Richard Francis Rice, JR
Engineers at Hickory Hl Ln, Huntsville, AL

5600311, Feb 4, 1997

Apr 17, 1995

8/422881

Richard F. Rice - Huntsville AL
David M. Kelly - Madison AL
Daryl L. Smith - Moulton AL

Rice-Kelly Research & Engineering, Inc. - Huntsville AL

H02B 1500

34082519

An environmental control system for the severely disabled provides a "pass through" mode that allows a system output to mimic or emulate a user controlled switch input. The pass through mode permits a single user controlled switch to be shared among multiple systems for the disabled. In the normal mode, the user controlled switch controls various control functions provided by the environmental control system. In the "pass through" mode, the environmental control system operates "transparently" and passes the switch closures through to an electronically-controlled switch that appears electrically like a manually actuated switch to control other equipment for the disabled. The pass through mode is exited upon user actuation of the user controlled switch for more than a programmed time period and/or automatically upon occurrence of certain events (e. g. , telephone ringing detection).

5016003, May 14, 1991

Oct 27, 1988

7/263439

Richard F. Rice - Huntsville AL
David M. Kelly - Madison AL
Daryl L. Smith - Moulton AL

Rice-Kelly Research and Engineering, Inc. - Huntsville AL

H04M 100, G05D 2900

34082519

An environmental control system for the handicapped provides a user interface which is totally integrated and programmable. An audible nested control option selection structure organizes logically related tasks and subtasks together so the user can access the tasks and subtasks in a natural fashion--providing an easy to learn user interface that is user friendly, minimizes frustration in accomplishing desired tasks, and also minimizes the time required to perform even complex control operations. Enhanced user interface features, including time encoding of control switch functions and synthesized speech prompting, further increases ease of operation and functionality. Interaction between different control channels allows the user to perform different tasks simultaneously. Enhanced telephone line manipulation is provided, including off-line assembly of telephone numbers for dialing which can be stored and easily accessed by the user through the unified audible sub-menu structure. Sharing of common hardware for multiple functions minimizes system cost, increases reliability and makes the system easier to use.

5345226, Sep 6, 1994

Jun 20, 1990

7/540780

Richard F. Rice - Huntsville AL
David M. Kelly - Madison AL
Daryl L. Smith - Moulton AL

Rice-Kelly Research and Engineering, Inc. - Huntsville AL

H02B 1500

34082519

An environmental control system for the handicapped provides a user interface which is totally integrated and programmable. An audible nested control option selection structure organizes logically related tasks and subtasks together so the user can access the tasks and subtasks in a natural fashion--providing an easy to learn user interface that is user friendly, minimizes frustration in accomplishing desired tasks, and also minimizes the time required to perform even complex control operations. Enhanced user interface features, including time encoding of control switch functions and synthesized speech prompting, further increases ease of operation and functionality. Interaction between different control channels allows the user to perform different tasks simultaneously. Enhanced telephone line manipulation is provided, including off-line assembly of telephone numbers for dialing which can be stored and easily accessed by the user through the unified audible sub-menu structure. Sharing of common hardware for multiple functions minimizes system cost, increases reliability and makes the system easier to use.

2002015, Oct 24, 2002

Dec 13, 2001

10/013849

Richard Rice - Huntsville AL, US
Gary Smith - Huntsville AL, US
Paul Smith - Huntsville AL, US

H04R029/00, H04B001/00

381/124000, 381/061000

A modular light dancer controller for use with holiday and other lighting displays is used to create dynamic, interesting multi-colored lighting displays in response to sound. The system includes dynamic release characteristics, “no music” detection, zero crossing detection, an output daisy-chaining capability, and a variety of other advantageous features which provide many benefits.