WO2013064803A1

WO2013064803A1 - Word game

Info

Publication number: WO2013064803A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/052490
Authority: WO
Inventors: Melvyn HUGHES
Original assignee: Commotion Limited
Priority date: 2011-11-04
Filing date: 2012-10-08
Publication date: 2013-05-10
Also published as: GB2496169A; GB201119048D0; GB2496169B

Abstract

A toy comprises a portable control unit or handset (1) and a plurality of target pieces (2) each containing a radio frequency identification chip (29) which is unique to that piece. The control unit comprises radio frequency identification means (19) for identifying each of the target pieces (2) when the control unit is placed in close proximity thereto, a read-only memory (13), a speaker (16), a microphone (15) and a re-writable memory (18) whereby the handset is adapted to store a unique user-recorded sound in the re-writable memory in association with each of the target pieces. A plurality of cards (3) which bear an image on at least one side are held in the target pieces such that the image on the card can be viewed.

Description

The invention relates to a toy to be used in a language based game. The purpose behind the toy is to encourage children to learn new words or phrases.

A known prior toy comprises a handset and a plurality of target pieces each containing a radio frequency identification chip which can be recognised by the handset when placed in close proximity thereto. The handset has a read only memory with some factory recorded sounds associated with each of the target pieces and a speaker for broadcasting those sounds in the course of a game. The toy can only be used to teach a small, preset number of words.

The present invention provides an improved toy in which the number of words which can be taught is not limited.

The present invention provides a toy comprising: a portable control unit; and a plurality of target pieces each containing a radio frequency identification chip which is unique to that piece; wherein the control unit comprises: radio frequency identification means for identifying each of the target pieces when the control unit is placed in close proximity thereto, a read only memory, a speaker, a microphone and a re- writable memory whereby the control unit is adapted to store a unique user-recorded sound in the re- writable memory in association with each of the target pieces and to broadcast those sounds through the speaker. An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 is a front view of the control unit of the toy;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the control unit;

Figure 3 is a side view of the control unit;

Figure 4 is a top view of the control unit;

Figure 5 is a view of the top of the control unit with a cover hinged open;

Figure 6 is a view of the control panel; Figure 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the control system of the toy;

Figure 8 is a front view of a target piece of the toy;

Figure 9 is a rear view of the target piece;

Figure 10 is a top view of the target piece;

Figure 11 is a front view of a card for the toy; and

Figure 12 is a front view of a target piece with a card held therein.

The toy comprises a portable hand-held control unit or handset 1, a plurality of target pieces 2 and a plurality of cards 3.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 - 5, the portable control unit of the toy in the form of a handset 1 is described. The handset 1 is circular in horizontal section and is symmetrical about a vertical centre line. It is made from plastic moulded components, comprising two main halves for the body section (front and rear), a rear removable battery compartment cover 4 and a hinged 'flip open' top cover 5. It has a smooth shape and finish - which is proportioned economically to fit in a child's hand and to safely enclose and protect the electronic components and batteries within.

The overall height of the handset is about 160mm and its maximum diameter is about 80mm. The device will happily stand vertically on its large splayed out base in the upright position, without falling over.

On the front face, it has a single 'push button' control or "start" button 6 which is located towards the top end of the handset. Below this button and also on the front face there is a small hole 7 behind which sits a microphone 15 and the re- writable recording microphone memory chip 18 stored inside the device. Recorded sound is played through speaker holes 8 arranged in an irregular hexagonal formation on the front face of the device and below the microphone hole.

At the rear of the device the battery compartment cover 4 has been designed so that it fits tightly to the body of the handset and has ridges on the outer face to accommodate a child's fingers for comfort as they wrap around the back of the device. The battery cover is entirely removable to allow easy access to the batteries and fits into slots at the back of the handset and is secured via a fixing screw. The device requires 3 x 1.5V AAA battery cells which fit inside the central cavity space of the handset. There is a main ON/OFF slider switch 9 situated below the battery compartment for turning the toy on and off.

The top cover of the device is hinged at the side (where the two halves of the moulded side components meet). At 180 degrees on the opposite side to the hinge 10, the top cover is fastened into place when closed using a simple spring loaded release button 11. When the top cover 5 is opened it reveals a control panel 12 with a number of controls for different user options.

Inside the handset there is a central processor 13 connected to the power supply 14, the microphone 15, the speaker 16, all the control buttons 17, a recordable memory chip 18, a radio frequency identification chip set 19 and an antenna 20 as shown in Figure 7. The central processor contains coding to allow the device to carry out the following functions:

1) Play a sequence of pre-recorded instructions to the user through an internal speaker as and when required. These instructions are held in a read-only memory.

2) Record and store up to 10 user-recorded sound messages (each up to 5 seconds in length) via an internal microphone and store these to the re- writable recordable memory which can be overwritten indefinitely.

3) Play each of these 10 user-recorded sound messages at random.

4) Communicate via an internal antenna to 10 uniquely coded target pieces to identify that piece.

5) Allocate to each target piece one of the user-recorded sound messages and to know when it has been found via radio frequency identification means for identifying each of the target pieces when the handset is placed in close proximity thereto.

6) If it has not been found - to give a negative response. If it has been found - to give a positive response.

7) To know when all 10 have been found in the right order and within a given time period and to play a winning tune. Referring to Figures 5 and 6, it can be seen that control panel 12 includes three controls in the form of vertical slider buttons each with two positional settings. Button 25 (Marked ► and ·) allows the user to select to PLAY the game using the words which the handset already has within its memory or to RECORD a new set of 10 words or other sound messages.

Button 26 (Marked TIME (S)) sets the time permitted to find each target piece (8 or 15 seconds).

Button 27 (Marked with an image of a target piece) allows the game to be played using 5 or 10 target pieces (for example, by selecting 10 the user would be playing with all 10 target pieces but by selecting 5, the game takes place using only 5 target pieces - those numbered 1-5).

Below these three slider buttons, there are two raised stud buttons 28 displaying + on the top of one and - on the top of the other (with the word 'VOLUME' or 'VOL' written between them. These adjust the volume emanating from the handset's internal speaker 16. There are 6 possible volume settings.

The target pieces 2 used with the toy are shown in Figures 8-10 and 12. In the present embodiment it is envisage that ten target pieces will be provided but a game using a different number of target pieces is equally possible. The target pieces are suitably made from plastic material and each comprises a rear plate 30 which houses a radio frequency identification chip 29 which is unique to that piece and a transparent front plate 31 which overlies the rear plate with a space 32 therebetween. A card 3 can be held in the space to be viewed through the front face. The cards (such as shown in Figure 11) fit in the space perfectly and may have a raised tag 33 to permit easy insertion and removal. A cut out portion 34 in the rear plate also assists in this. It is envisaged that perhaps one hundred cards will be provided with the toy in ten sets of ten. The sets have images on at least one side (such as fruit, vegetables, animals, numbers, colours, household items, etc) or may be blank. Blank cards may have an image, word or other character drawn on them by the user prior to starting a game. In another alternative, the user can draw on the front face 31 of the target piece 2 and wipe this off after the game. The target pieces are generally square, having sides of about 60mm and a depth of about 8mm. At the rear there is a moulded number (not shown) to identify each individual piece. Also at the rear is a suction clip 35 to allow the piece to be stuck to any smooth surface.

When switched on, the handset speaks to the user asking them if they wish to PLAY the game or RECORD a new set of 10 words. The handset control system contains a set of fixed voice commands which give instructions to the user to make them aware of what to do. And when the device is first purchased it contains a set of 10 pre-recorded words (such as the number 1-10). This permits the user to PLAY the game immediately.

To start a new game the adult/supervisor would start by placing 10 new picture cards within the 10 separate target pieces (e.g. pictures of different things - e.g.: fruit - grapes, oranges, apples and so on). Then they would select 'RECORD' - from

button/control 25 under the top cover 5 of the handset 1. Following this, they will hear instructions in how to proceed from the read only memory and will be told to press the 'start' button 6. Then, by placing the handset 1 in close proximity to any of the target pieces, an aerial/antenna 20 within the handset detects which target piece has been selected and an audible bleep is heard. At this point, the adult can record a sound such as a word, name or message (of up to 5 seconds in length) to the handset re- writable memory. The recorded sound will be appropriate to the image on the picture card. For example if the image is an apple, the user will record the word "apple" or perhaps a phrase which identifies the image. Once this has been recorded, the handset replays the recorded sound so that the adult can tell if the recording has been successful and that it is clear and audible. If not, it can be re-recorded as many times as required by simply repeating this process. The adult can then record another different sound to another target piece as so on until all 10 target pieces have a recorded sound associated therewith. The adult user then also selects how many target pieces are to be used in the game (5 or 10) by moving button control 27 and how long a time interval is to be allowed for finding each target piece (8 or 15 seconds) by moving button control 26. The control unit is pre-programmed to broadcast the user-recorded sounds associated with the selected plurality of target pieces (5 or 10) in random sequence and at the selected time interval (8 or 15 seconds) and to register if the handset has or has not been placed in close proximity to the associated target piece 2 before the expiry of the time interval.

At this point, the adult moves the selection button 25 under the top cover 5 to the 'PLAY' position. The game is then initiated by the child pressing the "start" button control 6. The handset speaker 16 then calls out one of the pre-recorded sounds at random for the child to find (for example 'Apple'). The child then has to find the correct target piece 2 containing the picture of an apple and bring the handset 1 into close proximity thereto such as by touching the base of the handset to the correct target piece 2. The underside of the base of the handset is marked with a large dot to indicate to the child that it should touch the dot onto the target piece. At this point the antenna 20 within the handset identifies the unique chip code within the target piece 2 and checks to make sure it is the correct one. If the child has found the correct one, within the allotted time then the handset produces a 'nice/positive' audible sound indicating that the child has found it. It then calls out another pre-recorded sound for the child to find and so on until all the target pieces (5 or 10) have been found correctly. At this point, the handset plays a short trumpet sound which means that all (5 or 10) pieces have been found within the time allowed and all have been identified correctly - the child has correctly identified the target pieces and won the game.

However, if the child selects the wrong target piece (for example the handset call out 'Apples' and the child places the handset onto the target piece containing a picture of Oranges') the handset detects that the chip within this target piece is not the correct one. At this point it produces a clear audible negative sound. The same will occur if the child does not identify the correct target piece within the allowed time limit. This game turn is now over and the handset asks the child if they want to play again. The child must then either pass the handset to another child to have a go or they can try again by simply pressing the "start" button 6 on the front face to restart the process over again.

In another embodiment the toy has a "SAY" mode which may be additional to or instead of the "PLAY" mode. In the "say" mode the toy will simply broadcast the associated sound in the re- writable memory when the handset is placed in close proximity to a target piece.

Claims

1. A toy comprising:

a portable control unit; and

a plurality of target pieces each containing a radio frequency identification chip which is unique to that piece;

wherein the control unit comprises:

radio frequency identification means for identifying each of the target pieces when the control unit is placed in close proximity thereto, a read-only memory, a speaker, a microphone and a re- writable memory whereby the control unit is adapted to store a unique user-recorded sound in the re-writable memory in association with each of the target pieces and to broadcast those sounds through the speaker.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of cards at least some of which bear images on one or both sides; wherein the cards are adapted to be held by the target pieces such that at least one side of the card can be viewed.

3. A toy as claimed in claim 2, wherein each target piece comprises a rear plate which houses the identification chip and transparent front plate overlying the rear plate with a space therebetween; whereby a card can be held in the space to be viewed through the front plate.

4. As toy as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the control unit includes a control for switching the unit from a "record" mode for a user to record sounds to be associated with the target pieces in the memory and a "play" mode for a user to play a game with the toy.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 4, wherein, in the "play" mode, the control unit is pre programmed to broadcast the user-recorded sounds associated with a selected plurality of target pieces in random sequence and at a selected time interval and to register if the control unit has or has not been placed in close proximity to the associated target piece before the expiry of the time interval.

6. A toy as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control unit includes a control for adjusting the number of the selected target pieces.

7. As toy as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the control unit comprises a control for adjusting the length of the selected time interval.

8. A toy as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein, the control unit includes a control for switching the unit to a "say" mode in which the control unit will broadcast the associated sound recorded in the re- writable memory when the control unit is placed in close proximity to a target piece.

9. A toy as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the control unit comprises a control for the volume of the speaker.

10. A toy as claimed by any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein at least some of the controls are mounted on the control unit under an openable and closable cover.

11. A toy substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.