to act as tactile and/or visual indications to a blind of visually-impaired person who walks on the surface.

Claims (24)

1. A method of providing an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, the method including: providing a sheet having an upper and a lower surface; attaching an arrangement of a plurality of tactile indicators to the sheet so as to have at Vf) least part of each of the discrete tactile indicators protruding above the upper surface of the sheet, en so as to form a tactile indicator device; and fastening the lower surface of the sheet of the tactile indicator device to the walking surface, such that the protruding parts of the tactile indicators, which protrude above the upper surface of the sheet, are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface.

2. A method of claim 1 wherein the sheet is a flexible sheet.

3. A method of claim 1 or 2 wherein each of the tactiles is discrete and separate from the other tactiles.

4. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein fastening of the lower surface of the tactile indicator device to the walking surface is achieved by use of an adhesive between the lower surface and the walking surface.

A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein the method includes using the sheet to hold part of any one or more of the discrete tactile indicators over small gaps or grooves in the walking surface.

6. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein the tactile indicator and the sheet are made from different materials.

7. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein the tactile indicator device is such that, prior to installation on the walking surface material, the tactile indicator device is able to be rolled up in the manner of a rolled carpet.

8. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein the method includes using the sheet of the tactile indicator device to hold at least part of any one or more of the discrete tactile 0 indicators over small gaps or grooves in the walking surface.

9. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein each of the discrete tactiles on the sheet are able to be made from different colours in order to create a words, or patterns, or the like. en3 e

10. A method of any one of the preceding claims wherein each of the tactile indicators is in accordance with any one of claims 11 to 19.

11. A tactile indicator device, adapted to provide, in use, an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, wherein the device comprises: a sheet having an upper and a lower surface; and a plurality of discrete tactile indicators attached to the sheet so as to have at least part of each of the discrete tactile indicators protruding above the upper surface of the sheet.

12. A device of claim 11 wherein the sheet is a flexible sheet.

13. A device of claim 11 or 12 wherein the flexible sheet is adapted, in use when attached to the walking surface, to conform to portions of the walking surface that are non-planar.

14. A device of any one of claims 11 to 14 wherein each of the tactile indicators is provided with attachment means that enables attachment of the tactile indicator to the sheet.

A device of claim 14 wherein the attachment means includes a shaped portion on the tactile indicator that enables attachment thereof to the sheet.

16. A device of either claim 14 or 15 wherein the attachment means includes one or more discrete portions that enable attachment of the tactile indicator to the sheet.

17. A device of any one of claims 11 to 16 wherein the tactile indicator and the sheet are made from different materials.

18. A device of any one of claims 11 to 17 wherein the tactile indicator device is such that, 0 prior to installation on the walking surface material, the tactile indicator device is able to be rolled up in the manner of a rolled carpet. 00

19. A device of any one of claims 11 to 18 wherein each of the discrete tactiles on the sheet are able to be made from different colours in order to create a words, or patterns, or the like. en3 e

20. A discrete tactile indicator adapted, in use, to be attached to a flexible sheet so as to have C, at least part thereof protruding above the upper surface of the sheet to form part of a tactile O indicator device.

21. A tactile indicator of claim 20 wherein the tactile indicator device is in accordance with any one of claims 11 to 19.

22. A method of applying discrete tactile indicators to a walking surface, the method including: attaching a plurality of discrete tactiles to a sheet, and then attaching the sheet to the walking surface.

23. A sheet of material with discrete tactiles attached thereto adapted to be attached to a walking surface.

24. A method of providing an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, the method substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to any one of the embodiments in the accompanying drawings, excluding prior art drawings. A tactile indicator device, adapted to provide, in use, an arrangement of tactile indicators on a walking surface material such that the tactile indicators thereon are detectable by blind or visually-impaired persons walking on the walking surface, the device substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to any one of the embodiments in the accompanying drawings, excluding prior art drawings.