I can think of a few ways that may be possible to construct a mechanical=20
matrix of pins by combining current technologies with very old=20
mechanical technology.
What would you consider a minimum dot mechanical array?

On 4/21/2013 3:06 PM, Martin McCormick wrote:
> "Allen Mulvey" writes:
>> When I took offset printing in college decades ago. We had
>> thermal expanding ink. A heat lamp over the output tray
>> caused it to expand. It was sometimes used for braille
>> printing but I have not heard of it having been used for
>> this in recent years. My daughter is visually impaired but
>> does not need braille. She works at the Central Association
>> for the Blind and visually Impaired in Utica, NY. I'll have
>> her ask about this.
> 	An interesting post. Braille embossers certainly behave
> similarly to standard dot-matrix printers, but they are matrix
> printers on steroids, the really nasty kinds of steroids. They
> have prices that are steroidal, also.
>
> 	I used to work for the Oklahoma Library for the Blind in
> the mid seventies and we had a Braille embosser there to print
> off textbooks and the like for students who needed them. I don't
> remember exactly what it cost, but it was a pretty Penny and it
> printed out fairly decent Braille when it was not broken down.
>
> 	We all know how much electronics have changed since the
> seventies, but the science of punching holes halfway through
> card-stock hasn't changed that much. After the modern
> electronics of great computers, the end result is still some
> mechanism banging away on heavy paper.
>
> 	Some are very noisy. Others break all the time. Still
> others are noisy as they break all the time and all cost a
> fortune.
>
> 	As a person who does use Braille, I think the real hope
> lies in refreshable electronic Braille displays which, today,
> are still expensive and fragile, but I keep hoping that some of
> the new piezoelectric materials will make it possible to produce
> Braille and tactile graphics using techniques that are more
> mass-frendly such as a matrix full of piezoelectric goo that
> pops up dots when you power a row and column. Right now, each
> dot is separately built which is why they are expensive and
> fragile.
>
> Martin McCormick

--=20
John Ferrell W8CCW
That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.
P.C. HODGELL
  =20


--=20
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