This application is a 35 U.S.C. 371 national stage filing from International Application No. PCT/CA2010/001280 filed Aug. 19, 2010, and claims priority to Canadian Application No. 2,675,913 filed Aug. 20, 2009. The entire contents of these references are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to interactive talking toys with moveable and detachable body parts.
In the field of toys, talking toys and toys with moveable and detachable body parts are well-known. However, to date there has not been any interactive talking toy with moveable and detachable body parts that can provide the user a customized portfolio of phrases and body movements that changes according to which body parts are attached and which are not attached at any given moment. Furthermore, there has not been in the prior art an interactive toy that combines the above features with the ability to output vocal and mechanical responses in specific ways, depending on the loudness and repetition patterns of the sounds input from the user. Furthermore, there has not been in the prior art an interactive toy that combines the above features with the ability to eject (strip itself of) its body parts in a spring-loaded fashion, in response to sounds and voice inputs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have such an interactive talking toy with moveable and detachable body parts which could provide the user a high degree of interactivity, as well as humour, spontaneity and unpredictability.
The present invention answers, to a substantial degree, the need for an interactive talking toy with moveable and detachable body parts that combines all of the above-mentioned desired characteristics into one package.
Accordingly, in various aspects of the present invention, an interactive talking toy with moveable and detachable body parts is provided that:
These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In a preferred embodiment, the toy has a main body and appendages. Referring to
When “facial” appendages such as lips/mouth (5), nose (6), eyes/eyebrows (7), are attached directly to the body (1), the toy's general appearance is that of a walking/talking head, as in
Located preferably within the body of the toy and shown on the schematic diagram in
Sensors (16), located preferably within the articulations (9), sense which articulations have appendages connected to them, and can furthermore sense which particular attachment is connected to any given articulation. Sensors (16) can also sense when an appendage is being moved or pushed by the user. The information gathered by the sensors (16) is inputted, as mechanical or electrical signals, to one or more integrated circuit electronic control modules (12), also located preferably within the body of the toy. The control modules (12) are used to manage the movement of the appendages via control of motors (11) and actuators (10), and to also manage the sounds produced by the toy, via control of speakers (13). The control modules (12) base their response on a combination of pre-programmed parameters and real-time input from sensors (16) and microphones (15). An internal timer also allows the control modules (12) to detect the prolonged absence of any mechanical or sound input and, in response, to either prompt the user to play with the toy, or to put the toy in power save mode, or to turn the power off altogether.
In a preferred embodiment, the toy's electronic control modules (12) are also used to store a customized portfolio of pre-recorded phrases and music. Whenever an user touches, moves or pushes an appendage attached to the toy, or in response to external voice and sound inputs from the user (and/or from the environment), the control modules (12) cause the toy to talk, grunt, sing, whistle, dance and move its body parts. The control modules (12) also give the toy the ability to synchronize its speaking and singing with its mechanical movement and the movement of appendages.
In a further preferred embodiment, the toy comes with a set of multiple distinct external appendages for each articulation point (9) on its body. Within each such set, distinct appendages can illustrate distinct moods, personalities and characters of the toy. Within each such set, distinct appendages can have distinct means to engage the sensors (16). Such distinctive engaging of sensors allows the toy's control modules (12) to be aware which appendages are attached to the body at any given moment and, in response to this information, to provide a range of motion and sound output that best fits the current appendage configuration. For example, attaching a “happy eyes” appendage to the body, would cause the toy to respond with light-hearted talk and dance moves, whereas attaching an “angry eyes” appendage would elicit harsher phrases and threatening moves. Through the same sensors (16), the toy's control modules (12) can also be informed when no appendages are present within certain articulations (9) on the toy's body and, in response to this information, cause the toy to react appropriately and logically (e.g. the toy would comment about the missing appendage(s), or the toy would not talk when the “mouth” appendage (5) is not attached, or the toy would pretend not to respond to voice prompts when the “ear” (4) appendages are not connected, etc).
In a further preferred embodiment, the toy comes with one or more built-in microphones (15) that allow the control modules (12) to detect the intensity or repetition patterns associated with the incoming sounds, and, in response to this information, to provide a range of pre-programmed motions and sound outputs that best fit the pattern of the sound input. For example, a whisper by the user elicits a different mechanical/audible response from the toy compared to a shout or a loud noise; similarly, one clap of hands by the user elicits a different response from the toy compared to three consecutive claps.
In a further preferred embodiment, the toy's control modules (12) are capable of a wider range of preset responses that include the ability to send a command to the motors (11) and actuators (10) to eject one or more appendages from their articulations (9) on the body. One or more dedicated push buttons can also be provided on the toy body for the user to manually trigger the ejection of one, or more, or all appendages from their articulations on the body. Appendages can equally be manually released one by one from the articulations by a user's outward pulling action.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, after reviewing this description, that many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications for the subject interactive talking toy with moveable and detachable body parts, in addition to those which have been disclosed are possible and contemplated, and all such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2675913 | Aug 2009 | CA | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/CA2010/001280 | 8/19/2010 | WO | 00 | 6/6/2012 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2011/020192 | 2/24/2011 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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Machine translations of portions of JP-U-3090370 cited in Japanese Office Action dated Aug. 13, 2013 for Japanese Patent Application No. 525006/2012, 20 pgs. |
Machine translations of portions of JP-U-H06-7796 cited in Japanese Office Action dated Aug. 13, 2013 for Japanese Patent Application No. 525006/2012, 5 pgs. |
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English translation of Office Action dated Aug. 13, 2013 for Japanese Patent Application No. 525006/2012 (2 pgs.). |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120252306 A1 | Oct 2012 | US |