Patent Application
20050136790
1. Field of the Invention
The invention broadly relates to sound producing toys for animals and ultrasonic sound producing devices.
2. Prior Art
Dogs need toys to keep them occupied. Some dog toys are comprised of a plush body embedded with a noise generator which produces noise when bitten as feedback for the dogs. The noise perhaps simulates the noise of a captured pray animal to stimulate the dogs.
The noise generator is typically comprised of an air bladder fitted with a reed valve which squeaks when the air bladder is squeezed. The reed valve produces noise which is audible to dogs and humans, wherein the range of human hearing is between about 20 Hz and about 20 kHz, and the range of dog hearing is up to about 50 kHz. Acoustic frequencies above 20 kHz are known as ultrasonic frequencies. However, the noise produced by squeaking dog toys can be annoying to humans.
Other acoustic devices specifically made for dogs include dog whistles or electronic ultrasonic devices which produce ultrasonic noise at high enough decibel levels to signal a dog over a large distance in the case of an ultrasonic whistle or serve as an aversive stimuli to dogs and other animals in the case of electronic ultrasonic devices. Such sound producing devices produce noise levels up to about 120 dB (decibels). Considering the logarithmic relationship between loudness and dB level, and that a whisper is about 20 dB, a normal speaking voice is about 60 dB, a car horn is about 100 dB, and a jet engine is about 130 dB, such ultrasonic devices are extremely loud—about 2-8 times louder than a car horn. Although these noises are not annoying or harmful to humans because they are inaudible, they may be frightening, harmful or otherwise aversive to a dog if used in a device which produces the noise within inches of the dog's ears.
Prior art sound producing devices found in dog toys are typically comprised of a reed valve with three parts that require more tooling, and include moving parts that require more careful and lengthy assembly. Further, they are made of different materials that must be separated for recycling.
The objects of the present ultrasonic toy for animals are:
The ultrasonic toy for animals is comprised of a noisemaker arranged to produce ultrasonic noise which is audible to an animal, such as a dog, but not humans to avoid annoying people. The noisemaker is arranged to produce noise at about 30 to 70 dB, which is loud enough to be clearly heard by the animal but not enough to be aversive, frightening or harmful to the animal. The noisemaker is comprised of a resonance tube attached to an air bladder. The resonance tube includes a closed outer end, an axial hole open to the inner end, and a notch on a side wall communicating with the hole. An insert is positioned inside the hole. A first key in the hole is engaged with a second key on the insert to radially align the insert within the hole. A third key in the hole is engaged with a fourth key on the insert to limit the insertion of the insert to a proper depth. An alternative embodiment of the noisemaker is comprised of an electronic transducer driven by an oscillator which is activated by a pressure sensitive switch. An alternative air bladder includes a recess wherein the resonance tube is positioned to prevent the tube being blocked or inadvertently dislodged.
FIGS. 1-2:
A preferred embodiment of an ultrasonic toy for animals shown in
In this example, noisemaker 10 is comprised of a resonance tube 11 attached to a hollow resilient air bladder 12, which may be of any shape. When a dog bites on air bladder 12, air is forced out through resonance tube 11 to produce ultrasonic noise. The desired noise level of about 30 to 70 dB is measured at about 6 inches from resonance tube 11. Noisemaker 10 may be used alone, or it may be positioned inside a covering, such as a plush toy.
FIGS. 3-6:
An exploded view of resonance tube 11 is shown in
An insert 17 is for being positioned inside hole 14. A first key 18 in hole 14 is engaged with a second key 19 on insert 17 to radially align insert 17 within hole 14. In this example, first key 18 is comprised of a longitudinal groove in hole 14, and second key 19 is comprised of a longitudinal rib shaped to mate with groove 18. Alternatively, first key 18 may be a rib and second key 19 may be a groove.
A third key 20 in hole 14 comprising a step is engaged with a fourth key 21 on insert 17 comprising an oppositely shaped step to limit the insertion of insert 17 to a proper depth, as shown in
The relative positions of the keys may vary. For example, fourth key 21 on insert 17 may be flush with its inner end, and third key 20 may be at the innermost position of insert 17.
An end view of the assembled resonance tube 11 is shown in
The acoustic frequency is determined by the angle of notch 16, and the length of the resonance chamber defined between the inner end of insert 17 and the inner end of hole 14. The frequency is also determined by the hardness of the material of which resonance tube 11 is made, wherein higher hardness provides higher frequencies.
Resonance tube 11 has only two parts for simpler manufacturing, and the two parts are preferably made of the same recyclable material for easier recycling.
An alternative embodiment of the noisemaker is comprised of an electronic transducer 24 driven by an oscillator 25, which is activated by a pressure sensitive switch 26, such as a spring loaded push button switch, which responds when bitten by the dog.
An alternative air bladder 27 is shown in
An alternative air bladder 38 is shown in
Noisemaker 10 is shown in
Although the foregoing description is specific, it should not be considered as a limitation on the scope of the invention, but only as an example of the preferred embodiment. Many variations are possible within the teachings of the invention. For example, different attachment methods, fasteners, materials, dimensions, etc. can be used unless specifically indicated otherwise. The relative positions of the elements can vary, and the shapes of the elements can vary. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, not by the examples given.
