JP2001228871A - Sound output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sound output device, which more effectively arouses interest as a toy, for outputting sounds. SOLUTION: Sound blocks 16, having prescribed shapes corresponding to plural kinds of notes, may be mounted at arbitrary positions on a staff notation unit 10. The sound blocks 16, mounted to the staff notation unit 10, are detected of their positions and shapes and the sounds meeting these positions and shapes are outputted from a speaker 14. Since the sounds are outputted by the action of mounting the sound blocks 16 at the staff notation unit 10, the sound output device is handled more easily with the more interest than in the case of operation to assign the positions, such as mere pressing of a keyboard.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sound output device suitable as a toy capable of outputting an arbitrary sound.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a toy capable of outputting an arbitrary sound has been constructed by imitating a musical instrument such as a piano.
When a key is pressed, a sound corresponding to that key is output, or a plurality of patterns are provided to associate a specific sound with each pattern, and a corresponding sound is output when the pattern is pressed. There were things.

[0003]

As described above, in the sound output device used as a conventional toy, a sound is only output when a keyboard or a specific picture is directly instructed such as being pressed. For this reason, as a toy for getting to know the sound, there is a tendency that the user is easily bored because the usage is simple.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a sound output device that can more effectively interest a toy that outputs sound. .

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a unit having a structure capable of mounting a block having a predetermined shape at an arbitrary position, and detecting the position and shape of the block mounted on the unit. Since the detection means and the sound output means for outputting a sound corresponding to the position and the shape detected by the detection means are provided, the sound is output by an act of attaching the block to the unit. It becomes easier to handle with interest than in the case of operation such as designation of position such as pressing.

Further, the block has a structure in which the shape is detected by the detecting means irrespective of the mounting position with respect to the unit, so that the shape of the block to be mounted on the unit is intentionally specified and specified. Sound can be output.

The sound output means outputs a sound when the detection means detects the mounting of the block, so that the output sound can be confirmed by mounting the block to the unit.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of a sound output device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the sound output device includes a staff notation unit 10, a start button 12, a speaker 14, and a sound block 16.

The staff notation unit 10 has a structure in which a sound block 16 having a predetermined shape (details will be described later) can be mounted at an arbitrary position, and a detection for detecting the position and shape of the mounted block. A mechanism is provided. A sound block 16 is provided on the upper surface of the staff notation unit 10.
It is assumed that cylindrical unit projections 10b for mounting are arranged in a fixed array, and a horizontal row of two upper and lower unit projections 10b corresponds to one line of the staff. In the staff notation unit 10 of the present embodiment, for simplicity of description, ten unit projections 10b are provided in the vertical direction, and
It is assumed that one line (a staff 10a) is drawn for each column b. The unit block 10 b is attached to the sound block 16 by being locked with the sound block 16. The sound block 16 mounted on the upper surface of the staff notation unit 10 is provided between unit projections 10b provided in a fixed arrangement.
Mechanical switch 10c for detecting the position and shape of the
(Not shown in FIG. 1). Details of the switch 10c will be described with reference to FIG.

[0010] The start button 12 is
The button is operated to instruct the start of sound output in accordance with the sound block 16 mounted on the upper surface of the “0”. The speaker 14 outputs a sound corresponding to the sound block 16 mounted on the staff notation unit 10. The sound block 16 has a structure in which the bottom surface portion can be mounted by locking the unit projection 10b of the staff notation unit 10, and there are a plurality of types of predetermined shapes. As the predetermined shape, a plurality of types having a length corresponding to the length of a sound (the type of a note) are prepared. For example, an eighth note (or a rest), a quarter note (or a rest), Some correspond to dotted quarter notes (or rests). The width of the sound block 16 is equivalent to two unit protrusions 10b provided in the staff notation unit 10 arranged in the vertical direction.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the sound output device will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the sound output device. As shown in FIG. 2, the sound output device is a CPU 2
0, a multiplexer 22, a sound source unit 24, and a sound source unit 24 are provided inside the housing. The CPU 20
It controls the entire audio output device, and causes the sound source unit 24 to output sound from the speaker 14 according to the input from the multiplexer 22. The multiplexer 22
A plurality of switches 10c provided in the staff notation unit 10
Are switched in a predetermined order and notified to the CPU 20. For example, by inputting the state of the switch 10c in the vertical direction from the upper left end of the staff notation unit 10 downward, and sequentially performing this from the left to the right, the state of all the switches 10c provided in the staff notation unit 10 is changed to CP.
Notify U20. The sound source unit 24 generates a sound of a specific length at a specific pitch according to an instruction from the CPU 20 and outputs the sound from the speaker 14.

Next, details of the switch 10c provided in the staff notation unit 10 will be described. A in FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration in the range of. As shown in FIG. 3, switches 10c are provided between the unit projections 10b provided in a predetermined arrangement in the lateral direction.

FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view at the line. The upper part of the switch 10c protrudes slightly from the upper surface of the staff notation unit 10,
The on / off switch provided inside the housing is turned on by pressing the top of the head.
Each of the on / off switches provided inside the housing is connected to the multiplexer 22, and a switching signal of the on / off switch is selectively notified to the CPU 20 via the multiplexer 22.

Next, the detailed configuration of the sound block 16 will be described. FIG. 4 shows an example of a sound block 16 having a shape corresponding to an eighth note. As shown in FIG. 4A, a quarter note, which is a symbol mark indicating the length of a sound to be output when the sound block 16 is attached to the staff unit 10, is attached to the upper surface of the sound block 16. The sound block 16 is converted to the staff notation unit 1 by the symbol mark.
It is possible to intuitively grasp the length of the sound output when the sound is attached to the zero.

As shown in FIG. 4B, a block projection 16a is provided on the bottom surface of the sound block 16 at a position corresponding to the type of the sound block 16. Block projection 16a
Are slightly protruded from the bottom surface as shown in FIG. When the sound block 16 is mounted on the staff notation unit 10, the block protrusion 16a acts so that the top of the switch 10c provided on the upper surface of the staff notation unit 10 is pressed. The arrangement of the block protrusions 16a is determined by the type of the sound block 16. Therefore, the CPU 20
Can determine the type of the placed sound block 16 based on a combination of positions where the switch 10c is pressed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the bottom surface of the sound block 16 corresponding to each of a plurality of types of notes. 5 (a) is an eighth note, FIG. 5 (b) is a quarter note, FIG. 5 (c) is a dotted quarter note, FIG. 5 (d) is an eighth rest, and FIG. FIG. 5 (f) shows the configuration of the bottom portion of each of the four-note rests.

As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, each sound block 16 is provided with two block projections 16a at positions symmetrical with respect to the center (center of gravity) of the sound block 16. I have. For this reason, if the sound block 16 is mounted along the staff 10a on the staff notation unit 10,
The position of the block projection 16a with respect to the staff notation unit 10 is the same regardless of how it is attached. That is,
The type (shape) of the sound block 16 can be detected irrespective of the mounting position with respect to the staff unit 10.

The sound block 16 representing the rest shown in FIGS. 5D to 5F is not provided with the block projection 16a. That is, since the switch 10c of the staff notation unit 10 is not turned on for the length of the sound block 16, no sound is output during that time, and a rest can be represented.

Next, the operation of the sound output device according to this embodiment will be described. The user arbitrarily selects a plurality of types of sound blocks 16 and attaches them to arbitrary positions on the staff unit 10. When the sound block 16 is mounted on the staff notation unit 10, the staff unit 1 is formed by the block projections 16 a arranged on the bottom of the sound block 16.
The switch 10c provided on the 0 is pressed to be turned on.

On the other hand, the CPU 20
Via a switch 1 provided on the staff notation unit 10
The ON or OFF state of 0c is sequentially input from left to right. The CPU 20 determines the staff notation unit 10 based on the combination of switches in the ON state.
It is possible to determine what shape (kind) the sound block 16 is attached to, and at which position it is attached, that is, at which position on the staff notation the note is placed.

When the CPU 20 detects the sound block 16 attached to the staff notation unit 10, it stores the detection result. Then, the CPU 20 determines whether or not a new sound block 16 is mounted by comparing the current detection result with the immediately preceding detection result. The sound (scale and length) is output by the sound source unit 24. The sound source unit 24 generates a sound according to the instruction from the CPU 20 and outputs the sound from the speaker 14. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily attach the sound block 16 to the staff notation unit 10 and simultaneously listen to the sound corresponding to the sound block 16. This makes it possible to easily confirm the sound corresponding to the sound block 16 to be mounted.

When the start button 12 is pressed, the CPU 20 detects all the sound blocks 16 mounted on the staff unit 10 and causes the sound source unit 24 to output a sound corresponding to each sound block 16. . That is, a sound block 1 of a type representing an appropriate note length, such as a musical score of a song on the staff unit 10.
By selecting 6 and attaching it to a position on the staff according to the pitch, the sound is output as a tune.

In the above description, for the sake of simplicity, the range of the musical interval that can be expressed by the staff unit 10 is the range of the staff. Good. In addition, not only the staff notation unit 10 prepared in advance, but also a plurality of staff notation units 10 having the same structure may be extended in the pitch direction (up and down) or the length direction (left and right). CP
The U20 sequentially inputs the state of the switch 10c provided in each extended staff notation unit 10 via the multiplexer 22 to form (position) and position each sound block 16 attached to each staff notation unit 10. Is detected, and a sound corresponding to the detected is output. Thus, even if the music has a large change in pitch or a long music, the music can be output by mounting the sound block 16 by using the extended staff unit 10.

In the present embodiment, the sound is output when the sound block 16 is mounted. However, other parts other than the sound block 16 are arranged on the staff notation unit 10, and the shape and the shape of the parts are determined. By detecting the position and
Sound can be output in the same manner as described above.

The switch 10c is connected to the unit projection 10
b is provided between each of the horizontal directions of the block b.
It may be provided at another position corresponding to the position a.

Although a symbol mark representing a note is added to the upper part of the sound block 16, it is not always necessary. Although the sound (song) of all the sound blocks 16 is output according to the instruction from the start button 12, a sound output device may be provided with a recording function or a recording function may be connected thereto. Thereby, the music output by the attachment of the sound block 16 is recorded and reproduced, or even if the song is long, a part of the music is created for each length of the staff unit 10 by the attachment of the sound block 16, They can also be created by connecting them continuously using the recording function.

In this manner, the sound can be output by mounting the block on the staff notation unit 10, so that it can be easily handled by anyone, and it is not a mere designation of the position, so that the user is not bored. Can be. Further, since the sound block 16 is not provided with an electrode or the like for detecting the mounting position, it can be provided as a safe toy without fear of harm to the body even when used by a small child. .

[0028]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a unit having a structure capable of mounting a block having a predetermined shape at an arbitrary position, and a position of the block mounted on the unit. By providing the detection means for detecting the shape and the sound output means for outputting a sound corresponding to the position and the shape detected by the detection means, the sound is output by the act of attaching the block to the unit. Thus, it becomes possible to more effectively interest a toy that outputs a sound as compared with the case of an operation such as designating a position such as simply pressing a key.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view showing an external configuration of a sound output device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a sound output device.

FIG. 3 shows a switch 10 provided in the staff notation unit 10.
The figure for demonstrating the detail of c.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a detailed configuration of a sound block 16;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a bottom surface portion of a sound block 16 corresponding to each of a plurality of types of notes.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Staff notation unit 10a ... Staff 10b ... Unit protrusion 10c ... Switch 12 ... Start button 14 ... Speaker 16 ... Sound block 16a ... Block protrusion 20 ... CPU 22 ... Multiplexer 24 ... Sound source unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] A unit having a structure capable of mounting a block having a predetermined shape at an arbitrary position; a detecting unit for detecting a position and a shape of the block mounted on the unit; A sound output device comprising: sound output means for outputting a sound corresponding to a detected position and shape. 2. The sound output device according to claim 1, wherein said block has a structure whose shape is detected by said detection means irrespective of a mounting position with respect to said unit. 3. The sound output device according to claim 1, wherein the sound output means outputs a sound when the mounting of the block is detected by the detection means.