Levers and Pins: Inside The Refreshable Braille Cell: Take-Two of Taking Apart the Braille Lite 2000

So, let's really tear into the refreshable braille display, literally. I ripped the refreshable braille cell units out of their rack and started pulling apart the pieces until I could see what was going on.

To my surprise and satisfaction, what I found was a mini-version the same mechanics found in the original brailler invented more than one hundred years before. Essentially, there are levers that push up pins, only this time, they are exceptionally tiny.

Each lever is connected to a wire that feds into a chip. Presumably, the computer indicates which wires to apply charges to, which would then expand the piezo crystal, which would then raise the dots which form the letters. Yada Yada Yada. But, you know what, I am thinking this braille display may be using a different electro-mechanical mechanism than the piezo effect. But, I'll get back to you on that one.