US20090093185A1

US20090093185A1 - Voice puppet with manipulatable oral cavity to form widely varied vocal sounds

Info

Publication number: US20090093185A1
Application number: US11/980,132
Authority: US
Inventors: John G. Maxim
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-10-05
Filing date: 2007-10-30
Publication date: 2009-04-09

Abstract

A voice puppet for creating vocal sounds includes a puppet body; a sound creation assembly including an oral cavity having a cavity wall and a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in the cavity wall, the cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material such that the shape of the oral cavity and of the mouth can be manually manipulated to produce various vocal sounds and a sound box containing a sound producing device and opening into the oral cavity through a box port over which a baffle such as a user finger tip can be moved, placed and removed to act as a tongue and to control the timing and duration of released sound and an oscillator circuit including the sound producing device, a variable pitch control device, and a circuit power source.

Description

FILING HISTORY

This application continues from provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/997,773 filed on Oct. 5, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of puppets and toys. More specifically the present invention relates to a voice puppet including a puppet body and a sound creation assembly including an oscillator circuit with sound producing means contained within a sound box, the sound box having a box port over which a baffle such as a user finger tip is moved to act as a tongue in forming sounds and placed and removed to control the moment and duration of released sound, the box port opening into an oral cavity having a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in a cavity wall, the cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material so that the shape of the oral cavity and of the mouth opening can be manipulated with finger pressure against the cavity wall outer surface to produce various vocal sounds such as words, word segments, laughter, giggles, murmurs, snoring, coughing and crying, the oscillator circuit further including pitch control means, a power source and a circuit activation switch. Sound is further manipulated by operating the circuit activation switch to repeatedly activate and deactivate the circuit.
The puppet preferably is sized to be handheld and the puppet body preferably includes a puppet head with a puppet face. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a closed reservoir partly filled with a conductive liquid such as water containing electrolytes, the oscillator circuit including vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes extending downwardly into the reservoir, and having probe upper ends connected to the rest of the circuit and probe lower ends extending into the conductive liquid to create sonic vibration simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords, and the sound producing means preferably is a speaker contained within the sound box. The extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid determines the pitch of sound produced by the speaker. As a result, the pitch of the produced sound can be altered by tilting the puppet and thus the reservoir forward, backward or from side to side so that the conductive liquid surface is angled to different degrees within the reservoir and the extent to which the probes are immersed is thereby infinitely variable. The amount of conductive liquid in the reservoir and the shape and positions of the probes are calculated to create the desired variation in the electric resistance between the probes completing the oscillator circuit when the puppet body is moved between a vertical upright position to a horizontal reclining position. The more surface area of the probes that is covered by reservoir water, the lower the resistance and the higher the conductivity, the higher the pitch created by the circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been talking dolls and puppets containing sound recordings and playing devices so that the recording or series of recordings can be played again and again. While these devices have had some popularity, they become uninteresting after just a few uses. One problem is that exactly the same sounds or sequences of sounds such as spoken words are always repeated, so that the user becomes tired of hearing the recording. Another problem is that the user only pushes a button or pulls a cord to play the recording and then just listens, so that use of the device is a entirely passive and unchallenging.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a voice puppet which contains mechanical and electrical elements roughly analogous to and replicating the human vocal structure which produce vocal sounds that are manually variable in several respects so that the user has the challenge of creating individually selected and formed vocal sounds including but not limited to speech, laughter, giggles, snoring, coughing and crying.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet which can be both held and operated with a single user hand.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet in which a user finger, or baffle functions as a puppet tongue in creating vocal sounds and which has an oral cavity and mouth opening which can be shaped and manipulated by user fingers to vary sounds in the same way that a human mouth does.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet which can be constructed to have virtually any desired stylized or realistic human features, is light in weight, safe and easy to use, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
A voice puppet is provided for creating vocal sounds, including: a puppet body; a sound creation assembly including an oral cavity having a cavity wall and a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in the cavity wall, the cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material such that the shape of the oral cavity and of the mouth can be manually manipulated to produce various vocal sounds by squeezing the head to open the mouth to different widths to create vocal sounds, a sound box containing a sound producing device and opening into the oral cavity through a box port over which a baffle such as a user index finger tip can be moved, placed and removed to act as a tongue and to control the timing and duration of released sound and an oscillator circuit including the sound producing device, a variable pitch control device, and a circuit power source.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet head with a puppet face, and the oral cavity is contained within the puppet head, such that the cavity wall forms a portion of the puppet face. The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso, additionally including a cavity air opening in the oral cavity, where the puppet body includes flexible and resilient material such that squeezing the puppet causes air to enter the oral cavity, increasing air pressure within the oral cavity for creating percussive sounds. The oral cavity wall and the sound box preferably are formed of sound blocking material for preventing sound leakage through the cavity wall until the mouth is open.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso and a puppet head and a puppet neck interconnecting the puppet torso and the puppet head. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a reservoir. The reservoir preferably is contained within the puppet torso, and the sound box preferably is contained within the neck area. The oscillator circuit preferably additionally includes a circuit activation switch.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso and puppet head, and the puppet torso has a flexible and resilient torso wall, and the circuit activation switch is a push button switch with a switch button positioned within the puppet torso behind the torso wall, so that depressing the torso wall inwardly adjacent to the push button switch depresses the switch button and thereby activates and deactivates the oscillator circuit.
The puppet head preferably includes a finger port for passing a user index finger into the oral cavity to reach and selectively cover the box port. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a sealed reservoir partly filled with a conductive liquid, the oscillator circuit including vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes extending downwardly into the reservoir and having first and second probe upper ends and first and second probe lower ends, the first and second probe lower ends extending into the conductive liquid to create conductivity variation and thus produce sonic vibration for simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords; so that the extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid controls the pitch of sound produced by the sound producing device and the extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid can be varied by tilting the puppet and thereby tilting the reservoir. The first and second probes preferably are shaped so that they are wider and have more surface area at their respective probe upper ends. The sound producing devices preferably includes a speaker contained within the sound box. The conductive liquid preferably is water containing electrolytes. The oscillator circuit preferably additionally includes a photocell mounted on the puppet body outer surface for lowering the vocal pitch range when the puppet is in low light and increasing the pitch range when in bright light.
The reservoir optionally includes an upper fill opening so that conductive liquid can be fed into the reservoir through a fill structure, and so that addition of conductive liquid to the reservoir raises the vocal sound pitch range. The reservoir optionally includes a drain structure for the conductive liquid so that conductive liquid can be drained gradually from within the reservoir into a diaper fitted onto the puppet torso to simulate bodily function, thereby lowering the pitch range and simulating tiredness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred body configuration of the inventive voice puppet, with a user hand positioned to squeeze the sides of the puppet head to alter the shape of the oral cavity and thereby alter the sounds produced.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of the torso portion of the preferred embodiment having the reservoir for varying pitch.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the voice puppet body of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view as in FIG. 1 which is the first in a progression of FIGURES showing the opening of the puppet mouth as the sides of the puppet head are squeezed toward each other.

FIG. 5A is the next FIGURE in the progression started in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5B is the next FIGURE after FIG. 5A in the progression started in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5C is the next FIGURE after FIG. 5B in the progression started in FIG. 5, in which the mouth is fully open.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a preferred configuration of the reservoir.

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir projected from FIG. 6.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional front view of the reservoir of FIG. 6.

FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir of FIG. 6 containing a conductive liquid having an upper surface below the level of the probes.

FIG. 7A is a view as in FIG. 7 showing the reservoir tilted backward to an acute angle, causing the probe lower ends to be submerged in the conductive liquid.

FIG. 7B is a view as in FIG. 7 showing the reservoir tilted entirely back to a horizontal position so that the probes are entirely submerged in the conductive liquid.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the first embodiment showing the reservoir, one of the batteries, the activation switch, and the sound box, with a user finger inserted into the port in the back of the puppet head and covering the box port, the conductive liquid in the reservoir covering the probe lower ends.

FIG. 8A is a view as in FIG. 8 showing the puppet tilted back at an acute angle and consequently a larger portion of the probes submerged in the conductive liquid.

FIG. 8B is a view as in FIG. 8A showing the puppet tilted entirely back to a horizontal position, and the portions of the probes within the reservoir entirely submerged in the conductive liquid.

FIG. 9 is a view as in FIG. 8 of the second embodiment of the voice puppet having the potentiometer with the weighted lever.

FIG. 9A is a view as in FIG. 9 showing the puppet tilted back at an acute angle and the weighted lever consequently tilted back.

FIG. 9B is a view as in FIG. 9 showing the puppet tilted entirely back to a horizontal position and the weighted lever consequently tilted entirely back.

FIG. 10 is a schematic circuit diagram of the voice puppet.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of the second version of the second embodiment in which the lever is biased with a spring rather than a weight, with the lever being biased fully forward by the spring.

FIG. 11A is a view as in FIG. 11 showing the torso forward wall pushed inwardly and thereby pivoting the lever backward against the biasing of the spring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like characteristics and features of the present invention shown in the various FIGURES are designated by the same reference numerals.

First Preferred Embodiment

Referring to FIGS. 1-8B, a voice puppet 10 is disclosed including a puppet body 20 and a sound creation assembly 40 including an oscillator circuit 50 with sound producing means 70 contained within a sound box 80 having a box port 82 over which a baffle such as a user index finger tip FT or mechanical pivoting member such as a lever is moved, covered and uncovered to respectively act as a tongue in forming sounds and also to control the moment and duration of released sound, the box port 82 opening into an oral cavity 90 having a cavity mouth 92 in the form of an opening in a cavity wall 94 formed of flexible and resilient material so that the shape of the oral cavity 90 and of the open mouth 92 can be manipulated with finger pressure against the cavity wall 94 outer surface to produce various vocal sounds such as words, laughter, giggles, murmurs, snoring, coughing and crying, the oscillator circuit 50 further including a power source 52, a circuit activation switch 54 and pitch control means 60. Sound is further manipulated by operating the activation switch 54 to activate and deactivate the oscillator circuit 50. Puppet 10 preferably is sized to be handheld.
The puppet body 20 comprises a puppet head 30 with a puppet face 32, and the oral cavity 90 preferably is contained within the lower portion of the puppet head 30, such that a portion of the oral cavity wall 94 forms the puppet face 32. The puppet head 30 or just the oral cavity wall 94 and the sound box 80 preferably are formed of sound blocking material so that there is no sound leakage through the oral cavity wall 94. In addition to the puppet head 30, the puppet body 20 preferably includes a puppet torso 22 and a puppet neck 24 interconnecting the puppet torso 22 and puppet head 30. Squeezing the puppet body 20 causes air to enter the oral cavity 90 from within the puppet torso 22 through a cavity air opening 96, increasing air pressure in the oral cavity 90 for creating percussive sounds such as B, P, F, CH and SH sounds. The sound creation assembly 40 includes a reservoir 42 preferably contained within the puppet torso 22 and the sound box 80 preferably is contained within the neck 24 area. The puppet torso 22 preferably has a flexible and resilient torso wall 26, and the circuit actuation switch 54 preferably takes the form of a push button switch 54 positioned within the puppet torso 22 behind a region of the torso wall 26, so that depressing the torso wall 26 adjacent the push button switch 54 depresses the switch button 54A and thereby activates and deactivates the oscillator circuit 50. The rear of the puppet head 30 has a finger port 34 for inserting a user index finger tip FT into the oral cavity 90 to reach and repeatedly cover and uncover the sound box port 82.
The reservoir 42 of the sound creation assembly 40 preferably is closed and is partly filled with a conductive liquid such as water containing electrolytes, the oscillator circuit 50 including vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes 56 and 58, respectively, extending downwardly into the reservoir 42 and having probe upper ends 56A and 58A connected directly to the remainder of circuit 50, respectively, and probe lower ends 56B and 58B, again respectively, extending into the conductive liquid L to create sonic vibration simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords, and the sound producing means 70 preferably is a speaker 70 contained within the sound box 80. The extent to which the first and second probes 56 and 58 are immersed in the conductive liquid L controls the pitch of sound produced by the speaker 70. As a result, the pitch of the produced sound can be altered by tilting the puppet 10 and thus the reservoir 42 forward, backward or from side to side so that the conductive liquid surface LS is angled to different degrees within the reservoir 42 and the extent to which the probes 56 and 58 are immersed is thereby infinitely variable.
The amount of conductive liquid L in the reservoir 42 and the shape and positions of the first and second probes 56 and 58 are calculated to create the desired variation in the electric resistance between the probes 56 and 58 completing the oscillator circuit 50 when the puppet body 20 is moved between a vertical upright position to a horizontal reclining position. If the body 20 is tilted forward, past the upright position, the sound turns off as the conductive liquid L no longer contacts the probes 56 and 58 and the circuit 50 is thereby broken, and rapid on/off sounds can be created by shaking the puppet body 20 and thereby quickly immersing and then removing the probe lower ends 56B and 58B from the conductive liquid L. The resistivity of the conductive liquid L, the volume of conductive liquid L in the reservoir 42, the shape of the reservoir 42, the orientation of the reservoir 42, and the shape and distance between the probes 56 and 58 are adjusted to create a desired resistance variation the oscillating circuit 50 requires to create the desired pitch variation. The more surface area of the probes 56 and 58 that is covered by conductive liquid L, the lower the resistance and the higher the conductivity, the higher the pitch created by the circuit. The less surface area of the probes 56 and 58 covered by the conductive liquid L, and the higher the resistance, the lower the conductivity, and the lower the pitch created by the circuit 50. The closer the probes 56 and 58 are to each other, the lower is the resistance through the conductive liquid L between them. The first and second probes 56 and 58 can be positioned in the reservoir 42 such that they angle toward each other in a downward direction, to create lower resistance when the puppet body 26 is tilted backward, and positioned such that they are further apart, increasing the resistance when the puppet body 20 is tilted upright. The first and second probes 56 and 58 can be shaped such that they are wider and have more surface area exposed to conductive liquid L when the body 20 is tilted backward. The shape of the reservoir 42 can be designed to hold a larger volume of conductive liquid L at the bottom of the reservoir 42, such that the entire surface areas of the probes 56 and 58 are under the conductive liquid L, when the puppet body 20 and thus the reservoir 42 is tilted rearwardly to become horizontal. By turning the reservoir 42 upside down, the puppet 10 can create a lower pitch when tilted backward and create a higher pitch when tilted upright to a vertical position.
To lower the vocal pitch range when the puppet 10 is in low light, suggesting sleepiness, a CdS photocell 62 can be included in the oscillating circuit 50. The photocell 62 may be mounted on or protruding through the puppet body 20 outer surface, such as on the chest region of the puppet torso 22 above the activation switch 54. Alternatively the photocell 62 may be mounted inside the puppet body 20 behind a translucent region of the torso wall 26. The photocell 62 lowers the circuit 50 resistance in brighter light causing the pitch to be higher, and increases the resistance when low light contacts it. This is because lower resistance increases the frequency created by the oscillator and higher resistance decreases the frequency created by the oscillator. Photocell 62 also provides life-like pitch variation causing more active high pitch sounds in bright outside light. As a result, sunlight creates higher pitch variations to suggest energy and excitement, and low light such as during evening hours creates lower pitch to produce lower frequency sounds as if the puppet 10 is tired. This distinction between simulated high energy moments and lower energy or tired moments, combines with the above mentioned reservoir 42 created effect in which higher frequencies are created when the puppet 10 is positioned in an upright position as if awake and active and lower frequencies are created when the puppet 10 is positioned in a reclining position as if relaxing.
These relationships can be expressed as follows:
I. When normal sunlight contacts the photocell 62 the resistance is lower, the pitch range shifts to create higher frequencies: Light intensity=approximately 50,000 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping the puppet 10 from upright position to a reclining position preferably =900 to 500 Hertz;
2. When normal indoor lighting contacts the photocell, the resistance is increased and the pitch range lowers to create laughter, chatter, etc.: Light intensity=approximately 500 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping the puppet 10 from upright position to reclining position preferably =700 Hertz to 300 Hertz;
3. When the photocell is under low light such as evening or bed time illumination, the resistance is increased and the pitch is further reduced to create low frequency murmurs, snoring, etc.: Light intensity=approximately 30 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping the puppet 10 upright to reclining position preferably =500 to 50 Hertz.
Each puppet 10 can be made to have its own distinctive voice, male or female, just as people do, by creating different oscillator waveform characteristics and the internal shape of the oral cavity 90, within substantially the same pitch range, differently shaped oral cavities 90 and oral cavity walls 94 inside surfaces (see FIG. 3), and differently shaped sound boxes 80. Puppet 10 can be given an appearance to match the distinctive voice.
The reservoir 42 may alternatively have an upper fill opening 44 so that conductive liquid L can be fed into the reservoir 42 through a fill tube passing through mutually aligned and thus registering opening in the puppet torso wall 26. Addition of conductive liquid L to the reservoir 42 increases the pitch range, creating the appearance that the puppet 10 has awakened and is re-energized. Alternatively or additionally, the conductive liquid L can be diverted from within the reservoir 42 to gradually drain into a diaper to mimic bodily functions. The pitch range lowers as the conductive liquid L drains from the reservoir 42, simulating sleepiness or tiredness.
Optional additional oscillator circuit 50 elements include a vibrator (not shown), motor (not shown) and eccentric weight (not shown) to create shaking and additional sounds such as giggles when the puppet body 20 is squeezed with greater force. A rheostat can be incorporated into the oscillator circuit 50 to adjust the sound for the desired pitch variation. A higher pitch can be used for female or baby puppets 10.

Second Preferred Embodiment

A second embodiment is like the first except that the sound creation assembly 40 includes a potentiometer or rheostat 142 in place of the reservoir 42. The rheostat 142 includes a pivoting arm or lever 144 which for this version swings freely in the manner of a pendulum controlling the level of resistance produced by rheostat 142. Pivoting the lever 144 in one direction progressively increases resistance and in the opposite direction progressively decreases resistance.
For one version of the second embodiment the lever 144 has a weight 146 at the lever free end 144A so that tilting the puppet 10 causes the lever 144 to pivot relative to the remainder of the rheostat 142, varying the resistance and thus varying the sound pitch. See FIGS. 9-9B.
For another version of the second embodiment, lever 144 does not behave as a pendulum but rather is spring-loaded with a compression spring 148 so that it is biased to one end of its pivot range and the lever free end 144A is positioned near the flexible torso wall 26. Manual pressure against the torso wall 26 adjacent to the lever free end 144A presses the torso wall 26 into contact with the lever free end 144A and moves the lever 144 against the biasing of the compression spring 148 varying the circuit resistance and once again varying the pitch. See FIGS. 11 and 11A.
While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms or certain embodiments or modifications which it has assumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.

Claims

1. A voice puppet for creating vocal sounds, comprising:

a puppet body;

a sound creation assembly comprising an oral cavity having a cavity wall and a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in said cavity wall, said cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material such that the shape of said oral cavity and of said mouth can be manually manipulated to produce various vocal sounds and a sound box containing sound producing means and opening into said oral cavity through a box port over which a baffle can be moved, placed and removed to act as a tongue and to control the timing and duration of released sound and an oscillator circuit comprising said sound producing means, variable pitch control means, and a circuit power source.

2. The voice puppet of claim 1, wherein said puppet body comprises a puppet head with a puppet face, and wherein said oral cavity is contained within said puppet head, such that said cavity wall forms a portion of said puppet face.

3. The voice puppet of claim 2, wherein said puppet body comprises a puppet torso, additionally comprising a cavity air opening in said oral cavity, wherein said puppet body comprises flexible and resilient material such that squeezing said puppet causes air to enter said oral cavity, increasing air pressure within said oral cavity for creating percussive sounds.

4. The voice puppet of claim 2, wherein said oral cavity wall and said sound box are formed of sound blocking material for preventing sound leakage through said cavity wall.

5. The voice puppet of claim 1, wherein said puppet body comprises a puppet torso and a puppet head and a puppet neck interconnecting said puppet torso and said puppet head.

6. The voice puppet of claim 5, wherein said sound creation assembly comprises a reservoir.

7. The voice puppet of claim 6, wherein said reservoir is contained within said puppet torso, and wherein said sound box is contained within said neck area.

8. The voice puppet of claim 1, wherein said oscillator circuit additionally comprises a circuit activation switch.

9. The voice puppet of claim 8, wherein said puppet body comprises a puppet torso and puppet head, and said puppet torso has a flexible and resilient torso wall, and said circuit activation switch is a push button switch with a switch button positioned within said puppet torso behind said torso wall, such that depressing said torso wall inwardly adjacent to said push button switch depresses said switch button and thereby activates and deactivates said oscillator circuit.

10. The voice puppet of claim 2, wherein said puppet head comprises a finger port for passing a user finger into said oral cavity to reach and selectively cover said box port.

11. The voice puppet of claim 1, wherein said sound creation assembly comprises a closed reservoir partly filled with a conductive liquid, said oscillator circuit comprising vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes extending downwardly into said reservoir and having first and second probe upper ends and first and second probe lower ends, said first and second probe lower ends extending into said conductive liquid to create sonic vibration for simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords;

such that the extent to which said first and second probes are immersed in said conductive liquid controls the pitch of sound produced by said sound producing means and the extent to which said first and second probes are immersed in said conductive liquid can be varied by tilting said puppet and thereby tilting said reservoir.

12. The voice puppet of claim 11, wherein said first and second probes are shaped such that they are wider and have more surface area at their respective probe upper ends.

13. The voice puppet of claim 11, wherein said sound producing means comprises a speaker contained within said sound box.

14. The voice puppet of claim 11, wherein said conductive liquid is water containing electrolytes.

15. The voice puppet of claim 1, wherein said oscillator circuit additionally comprises a photocell which is one of: mounted on the puppet body outer surface, integrated into the torso wall, integrated into the cavity wall mounted behind the torso wall, and mounted behind said cavity wall, for lowering the vocal pitch range when the puppet is in low light.

16. The voice puppet of claim 11, wherein said reservoir comprises an upper fill opening such that conductive liquid can be fed into said reservoir through fill means, and such that addition of conductive liquid to said reservoir raises the vocal sound pitch range.

17. The voice puppet of claim 11, wherein said reservoir comprises conductive liquid drain means can be drained gradually from within said reservoir into a diaper fitted onto said puppet torso to simulate bodily function, thereby lowering the pitch range and simulating tiredness.