US3757432A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Controlled reading device
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1972-06-01
•
Granted: 1973-09-11
•
Expires: 1992-06-01
Abstract
Abstract A controlled reading method and apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line by line sequence wherein each line is unveiled and occluded to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line with the beginning and central segments being scanned and occluded at controlled rates of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the beginning segment being unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate and the terminal segment being occluded at a relatively more rapid rate whereby the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the next line to facilitate recognition. The unveiling scanning and occluding of the segments of the line may be accomplished by means of a movable mask or shutter with an aperture shiftable with respect to each line so as to scan the line from beginning to end with the said aperture being in the form of an elongated or helical slot arranged at an angle with respect to the length axis of the line to be scanned with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion in an upward direction with respect to the axis of the line and with the leading and trailing edges of the central segment of the slot and the trailing edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at relatively greater angles to said length axis of the line than the remaining edges of the slot and with the trailing edge of the terminal segment and the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively lesser angle to the length axis of the line. The lines of reading material may be formed on a film strip mounted on a stick slide having ratchet-like notches formed along the sides of the slide and advanced line by line by means of mechanism actuated by operation of the shutter. Various controls are provided whereby the reading range can be varied, the film stopped at any line, moved backwards to repeat a line, or advanced manually, or lines of material can be projected tachistoscopically.
Inventors
- 👤 S Taylor
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 13:31
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09B; G09B17/00; G09B17/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
127 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type in which the lines are separately exposed in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line with the central segment being scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the persons'' reading ability and with the initial segment being unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
127 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type in which the lines are separately exposed in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line with the central segment being scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the persons'' reading ability and with the initial segment being unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
65 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 1 the improvement which comprises varying the rate of scanning and occluding of the central segment so as to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of unveiling of the initial segment.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
167 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type in which the lines are separately exposed in timed sequence, the imprOvement which comprises: unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line with the central segment being scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the initial segment being unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and the terminal segment of the line being occluded at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is rapidly exposed at the beginning of the next line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
167 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type in which the lines are separately exposed in timed sequence, the imprOvement which comprises: unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line with the central segment being scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the initial segment being unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and the terminal segment of the line being occluded at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is rapidly exposed at the beginning of the next line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
74 words
In a method useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 3 the improvement which comprises varying the rate of scanning and occluding of the central segment so as to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of occluding of the terminal segment and the rate of unveiling of the initial segment.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
154 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism having an aperture shiftable with respect to each line so as to scan the line from beginning to end and configured so that the central segment is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and the initial segment is unveiling at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
154 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism having an aperture shiftable with respect to each line so as to scan the line from beginning to end and configured so that the central segment is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and the initial segment is unveiling at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
67 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 5 the improvement which comprises providing means for varying the rate of scanning and occluding the central segment so as to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and for simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of unveiling of the initial segment.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
195 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism having an aperture shiftable with respect to each line so as to scan the line from beginning to end and configured so that the central segment is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and the initial segment is unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and the terminal segment of the line is occluded at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the next line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
195 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism having an aperture shiftable with respect to each line so as to scan the line from beginning to end and configured so that the central segment is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and the initial segment is unveiled at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment and the terminal segment of the line is occluded at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment whereby the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the next line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
75 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 7 the improvement which comprises providing means for varying the rate of scanning and occluding the central segment so as to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and for simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of occluding the terminal segment and the rate of unveiling of the initial segment.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
121 words
Apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 7 in which the lines of reading material to be exposed are mounted on a generally vertically disposed slide having a row of generally vertically disposed ratchet teeth and the apparatus is provided with a generally vertically arranged opening to receive the said slide in alignment with the shutter, said apparatus also having feed mechanism including a pawl member for engaging said ratchet teeth and having operating means synchronized with said shutter mechanism for releasing and engaging successive teeth whereby the slide is fed downwardly by gravity with successive lines of reading material in alignment with the aperture.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
258 words
Apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 7 in which the lines of reading material to be unveiled are formed in first and second parallel columns on a generally vertically disposed slide with the second column being in inverted relationship with respect to the first column, said slide having a first row of generally vertically disposed ratchet teeth for the first column and a second generally vertically disposed row of ratchet teeth for the second column which in turn is arranged in inverted relationship with respect to the first row, and the said apparatus is provided with a generally vertically arranged opening to receive the said slide in alignment with the shutter with the first column of reading material being in alignment with the aperture when the slide is in one vertical position and the second column being in alignment with the aperture when the slide is in an inverted position, said apparatus having feed mechanism including a pawl member for engaging the first row of ratchet teeth when the slide is in one vertical position and for engaging the second row of ratchet teeth when the slide is in inverted position and said apparatus having operating means for said pawl synchronized with said shutter mechanism for releasing and engaging successive teeth in said respective rows of ratchet teeth whereby the slide is fed downwardly by gravity with successive lines of reading material in the respective columns in alignment with the aperture.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
331 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism being shiftable with respect to each line so as to cause the aperture to scan the line from beginning to end, the said aperture being in the form of an elongated slot at least as long as the lines to be scanned and being arranged so that when it is in operative position it is disposed at an angle with respect to the length axis of the line being scanned with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion in an upward direction with respect to the axis of the line and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively greater angle to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of the line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively lesser angle to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the initial segment is unveileD at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the apparatus from beginning to end of the line and then shifting of the relative position of the aperture with respect to a succeeding line a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
331 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism being shiftable with respect to each line so as to cause the aperture to scan the line from beginning to end, the said aperture being in the form of an elongated slot at least as long as the lines to be scanned and being arranged so that when it is in operative position it is disposed at an angle with respect to the length axis of the line being scanned with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion in an upward direction with respect to the axis of the line and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively greater angle to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of the line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively lesser angle to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the initial segment is unveileD at a relatively more rapid rate than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the apparatus from beginning to end of the line and then shifting of the relative position of the aperture with respect to a succeeding line a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
85 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 11, the improvement which comprises providing means for varying the rate of speed for shifting of the shutter mechanism so as to vary the rate of scanning and occluding the central segment of the line to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and for simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of unveiling of the initial segment of each line.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
369 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism being shiftable with respect to each line so as to cause the aperture to scan the line from beginning to end, the said aperture being in the form of an elongated slot at least as long as the lines to be scanned and being arranged so that when it is in operative position it is disposed at an angle with respect to the length axis of the line being scanned with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion in an upward direction with respect to the axis of the line and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively greater angle to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of the line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the trailing edge of the terminal segment of the slot and the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively lesser angle to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the terminal segment of the line is occluded and the initial segment is unveiled at relatively more rapid rates than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the aperture from beginning to end of the line and then shifting of the relative position of the aperture with regard to a succeeding line the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
369 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a shutter mechanism for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line said shutter mechanism being shiftable with respect to each line so as to cause the aperture to scan the line from beginning to end, the said aperture being in the form of an elongated slot at least as long as the lines to be scanned and being arranged so that when it is in operative position it is disposed at an angle with respect to the length axis of the line being scanned with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion in an upward direction with respect to the axis of the line and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively greater angle to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of the line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the trailing edge of the terminal segment of the slot and the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at a relatively lesser angle to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the terminal segment of the line is occluded and the initial segment is unveiled at relatively more rapid rates than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the aperture from beginning to end of the line and then shifting of the relative position of the aperture with regard to a succeeding line the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
95 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 13, the improvement which comprises providing means for varying the rate of speed for shifting of the shutter mechanism so as to vary the rate of scanning and occluding the central and initial segments of the line to accommodate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and for simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of occluding the terminal segment and the rate of unveiling of the initial segment of each line.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
380 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a rotatable cylindrical shutter mechanism having an aperture for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line, said aperture being Shiftable with respect to each line upon rotation of the shutter so as to scan the line from beginning to end and being in the form of an elongated helical slot extending diametrically through the cylindrical shutter and being at least as long as the lines to be scanned and arranged so that when it is in operative position with respect to a line it is disposed at an angle to the length axis of the line with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion being disposed in an upward direction with respect to the line being scanned and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at relatively greater angles to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of each line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the trailing edge of the terminal segment of the slot and the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at relatively lesser angles to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the terminal segment of the line is occluded and the initial segment is unveiled at relatively more rapid rates than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the aperture from beginning to end of the line and the shifting of the relative position of the aperture with respect to a succeeding line the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
380 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and to comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type having means for separately exposing the lines in timed sequence, the improvement which comprises: a rotatable cylindrical shutter mechanism having an aperture for unveiling and occluding each line to view in segments in the direction of reading from the beginning of the line to the end of the line, said aperture being Shiftable with respect to each line upon rotation of the shutter so as to scan the line from beginning to end and being in the form of an elongated helical slot extending diametrically through the cylindrical shutter and being at least as long as the lines to be scanned and arranged so that when it is in operative position with respect to a line it is disposed at an angle to the length axis of the line with the initial portion of the slot being disposed in a downward direction and the terminal portion being disposed in an upward direction with respect to the line being scanned and with the leading and trailing edge of the central segment of the slot being disposed at relatively greater angles to the length axis of the line being scanned than the hereinafter referred to edges of the slot so that the central segment of each line is scanned and occluded at a controlled rate of speed which may be related to the person''s reading ability and with the trailing edge of the terminal segment of the slot and the leading edge of the initial segment of the slot being disposed at relatively lesser angles to the length axis of the line being scanned whereby the terminal segment of the line is occluded and the initial segment is unveiled at relatively more rapid rates than the rate of the central segment so that upon shifting of the aperture from beginning to end of the line and the shifting of the relative position of the aperture with respect to a succeeding line the transition from the end of each line to the beginning of the succeeding line is more rapid and a relatively greater length of reading material is more rapidly exposed at the beginning of the succeeding line to facilitate recognition.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
93 words
In apparatus useful in improving a person''s ability to view and comprehend reading material in line-by-line sequence of the type set forth in claim 15 the improvement which comprises providing means for varying the rate of rotation of the cylindrical shutter and correspondingly varying the rate of scanning and occluding of the central segment of the line so as to accommoate the viewing and recognition ability of different readers and for simultaneously proportionally varying the rate of occluding the terminal segment and the rate of unveiling of the initial segment of each line.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-09-10 | 1977-03-12 | 1977-09-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-09-10 | 1981-03-12 | 1981-09-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-09-10 | 1985-03-12 | 1985-09-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |