EP0145758A1 - Pre-programmed animated show and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A control system is provided for a pre-programmed animated show including animated figurines. The program is pre-recorded on a conventional medium (10), the audio part of the show being recorded on a track separate from the control information but in synchronism with it. The control information is recorded in blocks or sequences of bits of predetermined dimensions, each bit position being assigned to a particular control function among several control functions of the show, including the operation of at least one of them is ensured by a pneumatic cylinder (100). Sequences of bits are read from the tape (10) asynchronously, and each group of specialized bits is used to control its respective control function. Precise regulation of the movement of the pneumatic cylinder (100) is provided by operating the cylinder (100) in a two-mode system. When the cylinder piston (104) is in a position relatively far from the desired position, the cylinder control system (100) is forced to move toward the desired position. When the position of the cylinder (100) is within a predefined range of the desired position, a second mode of operation takes over, according to which the actuation of the cylinder (100) is intermittently interrupted to obtain a momentary “braking” effect. A mechanism (608) for arcuate movement of the eye and a mechanism (710) for movement of the fingers are provided.

Description

PRE-PROGRAMMED ANIMATED SHOW AND METHOD

The present invention relates generally to pre¬ programmed, electronically controlled animated shows and, more particularly, concerns animated figures and elec¬ tronic systems and a method for controlling the same. Digitally controlled, pre-programmed electronic animation systems are well known in the art. Such systems are disclosed, for example in U.S. Patents No. 3,767,901, No. 3,898,438 and No. 3,919,696. Such systems have in¬ volved the use of a computer to operate the show to produce a pre-pro rammed presentation. However, such systems re¬ quiring a dedicated computer have proved far too complex for operation by the general public and for use in such places as restaurants and theaters, where skilled technical personnel would not normally be available. It is therefore an object of the present inven¬ tion to provide a pre-programmed show including one or more automatons or animated figures, which does not require the use of a complex computer or the services of a skilled technical person to operate the same. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pre-pro¬ grammed animated show which can be operated by relatively unskilled personnel using relatively simple equipment.

Typically, animated figures currently utilize pneumatic cylinders to achieve various movements of the figures. Such cylinders are commonly used for providing movements between two extreme positions, corresponding to the fully extended and fully retracted positions of a shaft attached to the piston of the cylinder. However, it has also been suggested that so-called "proportional control" systems be utilized in which the cylinder is controlled so. as to be positionable in a plurality of different positions intermediate the two extremes. The problem with such proportional control systems has been that the movements of a pneumatic cylinder, particularly when operating a -. '^' relatively massive portion of a figure, are not easily regulated. In particular, once movement of the cylinder^'-" is initiated, it is difficult to stop the movement at a ' precise position of the cylinder piston and, frequently, an "overshoot" of the desired position occurs. As a consequence, the proportional control system reverses the cylinder in an attempt to once more position it at the desired position. However, the desired position is very often bypassed once more as a result of a further overshoot. Typically, a substantial number of overshoots would be encountered before the cylinder can finally be brought to rest in the desired position. This is a very undesirable situation, since an observer of the animated figure can observe it "jittering".

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages inherent in in existing pro¬ portional control systems for pneumatic cylinders used in animated figures. It is specifically an object of the present invention control systems and to achieve precise positioning of the cylinder without any perceivable over¬ shoot, that is, to achieve a so-called critically damped" response. Various operational mechanisms for components of animated figures have been known. However, two types of movements which would be very desirable have been unavail¬ able. One such movement is a planar, arcuate eye, such as is often found on cartoon characters. Movements have been available which simulate the human eyeball, but none -have been available to simulate a cartoon character with a

O PI planar, arcuate eye and a "dot" pupil freely moveable over the surface of the eye. Another animation mechanism which has been unavailable is one to closely simulate the finger, bending and straightening movements of the human hand. It is therefore an object of the present invention.. ^' to provide an arcuate eye movement mechanism and a ^'finger "' movement mechanism which closely simulates the movements of the human hand.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention,.,an extremely simplified control system for a pre-programmed ' animated show is provided. The program is pre-recorded on a conventional medium, such as multi-track magnetic tape, and the audio portion of the show is recorded on a separate "- track from the control information but in synchronism therewith. The control information is recorded in blocks or frames of bits having a predetermined number of bit positions, with each bit position being dedicated, to a particular control function of the show. Frames of bits are read from the tape asynchronously, and each group of dedicated bits is used to control its respective control function. This eliminates any need for retaining address information with respect to bits and any need for providing close synchronism, whereby relatively simple circuitry can be used, instead of a complex computer. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, close regulation of the movement of a pneumatic cylinder in an animated figure is achieved by operating the cylinder in a two-mode fashion. When the actual position of the cylin¬ der is relatively far from the desired position, the control system for the cylinder is operated in the same manner as for a two position cylinder. That is, the cylinder is driven hard in the desired direction. hen the actual position of the cylinder piston comes within a predefined range of the desired position, a second mode of operation is entered in which the drive to the cylinder is inter¬ mittently removed to achieve momentary "braking". In this manner, close control of the movement of the cylinder is achieved and perceptable overshoots are avoided. .

In accordance with further aspects ^"of the invention, an arcuate eye movement mechanism and a finger movement mechanism are provided. The eye movement_jinecha- nis includes a ^"flat pupil made of a magnetic material which is positioned against a rear eye surface made of a non-magnetic material. A movement member behind the backing surface is also made of a magnetic material and at least one of the pupil member and the movement member - is a magnet, so that there is an attraction between them and any movement of the movement member results in movement of the pupil.

The finger movement mechanism includes a finger with a plurality of segments in end-to-end alignment. The mechanism includes a flexible cord or wire member which is passed through aligned longitudinal channels in, the finger segments and over the top of the segments within a groove. One end of the cable is secured in a fixed position on the hand of the figure and the other end is attached to a control member, such as a pneumatic cylinder. The finger is also provided with a resilient covering or sheath which is pre-formed so as to bias the finger in either a straight¬ ened or bent position. Actuation of the air cylinder causes the cable to be tightened, moving the finger against the tension of its covering into the position opposite to the one in which it is biased. Operating the air cylinder to release the tension on the cable results in the finger returning to its biased position. In this manner, move- ments closely simulating the bending and straightening of the fingers on the human hands are readily achieved. The foregoing brief description, as well as further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more completely understood from the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present

OMPI invention, with reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the con¬ struction of a program recovering portion of a control system embodying objects and features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a proportional control system for pneumatic cylinder em¬ bodying the present invention; Fig. 3 is a circuit schematic diagram showing the circuit details of a preferred construction for error amplifier 200 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a circuit schematic diagram showing the circuit construction details of a preferred embodiment of driver 300 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a circuit schematic diagram showing the construction details of a preferred form of threshold com¬ parator 400 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a front view of an arcuate eye operating mechanism embodying the present invention;

Fig.7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 in Fig.6;

Fig. 8 is a rear view of the mechanism of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 illustrates the hand of an animated figure operating mechanism of the present invention; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of one of the finger operating mechanisms. Detailed Description

Referring now to the details of the drawing, Figs. 1 and 2- provide a schematic block diagram illustration of a control system embodying objects and features of the present invention. The control system controls the presentation of a pre-recorded show involving a plurality of remote con¬ trolled animated figures or automatons. The program is pre¬ recorded on a multi-track, magnetic tape on which audio in¬ formation, such as music and speech is recorded in synchro¬ nism with, but on separate tracks from, control information

"BUREAU OMPI necessary to operate the figures, lighting and all of the physical components of the show. To perform the show, the audio tape is played on a conventional tape deck 10 (see Fig. 1) to recover the recorded information. In Fig. 1, . recorded tracks including audio and control. information are shown being separately extracted. Typically_/ the audio information would occupy two tracks and would be provided to an appropriate high fidelity system for audio reproduction. The control information would also occupy a- number of tracks, typically as many as six. In Fig. 1, the control information relating to the animated figures is shown being separately directed to a data buffer 20.

The control information provided to data buffer 20 has been pre-recorded in data blocks or frames having a 5 fixed number of binary digits or bits. In the preferred embodiment, each frame includes 96 data bits, and each data bit position defines a "channel" which is dedicated to a particular control function in the system Xe^'.g. moving a limb or the eyes of a particular figure) , as will be more fully explained below. In the preferred embodiment, each control function can be performed by using the control in¬ formation available in no more than 8 channels.

The preferred system is asynchronous in the sense that there is no pre-determined time occurrence of the con- 5 trol information frames. The frames do occur at a known rate (preferably 20 per second) and each frame includes a known number of bits (preferably 96). Each frame also includes information designating the beginning and end of the frame. This permits the data bits representing the _Q frame to be read sequentially into the data buffer 20. The start of a frame is detected by a synchronization detector 30. The synchronization detector then enables an AND gate 40 to transmit pulses from an oscillator 50 to control data buffer 20. These pulses permit sequential reading ₅ into the buffer of the bits comprising a frame. These bits are then presented in parallel to a storage register 50. When sync detector 30 detects the end of a frame, AND gate 40 is disabled, so that no further bits are read into data buffer 20, and the bits presented by data buffer 20 to storage register 50 are read into the storage register, in parallel. One complete frame of control information is then available at the output leads 60 of storage register. 50, each of which are connected to a subsystem for^"operat¬ ing a respective control function (one such subsystem, being illustrated in Fig. 2).

In the preferred embodiment, the movements of the^' animated figures is achieved by means of pneumalic cylin-^* ders, each of which achieves a linear movement. However, any individual animated figure may be capable of a series of complex movements of its limbs, head, eyes, etc., and each of these movements can require a plurality of cylin- ders. In addition, each cylinder can be either binary

(i.e. its piston assumes one of two extreme positions) or multi-positional (i.e. the piston assumes a plurality of discrete positions between the extreme positions) . A binary cylinder requires only one channel of control information. However, a multi-position cylinder can require as many as eight channels of control information, in which case it would be capable of being positioned in 28 (i.e. 256) discrete positions. In a large system having many multi-positional cylinders, a number of parallel tracks of control information could be provided on the tape each including frames of information dedicated to separate groups of cylinders. Each such track could then be extracted in parallel to the other tracks using an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 1. This would permit the simultaneous control of a large number of cylinders.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the control of a multi-position cylinder 100. The recipro¬ cating shaft 102 of this cylinder is controlled by means of electrically actuated valves 104, 106, 108 and 110. to assume any of 256 discrete positions between its fully extended position and its fully retracted position. In Fig. 2, shaft 102 is physically coupled, by means of an arm, to the adjustable member or wiper 152 of a potentiameter 150, which is connected between- a reference voltage E. and. ground. This generates a voltage on lead 154, the amplitude of which is proportional- to the position of shaft 102. This voltage on lead 154 is provided as one input to an error amplifier 200. The desired or command position of shaft 102 is represented by the signals appear.- ^' ing in eight channels of a control frame, here indicated as^' the signals appearing on leads 60- through 60 _ of storage register 50 (Fig. 1). The binary value reprsented by the bits on these eight channels is converted to an analogue of voltage on lead 156 by analog-to-digital (A/D) converter_^ 250, and is provided as the second input to error amplifier 200.

Error amplifier 200 produces a signal between leads 202 and 204 which is proportional to the .difference between the signals appearing on leads 156 and 154 (i.e. a signal proportional to the difference between the desired position and actual position of shaft 102) . This signal is applied to driver 300, via leads 302 and 304, and to threshold comparator 400 via leads 402 and 404.

As an additional input to threshold comparator 400, a reference voltage E₂ is provided on lead 406. The threshold comparator compares the voltage appearing between leads 402 and 404 to the referenced voltage E₂ and provides a logical 1 or high signal on lead 408 as long as the amplitude of the signal between leads 402 and 404 exceeds a threshold level. The signal on lead 408 is provided as an input to a 2-inρut NOR gate 500, the second input to which is provided from a pulse oscillator 550 via lead 552. The output of NOR gate 500 is provided via lead 554 as a disabl control input to driver 300.

In the absence of a disable signal(i.e. a high level on lead 554) , driver 300 provides output drive signals on leads 306 and 308 which are dependent upon the polarity of the signal appearing between leads 302 and 304. When a positive signal appears between leads 302 and 304, a drive signal is provided on leads 306, and. no signal is provided on leads 308. On the other hand, when . a negative signal is provided between leads 302 and 304, a drive signal is provided on leads 308 and no signal, is provided on leads 306. The drive signal on leads 306 is coupled to operate valves 104 and 110, and the drive signal on leads 308 is coupled to operate valves 106 and 108. All valves are normally open and are closed upon the^" application of a drive signal. Hence, as long as there is a signal between leads 302 and 304 and driver 300 is not disabled, either valves 104 and 110 or valves 106 and 108 will be closed.

Pneumatic cylinder 100 is of a convential con- struction, and includes a piston 104 connected to shaft 102 and mounted within cylinder 100 for reciprocating movement, while sealingly engaged with the interior wall of the cylinder. The valves 104 and 108 are connected to the interior of the cylinder at its upper end via pipes 112 and 114, respectively, and the valves 106 and 110 are similarly connected to the lower end of the cylinder via pipes 116 and 118. In addition, valves 104 and 106 are connected to a source of pressurized air, and valves 108 and 110 are vented to the atmosphere. Hence, when valves 104 and 110 are closed, pressurized air is admitted at the top of the cylinder 100 and the bottom of the cylinder is vented to the atmosphere. This results in piston 104 moving downward. Similarly, when valves 106 and 108 are actuated, piston 104 will move upward. Hence, under normal operation, piston 104 will move either upward or downward, depending upon the polarity of the signal between leads 302 and 304.

However, should the signal between leads 302 and 304 become too low in amplitude to operate driver 300, or should the driver become disabled, drive signals would be absent from leads 306 and 308, thereby opening valves 104,

OMPI -< O 106, 108 and 110. ith all valves open, piston 104 is fixed in position and cannot be moved.

In operation, the signal between leads 302 and 304 becomes progressively smaller in amplitude as the ^' actual position of shaft 102 approaches the desired, or commanded position represented by the signals from'storage register 50. When the amplitude of the error voltage between leads 302 and 304 drops below the threshold level ^' represented by reference voltage E₂, the output of threshold comparator 400, on lead 408, goes low. This will permit the output of NOR gate 500 to go high during the absence of pulses on lead 552. When the output of NOR gate 500 goes high, driver 300 is momentarily disabled via ' lead 554. This disablement of driver 300 causes momentary, simultaneous opening of valves 104, 106, 108 and 110, thereby producing momentary "breaking" of piston 104. When a pulse is next produced by oscillator 550 driver 300 is once again enabled during the presence of the pulse and piston 104 is once again permitted to move. This intermittent driving and braking of piston 104 when the position of shaft 102 comes within a pre-defined range of its desired position, achieves better control of the move¬ ment of shaft 102 and eliminates undesirable overshoots in position. In the preferred embodiment, parameters were chosen so that positioning of shaft 102 was achieved with a "critically damped" response

Analog-to-digital convertor 250 and pulse oscil¬ lator 550 are conventional components well known in the art. The pulse rate and duty cycle of the pulse oscillator are not critical and may be chosen over a range of values in ordor to optimize the transient response. The one limitation on the pulse rate and duty cycle is that they must be selected so that driver 300 is disabled for a sufficiently long period of time to permit the valves 104, 106, 108 and 110 to be opened. In the preferred embodi¬ ment, this takes approximately 1.8 miliseconds. 1 Fig. 3 is a circuit schematic diagram of a pre¬ ferred configuration for error amplifier 200. In_. this diagram, components related to biasing and conventional filtering have been omitted to simplify the diagram and ^' emphasize the essentials. Error amplifier 200 comprises four separate amplifiers designated as 210, 212, 214, and .216, respectively. Each of these is a conventional operational amplifier. However, they are configured to serve different functions. Amplifier 210 is a scaling 0 amplifier which receives the signal produced by analog tcr digital convertor 250 on lead 156 and processes this signal so as to have the same baseline (offset) and peak variation as the signal provided on lead 154 from potenti- *■^• oameter 150. Potentiometer 218 is used to select an 5 offset for amplifier 210 so as to match the offset of the signal appearing on line 154. This offset is added to the signal appearing on lead 156 through the cooperation of resistors 220 and 222, as is well known. Potentiameter 220 is used to adjust the gain of amplifier 210 so that 0 the peak variation of the signal appearing at the output of the amplifier is the same as the peak variation of the signal appearing on lead 154.

The output of amplifier 210 is applied as an input to amplifier 212, the second input to which is the signal ^'5 appearing on lead 154. Amplifier 212 provides a predeter¬ mined gain A (approximately 3, in the preferred embodiment). Inasmuch as amplifier 210 processes the signal on lead 156 so that it matches in maximum variation and offset the signal on lead 154, the output of amplifier 212 is an 0 amplified replica of the difference between the signals on leads 154 and 156. Amplifiers 214 and 216 are operated as unity gain amplifiers, amplifier 214 being non-inverting and amplifier 216 providing inversion. These two ampli¬ fiers serve only as buffer amplifiers. The signal on lead 5 202 is therefore A times the difference between difference between the the signals on leads 154 and 156, and the output signal on lead 204 is -A times that difference. The ^ signal appearing between leads 202 and 204 is therefore 2A times the difference between the signals appearing on leads 154 and 156.

Fig. 4 is a circuit schematic diagram showing a ^' preferred embodiment for driver 300.. In this circuit diagram, the same simplifications have been made as were .made in Fig. 3. Driver 300 broadly comprises: a pair of conventional operational amplifiers 310, 312 acting as comparators; a pair of valve drivers 314, 316 responsive

10 to the amplifiers 310 and 312, respectively, to provide the drive signals on leads 306 and 308, respectively, for the valves 104, 106, 108 and 110; and a disabling switch 320 responsive to the signal provided by NOR gate 500 on lead 554 to interrupt the drive signals appearing on leads

15 306 and 308.

The signal produced by error amplifier 200 on leads 202 and 204 are provided as the positive -inputs to amplifiers 310 and 312, respectively. The negative input to each of the amplifiers is a reference voltage which is 0 coupled from a voltage reference source E_ through a resistor 350. In addition, each of the negative inputs is coupled to disabling switch 320 through a resistor 352 and a capacitor 354. The output of amplifier 310 is coupled to valve driver 314 through serially connected resistors 5 360 and 362, and the output of amplifier 312 is coupled to valve driver 316 through the serially connected resistors 364 and 366. The junctions between resistors 360 and 362 and between resistors 364 and 366 each are connected to disabling switch 320. 0 In operation, in the absence of a disabling signal (i.e. a logical zero or low level) on lead 554, disabling switch 320 pulls the bottoms of resistors 352 towards ground, and this produces a voltage at the negative inputs of amplifiers 310 and 312 which drives the outputs

35 of the amplifiers towards saturation, thereby producing the maximum positive or negative level at the output of the amplifiers, depending on the polarity of the input

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OMPI signal thereto. At the same time, disabl ing switch 320 is disconnected from the junctions between the resistors 360 and 362 and between the resistors 364 and^' 366 under these circumstances, so that the drives at the output of amplifiers 310 and 312 are transmitted directly.to valve drivers 314 and 316, respectively, to result^^'in the - appropriate valve being driven

When a disabling signal appears on lead 554 (i.e. a high level), the disabling switch is electrically^' disconnected from the bottoms of resistors 352, resulting- in the negative input of amplifiers 310 and 312 being pulled up to reference voltage E₂, whereby the drive to the amplifiers is substantially reduced or eliminated. Thus, no appreciable signal is produced at the outputs of amplifiers 310 and 312. At the same time, disabling switch 320 pulls the junctions between resistors 360 and 362 and between resistors 364 and 366 towards ground, so that any voltage which does appear at the outputs of amplifiers 310 and 312 is dissipated in the resistors 360 and 364, and is not transmitted to valve drivers 314 and 316. The outputs of the valve drivers are thereby inter¬ rupted. When the disable on lead 554 disappears (i.e. the signal on the lead once more goes low) normal operation resumes. Valve drivers 314 and 316 are identical in con¬ struction. Hence, only valve driver 314 will be described in detail. Transistor 370 receives the output signal from amplifier 310. This transistor is in a grounded emitted configuration, so that it will be driven well into satura- tion when a positive signal appears at the output of amplifier 310, and it will be cut off when a negative signal appears at the output of the amplifier. When driven into saturation, transistor 370 will draw current from the upper one of leads 306 and will thereby provide a drive to the valves connected thereto.

Transistor 372 is. complimentary to transistor 370 (i.e. it is an NPN transistor, whereas transistor 370 is shown as PNP transistor) . When transistor 370 goes into saturation, its collector is pulled towards ground, which places the top of capacitor 374 essentially at ground. This applies a negative pulse to the base of transistor ^' 372 through resistor 376, whereby transistor 372 is. driven well into saturation. This results in an exceptionally strong drive being applied to leads 306, with transistor 370 drawing current from the upper one of the leads and transistor 372 supplying current to the lower one of the./. leads. As transistor 372 continues to conduct, capacitor 374 is charged through resistor 372, and eventually transistor 372 turns off when its base achieves a high enough voltage level. The time between the turn on and turn off of transistor 372 is determined by the RC time constant of the combination of resistor 372 and capacitor 374.

From the immediately preceding description, it will be appreciated that transistor 372 is driven well into saturation when transistor 370 is first turned on, whereby a strong drive is applied to leads 306 to overcome the "inertia" of the valves. Sometime thereafter, transis¬ tor 372 turns off and its drive is removed. The diodes 378 and 380 are provided to prevent excessive revers potentials across the junctions of the transistors. Disabling switch 320 includes a single switching transistor 322 in a common emitted configuration. The collector of this transistor is coupled to the positive voltage source V through a resistor 324; and a resistor 326 limits the current flow through the transistor, while a diode 328 prevents an excessive reverse bias on the base-emitter junction of the transistor. The base of the transistor is coupled to lead 554 through resistor 326. In addition, disabling switch 320 includes a pair of diodes 330 connected between the bottoms of resistors 352 and lead 554, as well as a pair of diodes 332, 334 connec¬ ted between the junction of resistors 360 and 362 and the junction of resistors 364 and 366, respectively.

OMPI_ ^ In operation, in the absence of a disable (a low level) on lead 554, the bottoms of resistors 352 are pulled low through diodes 330. At the same time, with a low level applied on lead 554, the base-emitter junction . of transistor 322 is back biased and the transistor is turned off. As a result, the positive voltage supply tends to back bias diodes 332 and 334 through resistor 324, thereby disconnecting the disabling switch from the resistors 360, 362, 364 and 366. Upon the application 0 of a disabling signal (i.e., a high level) on lead 554, „ the diodes 330 tend to become back biased, thereby discon¬ necting the resistors 352 from disabling switch 320. At the same time, the high level on lead 554 provides a forward bias to the base-emitter junction of transistor 5 322, driving it into saturation, whereby its collector is pulled towards ground. This results in the diodes 332 and 334 being turned on to pull the junction of resistor 360 and 362 and the junction of resistors 364 and 366 towards ground, thereby interrupting the transmission of drive 0 signals from the amplifiers 310 and 312 to the valve drivers 314 and 316. With the subsequent restoration of a low signal on lead 554, operation returns to normal, as previously described.

Fig. 5 is a circuit schematic diagram illustrating 5 a preferred, embodiment of threshold comparator 400. The threshold comparator comprises only an operational amplifi¬ er 414, utilized as a comparator, and a pair of diodes 410 and 412 connected between the leads 402 and 404, respec- ively, and the positive input of the amplifier 414. The 0 negative input of the amplifier is connected to reference voltage E₂ via lead 406. As has already been explained, the signals on leads 202 and 204 (and therefore the signals on leads 402 and 404) are equal and opposite in amplitude. Hence, one of these signals will always be 5 positive and the other will always be negative (unless they are both at ground potental). The lead having the positive signal will tend to turn its respective diode (i.e. 410 or 412) on, thereby turning the other diode off. Hence, the positive signal will always be applied to the positive input of amplifier 414. This signal is compared . against reference voltage E₂ and produces a positive output on lead 408 as long as it exceeds reference_*, voltage E₂. However, as soon as this positive signal falls below reference voltage E₂, a negative signal is - produced on lead 408. This negative signal is prevented . from becoming to negative by a diode 416 and, as has been"' ^' explained, results in enablement of NOR gate 500.

Figs. 6-8 illustrate a preferred eye mechanism construction in accordance with the present invention. The eye is of the arcuate type which is frequently encountered ^*-^' in cartoon characters. Eye mechanism 600 broadly comprises: a backing member 602 made of a non-magnetic material, a pupil member 604 made of a magnetic material, and a magnet member 606. The magnet member is operated by an .actuation mechanism 608 which achieves vertical and lateral movement (in Fig. 8) of the magnet member. The eye mechanism also includes a transparent screen 610 which encloses the pupil member 604, so as to prevent its loss.

In operation, magnet member 606 may be moved vertically and/or horizontally by means of the actuating mechanish 608. Inasmuch as pupil 604 is made of a magnetic material, it is attracted by magnet member 606 and follows the movement of this member. The result is that the movement of the pupil can be closely controlled along the planer backing member 602.

No attempt has been made to show the details of actuating mechanism assembly 608, since it is believed that this is a conventional construction which would be known to those skilled in the art. For purposes of com¬ pleteness, the actuating mechanism has been shown as in¬ cluding a horizontally oriented pneumatic cylinder 612 which is physically fixed with respect to eye mechanism 600 and a vertically oriented pneumatic cylinder 614 which is secured to the reciprocating shaft of cylinder

612. All connections to the pneumatic cylinders have been eliminated from the drawing.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that - pupil 604 could be a magnet and the member 606 could then be a magnet or could simply be made of a magnetic material, The necessary attraction between members 604 and 606 would in either case be present and the operation of eye mecha¬ nism 600 would not be changed. 0 Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate a preferred finger- operating mechanism for the hand 700 of an animated figure. This mechanism achieves bending and straightening of one or more of the fingers. Inasmuch as the mechanism would „. be of identical construction for each finger, only the 5 construction of one finger mechanism, 710, has been illustrated in detail. The finger mechanism comprises three separate finger segments 712, 714, and 71.6, which are constructed to be aligned lengthwise. Each segment includes a cylindrically concave end surface (e.g. 712a, 0 714a and 716a) at the rear. In addition, segments 714 and 716 include cylindrically convex end surfaces at their front ends (e.g. 714b and 716b). The surfaces 712a and 714b, and 714a and 716b are constructed to conform so as to permit relative rotation between segments 712 and 714 5 and between segments 714 and 716. In addition, surface 716a is constructed to conform to an opposed surface 718 on a protruding portion 718 of the hand of the figure so as to permit rotation between segment 716 and the hand. The segments 712, 714 and 716 have longitudinal _Q channels 712c, 714c and 716c aligned with a longitudinal bores 718c on the hand of the figure. In addition, the segments 712, 714, and 716 include lengthwise, aligned grooves on their top surfaces (e.g. 712d, 714d and 716d) which are aligned with a similar groove 718d on the top ₅ surface of portion 710 of the hand to form one contin¬ uous channel. A flexible, elongated member, such as a cable is secured at 719 to the hand portion 718 and passes through channels 718c, 716c, 714c and 712c, over the top of finger 710, into the grooves 712d, 714d, 716d. and 718d and backwards to an appropriate control mechanism (not shown) such as a pneumatic cylinder, which exerts a variable pull on the member 720. The entire hand o.f the animated figure and, in particular, the finger mechanism is covered with a resilient sheet material 722 which is pre-stressed to retain the finger 710 in a bent position when the cable member 720 is slack (Fig. 10, solid line) However, when the cable member 720 is drawn taut, the finger is straightened, as represented by the dashed lines in Fig.10. When the cable 720 is once more permitted to become slack, the finger returns to its bent position. By *■^■ using a multi-position pneumatic cylinder control mechansim, such^" as that shown in Fig. 2, it is possible to obtain different degrees of bending of the finger. This could simulate, for example, various hand positions in playing a piano.

Although preferred forms of the invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many additions, modifications and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A system for controlling the presentation of a show including an audio portion and at least one animated figure having a plurality of controllable functions operated in synchronism with said audio portion, at least one of^said functions being a controllable movement of said figure operated .by a pneumatic cylinder having a housing and a piston member mounted within a chamber of said housing for movement between a first and second end thereof, said piston being mechanically- coupled to perform said controllable movement, said system comprising: pre-recorded storage means having controlled signals stored therein so as to be recovered in synchronism with said stored audio signals, said control signals being stored as consecutive blocks of binary digits, each binary digit position of said blocks being dedicated to a predeter¬ mined controllable function; ^'-;^' <^■ means mechanically coupled to said piston for sensing the position thereof within said chamber and producing an actual position electrical signal representing said position; means receiving said actual position signal and an electrial signal from a dedicated plurality of said bit positions representing a desired position of said piston for producing an error signal proportional to the difference there¬ between, said error signal representing the distance of said piston from said desired position; means in communication with said first and second ends of said chamber for applying a predetermined pressure differential therebetween, said pressure applying means being responsive to the polarity of said error signal to move said piston toward said desired postion so as to reduce the magnitude of said error signal; and means responsive to the achievement of an error signal below a predetermined threshold value for intermittently disabling said pressure applying means and for simultaneously sealing said first and second ends of said chamber, the inter¬ mittent disabling of said pressure applying means producing breaking of the movement of said piston cylinder, whereby unde¬ sirable transient overshoots are avoided.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said -storage means is a multi-track magnetic tape, said audio portion and jriontrol signals being pre-recorded thereon in parallel, synchronized tracks.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising asynchro¬ nous means responsive to each of said blocks for controlling said controllable functions in dependence upon the binary digits of said block.

.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein at least one of said controllable functions has a plurality of said binary digits dedicated thereto.

5. A system according to any of claims 1-4 wherein said controllable movement is an eye movement, said system further including an eye movement mechanism comprising: an eye surface made of a non-magnetic material and having front and rear surfaces; pupil means made of a magnetic material and positioned against the front surface of said eye surface; a movement member made of a magnetic material and positioned behind said eye surface, said movement member being coupled to said cylinder so that movement thereof transports the movement member in a direction generally parallel to said eye surface; and at least one of said pupil and said movement member being a permanent magnet, whereby a force of attraction is exerted between said pupil and said movement member so that said pupil follows the movement of said movement member.

6. A system accoring to any of claims 1-4 wherein said controllable movement is the bending and straightening of a finger of a hand of said figure, said system further including a mechanism for use with said hand to achieve finger movements closely simulating the finger bending and straightening move¬ ments of the human hand, comprising: a plurality of elongated finger segments abutted in end-to-end alignment to define a finger of said hand^*,- said-' finger segments having longitudinal bores therein aligned to

-form a continuous passageway within said finger; flexible cable means extending forward through said passageway in said finger, over the top of said finger segments and backward over the hand of said figure, one end of said cable means being secured to said hand, the other end of said cable means extending away from said hand for coupling to said cylinder piston as a finger actuating mechanism; and a resilent covering over said hand, including a portion enclosing said finger, said covering being prestressed to bias said finger in a pre-defined position corresponding to one of said bent and straightened positions of said ^'finger, the pulling of said cable means causing said finger to be brought to the other of said positions.

7. A method for controlling a pneumatic cylinder having first and second ends and internal piston means movable between said first and second ends, said method achieving proportional control of the position of said piston to position it at a desired position between said first and second ends, said method comprising the steps of: when the axial position of said piston is beyond a pre-defined threshold distance from said desired position, applying a pre-determined pressure differential to said piston surfaces so as to achieve movement of said piston towards said desired position; and when said piston is within said pre-defined distance of said desired position, alternately applying and removing said pressure differential, the intermittent removal of said pressure differential achieving breaking of the movement of said piston, whereby transient overshoots of said desired position are avoided.

OMPI

8. In a system for controlling the controllable functions of an animated figure, at least on of said functions being a controllable movement of said figure operated by a pneumatic cylinder having a housing and a piston member mounte within a chamber of said housing for movement between a first and second end thereof, said piston being mechanically coupled ~ to perform said controllable movement, apparatus for proportion¬ ally controlling the position of said piston comprising: means mechanically coupled to said piston for sensing the position thereof within said chamber and producing^'" an actual position electrical signal representing said position; means receiving said actual position signal and an electrial signal representing a desired position of said piston for producing an error signal proportional to the differ-^' ence therebetween, said error signal representing the distance of said piston from said desired position; means in communication with said first and second ends of said chamber for applying a predetermined pressure differential therebetween, said pressure applying means being responsive to the polarity of said error signal to move said piston toward said desired postion so as to reduce the magnitude of said error signal; and means responsive to the achievement of an error signal below a predetermined threshold value for intermittently disabling of said pressure applying means to produce breaking of the movement said piston cylinder, whereby undesirable transient overshoots are avoided.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein said con¬ trollable movement is an eye movement, said system further including an eye movement mechanism comprising: an eye surface made of a non-magnetic material and having front and rear surfaces; pupil means made of a magnetic material and posi¬ tioned against the front surface of said eye surface; a movement member made of a magnetic material and positioned behind said eye surface, said movement member being coupled to said cylinder so that movement thereof transports the

OMPI movement member in a direction generally parallel to said eye surface; and at least one of said pupil and said .movement member being a permanent magnet, whereby a force of attraction ' is exerted between said pupil and said movement member so that said pupil follows the movement of said movement member'

10. A system accoring to claim 8 wherein said control-- lable movement is the bending and straightening of a finger of-a hand of said figure, said system further including a mechanism^' for use with said hand to achieve finger movements closely simulating the finger bending and straightening movements of the human hand, comprising: a plurality of elongated finger segments abutted in end-to-end alignment to define a finger of said hand, said finger segments having longitudinal bores therein aligned to form a continuous passageway within said finger; flexible cable means extending forwar through said passageway in said finger, over the top of said finger segments and backward over the hand of said figure, one end of said cable means being secured to said hand, the other end of said cable means extending away from said hand for coupling to a finger actuating mechanism; and a resilent covering over said hand, including a portion enclosing said finger, said covering being prestressed to bias said finger in a pre-defined position corresponding to one of said bent and straightened positions of said finger the pulling of said cable means causing said finger to be brought to the other of said positions.

11. An eye movement mechanism for an animated figure comprising: an eye surface made of a non-magnetic material and having front and rear surfaces; pupil means made of a magnetic material positioned against the front surface of said eye surface; pupil means made of a magnetic material positioned against the front surface of said eye surface;

OMPI 1PO ^W a movement member made of a magnetic material and positioned behind said eye surface, said movement member being adapted to be coupled to a mechanism for transporting the same in a direction generally parallel to said eye surface; and at least one of said pupil and said movement member being a permanent magnet, whereby a force of attraction is exerted between said pupil and said movement member so that said pupil follows the movement of said movement member.

12. A mechanism for use with the hands of an animate^'d figure to achieve finger movements closely simulating the finger bending and straightening movements of the human hand, compris¬ ing: a plurality of elongated finger segments abutted in end-to-end alignment to define a finger of said hand, said finger segments having longitudinal bores therein aligned to form a continuous passageway within said finger; flexible cable means extending forward^' through said passageway in said finger, over the top of said finger segments and backward over the hand of said figure, one end of said cable means being secured to said hand, the other end of said cable means extending away from said hand for connection to a finger actuating mechanism; and a resilent covering over said hand, including a portion enclosing said finger, said covering being prestressed to bias said finger in a predefined position corresponding to one of said bent and straightened positions of said finger, the application of a force to the free end of said cable means causing said finger to be brought to the other of said positions.

13. A finger movement mechanism in accordance with claim 13 wherein areas of said finger segments which are in abuttment are provided with complementary curved surfaces so as to permit relative rotation of abutted finger segments.

14. A finger actuating mechanish in accordance with claim 13 wherein each of said finger segments includes an upper groove adapted to have said cable means guided therein.

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