WO1991000584A1 - Identification tag for the blind - Google Patents

Abstract

A plurality of different identification tags (18, 40, 60, 62, 64, and 88) have Braille characters (12, 70) embossed on a facing surface (20, 58, 76, 92) thereof to manifest certain colors or other information. In one embodiment (18, 40), both a facing (20) and rear (22) surface have different information embossed therein, such as the color of an article of clothing (28) on one facing surface (20) and a color attribute of that article of clothing (28) on the other facing surface (22). A pointed post (32) is punctured through the clothing (28) and secures the facing (20) and rear surfaces (22) together. Other tags (60, 62, 64, 88) are used for being affixed to various articles, such as canned goods (66) or shoes (94), and include embossed facing surfaces (96) to identify the color, contents or other information of the item being identified. Each of the tags (18, 40, 60, 62, 64, and 88) may be modularly constructed by injection molded plastic techniques and various modules purchased by the user are assembled by the user based on the particular need at the particular time.

Description

IDENTIFICATION TAG FOR THE BLIND

This invention relates to an identification tag for the blind, and more particularly, to such a tag having embossed Braille characters on at least one side thereof and means for affixation of the tag to an object.

A blind person requires assistance for many things as a result of the lack of sight. Simple things, like picking out the correct color of clothes or a desired prepackaged food item, can be very difficult for a blind, person unless assistance is provided. While blind people and those assisting them, have been trained to place certain objects in certain locations, this is not always possible due to space limitations or usage of the items.

It would be preferable for a blind person to be able to identify various objects used in daily life using Braille symbols affixed to a certain location on an object. In this manner, a blind person can merely feel the object at the predesignated location and determine attributes about that object sufficient to identify whether the object is the one desired. For example, a blind person can feel whether a piece of clothing is a shirt or a pair of pants, but cannot readily tell the color of that article of clothing. If a simple tag having Braille characters thereon, functioning as a designation of color, for example, could be placed at a known location on the article of clothing, the blind person would be able to easily determine the color of the article of clothing. The same is true for the can of food, or other objects which physically would seem to be identical, but which would require either assistance or a separation technique for identification to enable a blind person to determine what is contained.

In the prior art, people have placed Braille characters on various objects for specific uses or training aids for the blind. For example, in U.S. Patent 4-,404,764 in the name of Wills et al and entitled, "Message Medium Having Corresponding Optical And Tactile Messages", Braille characters are shown on greeting cards specifically designed for a blind person; in U.S. Patent 3,536,017, in the name of Lucas and entitled "Braille Finder", Braille characters have been added to the knob on a safe; in U.S. Patent 2,371,3S5, in the name of Wessborg and entitled, "Braille Teaching Device", Braille characters have been utilized in a teaching device; in U.S. Patent 2,289,717 in the name of Montgomery and entitled, "Slide Rule For The Sightless" Braille characters have been added to the face of a slide rule; in U.S. Patent 2,091,146 in the name of Hamilton and entitled, "Braille Clock", Braille characters have been added along the peripheral surface of a clock to permit a blind person to determine the time; and in U.S. Patent 1,823,130 in the name of Smith and entitled "Typewriting Machine", Braille characters have been added to the keys of a typewriter to permit a blind person to l earn to type.

While each of the above mentioned patents would indicate that Braille characters can be added to particular products for particular reasons, there does not exist any product which can be utilized over a range of objects by a blind person or a person assisting that blind person specifically to permit the identification of that product or an attribute of that product. For example, with clothing, it would be desirable to be able to purchase a series of identification mechanisms having a large number of tags for the various colors and color styles or noncolor attributes associated with the clothing articles. More specifically, a blind person may have a number of blue suits or brown dresses and each may have a different noncolor attribute, that is some may have a stripe or plaid design feature, while others may be light or dark in color. What is needed is a mass producible, and hence low cost, device which can be used with any type of clothing and which designates both the color and noncolor attributes of an article of clothing. Further, the needed device must be easily and permanently affixed to the article of clothing in a manner which is either hidden or virtually unnoticeable. Similar problems and needs also exist for other articles, whether clothing accessories, such as shoes, or for stable items, such as canned food goods. By making the identification tag with a base and embossed Braille cap as component parts, the tag identification system can be extended to a wide range of items using common modular parts.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is provided an identification device for use by a blind person to identify an article of clothing comprising a first member having Braille symbols manifesting a color embossed thereon and a second member having Braille symbols manifesting noncolor information embossed thereon. Both the first and second members have orientation structure on an edge thereof to manifest the orientation of the member relative to the embossed Braille symbols. In addition, one of the first and second members includes a pointed extension for being inserted through one part of the article of clothing and the other of the first and second members includes receiving means into which the pointed extension is inserted for holding the first and second members on both sides of the article of clothing.

Preferred embodiments of the subject invention are hereafter described, with specific reference being made to the following Figures, in which:

Figure 1 shows a clothing identification tag for the blind used in the prior art;

Figure 2 shows the face of the identification tags of the subject invention;

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the clothing type identification tag of the subject invention separated prior to affixation to clothing;

Figure 4 shows the clothing type identification tags showed in Figure 3 affixed to clothing;

Figure 5 shows one manner of positioning the clothing identification tag shown in Figures 3 and 4; Figure 6 shows an alternate embodiment of the clothing identification tag;

Figure 7 shows an identification tag of a type which can be affixed to a staple, such a can or box of food;

Figure 8 shows the manner of affixing the identification tag, shown in Figure 7, to a can of food;

Figure 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the identification tag shown in Figure 7;

Figure 10 shows another alternate embodiment of the identification tag shown in Figures 7;

Figure 11 shows an identification tag of the subject invention useful with shoes;

Figure 12 shows one manner of using the identification tag shown in Figure 11 with one type of shoe; and

Figure 13 shows another manner of using the identification tag shown in Figure 11 with a different type of shoe.

Referring now to Figure 1, a prior art clothing identification tag 10 is shown. Tag 10 is constructed of a metal material, such as stainless steel or aluminum, and includes a plurality of Braille characters 12 thereon. Tag 10 is oval shaped and significantly longer than it is wide so as to permit several Braille characters 12 to be embossed on the surface thereof. Near each narrow end of tag 10, a hole 14 is provided to permit tag 10 to be hand sewn to a garment. An pointed orientation extension 16 is positioned along the bottom long edge of tag 16 and serves to identify the bottom relative to the orientation of Braille characters 12.

Several problems exist with identification tag 10. First, the prior art identification tag 10 must be hand sewn to a particular garment and thus, is inconvenient to affix to the garment and susceptible to falling off the garment as the thread wears, due to the handling of it and/or the washing of the garment. In this respect, tag 10 is no more secure to the garment then, for example, a but ton is to a shirt or jacket. A further disadvantage of tag 10 is that, because it is a metal object, it is difficult, in many instances, to hide the object so that it cannot be seen. Further, the pointed nature of extension 16 is susceptible to catching on the cloth material of the clothing or causing potential pain to the user if the point of extension 16 contacts the skin of the user.

Referring now to Figures 2-5, one type of clothing identification tag 18 of the subject invention will now be described. Tag 18 has both a front surface 20 and a rear surface 22 and Braille characters 24 may be embossed on both front and rear surfaces 20 and 22. The characters on the front surface 20, for example, may manifest color information and the characters on rear surface 24 may manifest color or style attribute information, such as stripe, plaid, light, dark, print and the like. In using tag 18 it is desirable to place front surface 18 and rear surface 20 on opposite sides of the cloth 26 of an article of clothing, such as shirt 28 shown in Figure 5. By providing both the color information on front surface 20 and the color and style attribute information on rear surface 22, a blind person can tell, for example, that a shirt is both blue and striped or that a dress is a yellow print or a light green. As seen from Figure 2, the shape of front surface

20 and rear surface .22 is generally circular, with the exception that each surface has a portion of the arc removed to form a flat 30 along the edge thereof. The orientation of flat 30 with respect to the orientation of the Braille characters 24 is such that the bottom of the Braille characters are manifested towards the flat 30. This type of flat edge 30 can readily be felt by a blind person to determine the proper orientation of the Braille characters 24. The radius of each of front and rear surfaces 20 and 22 is sufficient to provide room for two Braille characters on each surface. Thus, the size may be quite small, in the order of a large button. These Braille characters on the front side 20 will be abbreviations of various colors, such as, YW for yellow, BR for brown, BL for blue, WT for white and so on. On rear surface 22, the abbreviations may be ST for stripes, PD for plaid, PN for plain, LT for light, DK for dark, PT for print and the like. Thus, all that a blind person would have to learn would be a few abbreviations in order to use the tag identification system of the subject invention.

In order to use tag 18, it is desirable that it be easily and quickly affixed to a piece of cloth 26 forming an article of clothing. In order to accomplish this, a post extension 32, with a pointed tip remote from front surface 20, extends from the underside of front surface 20 and a corresponding receptacle 34 is fabricated on the underside of rear surface 22. In addition, post extension 32 includes one or more tines 36 or other similar type extensions extending outward from the post thereof. Receptacle 34 correspondingly includes a tine holder 38, which may bend inward to permit the tines 36 to enter receptacle 34 and then return to the position shown in Figures 3 and 4 to hold post 32 in position.

When it is desired to utilize tag 18, the pointed post extension 32 is forced through cloth 26 forming a slight hole therein. Then, the receptacle 34 is inserted over post 32 until post 32 is fully inserted into receptacle 34 held in place by the tines 36 being inserted behind the tine holder 38. This configuration is shown in Figure 4.

Preferably, identification tag 18 will be made of injection molded clear or transparent plastic material, so that when it is placed on an article of clothing 28, as seen in Figure 5, the transparent material will blend into the garment 28 so as not to be seen. Where possible, such as with a shirt 28, identification tag 18 may be placed in a position which is hidden, such as at the bottom of the shirt, which typically would be tucked into the pants. In other circumstances, this would not be possible, such as, with a dress and the transparent nature of the plastic material forming tag 18 would permit tag 18 to blend in so as not to be easily seen.

Referring now to Figure 6, an alternate embodiment is shown for a clothing identification tag 40 constructed somewhat differently than identification tag 18. In identification tag 40, two or more concentric ridges 44 are formed around post 42 and receptacle 46 has formed therein corresponding flange like extensions 48 for holding ridges 44 firmly affixed therein when post 42 is inserted in receptacle 46. The flange extensions 48 in receptacle 46 may be slanted towards rear surface 52 and may bend to permit extensions 42 to pass. Another difference is that each of the front pieces 50 and rear pieces 52, are modular, that is, they include a front base element 54 and a back base element 56. An embossed face plate 58 having the Braille characters embossed thereon may be snap locked to the base plates. This type of design permits mass production because only three different elements need be made and the various embossed characters may be made using simple inserts to the mold.

Identification tag 40 may be affixed to an article of clothing, such as shirt 28 shown in Figure 5, in the same manner as described above with respect to identification tag 18. As noted above, each of the embossed face plates 58 may be prefabricated with one of the color or color attribute information abbreviations thereon. In this manner, the base elements 54 and 56 may be purchase as needed and the various elements combine as necessary by the blind person's assistant. By providing mass producible component parts, the cost of using the identification tag 40 will be greatly reduced, thereby making these type of tags cost efficient much more cost efficient compared to the prior art tags as shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to Figures 7-10, three container type identification tags 60, 62 and 64 are shown and described which may be utilized on, for example, food container items, such as a can 66 conventionally holding a food item. These identification tags can also be used on jars, boxes, or other packages for food as well.

Because food containing can 66 is typically made of steel, a magnetic identification label 60 may be effectively utilized thereon. Tag 60 may include a magnet 68 inserted on the bottom end thereof opposite to the Braille characters 70 or may be fabricated of the material, such as magnetic rubber, having characters 70 embossed thereon. The thickness of tag 60 should be selected to fit on the top 72 of can 66 so that it does not interfere with stacking another similar type can on top of can 66. In other words, the thickness of tag 60 should be less than twice the depth formed by the lip 74 around the top 70 of can 66 and preferably should be approximately the same thickness as the depth of lip 74.

An alternate embodiment of a container tag 62 for use with an item, such as can 66, is shown in Figure 9 and includes an upper embossed element 76 which may be paper embossed with Braille characters. On the surface opposite to the embossed characters is an adhesive layer 78 covered by a covering paper 80, such as wax paper. Paper 80 may be removed and the adhesive layer 78 affixed to the top of can 66 is shown in Figure 8. While container tag 62 is less expensive than container tag 60, it is limited to use a single time, whereas tag 60 may be used many times.

Still another alternate embodiment of a tag useful with a container is shown in Figure 10. In this instance, a hook and loop fastener, such as the Velcro brand hook and loop material, is utilized to attach the identification tag 64. In this instance, a reusable upper portion including an embossed layer 82 affixed to a hook layer 84 of the hook and loop fastener is adapted to be attached to a loop base layer 86. Base 86 may be attached to can 66 using the removable paper adhesive shown in Figure 9 and the upper portion 82 may be removed after the can is to be utilized and reused. In this instance, it is only necessary for a per son to resupply the base portion 86. This type of an identification tag is particularly useful with containers which may contain various different items at different times.

Referring now to Figures 11, 12 and 13 a shoe type identification tag 88 is shown, which may be used for identifying the color of shoes. The front of tag 88 is similar in construction to the front piece 50 shown in Figure 6, and is adapted to being secured to the heel 90 of a shoe 92 where the shoe 90 has a raised heel, such as shown in Figure 12. Tag 88 may be inserted against the heel beneath the sole of the shoe 92. Some shoes do not have a raised heel; for example, a tennis shoe 94, shown in Figure 13 has a generally flat sole and tag 88 may be then affixed to the outside of the heel, as seen in Figure 13.

Identification tag 88 includes an embossed face 96 having Braille characters embossed from one surface thereof. The other side of tag 88 is an extension 98 having a deformation 100 thereon, such as threads, nipple like protrusions or other slight extensions or indentations formed along the peripheral surface of extension 98. In this manner, tag 88 may either be screwed into heel 90 or may be pushed therein similar to the manner in which a thumbtack is depressed into a hard object.

As noted from all of the various identification tags described above, each is susceptible to mass production by injection molded plastic techniques or other similar techniques. Further, each of the identification tags described above is susceptible to modular construction so that individual component bases and embossed caps may be massed produced and quickly assembled in the home by a blind person's assistant to mark various types of clothing or other articles. Such mass production techniques will reduce the cost of using the identification tags described herein to a point where they can be affordable items to assist a blind person.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An identification device (18 or 40) for use by a blind person to identify an article of clothing (2B) characterized by a first member (20, 50) having braille symbols (24) manifesting a color embossed thereon and a second member (22, 52) having braille symbols (24) manifesting noncolor information embossed thereon; both said first (20, 50) and second (22, 52) members having orientation structure (30) on an edge thereof to manifest an orientation of said member (20, 22, 50, 52) relative to said embossed braille symbols (24); one (20, 50) of said first and second members including a pointed extension (32, 42) for being inserted through one part of said article of clothing (28); and the other (22, 52) of said first and second members including receiving means (34, 46) into which said pointed extension (32, 42) is inserted for holding said first (20, 50) and second (22, 52) members on both sides of said article of clothing (28).

2. The invention according to claim 1 characterized by said first and second members (20, 22, 50, 52) having a round periphery, except where said orientation structure

(30) is positioned, said orientation structure (30) being a straight edge on said periphery of said members (20, 22, 50, 52).

3. The invention according to claim 1 characterized in that said pointed extension (32, 42) includes catch means (36, 44) and is inserted into and held by said receiving means (34, 46) in a snap lock manner.

4. The invention according to claim 1, 2, or 3 characterized in that said first and second members (20, 22, 50, 52) are fabricated of transparent material.

5. The invention according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterized in that said noncolor information includes information which further defines the appearance of said article of clothing (28).

6. The invention according to claim 5 characterized in that said first and second members (20, 22, 50, 52) are fabricated of transparent material.

7. The invention according to claim 5 characterized in that said noncolor information includes the type of color.

8. The invention according to claim 5 characterized in that said noncolor information includes the type of pattern of said article of clothing (28).

9. The invention according to claim 2 characterized in that said pointed extension pointed extension (32, 42) includes catch means (36, 44) and is inserted into and held by said receiving means (34, 46) in a snap lock manner.

10. The invention according to claim 8 characterized in that said first and second members (20, 22, 50, 52) are fabricated of transparent material.