US5477282A — Speech prompter

Claim 1

Independent Claim 373 words

A speech prompter (10), comprising: (a) a support frame means including a pair of laterally spaced apart frame side members (12,14) and a front end transverse support rod (54); (b) a light box (16) supported by said frame side members (12,14) and having a front end and a rear end, and having an electric light means (33) mounted therein, and a horizontal white translucent top wall (28); (c) a film supply roller (36) operatively mounted on said support frame side members (12,14) in a transverse position spaced apart forward from the front end of the light box (16), and a film take-up roller (38) operatively mounted on said support frame side members (12,14) in a transverse position spaced apart rearward from the rear end of the light box (16); (d) a transparent film (34) having a trailing end (42) and a leading end and having a text of a speech printed thereon and being slidably mounted, upside down, on the light box white translucent top wall (28), and having the trailing end thereof releasably affixed to the film supply roller (36) and rolled up onto said film supply roller (36), and with the leading end thereof releasably affixed to the film take-up roller (38); (e) a see-through view screen support rod (60) having an upper end, and a lower end pivotally mounted on the support frame means transverse support rod (54) for folding the see-through view screen support rod (60) to a position over the light box (16) to allow quick and easy transporting of the speech prompter (10); (f) a see-through view screen (72), having a peripheral edge, and being adjustably mounted on the upper end of said see-through view screen support rod (60) above the light box translucent top wall (28), and which see-through view screen (72) reflects the text of the speech printed on the transparent film (34) that is reflected upwardly from the light box (16), along a line of sight between a speaker, standing at the rear end of the light box (16), and the see-through view screen (72); and, (g) control means attached to the take-up roller (38) for advancement of the transparent film (34) over the light box white translucent top wall (28) by a speaker.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 373 words

A speech prompter (10), comprising: (a) a support frame means including a pair of laterally spaced apart frame side members (12,14) and a front end transverse support rod (54); (b) a light box (16) supported by said frame side members (12,14) and having a front end and a rear end, and having an electric light means (33) mounted therein, and a horizontal white translucent top wall (28); (c) a film supply roller (36) operatively mounted on said support frame side members (12,14) in a transverse position spaced apart forward from the front end of the light box (16), and a film take-up roller (38) operatively mounted on said support frame side members (12,14) in a transverse position spaced apart rearward from the rear end of the light box (16); (d) a transparent film (34) having a trailing end (42) and a leading end and having a text of a speech printed thereon and being slidably mounted, upside down, on the light box white translucent top wall (28), and having the trailing end thereof releasably affixed to the film supply roller (36) and rolled up onto said film supply roller (36), and with the leading end thereof releasably affixed to the film take-up roller (38); (e) a see-through view screen support rod (60) having an upper end, and a lower end pivotally mounted on the support frame means transverse support rod (54) for folding the see-through view screen support rod (60) to a position over the light box (16) to allow quick and easy transporting of the speech prompter (10); (f) a see-through view screen (72), having a peripheral edge, and being adjustably mounted on the upper end of said see-through view screen support rod (60) above the light box translucent top wall (28), and which see-through view screen (72) reflects the text of the speech printed on the transparent film (34) that is reflected upwardly from the light box (16), along a line of sight between a speaker, standing at the rear end of the light box (16), and the see-through view screen (72); and, (g) control means attached to the take-up roller (38) for advancement of the transparent film (34) over the light box white translucent top wall (28) by a speaker.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 36 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) said see-through view screen (72) is adjustably mounted on the upper end of said see-through view screen support rod (60) for forward and backward adjustability.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 56 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 2, wherein: (a) the lower end of said see-through view screen support rod (60) is provided with a pivot ball means (66) on the lower end thereof which is mounted in a mating cup member (67) that is mounted on the support frame means transverse support rod (54).

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 90 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) the see-through view screen support rod (60) includes a lower support rod member (62) that is provided with a pivot ball means (66) on the lower end thereof which is mounted in a mating cup member (67) that is mounted on the support frame means transverse support rod (54), and an upper support rod member (64) telescopically mounted in the lower support rod member (62) and having the see-through view screen (72) adjustably mounted on the upper end thereof.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 73 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) said support frame means is provided with a pair of pivotally mounted, adjustable legs (76,78) for adjusting the support frame means to position the light box (16) white translucent top wall (28) in a level position during use of the speech prompter, and said adjustable legs are each provided with holding means (82,84) for retaining the legs in a selective adjusted position.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 114 words

A speech prompter (10)) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) the transparent film (34) is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart black dots (94) on one edge thereof; and, (b) a photo-electric cell sensor (90) is mounted on said support frame means in a position adjacent said one edge of the transparent film (34) having the black dots (94), and with said one edge of the transparent film (34) being adapted to pass through the photo-electric cell sensor (90) to generate a control change signal for transmission to a slide projector to operate the slide projector at selected times during a speech given by a speaker using the speech prompter (10).

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 45 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) the peripheral edge (74) of the see-through view screen (72) is darkened with a black material to exclude any ambient light from entering into the see-through view screen (72) from the peripheral edge thereof.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 32 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) the control means attached to the take-up roller (38) for advancing the transparent film (34) comprises a manually operated control knob.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 34 words

A speech prompter (10) as defined in claim 1, wherein: (a) the control means attached to the take-up roller (38) for advancing the transparent film (34) by the speaker comprises an electrical drive motor.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1998-12-18	1999-06-19	1999-12-19	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2002-12-18	2003-06-19	2003-12-19	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2006-12-18	2007-06-19	2007-12-19	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Speech prompter

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