Multi Function Toy with Embedded Wireless Hardware

Abstract

This invention relates to a toy or plush stuffed animal or a doll with built in Hardware device connected with a speaker(s) and a microphone(s). The main usage of this toy is to be used as a Bluetooth headset, Baby Activity Monitor in conjunction with an Mobile Application, as a Music Player with unlimited playback of Audio Story Books or Lullaby Music, any kind of music when Paired with smart phones and any blue tooth enabled devices or as a Interactive talk back toy when used with a Mobile Application.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED INVENTION

This application claims the partial benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61624124, Dated 13 Apr. 2012 Filed by Raja Ramamoorthy, Confirmation Number 6008 and the contents of which is incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates the field of wireless technology and consumer device such as toy or doll.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

There is a ubiquity of smart devices in the market place and the need for the ability to have such devices interact with consumer toys has a big value in the market place. This invention utilizes various technologies to make toys enable a better experience for the consumer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example view of a Multifunction toy built with Bluetooth device connected with amplifier, speakers, microphones, volume control switches and a Power Switch.

FIG. 2 illustrates a representation of the toy as a Baby Monitoring Device.

FIG. 3 illustrates a representation of the use of the toy as a Music Player.

FIG. 4 illustrates a representation of the use of the toy as a Bluetooth Headset.

FIG. 5 illustrates a representation of the use of the toy as a Talkback Toy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2 represents a embodiment of the multi function toy which consists of a plush toy 100 built with a Bluetooth device 105 that is connected with amplifier 105, speakers 106, microphones 104 and 103, volume control 101, volume control switches 102 and power switch 102. This toy connects/pairs 108 with a Bluetooth enabled device 107 such as a laptop, tablet or a smart phone.

This invention relates to a toy or plush stuffed animal or a doll with built in Bluetooth Hardware device connected with a speaker(s) and a microphone(s). More particularly the main usage of this toy is (a) Bluetooth headset, (b) Baby activity monitor in conjunction with an Mobile Application, (c) As a Music player with unlimited playback of Audio story books or Lullaby music or any kind of music when paired with smart phones and any blue tooth enabled devices (d) As a Interactive talk back toy when used with a Mobile Application.

When the toy is paired with a Bluetooth enabled Smart phone or any other Bluetooth enabled device this toy can be used as a Bluetooth headset. Plush toy acting like a phone establishes a two-way communication with family members and friends. It would make it easy for any children to use these toys for communication with the family members and friends. Generally children are not excited and do not like to converse using regular phones but having them talk from a Plush toy would make them excited. A family member living away from home can call a Bluetooth enabled phone and if this toy is paired with that phone the incoming call can be answered using the toy and a two-way communication is established between the toy and the caller. Children at home can hear and talk back to the caller using the toy and caller can sing a song or make sounds or read a storybook to the kid.

This toy can be used as a baby activity monitor with a companion mobile phone application. Majority of the baby activity monitoring devices use RF or Wifi wireless network to communicate between the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitting device, which would transmit audio signal, is either powered by a battery or plugged directly to a power source and such devices are usually kept near the child to monitor baby activity. Baby Monitoring devices are considered as active electronic devices and there is an always a concern that parents do not want to keep the devices very close to the baby. Most of the devices produce static noises and they need a power outlet close to the crib. Having a baby activity-monitoring transmitter built into a plush toy would make the monitoring very effective. Parents can use Bluetooth protocol to connect their smartphone or a tablet to the toy. The smartphone or table will become a receiver device and they can run an app on that device which can be used for baby monitoring. Parents can monitor the activity of the baby when the baby is on the move with the toy, which is not possible with the current baby monitoring devices.

When the plush toy is paired with a Bluetooth enabled device like smart phone, tablets, laptops, desktop, and audio receivers the toy can be used to play lullaby music from any music application. It can also play audio storybook content from a supporting application. Parents love to play music or sing lullaby or tell stories to their children during their bedtime but imagine the possibility of children hearing all that from a plush toy. Parents can play their children's favorite music or audio storybooks. Hearing it on the plush toy would make it more interesting and exciting for the child.

The plush toy can be used as a talk back toy when paired with a Bluetooth capable device. On the Bluetooth capable device, one can run a mobile application that will be used to create the talk back effect. The toy will repeat anything you talk in front of the toy. In current toys, the talk back option on a plush toy is limited to few words or limited for a certain period of time, but using a Bluetooth protocol with a mobile application, there is no limit to the words or time for the talk back.

The toy built in with a Bluetooth receiver with AD2P protocol acts like a Bluetooth headset when it is paired with a Bluetooth enabled smartphone or a regular phone. The toy is also built with a speaker(s) and high sensitive Microphone with volume up and down buttons. When it is paired, the toy can pick up incoming phone calls and establish a two-way communication. There is an inbuilt battery, which would provide the power required for the Bluetooth receiver.

This toy can be used as a monitoring device using a mobile application that runs on an iOS or Android based smart phone or tablet. During monitoring, the toy acts like an audio signal transmitter and the smart phone or a tablet device is like a receiver of the Audio signal with the mobile application controlling both the toy and the smartphone. The mobile application has a user interface with an option to start the monitoring or end the monitoring. The mobile application also runs as a background application. When user presses the start-monitoring button the smart device would listen to the audio signal from the microphone built in with the toy. There are a couple of ways the audio signal/sound is picked up from the toy microphone and directed to the device speaker. In one option, the audio signal is picked up from the Toy Microphone and stored inside in the memory of the smart phone or a tablet device. The content is read from the memory, amplified and directed to the speaker. In the second option, there is a direct connection established between the Device speaker and the Toy microphone using the device operating system Application Programming Interfaces. Both the options use the mobile application as a connection point to establish connection between the microphone and the device speaker.

When paired with a Bluetooth enabled device like smart phone, laptops, desktops, audio receivers and tablet devices this toy plays lullaby music from any applications or mobile applications. The toy has a built in amplifier with speaker along with the Bluetooth receiver supporting A2DP protocol. Once the toy is paired with a smart phone or tablet or any Bluetooth enabled device (called master device) the toy speaker become one of the audio output source to the master device. Any audio or music we play in the master device is outputted to the toy speaker. The music or audio can be played, paused, fast-forward and rewind from the toy with an option of controlling the volume.

Using Bluetooth technology in conjunction with an Application (iOS, Android, Windows based applications run on Mobile devices and Tablets), this toy invention can be used as a talk back toy when it's paired with a Bluetooth capable device. The mobile application pick ups sound/audio signal from the toy microphone and repeats it back at toy speaker. The audio signal is stored in a temporary memory of the mobile device and the mobile application will read the audio content from the memory and play in back in the toy speaker. There is a time lag between the audio input to the toy microphone and the output to the toy speaker to simulate the talk back or repeat function. The lag value is in seconds and it is configurable. When a child says ‘Hello’ and toy repeats ‘Hello’ and the delay in the response is based on the configuration value set in the mobile application.

FIG. 2 represents the toy as a baby monitoring device. The toy or doll with Bluetooth receiver 201 with an embedded microphone 202 is paired with a Bluetooth Enabled Smartphone or Tablet Device 204. When the Baby Monitor Application 203 is launched the microphone 202 from the Toy or Doll 201 is connected to the Speaker of iOS/Android/Windows Based Smartphone or Tablet Devices 204. Any Sound or Noise heard near the Toy or Doll 201 is reproduced at the Tablet Device 204.

FIG. 3 represents the use of the toy as a Music Player. The Toy or Doll with a Bluetooth receiver 301 is paired with a Bluetooth Enabled Smartphone or Tablet Device 304. Any Music played on the Smartphone or Tablet device 304 is reproduced at the Toy 301.

FIG. 4 represents the use of the toy as a Bluetooth headset. The Toy or Doll with a Bluetooth receiver 401 is paired with a Bluetooth Enabled Smartphone or Tablet Device 403. A two way communication 402 is now established between the Toy 401 and Device 403 and one can use this channel to communicate.

FIG. 5 represents the use of the toy as a Talkback Toy. The Toy or Doll with a Bluetooth receiver 502 with embedded speaker 503 and microphone 501 is paired with a Bluetooth Enabled Smartphone or Tablet Device 505. A talkback mobile application 504 is launched on the device 505. In this mode, anything a user says near the toy microphone is repeated back in the toy microphone.

Claims

1. At least one toy or doll built with four different functions namely Telephone headset, Music player, Baby monitor and Talk back functionality.

2. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 with built in wireless hardware which can receive and send audio data to and from smart phones and tablet devices.

3. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 communicates with the mobile application installed on the smart phone or tablet devices using wireless protocol to send and receive audio data.

4. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 with built in speakers, microphones and audio amplifiers.

5. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 which can be paired with smartphone or tablet using wireless protocol.

6. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 with the mobile application installed on the smart phone or tablet devices that acts like a baby activity monitor when paired with any smartphone or tablet using wireless protocol.

7. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 with the mobile application installed on the smart phone or tablet devices that acts like a talk back toy when paired with any smartphone or tablet using wireless protocol.

8. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 which can be paired with any smartphone or tablet and acts like a telephone headset to send and receive audio data back and forth from a smart phone using wireless protocol.

9. At least one toy or doll of claim 1 which can stream audio data from the smartphone or tablet and play it on the speaker of the doll.