US4019263A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Card type language teaching apparatus
Assignee: Ryobi Ltd
•
Filing: 1975-09-17
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Granted: 1977-04-26
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Expires: 1995-09-17
Abstract
Abstract Herein disclosed is a language teaching apparatus of card type, in which a teaching card having a visual information and at least one magnetically recording band is repeatedly returned in an automatic manner or in accordance with the will of the student so that not only the programmed question but also the basic and student's answers may be repeatedly reproduced for confirmation or comparison. The language teaching apparatus includes as customary a body formed with an upright guide slot, in which the teaching card is allowed to run horizontally back and forth, card drive capstan for operatively driving the card when in contact therewith, magnetic reproduction heads for magnetically reproducing, when in contact with the recording band of the card, a programmed audio question which is recorded in the recording band, mechanical linkage for bringing the card drive capstan into its operative position, electric circuits for actuating the mechanical linkage, and manual control buttons for controlling the electric circuits. The language teaching apparatus is characterized by the provision of two limit switches cooperatively actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card for defining the running range of the card and for controlling the electric circuits together with the manual control buttons, and by the provision of a repeat switch for reversing the direction of movement of the card so that the audio information may be reproduced once more.
Inventors
- 👤 Roku Sakuma
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 04:08
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09B; G09B7/00; G09B7/02; G09B19/00; G09B19/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
379 words
A language teaching apparatus comprising: at least one teaching card having visual information, a plurality of image slides for projection and concerning the visual information, and at least one horizontal magnetic recording medium; a corresponding plurality of display screens arranged in the front face of said body for displaying the images of the slides; a corresponding plurality of optical systems for projecting the images on said display screens; a body formed with an upright guide slot, in which a teaching card is allowed to run horizontally in the forward and backward directions; card drive means including capstan means rotatable back and forth for driving the card when in contact herewith, and pressure means movable towards said capstan means for urging the card into contact with the same; magnetic reproduce means including at least one reproduce head for magnetically reproducing, when in contact with the recording medium of the card, an audio information which is recorded in the recording medium, and pressure means movable towards said reproduce head for urging the recording medium into contact with the same; mechanical means actuatable for rotating said capstan means and for selectively moving the first- and second-named pressure means; electric circuit means controllable for actuating said mechanical means; manual control means manually actuatable for controlling said electric circuit means; first switch means actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card for defining the starting point of the forward running of the card and for controlling said electric circuit means together with said manual control means; second switch means actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card for defining the final point of the forward running of the card to restrict the running range of the card together with the first-named switch means and for controlling said electric circuit means together with the first-named switch means and said manual control means; and repeat switch means including at least one reverse switch means for controlling said electric circuit means together with the first- and second-named switch means and said manual control means to reverse the direction of rotation of said capstan means to thereby return the card to its starting point of the preceding stroke so that the audio information may be reproduced once more.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
379 words
A language teaching apparatus comprising: at least one teaching card having visual information, a plurality of image slides for projection and concerning the visual information, and at least one horizontal magnetic recording medium; a corresponding plurality of display screens arranged in the front face of said body for displaying the images of the slides; a corresponding plurality of optical systems for projecting the images on said display screens; a body formed with an upright guide slot, in which a teaching card is allowed to run horizontally in the forward and backward directions; card drive means including capstan means rotatable back and forth for driving the card when in contact herewith, and pressure means movable towards said capstan means for urging the card into contact with the same; magnetic reproduce means including at least one reproduce head for magnetically reproducing, when in contact with the recording medium of the card, an audio information which is recorded in the recording medium, and pressure means movable towards said reproduce head for urging the recording medium into contact with the same; mechanical means actuatable for rotating said capstan means and for selectively moving the first- and second-named pressure means; electric circuit means controllable for actuating said mechanical means; manual control means manually actuatable for controlling said electric circuit means; first switch means actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card for defining the starting point of the forward running of the card and for controlling said electric circuit means together with said manual control means; second switch means actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card for defining the final point of the forward running of the card to restrict the running range of the card together with the first-named switch means and for controlling said electric circuit means together with the first-named switch means and said manual control means; and repeat switch means including at least one reverse switch means for controlling said electric circuit means together with the first- and second-named switch means and said manual control means to reverse the direction of rotation of said capstan means to thereby return the card to its starting point of the preceding stroke so that the audio information may be reproduced once more.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reverse switch means is arranged in the vicinity of one of the first- and second-named switch means and is automatically actuatable in response to its engagement with and disengagement from the running card to accomplish its reversing operation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said reverse switch means is operable to accomplish its reversing operation instantly.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said electric circuit means includes a delay circuit so that said reverse switch means may accomplish its reversing operation after a predetermined time delay.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reverse switch means is mechanically linked to said manual control means and is manually actuatable to accomplish its reversing operation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
22 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said reverse switch means is operable to accomplish its reversing operation instantly.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said electric circuit means includes a delay circuit so that said reverse switch means may accomplish its reversing operation after a predetermined time delay.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
97 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium has forward and backward magnetic bands, in which a question concerning the visual information and a basic answer corresponding to the question are magnetically recorded, respectively; wherein said reproduce head is of a dual type having two reproducing elements for reproducing the question and the basic answer, respectively; and wherein said repeat switch means includes two reverse switch means for reversing the forward and backward runnings of the card, respectively, so that one of the question and the answer may be reproduced once more.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
48 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said two reverse switch means are arranged in the vicinity of the first- and second-named switch means and are automatically actuatable in response to their engagement with and disengagement from the running card to accomplish their reversing operations.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said two reverse switch means are mechanically linked to said manual control means and are manually actuatable in a coactive manner to accomplish their reversing operations.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
83 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each of the formed and backward magnetic bands has a plurality of magnetic tracks which have a corresponding number of questions and their answers; further comprising: question change-over means having its position manually controllable for selecting the desired one of the tracks; and head moving means coactive with said question change-over means for vertically moving said reproduce head into such a position as to have the reproducing elements thereof facing the desired tracks.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
126 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the card further has a magnetically recording horizontal medium arranged in parallel with the first-named recording medium; further comprising: magnetic record and reproduce means arranged in the vicinity of said magnetic reproduce means and including a record and reproduce head for magnetically recording and reproducing, when in contact with the second-named recording medium, the audio information which is answered by the operator of said language teaching apparatus in response to the visual information and the audio information which is recorded in the second-named recording medium in accordance with the answered audio informations, respectively, and converting means receptive of the oral response of the operator for converting the same into the electric signals for the recording operation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
66 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the second-named recording medium has forward and backward magnetic bands, in which at least two answer audio informations are magnetically recorded and reproduced, respectively, wherein said record and reproduce head is of a dual type having two recording and reproducing elements for recording and reproducing the first and second answer audio informations of the operator, respectively.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic reproduce means is arranged immediately downstream of said drive means; wherein the first-named switch means is arranged upstream of said magnetic reproduce means; and wherein the second-named switch means is arranged downstream of the first-named switch means a predetermined distance substantially equal to the width of the card.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
53 words
An improved language teaching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second-named pressure means is so configured and positioned, when moved to said reproduce head, as to form slight undulations of the card so as to provide a larger operating contact area between said reproduce head and the recording medium of the card.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
255 words
In a language teaching apparatus comprising: a body formed with an upright guide slot; card drive means including capstan means rotatable back and forth, and first pressure means movable towards said capstan means; magnetic reproduce means including at least one reproduce head for magnetically reproducing an audio information, and second pressure means movable towards said reproduce head; mechanical means actuatable for rotating said capstan means and for selectively moving the first- and second-named pressure means; electric circuit means controllable for actuating said mechanical means; and manual control means manually actuatable for controlling said electric circuit means; a teaching card assembly sized to horizontally run in the upright guide slot of said body in the forward and backward directions, when urged by the first-named pressure means into contact with said capstan means and driven thereby, said teaching card assembly comprising: a first sheet having a key visual information; and a second sheet having an additional visual information, at least one of the first- and second-named sheets being made of a transparent material so that the key and additional informations may be observed as a visual information of a suspended meaning when the two sheets are placed one on the other, the second-named sheet having at least one magnetically recording horizontal medium, in which at least one question concerning the superposed visual information and also at least one answer corresponding to the question are recorded as an audio information, said second-named sheet having a plurality of image slides concerning the superposed visual information for a projecting purpose.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
255 words
In a language teaching apparatus comprising: a body formed with an upright guide slot; card drive means including capstan means rotatable back and forth, and first pressure means movable towards said capstan means; magnetic reproduce means including at least one reproduce head for magnetically reproducing an audio information, and second pressure means movable towards said reproduce head; mechanical means actuatable for rotating said capstan means and for selectively moving the first- and second-named pressure means; electric circuit means controllable for actuating said mechanical means; and manual control means manually actuatable for controlling said electric circuit means; a teaching card assembly sized to horizontally run in the upright guide slot of said body in the forward and backward directions, when urged by the first-named pressure means into contact with said capstan means and driven thereby, said teaching card assembly comprising: a first sheet having a key visual information; and a second sheet having an additional visual information, at least one of the first- and second-named sheets being made of a transparent material so that the key and additional informations may be observed as a visual information of a suspended meaning when the two sheets are placed one on the other, the second-named sheet having at least one magnetically recording horizontal medium, in which at least one question concerning the superposed visual information and also at least one answer corresponding to the question are recorded as an audio information, said second-named sheet having a plurality of image slides concerning the superposed visual information for a projecting purpose.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1980-04-25 | 1980-10-25 | 1981-04-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1984-04-25 | 1984-10-25 | 1985-04-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1988-04-25 | 1988-10-25 | 1989-04-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |