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Operating Modes.
The Mealtime Partner has three modes of operation depending upon how many Adaptive Switches
are used: the two switch mode, the one switch mode, and the fully automatic
mode. The Partner determines the number of switches connected when the power is
turned on. Fully Automatic (No
Switch) Mode. The
automatic mode of operation provides for the person who cannot use a switch. If
no switches are connected to the Partner when the power is turned on, the automatic
mode is utilized. For this mode, the Partner will initially be Paused so the
mealtime partner will need to push the Pause button when all of the bowls of
food are in place, to begin operation. When operation begins, the bowl
rotates to a selection and the spoon presents the food. After a time delay
(Spoon Pause When Food Ignored), if spoon contact is not made, the food is
returned to the bowl and the next food selection is made. This pattern is
continued until the user removes the food from the spoon. The Partner continues to
automatically present that food selection until the user stops taking the food
from the spoon. There are two Speeds that affect the Fully Automatic Mode
and can be set using the Control Panel to suit the users preferences: Spoon
Pause When Food Ignored and Spoon Pause After Touched. Spoon Pause When Food Ignored defines the amount of time that the spoon will remain extended without
having food taken (i.e., without being touched) before it will retract. This can
be set from 0 to 99 seconds. Spoon Pause After Touched is
the time that the spoon will remain extended, after the last time food was taken
(i.e., the last time it was touched), until it retracts. It can be set from 0 to
99. (Refer to the Control Panel Instructions in the User's Manual to learn how to
make these control changes.) In the
Automatic mode, because there are no Adaptive Switches, the User Switch Settings
area of the Control panel has no effect on the operation. Similarly, the Bowl
Rotation Type and Spoon Action setting are not utilized. One Switch Mode.
If one switch is connected to the Partner when the power is turned on, the one
switch mode will be utilized. (It does not matter which jack the switch is
plugged into.) The one switch mode is semi-automatic and utilizes a Bowl
Rotation Type and Spoon Action of Continuous. (These will automatically be set
when the power is turned on if only one Adaptive Switch is plugged into the Partner.) For this mode, the
Partner will start out Paused so the mealtime partner will
need to depress the Pause button to initiate operation. Once it is started
(Un-Paused), the bowl will begin to rotate, pause, and rotate, continuously
presenting all of the food selections to the user and awaiting a switch
activation by the user to initiate serving the food. This mode differs from the
automatic mode in that it will not serve food until the Adaptive Switch is
activated, thus reaching the desired food selection much quicker. Once the bowl rotates to the desired food, a switch
depression will stop the bowl and initiate the spoon action. The spoon will then
continue serving food from the selected bowl as long as the user eats the food
or until the switch is depressed again. After the switch is depressed again, the
spoon will retract and the bowl once again resumes the food selection pattern.
If the spoon remains untouched by the user, the spoon will automatically return
the food to the bowl and begin the rotate, pause, rotate food presentation
pattern. In the one switch mode, the Spoon Pause When Food Ignored and Spoon Pause After Touched time settings serve the same purpose as when using the fully automatic mode. However, a third time setting is used: Bowl Pause Time. That is the time the bowl pauses to allow the user to activate the switch causing the food from that bowl to be served. Also, because an
Adaptive Switch is being used, the User Switch Settings for the Bowl Switch now
become active as well as the Buzzer on/off. Refer to the Control Panel
instructions for setting these or use the factory settings. The one switch mode of operation requires a minimal
physical effort for the user, while providing faster access to the food of
choice than gained through the automatic mode. This is less fatiguing for some
users than using two switches. Two Switch Mode.
The two switch mode provides the fastest method for eating. In the two switch
mode, the bowl switch (the switch plugged into the upper Phono jack) controls
the food selection by controlling which bowl is located under the spoon. The
spoon switch (the switch plugged into the lower Phono jack) controls when the
spoon serves the food. To speed up the serving of food, after the food is taken
from the spoon (or even before, if the user changes their mind), the user may
use either of the Adaptive Switches to immediately go to the next bite,
overriding the time delays set by the Speeds. To provide a better
understanding of how the Mealtime Partner operates in the two switch mode, here is an
example. For the example, let’s assume that Bowl Rotation is set to Once Per,
Spoon Action is set to Not Continuous, Spoon Pause When Food Ignored is set to 5
seconds, and Spoon Pause After Touched is set at 3 seconds. The user activates
the bowl switch until the bowl with the desired food is under the spoon. The
user then activates the spoon switch. The spoon picks up the food and extends it
to the user. If the user ignores the food, after 5 seconds (the Spoon Pause When
Food Ignored time) the spoon will retract, put the food back in the bowl and
wait for the next switch activation. If the user takes some food from the spoon,
but not all, the spoon will wait for 3 seconds (the Spoon Pause After Touched
time) before retracting and putting the remaining food back in the bowl. If the
user takes the remaining food, the 3 second Spoon Pause After Touched timer will
be start again and start timing over. (Every time the spoon is touched, the
timer will restart.) Finally, after the 3 seconds has elapse without the spoon
being touched, the spoon will retract, dump out any remaining food and await the
next switch activation. On the other hand, if
the user has taken all of the food, they may not want to wait those 3 seconds.
Activating the spoon switch will cause the spoon to immediately retract and
begin serving the next spoonful out of the same bowl. In fact, even if the spoon
has not fully extended, activating the spoon switch will cause the spoon to
immediately retract and serve the next spoonful. Similarly, activating the bowl
switch will also interrupt the activity, the spoon will retract, put any food on
the spoon back into the bowl and move to the food selection in the next bowl and
await the next switch activation. In the two switch mode
of operation, all of the User Switch Settings effect the operation. Refer to the
Control Panel section to change the settings from the factory settings to
setting better suiting the users preferences. Spoon Motion, All
Modes. Regardless of the mode in
which the Mealtime Partner is operating, the action of the spoon is the same. Once the spoon
is activated, the spoon rotates down through the bowl to fill the spoon with
food. If the spoon is overly filled, some of the food will be removed by the
wipe edge on the bowl cover. (This will not happen if the spoon is not overly
full.) The spoon will then move up under the bowl cover. Next, the bowl will
move to its “extend” position. In doing so, the top of the food will be
shaped by the wipe edge of the bowl cover. When the bowl reaches the extend
position, the spoon will extend out over the bowl, passing over the bowl wipe
rim. This will, in most cases, remove the drips from the bottom of the spoon. When extending, the spoon exerts only a very little force to avoid any chance of bodily injury if the user were to accidentally lean forward into the path of the spoon. If the spoon contacts something before it is fully extended, it will be stopped and will not restart its movement outward. Under normal operating conditions this will not occur, but if it does, the user can take the food from this position or simply wait for the next presentation cycle. Automatic Timeout.To conserve battery power, after ten minutes of no activity (no Adaptive Switch depressions or Control Panel activity) the Partner will automatically turn the power off.
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This page last updated on 01-16-07. |