Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H3/00—Dolls
  • A63H3/28—Arrangements of sound-producing means in dolls; Means in dolls for producing sounds
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H13/00—Toy figures with self-moving parts, with or without movement of the toy as a whole
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H2200/00—Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates generally to sound-activated toys, and
• the present disclosure is directed to a toy that responds to
• the toy sounds having a frequency range above the frequencies of normal speech.
• the toy is responsive to two
• reject frequencies to which the toy is not responsive which reject frequencies are between ranges of frequencies to which the toy responds.
• a range of reject frequencies may include a range of normal human speech.
• the toy may have advantageous use when embodied in the form of an
• the toy may be responsive to
• one or more frequency bands may have different reactions depending on the
• FIG. 1 is a general block diagram of a sound-responsive toy.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further embodiment of the toy of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a schematic of a circuit usable in an embodiment of the toy of
• FIG. 4 is a table illustrating operating characteristics of the circuit of
• FIG. 5 is a chart illustrating graphically operating characteristics of the
• a toy shown generally at 10 includes a
• Sound detector 12 and output apparatus 14 may be included in body 11. In some embodiments, sound
• detector 12 may be remote from the body, in which case body 11 ', shown in dashed
• sound detector 12 is adapted to detect a sound in a
• Normal human speech is generally
• sound detector 12 detects
• supra-voice sounds sounds that are significantly above this usual range
• a range of frequencies can include a single frequency or a
• Sound detector 12 can be of various forms, such as a circuit or a
• controller that includes a processor and a memory coupled to the processor for storing
• circuit or controller may be embodied as one or
• a processor may be any device, such as a
• Sound detector 12 may produce one or more control signals, such as a
• control signal C to output apparatus 14.
• Output apparatus 14 is adapted to produce a
• a sensible action is an action that can be sensed by one of the human
• Examples of sensible actions that a toy in the form of a snake may include
• a movable part of the snake body such as a snake tongue, eye, tail or other body part, illuminating lights positioned in the eyes, or making a sound, such as a
• the toy may produce one or several of such actions in response to
• FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a toy 10 adapted to respond to two
• a sound detector 12 includes a sound receiver 15 and a
• Sound receiver 15 includes a microphone 18 and a pre-amp 20.
• Microphone 18 is adapted to transduce sound of a broad frequency range including a
• Pre-amp 20 then amplifies the
• the sound signal output from the pre-amp is split into a supra-voice path
• filter 30 is a high-pass filter.
• filtered sound signal is amplified by an op-amp 32 to raise the sound signal level.
• Filter 30 thus essentially filters out the normal voice sounds of a person
• the amplitude detector 34 puts out a control signal with a high
• control signal Cs indicative of the receipt of a supra-voice sound.
• control signal is then applied to a first action device 36, and any other associated
• filter 38 and an op-amp 40.
• the pass band of filter 38 filters out of the sound signal
• filter 38 allows normal
• Amplitude detector 42 produces a control signal C v indicative
• action device 36 preferably different than an action produced by action device 36.
• FIG. 3 is a schematic of a circuit usable in toy 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2, and
• Sound detector 12 includes a sound detector 12 and an output apparatus 14.
• Sound detector 12 includes a microphone
• sound receiver 15 in the form of a microphone 18 and pre-amp 20, and a sound
• Pre-amp 20 is shown as a two-stage amplifier having first and second
• the pre-amp is identified as TPl.
• the amplifier is seen to have a broad bandwidth or frequency range
• This frequency range has a 3 dB bandwidth of about 150 Hz to about 3 kHz, with a maximum gain at about 1 kHz. Signal gain is provided over
• a sound signal S output by the sound detector, is applied to sound
• the sound signal is split into a supra-voice path 26 and a second path 28,
• a received sound signal is transmitted to a high-pass filter 30 having a 3 dB pass band of
• the gain curve for the signals output from op-amp 32 is identified as
• Filter 30 thus essentially filters out the normal voice sounds of a person
• amplitude detector 34 including an op-amp 46 and a transistor 48, shown in FIG. 3. If
• transistor 48 is turned on. This
• control signal is then applied to a first action device,
• the action device is a light-emitting diode
• LED 50 that emits a distinctive color, such as red. This light may be used, for
• an action figure such as a
• the resulting filtered sound signal is identified as TP2 in
• this filter has a pass band of about 200 Hz to 1500 Hz, and a
• an amplitude detector 42 including an op-amp 52 and a transistor 54. If the signal
• transistor 54 is turned on. This transistor then
• control signal is then applied to an action device 44 that performs a designated
• action by toy 10 that is preferably different than an action produced upon receipt of a
• the action device is an LED 56 that emits a
• reject band 58 This band is between the frequencies of about 1.5 kHz and about 7
• voice-activated action device 44 it is necessary to speak with a lower voice.
• logic circuits may be applied to the
• This operation thus allows a user of the toy to "speak" a
• components having shared functions may be embodied in
• cardinal indicators such as first, second or third, for

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Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=33544270

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (23)

• 2004
  • 2004-05-18 US US10/848,838 patent/US20050009443A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-05-19 WO PCT/US2004/015845 patent/WO2004112926A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2004-05-19 CA CA002525708A patent/CA2525708A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-05-19 EP EP04752796A patent/EP1624945A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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