JPH0310354B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a voice synthesis toy with a built-in electronically synthesized voice generator, and in particular, preprogrammed voice code information is activated by contact with a human finger. This relates to a voice synthesis toy that is read from a memory circuit and obtained as voice by operating a switch.

This type of voice synthesis toy has already been proposed by the applicant of the present invention, and its configuration will be briefly explained below. Incidentally, an electronic circuit of an example of a voice synthesis toy is shown in FIG. 1, a perspective view of this toy is shown in FIG. 2, and a card used therein is shown in FIG. 3.

First, in the electronic circuit shown in Fig. 1, 1 is a read-only storage circuit, and the recording circuit 1 stores speech synthesis information for performing speech synthesis in advance. Speech synthesis information that generates words is stored. 2 is a control circuit, and 3 is a speech synthesis circuit. These memory circuit 1, control circuit 2, and speech synthesis circuit 3 are each connected by an electric circuit, and the control circuit 2 selectively extracts desired speech synthesis information from the memory circuit 1. It is configured to read out the data and provide it to the speech synthesis circuit 3. S ₁
is a changeover switch for specifying a preset voice synthesis mode for the control circuit 2;
The switch _S1 is assumed to provide a switching signal to the control circuit 2 as 4-bit information coded in advance using four on/off switches. S ₂ is a start switch, and S ₃ is a repeat switch. Further, _S4 is a switch mechanically linked to the receptor 4, and is arranged corresponding to the card 5 having a mechanically deformable portion of selection information encoded in advance. The switch S ₄ is composed of, for example, nine on/off switches, and supplies it to the control circuit 2 as 9-bit information, extracts speech information of a plurality of required words from the memory circuit 1, and supplies it to the speech synthesis circuit 3. It is configured like this. 6 is an impedance conversion circuit for the speaker 9 connected to the homophone synthesis circuit 3, 7 is a DC-DC converter using a battery 8 as a power source, and _S5 is a power switch.

In the above-described circuit, the card 5 has a mechanically deformed portion formed on one side edge, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, to obtain a 9-bit signal. That is, assuming that the illustrated case is the front surface of the card, a diagonal notch 51 is formed at the left end, and this corresponds to the first switch 41 from the left of the switches _S4 , and the switches 42, 43, etc. arranged on the right side are formed below. Recesses are formed at necessary locations corresponding to the positions 49. Figure 4 shows the above card 5.
The switch _S4 is disposed on the substrate 40, and an elastic tongue piece 50 is protruded above the switch S4, while the card 5 is held so as to be slidable up and down. By pressing down and holding the card 5, the tongue piece 50 is pressed by the edge of the card in the portion without the recess, and the switch 4 immediately below the tongue piece 50 is pressed.
1, 42...49 are selectively closed. The role of the switch _S4 is, for example, assigning bits to the first switch 41 and the ninth switch 49 to obtain a signal for detecting the front and back sides of the card 5, and assigning the second switch 42 to ensure that the card 5 is set. The remaining third to eighth switches 43...48 can be assigned to bits for detecting a 6-bit code signal. For example, S ₁ is composed of four switches 11, 12, 13, and 14 as shown in FIG. If the switches 11, 12, 13, and 14 are configured to operate selectively depending on the correspondence with the deformation section, a desired voice synthesis mode can be selected using a 4-bit code.

The operation of the above embodiment will be explained below. First, the power switch _S5 is turned on, the changeover switch _S1 is selectively turned on and off by the card 10, and the card 1
A signal specifying the voice synthesis mode using 0 is given to the control circuit 2. For example, the following three types of voice synthesis modes are set, and the contents are a mode in which the picture printed on the front side of the card 5 is read aloud, a mode in which the content of the picture programmed in advance is read out at random, and a mode in which the content of the picture printed on the card 5 is read out at random. and a mode in which the back side of the card 5 is used to read out the words programmed for each card, the word contents of multiple cards 5 are memorized and edited as necessary, and the desired words are uttered. . If the first mode is selected, a voice saying "Choose any card" is uttered from the speaker 9 via the memory circuit 1 and the voice synthesis circuit 3 based on the operation of the control circuit 2. . Next, when an arbitrary card 5 is taken out from a large number of cards 5 prepared in advance and set in the receptor 4, the switch _S4 is activated by the mechanically deformed portion formed on the edge of the card. The above 9-bit information is given to the control circuit 2, the content of the code set therein is determined, and the speech synthesis information of the desired word is read out from the memory circuit 1 based on the operation of the control circuit 2. A word is edited from the series of words edited through the speech synthesis circuit 3, that is, the content of the picture printed on the surface of the card 5 is uttered as a word from the speaker 9. In this case, card 5
If the card is erroneously set face down, it will be detected by the switches 41 and 49, and if necessary, a voice such as "The card is face down" can be emitted. As mentioned above, in this mode, many cards 5
By simply sequentially setting the cards 5 on the receptor 4, the contents of the pictures printed on the front surface of the card 5 can be sequentially uttered as words.

It is possible to operate in other modes.

An object of the present invention is to configure a plurality of card-like bodies provided with a switch mechanism operated by a current induced by a human finger or the like so that they can be exchanged as appropriate, and to transmit information coded by the switch mechanism. To provide a voice synthesis toy that has a wide variety of variations when reading and generating voices.

The speech synthesis toy of the present invention includes a memory circuit that stores information for speech synthesis, a speech synthesis circuit that performs speech synthesis based on the information for speech synthesis in the memory circuit, and a speech synthesis circuit that selectively uses the information for speech synthesis in the memory circuit. The main body includes a control circuit for extracting the information from the speech synthesizer and providing it to the speech synthesis circuit, and an acoustic device connected to the speech synthesis circuit to generate speech, while extracting a plurality of pieces of speech synthesis information from the memory circuit. In order to achieve this, the card-like body is equipped with a plurality of electronic switch mechanisms that operate on/off by detecting the contact of a human body etc. by induction, and the card-like body and the main body are connected to each other. It is characterized by being configured to be detachable and electrically connectable.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is for explaining the principle of the electronic switch adopted in the card used in the voice synthesis toy of the present invention.

This principle is similar to the so-called "touch sensor". First, a known analog switch 60 composed of a field effect transistor, for example a CMOS FFT, is provided, and a control terminal of this switch 60 (for example, a transfer gate of the CMOS FFT) is connected to a metal touch plate 62. Further, this terminal is grounded via a high resistance R. Also,
It is assumed that a normal power supply voltage (V _DD -V _SS ) is applied to this analog switch 60. In this state, the potential of the touch plate 62 is lowered to the earth (ground) level by the high resistance R.
In other words, since the potential of the gate electrode of the FFT constituting the switch 60 is lowered to the ground level, the switch 60 is turned off.

Next, when you touch this touch plate 62 with your finger 64, etc., the induced weak current that normally exists in the human body is applied to the finger 64.
The current flows into the touch plate 62 through the high resistance R and reaches the ground. The voltage caused by this induced current has a pulse waveform as shown in FIG. 5b, and when the positive voltage level exceeds the _VDD level, the analog switch 60 is turned on.

As explained above, it is possible to turn the analog switch ON/OFF simply by touching the touch plate 62 with a finger or the like.

FIG. 6 shows a card according to an embodiment of the present invention that utilizes the above-described switch mechanism. Note that this switch mechanism is employed in the cards 5 and 10 shown in FIG. This card 80 is touch board 8
A substrate 83 in which 2a to 82f are embedded at predetermined intervals.
and a cover plate 8 having the same dimensions as this board 83.
It is composed of 4. This board 83 is made of an insulating material, and has touch plates 82a to 82f.
Holes 85a to 85f are formed at positions corresponding to the positions of , and the letters "A" to "KA" are formed near the holes.
Enter. Although not shown, each of the touch plates 82a to 82f is connected to a control electrode of a corresponding analog switch.

By inserting the card 80 having the above structure into a predetermined position of the toy shown in FIG. 2 and arranging it in a predetermined manner, the following code information reading operation becomes possible.

That is, for example, when a child touches the touch board 82a at the "A" position with a finger or the like, the corresponding analog switch is turned on. By this,
As shown in FIG. 1, code information corresponding to this switch information is read out from the storage circuit 1 via the control circuit 2, and predetermined processing is performed in the speech synthesis circuit 3. Based on this processed information, a voice saying, for example, ``Pick up the card with the picture of an ant'' can be heard from the speaker "9". The child retrieves the corresponding card from another place,
When you insert this card into the insertion hole for receptor 4 on the top of the toy, the encoded information on the card will be read in the same way, and the speaker will again say "Correct. ``Proceed to the next step'' will be pronounced.

Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to the above-mentioned educational toys but also to dolls as shown in FIG. doll 90
For example, a touch plate 92a is provided on the head, and a touch plate 92b is also provided on the hand. in this case,
These touches 92a and 92b are ICs instead of metal plates.
It is preferable to use a known conductive rubber which is used to protect against dielectric breakdown. In this case, since the material of the doll itself is generally an insulating material (such as plastic), there is an advantage that there is no need to separately insulate the touch plates.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, a switch mechanism using touch sensor technology and an electronic switch mechanism is used, so a novel voice synthesis toy that can obtain predetermined voice information simply by touching it with a human finger, etc. is created. It has many benefits in attracting children's attention.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various other modifications may be made.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a circuit diagram of the electronic circuit of the voice synthesis toy, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the toy, Figure 3 is a front view of the main parts of the card used in this toy, and Figure 4 is the same receptor. A side view of the main parts, FIGS. 5a and 5b are explanatory views showing the operating principle of the switch mechanism used in the toy of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a card with a switch using the principle of FIG. 5a. , FIG. 7 is a front view of another application example. Code 60...Analog switch, 62, 82
a~82f, 92a~92b... touch board, 80
...Card, 84...Cover plate, 90...
doll.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A memory circuit that stores speech synthesis information, a speech synthesis circuit that performs speech synthesis based on the speech synthesis information in this memory circuit, and selectively extracts the speech synthesis information in the memory circuit and provides it to the speech synthesis circuit. The main body includes a control circuit for the voice synthesis circuit and an acoustic device that is connected to the voice synthesis circuit and generates voice. a card-like body equipped with a plurality of electronic switch mechanisms that operate on/off by detecting contacts such as the like by induction, and the card-like body and the main body are removably and electrically connected. A voice synthesis toy characterized by being configured to enable voice synthesis.