Electromechanical braille cell

In an electromechanical braille cell having a plurality of braille indicia:

• reed means comprising a stack of piezoelectric reeds cantilevered from a support structure for bending movement about a fulcrum at the support structure in response to the application of an operating voltage to respective ones of said piezoelectric reeds;
• sensing rod means for mechanical operative association with respective ones of said reed means for selective movement of respective ones of said rod means along the direction of elongation of said rod means in response to bending movement of respective ones of said reed means;
• reading means having a plurality of openings therethrough intersecting with a braille reading surface to be scanned by the fingers of the braille reader to define a braille character, respective ones of said rod means being operative within respective ones of said openings in said reading means and for being elevated in one operative position above the surface of said reading surface to be sensed by the fingers of the reader and for retraction relative to said elevated position in another operative position;
• and
• each of said reed means being relatively broad having a pair of opposed broad faces and a pair of narrow side faces and being stacked with their respective broad faces in mutually opposed relation and with a plurality of said reed means having their free end portions extending beyond the terminus of a plurality of said other ones of said reed means, and at least one of said reed means having an opening extending therethrough from one broad face to the other to accommodate passage therethrough of one of said rod means.