Patent Grant
7392985
The present invention relates to an electronics circuit comprising an array of receivers, each configured to identify an external resistor so as to provide different responses according to the resistance value measured.
Traditional portable interactive learning toy for children provides a sensor pad positioned beneath a printed game card. The circuit of the sensor pad detects the position of a pen or by a finger by means of pressure, resistive, optical, capacitive or inductive changes. For many designs, the pen is required to be connected to the game console with a wire for the unit to receive the selection signal. The game play is defined by the pictorial content of the card designed according to an internal program or an external program represented by a game cartridge. This type of learning toy depends of “two dimensional” pictures illustrated on the pictorial card. The player is also required to make use of a pen or pressing with a finger to indicate the selected answer when a question is asked. According to a research of this invention, it was found that younger child likes to play with toys that are free to move around, rather than a pen connected with a wire or having to press hard with their tiny fingers. Pen is a tool that can only be handled by an older child. Besides, it was discovered that younger child tends to remember real life article than abstract expressions. In addition, younger child is more ready to learn from three-dimensional toys than to interpret the meanings of a two dimensional picture. It is the objective of this invention to provide an electronics circuit that enable a portable learning toy to replace the pen or finger pointing with real life three dimensional accessory toys free to move around. An embodiment of this electronics circuit makes use of the high resolution resistor recognition circuit that is capable to resolve resistor tolerance lower than 10%, preferably 5% as disclosed in applicant's pending application Ser. No. 10/227,708 which is the formal application of provisional application 60/316,643. Another characteristics of the invention is that a multiple dimensional receiver array is provided to handle multiple external resistors to be received by the toy play set as disclosed in parent patent application Ser. Nos. 10/208,346 filed Jul. 30, 2002.
The present invention is firstly directed to a hand held toy play set embodiment including a master toy unit and several groups of supporting or accessory toys. The master toy unit includes a power source; a processor or microcontroller; a program directing the processor to control the play pattern of the toy; an electrical to audio transducer such as a speaker to produce sound according to the play pattern; an array of receivers each provided with two contact terminals for interfacing with an external accessory toy article; a structure to receive an illustration card; a circuit to identify the card received; and possibly an array of push buttons for the child to select their choice of answer. Different groups of accessory toy articles are provided to support a game play. For example, multiple animal figures and a card illustrating a zoo are provided to support a game play teaching the child the knowledge of different animals. Another group of accessory toys is represented by a card illustrating a food store and a group of accessory toy members each represents a 3D food article. Other accessory groups may be provided to teach children about more abstract concepts such as color, shape, numbers and alphabets. Further families of action figures can be designed to build different interactive male action play sets.
An array of receivers is provided on a top-facing surface of the master toy unit. Each receiver is provided with two conductive contact terminals connected to the interfacing circuit located inside the master toy unit. The size of the receiver is to be carefully compromised. If the size of a receiver is too small, it will be difficult for a child to plug the accessory toy article onto the receiver. If the receiver size is too big, not much room will be left for providing illustration on the game card, which is to be placed on top of the receivers.
Illustrations on the game cards add color and fun to the game play. In the prior art embodiment, the game card is critical as it illustrates all the different choices of answers to be selected by the child. The child select an answer by pressing a pen or a finger down onto the two dimensional pictures illustrated on the card. Since the improved game pad enables the child to play with 3D accessory toys of real life shape, there is more freedom to design the illustrations and improve the play value of the toy set. For example, the game card can be printed with a short story, illustrated with words or pictures. Particular word location is replaced by a vacant space for the kid to fill in a proper accessory toy character. In this case, each of the vacant spaces of the card will be replaced by a hole adequate for an accessory toy member to make connection with the receiver located beneath the hole. It should be noted that the position of the hole should be properly aligned with the position of the receiver located beneath it. The theme of the card should be in line with the questions asked. For that reason, each game card is designated to work with a specific game program. Accordingly each card is provided an identifier for the processor to understand which card had been inserted into the master toy unit, and which game is to be played. Card identification can be provided by bar codes, magnetic strips or any other means that provides proper identification information to the processor.
Game programs in the form of digital codes may be stored inside the digital memory elements located inside the toy, or inside the game cartridges to be plugged into the master toy unit. External game cartridges enable the master toy unit to work with game to be launched at a later time. The digital memory elements, or memory means are represented by ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory and any other type of digital data storage devices capable of providing digital data to the microcontroller of the master toy unit. The main function of the digital memory elements is to store the game program defining the game rules and scoring criteria, the voice/melody messages required to support the game play and to control the circuit, which identifies the identification element of an external accessory toy and also the scores achieved by each player. The digital memory elements, which may be part of the processor or microcontroller of the master toy unit, may also store data specific to the personality of each figure, or accessory toy member.
Different groups of accessory toy members are required to support different game themes. Each toy member should be provided an identity circuit capable of interfacing to the processor through the metal contacts located inside the receiver. Typical identity circuit is represented by an integrated circuit, a resistor, or other working passive component to provide identity information. Applicant's pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/896,434; 10/118,706 and 60/324,202 disclosed circuits enabling a portable master toy unit to power up an IC located inside an external accessory toy through the two conductive contacts, and to retrieve audio and digital information stored inside the IC. Alternately the accessory toy member can be identified by a resistor of specific value installed inside the accessory toy member. The concept of using a resistor for identification purpose and a circuit capable to identify less than ten different resistor values was firstly introduced by the applicant in an ARCO Once Upon A Time Playset designed for Mattel Toys during April 1994. Applicant's U.S. patent application 60/316,643 and it's formal patent application pending application Ser. No. 10/227,708 disclosed more advanced circuits and IC designs capable of recognizing over 90 high resolution resistor identities. Since the commodity resistors are provided with 5% tolerance, it is reasonable to provide a circuit that can resolve 10% resistor value resolution.
Using IC for identification purpose is relatively expensive. Using resistors or capacitors for identification purpose is a cheaper solution but the number of possible identifications is comparatively limited. Another solution resulted during the research of this invention is to provide each group of accessory toys with a specific shaped foot print, or a foot print having a special shaped lock key. The holes of the game card for playing with the specific accessory group is also formed with the same shape of foot print of that group, such that accessory characters from another group is not allowed to make contact with the receivers of the master toy unit. In this way, the same group of resistor values can be repeatedly used for other different groups of accessory toy figures. It is also a requirement for the contact design of the receivers to be universal and independent of the shape of the accessory toy footprint. A convenient design is a concentric female socket similar in nature to the sockets for most small electronics products to connect with the power adaptors. When connectors in other shapes are used, the orientation of the socket is to be carefully positioned to be in line with the orientation of the specified footprint. The identity of each accessory toy member represents a unique personality that enables the game program to determine if the player provided a correct answer, so as for the play set to produce a proper audio and/or visual response. Audio responses are provided by converting an encoded audio signal stored inside the digital memory elements of the master toy unit, the game cartridge, or inside the IC located inside the accessory toy member. Visual responses can be achieved by providing power through the contacts terminals to a light bulb, LED or motor installed inside the main toy unit or an accessory toy member. Different data stores in the digital memory may be provided to offer different personalized audio/visual response for each accessory toy figure or member. As compared with the traditional prior art learning pads, the 3D learning pad disclosed enables the child to play with the individual accessory toy members, to feel it and to spend time and get more familiar with it. In addition, choice of answers from the 2D graphics printed on the game card is very limited for the traditional prior art learning pad, due to the size limitation of the game card. A manufacturer is now able to provide a much bigger number of accessory toy members for the child. It should be noted that when the game is targeted for the older kids, the 3D characters of the accessory toy members can be replaced by 2D photographs or pictures positioned on a podium structure of suitable footprint to reduce cost. From here it can be observed that the improved learning pad design provides more exciting audio/visual responses and incentives for the children to learn.
To add more complexity to the game play, an array of switches can be provided along the side of the game pad. These switches may be color coded, sign coded or letter coded for the child to enter an answer without using an accessory toy member. These switches are useful for selecting an answer not related with real life articles. Typical examples of these selections are taste such as sweet, bitter or sour; feeling such as happy, sleepy or anxious. When the switches are aligned in position with the receivers, special game plays can be designed allowing the child to interactively making use of both the accessory toy members and the side switches to play the game.
Once the target toy play set described above is identified, the next challenge is to provide electronics circuits that support the required function. It is an objective of the subject invention to provide a multiple dimensions array of receivers and measurement components to minimize the number of pins required from the microcontroller and the resistor detection circuit. The circuit is designed in a way to allow several resistors to be inserted into different receivers and stay in connection with the occupied receivers. It is also an objective of the subject invention to have every receiver be capable of resolving standard commercial resistor values of 5% tolerance. It is a further objective of the subject invention to have a “green” electronics circuit that consumes minimal operation power.
In order to conserve battery power, the resistor identification circuit and the microcontroller of the main toy unit should be kept at a low power standby mode, which consumes zero or negligible current, when the toy is not in use. As soon as an external resistor is received by any receiver, the processor or microcontroller of the main toy unit wakes up and transformed into a higher current active mode, starting a process to identify the value of the external resistor and then provides audio, visual and logical responses according to the play pattern. If the toy is not activated for a predetermined time, the internal program of the toy will turn the unit back into the low current standby mode.
In a first embodiment of the invention, two groups of I/O (input/output) pins, or interface pins are provided by a microcontroller and arranged in a X and Y matrix format. By definition, an I/O or interface pin of a microcontroller includes but not limited to all different kinds of input sensing pins, output driving pins, programmable input and output pins, open drain or open source pins and pins capable of providing high impedance.
A first contact point connected to any of the X row of I/O pin and a second contact point connected any of the Y column of I/O pin is arranged to form a receiver. Accordingly, a matrix of “m” rows and “n” columns provides a total of “m×n” receivers. When a resistor is receive by a receiver connected to the number “i” I/O pin and the number “j” I/O pin, the circuit will wake up and transform from a low standby current mode into a higher current active mode to start identifying the resistance of the external resistor. The microcontroller then provides a preprogrammed response according to the resistance measured. For example, a 100 ohm resistor representing a frog of the toy play set previously described will initiate the master toy unit to produce a frog sound. When a 270 kohm resistor represents a bird is detected, a bird sound is generated. The responses produced are not limited to sounds, the microcontroller may turn on light bulb or LED to provide illuminated responses. It may provide graphic responses on display devices such as LCD display panel or TV screen. Alternately motion responses may be achieved by turning on a motor to provide animation effects.
As compared with A/D converter, a simpler method to identify the value of a resistor is obtained by measuring the charging or discharging characteristics of a capacitor in conjunction with a resistor. For the artisan skill in the art, the product of the values represented by a capacitor and a resistor forms a “RC” time constant. Given a known value of the capacitor and measure this time constant, the value of the resistor can be obtained. Accordingly a known capacitor is added to every column I/O pin of the circuit. The charging or discharging time of the RC pair is then measured to determine the unknown resistor value. In actual circuit design, it is not necessary for the full range of RC charging or discharging curve to be measured. In order to simplify the circuit design and save the cost of a voltage comparator circuit, the threshold voltage of an I/O pin can be used to determine the relative charging and discharging time of a RC circuit. Whenever a discharge timing is to be measured, the circuit needs to charge up the capacitor first. Therefore a rapid charging circuit, such as driving I/O pins is provided. An alternate method to charge up all the capacitors at one time is to provide a current source, either represented by a separated output pin, or represented by other current sourcing circuit such as a switched transistor. The current source is then connected to each of all the column pins. A diode is provided between a single current source and multiple column capacitors to prevent the capacitors being shorted circuit by the current source.
Enlisted below are the standard commercial resistor values:
Ohm range (discarding resistance value below 100 ohm): 100, 110, 120, 130, 150, 180, 200, 220, 240, 270, 300, 330, 360, 390, 430, 470, 510, 560, 620, 680, 750, 820, 910; total 24 different values. The k-ohm range is obtained by multiplying the above resistance values by 10 to provide another 24 different resistor values. The 10 k-ohm range is obtained by multiplying the above range of resistor values by 100 to provide an additional resistor values. The 100 k-ohm range resistor values is again obtained by multiplying the above resistor values by 1000 to provide further 24 resistor values. The total number of commercially available resistor values in between 100 ohm to 1M ohm is [(24×4)+1]=97. It means the high precision circuit provided by the subject invention is able to identify 97 different identity articles making use of a single commercial standard resistor in each article. If two resistors are provided in each article for identification detection (requires three to four contact points), the total number of combination is 97×97=9,409, which is more than enough for most applications. It should be noted that among the 97 resistor values identified, some of the resistor values are less popular and can be considered as a secondary standard resistor value. Examples of these values are 130 ohm, and 240 ohm. Since all these standard resistor values carry a 5% tolerance, it is essential to have a high precision circuit capable to resolve the roughly 10% value separation in between two adjacent resistor standard values. Since an upper margin resistor may have a value almost identical to the lower margin resistor of the next value, it may be required in the production process to sort out the marginal resistors so that their values will not overlap.
The tolerance of commercial capacitors is higher than that of the resistors. Typical value tolerance is 10% or higher for commodity capacitors. This tolerance may also vary from time to time due to chemical aging of the capacitor or poor temperature coefficient of the capacitor design. Therefore the reading circuit is preferred to be equipped with a calibration circuit. An example of the calibration circuit is to include a high tolerance resistor, say a 1% resistor of known value into the circuit. The microcontroller measures the time constant of the reference capacitors with this reference resistor to precisely determine the value of a reference capacitor before it starts to measure the value of an external resistor.
Another difficulty encountered during the invention process is that there are many different kinds of commercial capacitors, each carry different characteristics due to different structure and dielectric material used. As a result, the value span of each type of capacitor is very limited. For example, commercial ceramic capacitors provide capacitance range from nanofarad to 0.2 microfarad. Commercial electrolytic capacitors provide a range from 0.1 microfarad to several thousand micro farad. The range of Tantalum capacitors is close to that of electrolytic capacitors but within a narrower range. It is beyond the resolution capability of the time measurement circuit of a microcontroller for a single capacitor to service the wide range of resistance values from 100 ohm to 1 Mohm. As a result, it is desirable to provide different type of capacitors in the same charging or discharging measurement circuit. That is to connect multiple capacitors to the column I/O pin as described above. In addition to the two dimensional switching circuit between the I/O pins of the X and Y array, a third dimension, or group of I/O pins is required to determine which capacitor is to be connected. If an external resistor failed to provide a reasonable reading with one capacitor, the third dimension I/O circuit will be switched to connect another capacitor for another round of charging or discharging time measurement. Depends on the circuit arrangement, a diode may also be connected in series with each capacitor to prevent the capacitance of one column to be coupled into another column.
Since each group of capacitors is able to service only a limited range of resistance values, every group of capacitors requires a different calibration resistance. Accordingly, reference resistors of different values are provided and a fourth dimension, or groups of switched I/O pins is required by the circuit to determine which reference resistor is to be turned on during the calibration process. Depends on the circuit arrangement, diodes may be connected in series with a reference resistor to prevent the calibration circuit to be short circuited.
Whenever an external resistor is received between a row pin and a column pin, a resistance is formed in between these two pins. If multiple resistors are received, the resistance reading between a row pin and a column pin will not truly represent the actual resistance of the external resistor because of the presence of other external resistors. Accordingly, a diode is required to be connected in series with every external resistor to provide a true reading.
According to another embodiment, a proprietary IC is designed to simplify the capacitor array of the RC circuit. Instead of providing different arrays of capacitors of the same value in the circuit, only one capacitor is provided to service each resistor range. Whenever the presence of an external resistor is detected, the proprietary microcontroller provides an internal switching circuit to the capacitor and carry out the RC measurement process. The number of calibration reference resistors is also reduced as a result.
Instead of using a RC charging and discharging circuit, other properly designed circuit can be utilized to service the two-dimensional receiver array if properly designed. Another circuit disclosed in the parent application can also be modified to measure resistance array formed in X and Y matrix format. An array of internal gates, each carries a different resistance value is connected in parallel or in series with the external resistor to form a potential divider. The value of the external resistor is then detected by measuring the voltage of this potential divider. Alternately an array of gated resistance is switched until the resulting voltage of the voltage divider hits a threshold voltage. A/D converter may also be utilized to measure the voltage formed by the voltage divider. In order to resolve the wide range of resistance values as previously discussed, multiple measurement circuits, each dedicated to a different range of resistance are provided. Arrays of switches are provided inside the microcontroller to connect the external resistor to the different measurement circuits. Internal array of switches may also be required to connect the array of different external reference resistors for calibrating these different measurement circuits.
The multiple dimensions circuit structured for measuring different external resistors connected to a matrix of receivers at the same time can be extended to microcontrollers supported with multiple D/A converters. One of the built in D/A converter is configured to generated sounds for supporting the game play. The other embedded D/A converter is configured to provide controlled feedback voltage or signal for successively comparing with the voltage formed by the external resistor and an array of reference resistors. The comparator can be provided outside the microcontroller or embedded inside the microcontroller. Voltage comparing circuit and operational amplifier may be use to service the function of a comparator. When a comparator is provided outside the microcontroller, a power controlling circuit is preferably to be developed for the power consumption of the external comparator to be controlled according to the flow chart of the of the game play.
It should be noted that all the resulted electronics circuits developed to supported the target toy is not limited to the application of the target toys described. It is the intention of this patent application to have the invented electronics circuit designed to service all other innovative applications that are benefited from the novel features of the invented circuit design. The shape of the master toy member and accessory toy members can be modified without significantly changing the internal circuit design to provide completely different toy play sets, according to the different creative play pattern and game rules developed.
In another preferred embodiment, the master toy member is provided in the shape of a platform and each accessory toy member represents a toy figure of different background and personality. When the user connected a toy figure with the master toy platform, the internal resistor of the toy figure is identified and the background information such as the name, age and hobby of the toy figure is announced. After different toy figures are lined up on the platform, the master toy member starts to ask questions about the toy figures. Scores are given to the users who memorize the background information of each toy figure and provides the correct answers. The master toy member may also gives commands to alternate the sequence of figures line up, or to exchange one figure with another one not on the platform. This toy play set provides an excellent game to train the children to memorize information about different people.
In another preferred embodiment, the master toy member is decorated as a car racing field and each accessory toy member is a racing car or motor vehicle of different characteristics. The master toy member announces different type of racing environments such as off road and drag race, before rounds of racing start. The users selected different racing cars to participate in the different rounds of racing. The master toy unit identifies the nature of each car on the racetrack according to the internal resistor detected. After pressing the race button, exciting racing sound effects are provided. The winning car is then announced according to the background characteristics of the racing cars detected and nature of the racing ground previously announced. The power and capability of a racing car can be upgraded or downgraded according to special upgrade equipment added and the maintenance effort provided. The microcontroller programmed with suitable game rules defines the interactive play pattern as well as the criteria for an accessory toy member to be upgraded or downgraded. The winner is the player who takes best care of his/her fleet of racing cars and also provides the best racing strategy—to assign the optimal racing cars for racing against the selected cars of the opponents under different racing fields environments. The value of the game greatly depends on the creativity of the game rule. Usually game rule are to be carefully designed to enhance the playing value of the game. For example, if the racing car game rule defines that the capability of a racing car will be exponentially decreased with continuous rounds of racing, the best equipped car will then be preferred to be use in only the most important round of racing competition. The user will then be forced to carefully plan for the sequence of assigning different racing cars in different rounds of racing.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the master toy member is decorated as a male action toy battleground. The accessory toys are in the shape of male action toy figures, each comes with unique strength and weakness. The master toy member identifies an action toy figures when it joins the battleground. The power of a figure may be upgraded or downgraded according to predefined game rule such as training or combat experience. Teams of toy figures battle against each other when a combat button is pushed. The victory belongs to the side that best remembered the characteristics of each toy figure and provided the best combating strategy.
In another application of the invented technology, the master toy member becomes the game board of a board game such as a chess set. The accessory toy units are decorated in the shape of different chess members each having an unique internal identity component. The play pattern is defined by the rules of a chess game.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will best be understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Attention is initially directed to
Attention is now directed to
Attention is now directed to
Many capacitors are not perfect for timing control applications. Electrolytic capacitors deteriorate overtime. Internal impedance, leakage current and capacitance may change after aging or repeated use. Many other capacitors change in capacitance values when the temperature of the working environment changes. Accordingly it is desirable to provide a calibration process before the actual measurement process is performed.
Attention is now direct to
The embodiments of
Attention is now directed to
During the measurement process to identify the resistance of resistor 1333, the output line 1314 is turned high to provide a current to flow through the resistor 1333 and the reference resistors 1351 beneath. The switching transistors 1361 to 1366 are turned on one by one to select one of the arrays of resistors connected to the input circuit of the comparator 1343. The output of the comparator 1343 is monitored to see which reference resistor is of closest range to the external resistor 1333. Each member of the arrays of diodes 1355, 1356, 1357 and 1358, is connected in series with a reference resistor. This circuit design enables the same value resistor of each array of reference resistors to be turned on at the same time. When the closest reference resistor is identified, the D/A converter 1303 of the microcontroller 1301 successively provides a feedback reference voltage to compare with the input voltage formed by the potential divider of the external resistance 1333 and the selected reference resistor of the array 1351 selected. The microcontroller successively changes the value of the reference voltage derived from the source 1303 until the exact input potential dividing voltage is detected. The digital value provided to the internal D/A converter at this time represents the unique resistance of the external resistor 1333, and also the personality of the accessory toy member or figure that holds the external resistor 1333. The microcontroller 1301 then provides responses according to the unique value of the resistors 1333 detected. Additional comparators 1344, 1345, 1346 and additional arrays of reference resistors 1352, 1353, 1354 support the additional columns of receivers 1316, 1317, 1318 and speed up the multiple external resistors identification process. Audio responses are provided through another D/A converter which converts internal digital data into audio signal to drive the electricity to sound transducer 1305 through the transistor 1306. Visual responses can be provided by other output pins of the microcontroller 1301 not shown in the circuit. If more D/A converters are available, each comparator of the array 1341 can be connected with a different D/A converter to provide a more efficient multitask identification process.
Since most external comparator array is a circuit component that continuously consumes power, in order to conserve the power of the battery operated toy play set, it is preferable to control the power supply of the comparator by another output pin 1342 of the microcontroller 1301. Output pin 1342 can be connected directly to the power supply line of comparator IC 1341 or through a driving transistor depends on the current capability of the out pin.
From the foregoing, it should now be appreciated that the applicant has disclosed herein embodiments of an electronics circuit designed for a matrix array of receivers configured to detect multiple high resolution external resistors selected from the 100 ohm to 1 Mohm range, and to provide different responses according to the resistance of a resistor connected to a receiver. Particularly, it should be noted that there are different variations of contact designs, different ways to measure resistor values and different arrangements to calibrate the measurement circuits. It should also be noted that the different unique features of the illustrated embodiment can be enhanced, reduced or simplified to meet the different application needs, which are not limited to toy applications. Although detailed embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it is recognized that variations and modifications, all within the spirit of the invention, will occur to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that all such variations and modifications be encompassed by the appended claims.
This is a Continuation In Part application of pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/208,346 filed Jul. 30, 2002, 10/241,340 filed Sep. 10, 2002 and 10/242,847 filed Sep. 13, 2002.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3481604 | Fan | Dec 1969 | A |
| 4876515 | Ball | Oct 1989 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10242847 | Sep 2002 | US |
| Child | 10638706 | US | |
| Parent | 10241340 | Sep 2002 | US |
| Child | 10242847 | US | |
| Parent | 10208346 | Jul 2002 | US |
| Child | 10241340 | US |
