Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BAC~GR:OUNI:~ OF: l'HE: IN~lh'NTI~N
One of the impo.rtant problems facing the
visually handicapped person, is his inability to.see and
appreciate color and to di.stinguish one color from another.
This means, for instance, that he is unable to appreciate
some of the great paintings of the world. Even when a
painting is reproduced with the major dividing lines
appearing as raised lines,.it is impossible for the
blind person to appreciate in any way the.variatians and
shades of. color. Because color is so much part of the
sighted persons world, many articles depend on color not
~O only for aesthetic appearance (as.in the case of a
painting), but also for warning and instructions.as
in the case of a dir.ectional light.at a.street.inter.section.
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Even the color-blind person has the difficulty that, in
the case of signals, he cannot distinguish one color from
another. In the case of paintings and the like, he can
see outlines, but he has no way of visualizing color contrast;
even in selecting his clothing he has no way of matching
clothing and accessories. These and other difficulties
experienced in the prior art have been obviated in a novel
manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the
invention to provide a device that will permit visually
handi~apped persons to sense the meaning, distribution,
and quality of color.
Another objeet of this invention i5 the provision
of a device bearing indieia whieh ean be sensed by a eolor
pereeptive person and also carries a coding which ean be
sensed by a non-eolor pereeptive person.
A further objeet of the present invention is the
provision of a method of eoding articles so that they not
only bear discrete colors in various areas, but so that
~0 these areas ean be sensed by toueh and distinguished from
one another.
It is another objeet of the instant invention to
provide a method of eoding eolored bbjeets so that they
are eapable of being sensed by feel, the method allowing
~S the eonstruetion of sueh a deviee which is simple in con-
struetion, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which
is eapable of a long life of useful service with a minimum
of maintenanee.
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A still further object of the invention is the
provision of a device having portions which are distin-
guishable by touch, so that persons who have been blind
throughout their entire lives and who have never seen
color can, nevertheless, receive some impression of the
nature of color.
It is a further object of the invention to
provide a system of color-coding that can be used every-
where that the color is important to act as a standard
color code for visually handicapped persons.
It is a still further bbject of the invention
to provide an apparatus having an indicator chan~eable
to a plurality of visually-distinguishable modes and a
device operative to present a plurality of portions in
1~ synchronization with the indicator, which portions are
coded to be distinguishable by touch.
With these and other objects in view, as will
be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention
resides in the combination of parts set forth in the
specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.
''S'UMMA;~Y OF :TE~ INVENTI~N
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In general, the invention has to do with an
article for use by visually handicapped persons, the
article having a first portion in the general shape of
a closed plane figure, the entire first portion being
colored with a single color and capable of being sensed
by non-visual means. The device has a second portion in
the general shape of a closed plane figure, entirely
colored by another color and also having a surface which
;10 is capable of being sensed by non-visual'means., The
sensing means of the first portion is readily distinguish-
able from that of the second portion.
More specifically, the sensing means consists of
a surface texture that is capable of being recognized by
the sense of feel. The surface of the article is divided
into a plurality of discrete portions, the portions being
colored in a variety of colors, each portion being colored
with a single color only, and each portion having a
given color and being provided with a surface having a
texture that is distinctive of that color and readily
distinguishable by the sense of feel from the texture used
in any portion textured for another color. The texture in
every case is in the form of straight parallel ridges
(either horizontal or diagonal) and the texture of one
~5 color is readily distinguishable from the textures of the
other color because of the orientation of the ridges, some
of the textures consisting of crossed sets of ridges.
The textures may be coded to show the density (or tone)
of the color by using ridges that are closer to~ether.
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BRI~F'D~S'C~I'P:TI'O~-OF THEi'DRAWINGS
The character of the invention, however, may be
best understood by reference to one of its structural
forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings,
. in which:
Figure: 1 is a plan view of a teaching device
incorporating the principles of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device
taken on the line II-II of Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a traffic
signal using the principles of the invention,
Figure 4 is a somewhat schematic view of portions
of the signal shown in Figure 3, and
Figure 5 shows a work of art that incorporates
the principles of the invention.
DESC~IP~ION ~F :THE'P:REFE'RRE'D'EMB'ODIMæ~T
Referring first to.Figure 1, wherein are best
shown the general features of the invention,. the article,
indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown
as for use by a visually handicapped person, particularly
for a blind person. The artic.le consists of a first
portion 11 having a periphery 12 in the general shape of
a closed plane figure, in this. case a 60 segment of a
circle. The entire area within the periphery 12, has a
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first color such as yellow, and has a surface 13 that
is provided with non-visual sensing means 17. In the
preferred embodiment the article is formed of thermo-
plastic by the injection molded process.
The article has a second portion 14, having a
periphery 15 in the same general shape as the pr.eviously
described periphery 12 and has a second color such as
green. The portion 14 also has a surface 16 that has the
same type of non-visual sensing means 18, the sensing means
of the first portion 11 being readily distinguishable from
that of the second portion 14. The sensing means 17 and
18 both consist of a surface texture which is capable of
being recognized by the sense of feel.
It can be seen, then, that the artic.le has a
surface divided into a plurality of discrete portions, the
portions being colored in a variety of colors. In the
illustrated embodiment the.colors are yellow, green,. b:lue,
violet, red, brown, and orange in accordance wi.th the standard
color wheel. Each portion, such as the portions ll and 14,
~0 are colored with a single color only and each portion has
a given color and is provided with a:surface having a texture
that is distinctive of that color and readily distinguishable
by the sense of feel from the texture used in any portion
provided with another color. In Fi.gure l, for instance, it :.
~5 can be seen that the yellow portion has the ridges extending
horizontally. The orange portion has the ridges extending
at a 45 angle from left to right and the green portion has
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the ridges extending at a 45 angle from right to let.
The blue portion has the colors extending horizontally
with broken ridges alternating with straight ridges. The
violet has the ridges crossed. The red portion has the
ridges extending horizontally but closer together than
in the YELLOW section. A peg is provided on the periphery
of the article to indicate the top for orientation pur-
posesO
A hexagonal central area is coded for the color
BROWN, while at the upper portion are provided raised
portions coded for BLACK and WHITE. It should be noted
that the BLACK portion consists of a plurality of raised
dots, thus indicating high density; as a matter of fact,
since BLACK is the most dense of all "colors", the feeling
generated by the dots is that of a large number of raised
elements. Now, the WHIT~ (being the absence o color) has
no raised dots or elements and, therefore, is the least
dense and is shown simply by its outline. The other colors
are provided with element frequencies commensurate with
~0 their densities and, the case of BROWN, shown in the cen-
tral hexagonal portion, not only has a pattern of lines
and dots that are distinctive (for color identical purposes)
but has high pattern frequency to give the concept of high
density.
~5 It can be seen, then, that the texture in every
case is in the form of straight parallel ridges and dots
and the texture of one color is readily distinguishable
from the textures of the other colors, because of the
orientation of the ridges, some of the textures consisting
of crossed sets of ridges.
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1 Referring to Figures 3 and 4, it can be seen that the
article, indicated generally by the reference numeral ~0, is
shown as a signal light 26 supported on a post 27. The element
31 at the bottom portion has a surface 21 divided into three
120 portions 22, 23, and 24, the portion 22 being exposed in an
opening 28 in the casing. The portion 22 has a surface texture
25. The signal light 26 has an indicator 29 having a plurality
of visually-distinguishable displays, in this case a red, yellow,
and green light. The indicator, of course, is changeable to
only one light at a time in the usual manner. The element 31 is
movable in synchronization with the changes in the indicator 29
so as to expose at any given time one of the portions 22, 23,
and 24. Each portion has a surface texture distinguishable from
the surface texture of the other portions by the sense of feel.
The exposed portion corresponds to the display which is
evident at the indicator 29. AS has been stated, the displays
in the indicator~29 are of different colors and the surface
texture in the particular portion 22, 23, and 24 which is
exposed at a given time corresponds to the color then on display
at the lights. The element 31 is movable by means of a motor
32 and the indicator is changeable by means of another motor
33 operating a switch 34 in the usual way and the two motors
are operated in synchronization by a servo 35. A variation of
the invention consists of a fixed plate in which the sections
can be individually vibrated in synchronization with the color
which is lighted.
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The operation and the advantages of the present
invention will now be readily understood in vie~ o-f the
above description. In order that the system may work
effectively, the uisually handicapped person must first
memorize a chart of the type shown in connection with the
article 10. In this embodiment of the invention, the
article 10 is shown as a hexagonal plate which may be
either carried in the pocket of the user as a reminder
of the color code, or worn around the neck as a piece of
jewelry (or as a watch face) having the dual function of
being pleasing in appearance, while acting as a decoding
device. Presumably, the visually handicapped person will
soon memorize the touch code, however, and will not need
a decoding chart. `Nevertheless, for the purpose of allow-
ing sighted persons to make use of this code and for
explaining the code to other persons, a device of this
kind can be very useful. It should be noted that the
colors are arranged in the form of the standard primary
and secondary color chart (in which complementary colors
~0 are located diametrically across from one another) that
has been used for some time for teaching colors and their
relationships to young children or anyone learning color.
Whatever device is provided with this coding (either the
article 10 or some other article), the visually handicapped
~S or blind person can obtain some indication of the relation-
ships of colors in the world and in art.
When applied to the traffic light, shown in
Figures 3 and 4, the sighted person will use the lamp 29
as they go from red to yellow to green and back again in
the usual way. The blind person, waiting to cross the
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street, will simply feel the opening~in the window of
the element 31 attached to the bottom of the post 27
at a suitable height. Since only one of the three coded
portions 22, 23, and 24 will be exposed in synchroniza-
tion with the lamps 29, the blind person will know exactly
what the traffic signal is showing and will govern his
activity accordingly.
When the principles of the invention are applied
to a picture 38, as shown in Fiyure 5, the frame will be
provided with a peg 37 which would indicate to the
visually-handicapped person the top of the picture. Other-
wise, the coding becomes incorrectly read. Normally, if
the picture is mounted on the wall, however, this would
not be necessary. In this particular landscape version,
the foliage 38 of the tree is coded for GREEN, the trunk
39 is coded BROWN, *he sky 41 is coded for BLUE, the ground
42 is coded for GREEN, the main part of the mountain 43
is coded for VIOLET, and the peak 44 of the mountain lacks
any color code and, therefore, would be considered as
~0 WHITE.
The many advantages of the present invention will
be readily understood in view of the above description~
The invention has many uses that are creative, educational,
useful, and decorative. It may, for instance, be used in
~5 teaching sighted children and may act as the color bridge
between the sighted and the blind. As has been mentioned
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above, the color chart may be used as a jewelry emblem
in many ways. Certainly, for the blind it can act as a
means of projecting form, perspective, and color even
to persons who have never been able to see. As has been
pointed out, particul-arly in connection with such functional
items as are described in connection with Figures 3 and 4,
the color coding can be very useful. It can be used for
indicat~ng the colors of clothing by providing a label
coding which can be used not only for the blind, but also
for the color-blind in assisting them in selecting their
clothing. Even sighted children would enjoy making pictures
by using paper which has been particularly textured in
accordance with the above-described color code, as well as
having a visual color. One passibility is that the colored
and textured paper could be transluscent to assist sighted
children in tracing the outlines of the figures of the
drawing and their textured color. The pictures constructed
in this way can be used for testing the aptitude of a
sighted child as to whether he can ~latch patterns. After
the sighted child has used such materials to make a pic-
ture, it can be submitted and used by a blind child to
;` read, thus building a library of readable pictures and
thus bringing about a communication between si~hted and
blind people. In the past, the concept of color has been
avoided in teaching the blind, because it has been advisable
they not be told about something o~ which they could have
no concept and because it would make them further feel
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the inadequacy of blindness. Because of this failure
to give blind persons even the basic concepts of color,
they also fail to appreciate the concept of outline form
of articles, thereby not realizing how form is put on a
flat surface to produce a drawing or painted picture.
One easy way to carry out the concepts of the
present invention are to draw the lines or ridges on
heavy aluminum foil which has previously been laid over a
layer of felt or the like. When this drawing has been
completed, by *urning the foil over, the bl.ind person
can feel on the reverse side the code on the lines of
the foil.
One use for the present system would be to
provide colored crayons formed of a soap substance that
. can be removed by washing from a painting after.use by
the blind student. The crayon, first of all, can be
provided with a color code. embossed on.its side or top
to correspond to the picture's textured colors. When
raised barrier outlines are provided in the drawing,
the coloring by the s.tudent would take place, of course,
only as far as the barriers. The teacher, by noting
the color that has been applied to the element, can
. easily tell the mental aptitude of the child doing the
drawing or painting. Fur.thermore, the child's knowl.edge
of the outlines of simple objects, such as an apple, may
sometime build upon his creative ability to.become an
artist. A form of art can very well be developed which
would be best appreciated by other blind people, but.it
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could also be enjoyed by sighted persons. It would
also give the blind individual a knowledge of flat
form. This could serve as another method of bridging the
gap between the sighted and the blind, so as to permit
inter-relationship artistically and bring the blind
into discussions of art and color. This would add a
scope of life that the blind do not have at the present
time. It could, of course, lead to exhibits of blind
art that could be appreciated by sighted persons also.
It can be seen from the above discussion that
many products can be developed making use of a touch-
color coding system. First of all, the universal touch-
color wheel itself (with its color symbols and its textured
quadrants) is not only a teaching element, but a delight-
ful jeweIry piece. Tinted material, such~as paper sheets,
can be sight-colored as well as printed with the touch
texture for use in cut-outs and the like in making pictures
which are visible to sighted persons as well as readahle
by blind persons. This would involve not on~ly material
~0 which is printed in a` manner of a book, but also a product
in the form of a sheet. Each sheet would have its ~olor
and texture built in. A plastic recess plate of a figure
(such as an apple or a bell) can be manufactured carrying
the code and having the boundary margins, in a manner
similar to a color section of the article shown in
Figure 1, for coloring by the blind. Associated with such
materials would be the soap-like crayons, not only carry-
ing the color coding on *he side or top to indicate to
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the blind person the nature of the color, but also made
so as to be washable from the plastic recessed plates
which have been described above for use over again. It
can even be visualized that a camera could be provided
which would not only produce the conventional color prints,
but also textured portions in accordance with the above
code. Many devices similar to the traffic light, described
and shown in Figures 3 and 4, can be visualized. For
instance, the: coding could be "read" by an electronic
stylus that would emit a sound commensurate with.the color
being heard. Certainly,.jewelry could be developed in
the manner of colisonn~, having not only visual color,
but also the touch-readable color code. Also, one of
the concepts that is diffi:cult to teach blind persons
is that of the outline of objects. By providing the
present system, where the raised outline: can be felt and
by using the color "differentl' texture combined with the
nature of the outl.ine, some concept of perspective will
result. Where a large area of a given color is: used, it
~0 may not be necessary to. texturize the entire area, b~ut
only to use a small spot o.the color coding. Also, in
braille literature, color can be indicated in the text
by a color code of the type described above or.even by a
simplified version of it, such as an angular line related
to the position of the. color located on the color :chart.
It might.even be possihle to teach perspect~ve by drawing
the outlines of objects as:the sighted person sees them,
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so that the blind person can realize how an object
which is very large appears smaller and smaller at a
greater and greater distance. The present concept may be
used in conjunction with transposing ordinary pictures into
~mbossment by computerization.
With regard to the teaching concept of "TOUCH
COLOR", as projected to the born-blind student, keeping
in mind that the standard color wheel is composed of
yellow, red, blue which are primary (pure) colors and orange,
violet, green which are secondary (mixed) colors, in this
case BLACK is full obstruction and WHIT~ is non-obstruction:
It may be helpful in understanding the present
invention to visualize the coding on a large scale, i.e.,
by supposing that one is standing by a window that consists
of a frame only, as in white, the area wi-thin and between
the framing is an entire area of "non-density". Now,
place "louvres" horizontally across the space (as yellow
in Figure 1) spaced wide enough, so that a blind student
could put his entire hand through and between each "louvre".
These louvres will add "density" of obstruction to a
greater degree than white. Now, this brings about the
suggestion that yellow, as the sighted see it, is *he less .
dense color of all the primary and secondary colors - and
a further suggestion that it is known to the sighted world
as a "warm" color.
Now, if one adds twice as many horizontal
"louvres" than is present in yellow (as is true with red
on the apparatus) the student will find he now can only
put his fingers through the opening of "this" density and
; 30 he is told by the sighted world that RED is a "hot" color.
It is not necessary to have heating eIements in teaching;
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even the born-blind all have felt heat, warmth, and cold,
so that they definitely set a value from the density or
"darkness" of the color as to whether or not the color
has heat, warmth, or a cold feeling to its value. Blue
is known as a "cold" color. The secondary colors are
made up of two particular primaries mixed to obtain a
particular secondary (one of the three standards). Each
have a distinctive value, apart, yet between the primaries.
For instance:
Orange is a combination of warm and hot,
Green is a comhination of warm and cold, and
Violet is a combination of hot and cold.
By mixing these values mentally and by touching
the texture and understanding their dens.ity, (in relation-
lS ship to having felt warmth, hot, and cold in.every day
living), a color.value may be:achieved that is.very much
in relationship to color as the sighted "see".it. The
concept falls in line with the way the sighted talk about,
choose, and feel about the various colors and their values.
~0 In the apparatus to suggest the mixin~ of values,
the lines are made diagonal or with dots to.show :full
density. BLUE has broken lines in its ".texture" to suggest
it is the darker color and indicates some further xelationship
to the darkness of BLACK hut, because in the louvre system
~5 described above, the pIacement of horizontal BLUE would
enable the student to put his fingers between the louvres
as they did in RED, so that he receives a true feeling of
a definite color.value for BLUE, even though the broken
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lines suggest its getting darker in value. The student
should arrive at a feeling of a pleasant, cool value
for BLUE as the sight~d "feel" about the color, generally
speaking.
So the full concept of the use of the apparatus
in teaching includes:
1. Touch sense texture,
2. Density color value, and
3. Degree of warmth or cold.
It is obvious that minor changes may be made in
the form and construction of the invention without de-
parting from the material essence thereof. It is not,
however, desired to confine the invention to the exact
form herein shown and described, but it is desired to
include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.
The invention having been thus described, what
is claimed as new and desired to secure bv Letters Patent
is :
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