Patent Application
20050036640
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to small-size accessories that can be held by the human hand. More particularly, this invention relates to such small-size accessories incorporating an audio recording and playback device along with means for holding and viewing an article.
2. State of the Art
Small-sized audio recording and playback devices are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,752 to Chomette et al., herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes an exemplary credit-card-sized audio recording and playback device that utilizes a piezoelectric component as a combination microphone/loudspeaker.
Small-sized audio recording and playback devices have been incorporated into a picture frame or plaque. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,374 discloses a picture frame with an audio recording and playback device mounted to the thick edge provided by the frame. The edge of the frame is made sufficiently thick to include the audio recording and playback device so that this device does not obscure the view of the picture mounted in the frame, and thus is unsuitable for small-sized applications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,878, a small-sized audio recording and playback device is incorporated into a hand-held holder of card-like articles. In this system, the article is housed within an optically clear enclosed portion of the top surface of the article (or applied directly to the top surface of the article). The speaker, microphone and controls of the audio recording and playback device are disposed around the periphery of the top surface of the article, which provides a limited area for holding and viewing the article.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for improved small-sized accessories that incorporate an audio recording and playback device along with means for holding and viewing an article in a manner that maximizes the area for holding and viewing an article, such as a photograph, card or the like.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,532, an article (bottle opener, lighter, ball point pen) is configured to replay an audio advertisement upon activation of a tripping component. The audio advertisement is provided by a chip that is capable of storing speech signals in analog form. The tripping component is activated during normal operation of the article (e.g., when opening a bottle with the bottle opener, or when actuating the lighter or ball point pen). This article is capable of conveying only audio information, and thus is unsuitable for applications in which it is desirous to convey visual advertisements or other visual brand information. In addition, the audio advertisement provided by the chip cannot be readily updated by the user.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improved article that is capable of conveying audio advertisements (as well as other audio information) in addition to visual advertisements and/or visual branding information and/or visual promotional information associated with the audio information, and that preferably operates in a manner that enables a user to readily record, update and store audio information therein.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a small-size accessory that incorporates an integral audio recording and playback mechanism along with means for holding and viewing an article in a manner that maximizes the area for holding and viewing the article.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a small-size accessory having an integral audio recording and playback mechanism that can store and playback several audio messages.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a small-size accessory includes a body with a front major surface opposite a back major surface. The body is preferably no larger than a credit card size. An audio device is integral to the body. The audio device includes a speaker, at least one memory capable of storing at least one audio message, and at least one play-back button adapted to initiate playback of a corresponding audio message through the speaker. A transparent and flexible wall, which is preferably realized by a panel pocket, is disposed on the back major surface of the body. An article, such as a photograph, card or the like, is held in place between the transparent wall and the back major surface for viewing by the user of the accessory. The play-back button(s) and the speaker of the audio device are disposed on the front major surface of the body. Preferably, the audio device also has record functionality that includes a microphone and record button disposed on the front major surface of the body. Preferably, portions of the apparatus are substantially opaque such that the article, when inserted into the panel pocket, remains hidden when viewed from the front major surface of the body. The audio messages and visual indicia conveyed by the apparatus may be used to carry multimedia advertising information and multimedia branding information. The apparatus has applications as a keychain accessory that carries multimedia information.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the panel pocket includes two thin sheets of flexible material that are affixed to one another along their edges such that an opening remains for the insertion of the article.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the panel pocket includes a transparent flexible sheet affixed to the back major surface of the body such that an opening remains for the insertion of the article.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the panel pocket is omitted, and the accessory is used to convey multimedia information for advertising/branding/promotional purposes or to realize a multimedia souvenir or multimedia toy.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.
Turning now to
An exemplary credit-card-sized audio recording and playback mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,752 to Chomette et. al, incorporated by reference above in its entirety. As one of several distinctions from the Chomette device, the audio recording and playback mechanism of accessory 10 preferably includes a plurality of playback buttons 18, 20, 22, 24 each having different visual indicia associated therewith. For example, button 18 has a ‘1’ thereon, button 20 has a ‘2’ thereon, button 22 has a ‘3’ thereon, and button 24 has ‘4’ thereon.
The accessory 10, by way of example, may be operated to record an audio message for storage in memory by pressing the record button 26 in conjunction with any one of the playback button 18, 20, 22, 24. During recording, the LED indicator 28 lights up, and sound, e.g. voice, is directed by the user toward the microphone grille 16. Recording is terminated and the message is saved upon release of the record button 26 or when the memory allocated for that message is full, whichever occurs first. Each message preferably may be up to fifteen seconds in length. The recorded message may thereafter be played back by pressing the corresponding playback button only.
As shown in
As shown in
In one embodiment, the panel pocket 30 is formed by two thin sheets (an inner wall and an outer wall) of flexible material that are affixed to one another (e.g., utilizing a heat seal, bonding or stitching) along their edges (leaving an opening for the insertion of the article 13), and then adhering the inner wall of the panel pocket 30 to the back side 14 of the body 11 utilizing a suitable adhesive. In this embodiment, the outer wall of the panel pocket 30 (and possibly the inner wall) is transparent, which enables the user to view the article 13 through the outer wall when inserted therein.
In another embodiment, the panel pocket 30 is formed by affixing the edge(s) of a transparent flexible sheet (preferably formed from a transparent plastic such as acrylic, polyvinyl) to the back side 14 of the body 11 (e.g., utilizing a heat seal, bonding) while leaving an opening 32 for the insertion of the article 13.
In yet another embodiment, the article 13 is fixably disposed behind a transparent flexible sheet by affixing the edge(s) of a transparent flexible sheet (preferably formed from a transparent plastic such as acrylic, polyvinyl) to the back side 14 of the body 11 (e.g., utilizing a heat seal, bonding) while the article 13 is disposed between the transparent flexible sheet and the back side 14 of the body 11 such that the article is laminated to the body.
Preferably, the body 11 (or portions thereof) of the accessory 10 (or portions of the panel pocket 30) are substantially opaque such that the article 13, when inserted into the panel pocket 30, remains hidden when viewed from the front side 12 of the body 11. This feature may be accomplished by forming the body 11, or by forming the inner wall of the panel pocket 30 from an opaque material. Alternatively, an opaque coating may be applied to the front surface 12 and/or the back surface 14 such that the article 13, when inserted into the panel pocket 30, remains hidden when viewed from the front side 12.
With the small-sized accessory of the present invention, it will be appreciated that a user of the accessory will have the opportunity to insert an article into the panel pocket and record a voice message(s) associated with that article by manipulating the audio record/playback mechanism integral to the accessory. The user (or a subsequent user) can view the article contained in the panel pocket and listen to the recorded voice message(s) associated with that article by manipulating the audio record/playback mechanism integral to the accessory. The small size of the accessory enables it to be carried and used ubiquitously.
Advantageously, the small-sized accessory of
In an alternate embodiment as shown in
Note that the shape and visual indicia of the article 10′ may be readily adapted to provide advertisements and branding and promotional material for other types of products or services. Alternatively, the shape and visual indicia of the article may be readily adapted to realize a multimedia souvenir or multimedia toy. For example, the general shape and visual indicia of the accessory may have a likeness to one or more television characters (e.g., Big Bird of Sesame Street®), movie characters or other well know characters. An example of such an article 10″ is shown in
In alternate embodiments not shown, visual indicia alone (and not the shape of the body 11) may be used to convey visual information (e.g., advertisements, branding information, promotional information, one or more characters).
As shown in
There have been described and illustrated herein embodiments of a small-sized accessory having an audio record/playback mechanism integral to the accessory along with a flexible transparent pocket panel that holds an article and enables a user to view the article therethrough. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Thus, while an audio device having recording and playback capabilities is described, the audio device might having playback capability only, and audio storage may be obtained from a download via a data port (not shown). In addition, the device may additionally or alternatively have video capability for playback of video files, where the video files are placed in device memory by a recording system of the device and/or via download. Also, while the small-sized accessory is shown as having a single pocket panel, it will be appreciated that the accessory may include multiple pocket-panels. In addition, while the preferred embodiments of the accessory as described above are the size and shape of a credit card, it will be appreciated the it can be smaller (or larger) than a credit card and have any arbitrary substantially-planar shape. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.
