AUDIBLE RESPONSIVE TOY

Abstract

An animated toy having a body and head includes a mechanism for reviewing input audio signals from a microphone and/or sound jack, and controls movement of the head from side-to-side and up-and-down depending on a characteristic of the input signals. The head has a mouth which is opened and closed to simulate talking also in response to the input signals. A voice chip with associated control circuitry control two motors to effect the head movement and mouth movement.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a toy which is responsive to audible sound signals and more particularly to a figure toy whose body parts move in response to audible sound signals.

Figure toys such as plush animals are prevalent in the toy industry. Such toys are usually passive and unanimated, and do not have any mechanisms to move body parts, unless such body parts are moved by a person, such as a child.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a toy mechanism having parts which move in response to audio sound signals. The toy mechanism can be provided inside of a plush toy, and move body parts of the plush toy. Movement can be movement of the head relative to the body, opening of the mouth, or any other body part, or one part relative to another body part.

The invention provides an animated toy, comprising: a housing having a body portion and a head portion; an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals; and a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

The present invention provides an animated toy, comprising: a housing having a body portion and a head portion; an animated figure in which the housing is located, the animated figure having a head in which the housing head portion is located, and a body in which the housing body portion is located; an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals; a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals; wherein the animated figure has a mouth, and wherein the controller moves the mouth open and closed in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double-responsive toy according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a control mechanism for the toy according to the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a control circuit for the toy according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be given, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The inventive embodiment will be described in relation to a plush toy, but could be used in another toy, such as a doll or action figure. As used herein, the term “toy” refers to plush toys, dolls, action figures, whether representing animals, humans, or non-realistic figures such as action heroes and characters, including omic characters and fantasy characters. It also includes inanimate toys, such as vehicles or objects. It also includes pseudo-animate objects.

The invention provides an animated toy, comprising: a housing having a body portion and a head portion; an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals; and a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

The input circuit may comprise an input jack for receiving inputted audio signals from an electronic device. The input circuit may comprise a microphone. The input circuit may comprise a switch for switching between connection to an input jack which receives inputted audio signals from an electronic device and connection to a microphone. The toy may further comprise an animated figure in which the housing is located, the animated figure having a head in which the housing head portion is located, and a body in which the housing body portion is located. The animated figure may have a mouth, and wherein the controller moves the mouth open and closed in dependence on a characteristic of the audio signal. The toy may further include an acoustic output transducer for outputting audio signals in dependence on the inputted audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head up-and-down relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head up-and-down, and from side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may comprise a voice engine circuit chip.

The present invention provides an animated toy, comprising: a housing having a body portion and a head portion; an animated figure in which the housing is located, the animated figure having a head in which the housing head portion is located, and a body in which the housing body portion is located; an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals; a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals; wherein the animated figure has a mouth, and wherein the controller moves the mouth open and closed in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

The input circuit may comprise an input jack for receiving inputted audio signals from an electronic device. The input circuit may comprise a microphone. The input circuit may comprise a switch for switching between connection to an input jack which receives inputted audio signals from an electronic device and connection to a microphone. The toy may further including an acoustic output transducer for outputting audio signals in dependence on the inputted audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head up-and-down relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may be adapted to move the head up-and-down, and from side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals. The controller may comprise a voice engine circuit chip.

FIG. 1 shows a toy in the shape of a snowman plush toy, having a body, head, arms and legs. The head has a mouth.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of a mechanism that may be inserted into the interior of a plush toy. The mechanism includes a housing having a back half 10A and a front half 10B, and a base 12 having a receptacle for receiving three AA batteries. Inside the housing is a motor 14 which having a pulley 16 which drives a belt 18. The belt 18 drives a second pulley 20 and shaft 22, which through a series of gears 24 rotates shaft 26 having an eccentric spindle 28. The spindle 28 is received in a horizontal elongated opening 30 in an upward arm 32. A vertical elongated opening 34 is mounted on pin 36. When the entire mechanism is assembled, energization of the motor 14 will cause the upward arm 32 to tilt from side to side about pivot point 36, and will also cause the arm 32 to move vertically up and down.

Mounted on the top of the upward arm 32 is a housing head portion mechanism 40. This mechanism houses a second motor 42, which when energized causes the lower plate 44 to oscillate about pivot point 46. An upper plate 48 remains fixed.

When the mechanism of FIG. 2 is placed inside the plush toy of FIG. 1, the plates 44 and 48 are located below and above, respectively, the mouth of the toy, causing the mouth to open and close when motor 42 is energized.

Motor 14 when energized will cause the head of the plush toy to oscillate up and down and side to side.

The housing front 10B has an acoustic speaker 50 mounted therein and holes in the housing front 10B allow sound to pass through.

FIG. 3 is a circuit disgram of a control circuit for the motor 14 and 42. The circuit is powered by batteries shown on the upper left to provide 4.5 VDC which voltage is provided to the input of a voltage regulator 52 in the form of a 3006 chip, which outputs 3.3 VDC. The heart of the control circuit is a voice engine 54 in the form of a H7A461 P chip. Switch 56 serves to power the chip on and off, and the switch 56 can be located in the arm of the toy for easy access and operation.

An input to the voice engine 56 is a microphone 60, which may be located in an arm of the plush toy, hidden from view. A second input 62 provides a way to input audio signals to the voice engine. The second input is an input jack 62 can receive audio signals from an MP3 player, cell phone, iPod or other hand held or desktop electronic device. A switch 70, which may be located near the battery receptacle cover, enables the user to select the audio source of the microphone 60 or input jack 62.

The voice engine 54 may be programmed to accept audio input signals from either the microphone 60 or input jack 62 and provide appropriate driving signals to drive the two motors 14 and 42 depending on the characteristics of the input signals, such as amplitude, frequency, duration, etc.

The voice engine 54 will also provide an output to an audio driver 80, which is a TRS 1309B chip, to provide audio signals to the speaker 50.

Another example of a voice engine 54 is a SNC 71101 16-bit voice engine available from Sonix.

Such a voice engine is a recording engine which records high quality audio data for further processing. The recorded data may be compressed, and a built in 2 KW program RAM can execute a program residing in a 44 KW program ROM. Further details on the SNC 71101 voice engine may be found in a Data Sheet readily available at www.dz863.com/pinout-8387258463-SNC71101/. The interface circuits for the SNC 71101 are also disclosed therein.

By appropriate programming, an audio signal can be outputted to drive the motor 14 and 42 to move the toy head up and down, and side to side relative to the body, open and close the mouth to simulate talking, and to output an audio signal through the speaker 50.

Although one embodiment has been shown and described, the invention is not limited to this embodiment.

Claims

1. An animated toy, comprising:

a housing having a body portion and a head portion;

an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals; and

a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

2. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the input circuit comprises an input jack for receiving inputted audio signals from an electronic device.

3. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the input circuit comprises a microphone.

4. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the input circuit comprises a switch for switching between connection to an input jack which receives inputted audio signals from an electronic device and connection to a microphone.

5. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the toy further comprises an animated figure in which the housing is located, the animated figure having a head in which the housing head portion is located, and a body in which the housing body portion is located.

6. The toy according to claim 5, wherein the animated figure has a mouth, and wherein the controller moves the mouth open and closed in dependence on a characteristic of the audio signal.

7. The toy according to claim 1, further including an acoustic output transducer for outputting audio signals in dependence on the inputted audio signals.

8. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to move the head side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals.

9. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to move the head up-and-down relative to the body in response to audio signals.

10. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to move the head up-and-down, and from side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals.

11. The toy according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a voice engine circuit chip.

12. An animated toy, comprising:

a housing having a body portion and a head portion;

an animated figure in which the housing is located, the animated figure having a head in which the housing head portion is located, and a body in which the housing body portion is located;

an input circuit for receiving data representing inputted audio signals;

a controller for moving the head portion relative to the body portion in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals;

wherein the animated figure has a mouth, and wherein the controller moves the mouth open and closed in dependence on a characteristic of the inputted audio signals.

13. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the input circuit comprises an input jack for receiving inputted audio signals from an electronic device.

14. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the input circuit comprises a microphone.

15. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the input circuit comprises a switch for switching between connection to an input jack which receives inputted audio signals from an electronic device and connection to a microphone.

16. The toy according to claim 12, further including an acoustic output transducer for outputting audio signals in dependence on the inputted audio signals.

17. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the controller is adapted to move the head side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals.

18. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the controller is adapted to move the head up-and-down relative to the body in response to audio signals.

19. The toy according to claim 12 wherein the controller is adapted to move the head up-and-down, and from side-to-side relative to the body in response to audio signals.

20. The toy according to claim 12, wherein the controller comprises a voice engine circuit chip.