Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method of and loom for teaching Braille by weaving with a loom, wherein the levers to move the harnesses correspond to the keys on a Perkins Brailler (a Braille typewriter).
The National Federation for the Blind estimates that 1.1 million people are blind in the United States. Fortunately the blind have several options these days for reading and recording written material. In the past, only learning Braille, a system of six raised dots invented by Louis Braille, enabled one to read words, and mathematics or music symbols. FIG. 1 illustrates the alphabet in Braille. FIG. 2 illustrates the numbers 0–9 in Braille. Words do not always have to be Brailled letter for letter. Many words have contracted or short-form representations in Braille. An excellent reference of commonly used Braille representations of words is The Braille Enthusiast's Dictionary by Alan J. Koenig and M. Cay Holbrook, which is incorporated herein by reference.
David Abraham, a wood-working teacher at the Perkins School for the Blind invented a Braille typewriter in 1951, called the Perkins Brailler. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the Perkins Brailler is configured with six keys and a spacer bar: three keys to the left of the spacer bar and three keys to the right of the spacer bar. FIG. 3 is a top view of a Perkins Brailler. The three keys to the left of the spacer bar make the raised dots in positions three, two, and one, (from left to right), respectively. The three keys to the right of the spacer bar make the raised dots in positions four, five, and six (from left to right), respectively. Each of the six keys is just under ¾ inch wide, and the spacer bar is 1¾ inches wide. The keys are 1 inch apart between centerlines, and the centerlines of keys #1 and #4 are 1½ inches from the centerline of the spacer bar.
Recently technology advances have enabled electronic word files to be transposed into a spoken voice, which “reads” the text file to the user. A person may also create an electronic data file by use of available software that transcribes the spoken word of the user into a text file. With such advances, the incentive to learn Braille has diminished, and as a result, so has the Braille literacy rate.
Twenty years ago in the 1980's forty percent of the blind could read Braille. Today, Braille literacy rates have dropped to ten percent. Because many Braille resources still exist and Braille is in public use in, for example, ATMs, or elevators, the blind still need to know Braille. Additionally, the blind need the ability to quickly create their own Braille documents, and thus the skill of typing in Braille is desirable to have. There is a need for a fun way to learn how to type Braille, which also allows the student to practice his or her knowledge of Braille.
The other background for understanding this invention is weaving on looms. Weaving is accomplished by passing a crosswise thread in a predetermined perpendicular pattern under and over lengthwise threads. Looms increase the efficiency of weaving by providing a loom frame that supports a plurality of lengthwise threads (called warp threads). The warp threads are threaded through loops (called heddles) made of wire or string, which may be attached between top and bottom rods or bar members of a harness. When the harness is raised or lowered, it accordingly raises or lowers the attached heddles the same distance, which pull the warp threads threaded through the heddles apart from the other warp threads, creating a sometimes triangular-cross-sectioned space (called a shed) through which to pass the crosswise thread (called the weft). This eliminates the need to move the weft up and over and down an under warp threads. Instead, the weft thread is wound on a shuttle which is passed from one hand to the other through the shed created by the separated warp threads. A good reference book of weaving, which is incorporated by reference, is Ward and Weave by Robert LeClerc available from LeClerc Looms of Canada.
At least two harnesses are needed to weave: one to raise a set of warp threads, the other to raise the remaining set of warp threads. However, most looms have at least four harnesses. Commonly, the number of harnesses available on looms increases in multiples of four.
Each harness is attached to an actuator. It is the actuator that the loom operator moves in order to raise or lower the attached harnesses, thereby separating the selected set of warp threads from the remaining warp threads. In weaving vernacular, if the actuator is mounted up top or on the side, it is referred to as a “lever.” If it is down below the warp, it is referred to as a treadle. A thin, flexible and strong member, such as cording, is often used to tie an actuator to one or more harnesses. Looms that may be used on a table are referred to as table-top looms and most often have top or side levers. Floor looms, so named because they are set up on the floor, most often have treadles that are connected to the harnesses and the treadles are normally operated by foot rather than hand.
LeClerc Looms makes a portable, table-top loom called the Voyager. It is sold with or four and eight harnesses. Each harness is referred to as a “shaft,” and thus the Voyager is offered in both a four and eight “shaft” model. An eight “shaft” model is illustrated in FIG. 4. A loom frame 20 may include a top board 22 with eight levers 24–38. Each lever is rotatable about a bar from the back of top board 22 to the front of top board 22 and is securable by magnetic forces operating between the magnets 40a and 40b: one magnet 40a in the lever and one magnet 40b directly below it in the top board 10. Each lever is tied to a harness 42–56. Each harness has heddles through which the warp threads 58 are threaded. By rotating a lever, the harness 42–56 to which it is attached is raised, pulling the desired warp threads apart from the remainder. A shuttle 60 may then be passed from one side to the other through a shed (not shown) formed by the separated warp threads (not shown). LeClerc and other loom making companies, such as, for example, Schacht, Louet, and Ashford, all sell four- or eight-“shaft” (or even twelve), table-top looms with levers up top or on the side.