Data-Based Vehicle Characteristic System

Abstract

Toy vehicles are configured such that at least one performance characteristic may be determined based upon information obtained from a data card and/or from encoded information from other sources, such as key-pads, smart phones, etc.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The current application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application, Ser. No. 61/557,956, filed Nov. 10, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The current application relates to the field of motorized toy vehicles; and, specifically, motorized toy vehicles such as remote control cars, trucks, helicopters, boats, tanks, airplanes and the like.

Some known systems may allow a user to upgrade certain vehicle components such as motors, transmission gears, and/or tires to change the performance of a toy vehicle. Some such upgrades, which may be referred to as “hop-ups,” may involve changes to mechanical systems and/or may require some skill and manual dexterity to perform.

SUMMMARY

The present disclosure generally pertains to toy vehicles. More specifically, some example embodiments according to the present disclosure may include toy vehicles configured such that least one performance characteristic that may be determined based at least in part upon information obtained from a data card and/or from alternate encoded information.

In an embodiment, a toy vehicle includes: a toy vehicle body including a mechanical locomotion component and/or a mechanical steering component mounted thereto; a control circuit operatively mounted to the vehicle body and operative to control the mechanical locomotion component and/or the mechanical steering component in accordance with one or more performance characteristics taken that may include vehicle top speed, vehicle acceleration, and/or vehicle turning radius; and a data card reader communicatively coupled to the control circuit; where, the control circuit is configured to adjust the performance characteristic(s) based upon data communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader. In a more detailed embodiment, the data card reader may be mounted to the toy vehicle body, to a remote control unit or to another component. Alternatively, or in addition, the data card reader may be configured to obtain data from memory storage provided on a data card. Alternatively, or in addition, the data card reader may be configured to obtain data from an electrical component provided on a data card; where the electrical component provided on the data card may be a resister component. Alternatively, or in addition, the data card reader may be configured to obtain data from a physical shape of a data card component. Alternatively, or in addition, the data card reader may be configured to obtain data from two or more electrical contacts provided on a data card. Alternatively, or in addition, the data card reader may be configured to obtain data that is encoded onto a data card (e.g., magnetically, electrically, visually, optically, etc).

In an embodiment, the toy vehicle may further include on-board memory storing a plurality of different sets of performance characteristic data combinations, and the control circuit may utilize one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations based upon data communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader. Alternatively, or in addition, the on-board memory may further include a default performance characteristic data combination, and the control circuit utilizes the default performance characteristic data combination if no data is communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader to select one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristics. Alternatively, or in addition, the toy vehicle may further include a plurality of data cards, where each of the plurality of data cards are configured operate with the data card reader to cause the data card reader to communicate data corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations.

In an embodiment, the toy vehicle may further include an LED and/or an electronic display operative to indicate a value of the performance characteristic(s). Alternatively, or in addition, the mechanical locomotion component may include a wheel and/or a propeller.

In another embodiment, a toy vehicle includes a toy vehicle body having a mechanical locomotion component and/or a mechanical steering component mounted thereto; and a control circuit operatively mounted to the vehicle body and operative to control the mechanical locomotion component and/or the mechanical steering component in accordance with one or more performance characteristics that include vehicle top speed, vehicle acceleration, and/or vehicle turning radius; where the control circuit is configured to adjust the performance characteristic(s) based upon performance characteristic selection data communicated to the control circuit. In a more detailed embodiment, the toy vehicle further includes a data card reader operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information read from a data card. In a more detailed embodiment, the data card reader may be mounted to the toy vehicle body. Alternatively, or in addition, the toy vehicle further includes a keypad assembly operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon keys actuated on the keypad. Alternatively, or in addition, the toy vehicle may further include an interface for connecting to a memory device and operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information read from a memory device received into the interface. In a more detailed embodiment, the interface is may be an SD memory card interface or a similar memory card interface.

In an embodiment, the toy vehicle may include a wireless transceiver assembly operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information received by the wireless transceiver assembly. In a more detailed embodiment, the toy vehicle may further include a remote control unit operative to wirelessly communicate the performance selection data to the wireless transceiver. Alternatively, or in addition, the remote control unit may be operative to communicate vehicle operation information to the control circuit, where the vehicle operation information may include, for example, move forward, move left, move right, and/or move backward.

In an embodiment, the toy vehicle may include on-board memory storing a plurality of different sets of performance characteristic data combinations, and the control circuit utilizes one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations based upon the performance selection data communicated to the control circuit. In a more detailed embodiment, the on-board memory may further include a default performance characteristic data combination, and the control circuit may utilize the default performance characteristic data combination if no performance selection data is communicated to the control circuit to select one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristics. Alternatively, or in addition, the toy vehicle may further include a plurality of data cards, where each of the plurality of data cards is configured operate a data card reader to cause the data card reader to communicate performance selection data corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of a toy vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional representation of a toy vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2B is an exploded, perspective view of various components illustrated in FIG. 2A;

FIGS. 3A-3D are perspective views of a an exemplary toy vehicle according to the current disclosure, illustrating an example way to insert a data card into a card reader carried by the vehicle;

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate some examples of various exemplary data-cards that may be used with the current disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates another example embodiment of a toy vehicle according to the current disclosure; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an example remote control component of an exemplary toy vehicle according to the current disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure generally pertains to toy vehicles. More specifically, some example embodiments according to the present disclosure may include toy vehicles configured such that least one performance characteristic that may be determined based at least in part upon information obtained from a data card and/or from an alternate source of encoded information.

The present disclosure contemplates that radio-controlled toy and hobby vehicles may be available in a wide array of classes, scales, and quality. As described herein, toy vehicles may include, for example and without limitation, cars, trucks, helicopters, boats, tanks, and/or airplanes.

Some example toy vehicles according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure may allow the user to perform vehicle “hop-ups” by electronically adjusting one or more performance characteristics. For example, some embodiments may use a compact computer chip card, which may be generally similar to an SD card, or similarly sized card. The card may contain one or more specific vehicle variables that may specify one or more vehicle performance characteristics, such as top speed, acceleration rate, and/or steering radius. When the card is inserted into the vehicle, a vehicle integrated circuit (IC) may read data from the card and may use the data to implement new vehicle performance characteristics. A selection of cards encoded to provide different performance characteristics may be available to the user on the market. Thus, users of a wide range of skill sets may perform vehicle “hop-ups” without the limitation of manual dexterity, tools, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, in some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a toy vehicle (such as a car) may include a body 101 (such as a car or truck body, an airplane body, a boat body, a helicopter body and the like), a mechanical locomotion component 110 (such as driven wheels for a car, a driven propeller for a boat or airplane or helicopter), and a mechanical steering component 112 (such as a components for steering the car, boat, airplane or helicopter), and a control circuit 114 configured to control the mechanical locomotion component 110 and/or mechanical steering component 112 based upon action commands/signals (e.g., accelerate, turn right, turn left, stop, boost, etc.) received from a remote control device (or from some other source) and/or pre-programmed into the control circuit. The vehicle may include a data reading device 102 (e.g., a reader), which may be capable of reading data from one or more data cards 104A, 104B, 104C (e.g., an SD card) or other similar encoded devices or data storage devices, for the purpose of reading one or more data values that may be associated with specific performance characteristics of the vehicle including but not limited to top speed, rate of acceleration, power boost potential and vehicle turning rate (or degree of steering angle). For example, data card 104A may include data associated with a first set of performance characteristics, data card 104B may include data associated with a second set of performance characteristics, and data card 104C may include data associated with a third set of performance characteristics. When data card 104A is installed in reader 102, toy vehicle 100 may operate according to the first set of performance characteristics. When data card 104B is installed in reader 102, toy vehicle 100 may operate according to the second set of performance characteristics. When data card 104C is installed in reader 102, toy vehicle 100 may operate according to the third set of performance characteristics.

In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a data card 104A may include an SD card, a micro SD card, a card with ROM and/or RAM memory, flash memory, and/or similar conventional data storage device. Referring to FIG. 4A, in some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a data card 104D may include a physical set of one or more electronic components, such as a resistor 104DR, such that the onboard data reader (of the vehicle) may read the resistor value on the storage media (card) and derive one or more data values for the vehicle characteristics, such as by comparing a read resistance value with a data array stored in the vehicle's onboard memory.

In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a data card may include information encoded onto the card. For example, and without limitation, data may be encoded mechanically or electromechanically onto the card. For example, referring to FIG. 4B, a data card 204 may include one or more molded shapes, such as ribs 204A, which may be arranged to push certain contacts on/off when inserted into the reader. Based on which of the contacts are actuated, the toy vehicle may determine the performance characteristics that are to be implemented. The particular arrangement of ribs on a data card may provide a “code” to the reader.

As another example, referring to FIG. 4C, a data card 304 may include one or more electrical contacts 304A which may be arranged similar to the contacts on the back of a conventional SD card. The electrical contacts 304A may be internally connected (or may remain unconnected) in a manner that allows the reader to obtain information from the card that may be used to determine performance characteristics that are to be implemented. For example, some of the electrical contacts may be internally connected with each other while others may be internally disconnected. By determining which contacts are connected and/or which contacts are not connected, the toy vehicle may be able to ascertain which performance characteristics are to be implemented. The identities of electrical contacts that are internally connected (or disconnected) may provide a “code” to the reader.

As another example, data may be encoded onto the card in the form of visually detectable information, such as bar-codes and the like.

In some example embodiments according to the present disclosure, a “code” obtained from a data card (e.g., digitally, mechanically, electrically, etc.) may be associated with a particular set of performance characteristics that may be preprogrammed into a toy vehicle. The toy vehicle may be configured to implement different sets of performance characteristics depending at least in part upon the “code” that is obtained by the reader.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a vehicle may be connected by a data connection to an input device such as a personal computing device 120 (for the purpose of the current disclosure a personal computing device may include, without limitation, desktop computers, laptop computers, hand-held computers, tablet computers, smart phones and the like) and data values for the performance characteristics may be stored into (i.e., uploaded into) the vehicle's RAM unit and/or similar flash data storage device using the input device. In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, data values may be input into a vehicle through a data input panel, such as a keypad 122 that may mounted to or otherwise operatively associated with the vehicle. In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a data input panel (e.g., keypad 122) may include a separate unit that may be operatively associated with (e.g., tethered to) a car to input the data. In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a toy vehicle may be configured to receive data keyed in via a wired and/or wireless connection, such as from personal computing device 120 and/or keypad 122. Personal computing device 120 and/or keypad 122 may be used in connection with and/or in place of data cards 104A, 104B, 104C.

In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a toy vehicle may be configured to receive a code, which may reference a data array stored into the vehicle's memory. The data array may include information pertaining to a plurality of performance characteristics that may be retrieved and/or loaded them into memory based at least in part upon receipt of the code. For example, a keypad 122 may be used to input a code (e.g., 2643), which may correspond to a first set of certain speed, acceleration, and turning characteristics. If a different code is received from the keypad 122, a different set of speed, acceleration, and turning characteristics may be implemented.

FIG. 2A illustrates a cross-sectional view of an example configuration of an example toy vehicle 100 according to the current disclosure, and FIG. 2B shows an exploded, perspective view of some of the components shown in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2A, a vehicle body may include a base component 210 and a translucent or transparent cover component 212 mounted over the base component 210 and housing various components of the vehicle therein. In the example shown in

FIG. 2A, a main printed circuit board 214 (which may include the control circuit 114) is mounted within the vehicle body and is electrically coupled to a data card reader component 102 (which may be an SD card reader component in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2A), which is also mounted within the vehicle body. As shown in FIG. 2A a data card 104A has been inserted into the card reader component, through an opening in the vehicle body. A second printed circuit board 216 is also mounted within the vehicle body and includes LEDs 218 or other displays that are viewable through the translucent or transparent cover component 212. The LEDs 212 and/or other displays may be useful to show to the user, for example, some of the performance parameter settings as provided by the data card 104A.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example toy vehicle 100 including keypad 122 mounted thereto. In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, information associated with a vehicle's data variables may be displayed on the vehicle, such as on a display screen 124, such as an LCD display, TFT display, and/or other similar unit capable of displaying data values.

An example method of operating a toy vehicle according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure may include inserting a memory device into a remote-controlled toy vehicle; causing the toy vehicle to receive at least one data value (from a data-card reader, from a personal computing device and/or from a remote control device); causing the toy vehicle to set at least one performance parameter based at least in part upon the at least one data value; and operating the toy vehicle in accordance with the at least one performance parameter. In some example methods, the performance parameter may include at least one of top speed, rate of acceleration, and maximum steering angle.

In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a vehicle may include a remotely controlled vehicle, which may be configured for control via radio, infrared, or other wireless signal. In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a vehicle may be configured to follow a preprogrammed route and/or may be autonomously controlled.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example remote control 400 component of the toy vehicle, which may include a left steering button 402, a right steering button 404 , a forward button 406, a reverse button 408, a turbo button 410, a mode switch 412 (e.g., run, off, charge), and one or more indicator lights 414 (e.g., steering, engine, battery, charge). It is within the scope of the current disclosure that the card reader may be incorporated into the remote control 400 component and vehicle performance characteristic information associated with information ready by the card reader may be transmitted to the vehicle control circuit in the same or similar manner as the vehicle control information.

In some example embodiments according to at least some aspects of the present disclosure, a toy vehicle may include one or more of the following example features:

Full function (6 way) R/C car: “Turbo” (high speed or boost) function. This may increase the vehicle speed limit by, for example, about 25% of the top speed variable (TS) of the car so long as the button is pressed. Headlights (2 white LED) and dashboard light (1 blue LED) ON while going forward. Taillights (2 red LED) ON while going backward. On/Off slide switch on car. Rechargeable battery (charged from transmitter), such as a capacitor type storage unit. Overall length: 110 mm; wheelbase 60 mm. Translucent roof panel with printed circuit board mounted underneath with the following: a. Top Speed, Torque (Acceleration), and Steering LED indicator lights; b. LCD panel featuring 1-digit display; “SELECT” rubber key button allows you to toggle the display through each of the 3 variables (Speed, Torque, Steering).

5-button R/C Transmitter with charging function: Forward, Reverse, Left, Right. “Turbo” (high speed) button; “Turbo” light (1 red LED) on when button pushed. “Steering” yellow LED lights when LEFT or RIGHT button is pushed. “Motor” yellow LED lights when FORWARD or REVERSE button is pushed. Wired plug charges car's battery; “Charge” light (1 green LED) on while charging; when charge is full the light turns off; charging stops. Uses 4× “AA” batteries

Exemplary Data Card. Chip approximately the size of a SD card. The user may insert this card into the car. The chip may control one or more of the following variables: a. Top Speed—the maximum speed of the car is controlled by this variable. The variable “TS” may be expressed as a fraction or percentage of the maximum potential speed of the car. For example, TS=0.70 may mean that this car cannot exceed about 70% of the maximum speed of the system. b. Acceleration—The time it takes for the car to achieve top speed (TS). The variable “AC” may be expressed in unit time, seconds. When the user releases the Forward button, the counter may be reset. E.g., AC=2.5 may mean the car cannot achieve the TS until about 2.5 seconds after pressing the Forward button and holding continuously. If the user releases the Forward button, it will take about another 2.5 seconds to reach TS. c. Steering—This is the amount of travel of the steering wheels. The variable “ST” may be expressed as a fraction or percentage of full travel. For example, ST=0.75 may mean that the wheels can only rotate about 75% of the full travel allowed by the system. There may be several chips available so that multiple car setups can be achieved. If a chip is not inserted into the car, then the car may use DEFAULT settings. The chip may attach from the bottom of the car. The chip may not be an actual SD card.

Indicator lights. While the car is charging, the dashboard light (1 blue LED) may be on. If an SD card is not inserted when the car is on, then a Warning light (1 yellow LED) may be on. This light may be mounted to the roof of the car.

Controller. Some example controllers may use one or more tactile switches. Some example embodiments may use touch sensors instead of or in addition to tactile switches. The transmitters may use 4× AA batteries. Some example embodiments may use 4× AAA batteries. In some embodiments, the controller may be incorporated into the personal computing device, for example.

While example embodiments have been set forth above for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the above precise embodiments and that changes may be made without departing from the express scope of the following claims. Likewise, it is to be understood that it is not necessary to meet any or all of the stated advantages or objects disclosed herein to fall within the scope of the disclosure, since inherent and/or unforeseen advantages may exist even though they may not have been explicitly discussed herein.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A toy vehicle, comprising:

a toy vehicle body including at least one of a mechanical locomotion component and a mechanical steering component mounted thereto;

a control circuit operatively mounted to the vehicle body and operative to control the at least one of the mechanical locomotion component and the mechanical steering component in accordance with one or more performance characteristics taken from a group consisting of, vehicle top speed, vehicle acceleration, and vehicle turning radius; and

a data card reader communicatively coupled to the control circuit;

the control circuit being configured to adjust the one or more performance characteristics based upon data communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader.

2. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is mounted to the toy vehicle body.

3. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is configured to obtain data from memory storage provided on a data card.

4. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is configured to obtain data from an electrical component provided on a data card.

5. The toy vehicle of claim 4, wherein the electrical component provided on the data card is a resister component.

6. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is configured to obtain data from a physical shape of a data card component.

7. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is configured to obtain data from two or more electrical contacts provided on a data card.

8. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data card reader is configured to obtain data that is encoded onto a data card.

9. The toy vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the toy vehicle comprises on-board memory storing a plurality of different sets of performance characteristic data combinations; and

the control circuit utilizes one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations based upon data communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader.

10. The toy vehicle of claim 9, wherein the on-board memory further includes a default performance characteristic data combination, and the control circuit utilizes the default performance characteristic data combination if no data is communicated to the control circuit by the data card reader to select one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristics.

11. The toy vehicle of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of data cards, each of the plurality of data cards being configured operate with the data card reader to cause the data card reader to communicate data corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations.

12. The toy vehicle of claim 1, further comprising at least one of an LED and an electronic display operative to indicate a value of the one or more performance characteristics.

13. The toy vehicle of claiml, wherein the mechanical locomotion component comprises at least one of a wheel and a propeller.

14. A toy vehicle, comprising:

a toy vehicle body including at least one of a mechanical locomotion component and a mechanical steering component mounted thereto;

a control circuit operatively mounted to the vehicle body and operative to control the at least one of the mechanical locomotion component and the mechanical steering component in accordance with one or more performance characteristics taken from a group consisting of, vehicle top speed, vehicle acceleration, and vehicle turning radius; and

the control circuit being configured to adjust the one or more performance characteristics based upon performance characteristic selection data communicated to the control circuit.

15. The toy vehicle of claim 14, further comprising a data card reader operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information read from a data card.

16. The toy vehicle of claim 15, wherein the data card reader is mounted to the toy vehicle body.

17. The toy vehicle of claim 14, further comprising a keypad assembly operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon keys actuated on the keypad.

18. The toy vehicle of claim 14, further comprising an interface for connecting to a memory device and operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information read from a memory device received into the interface.

19. The toy vehicle of claim 18, wherein the interface is an SD memory card interface.

20. The toy vehicle of claim 14, further comprising a wireless transceiver assembly operative to communicate the performance characteristic selection data to the control circuit based upon information received by the wireless transceiver assembly.

21. The toy vehicle of claim 20, further comprising a remote control unit operative to wirelessly communicate the performance selection data to the wireless transceiver.

22. The toy vehicle of claim 21, wherein the remote control unit is operative to communicate vehicle operation information to the control circuit, the vehicle operation information including one or more of, move forward, move left, move right, and move backward.

23. The toy vehicle of claim 14, wherein:

the toy vehicle comprises on-board memory storing a plurality of different sets of performance characteristic data combinations; and

the control circuit utilizes one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations based upon the performance selection data communicated to the control circuit.

24. The toy vehicle of claim 23, wherein the on-board memory further includes a default performance characteristic data combination, and the control circuit utilizes the default performance characteristic data combination if no performance selection data is communicated to the control circuit to select one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristics.

25. The toy vehicle of claim 23, further comprising a plurality of data cards, each of the plurality of data cards being configured operate a data card reader to cause the data card reader to communicate performance selection data corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of adjustment sets of performance characteristic data combinations.