US20110230116A1

US20110230116A1 - Bluetooth speaker embed toyetic

Info

Publication number: US20110230116A1
Application number: US12/659,756
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeremiah William Balik
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-19
Filing date: 2010-03-19
Publication date: 2011-09-22

Abstract

This invention relates to talking toys (toys with sayings, audible messages, or sounds) and, more particularly, to toys that will be derived from motion pictures (toyetics) and have unlimited ability to talk, make sounds, play music, deliver movie catch phrases or repeat human speech in a toy characters voice or voice of user. This invention embeds Bluetooth speaker(s) inside of toys and then via a smart device; (Apple iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, Computer) has an application (application is the storage device and can thus store or create unlimited sounds or audible messages) which is a repository for sounds, sayings, music, movie catch phrases etc. When the Bluetooth speaker is paired with the smart device—audible messages, sayings, sounds will be heard over the speaker in stereo. The toy will reproduce audible messages, sayings or sounds in response to user selection on the application.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to talking toys (toys with sayings) and, more particularly, to toys that will be associated with motion pictures (toyetics) and have unlimited ability to talk, make sounds, play music, deliver movie catch phrases or repeat human speech in a toy characters voice or voice of user.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Toys that make sounds have been known for a long time and they have always been interesting for children. Latest technological achievements have been used in the industry to enable these toys to pronounce different phrases and imitate voices of people and tales characters. The number of phrases and audible messages can be rather big [current technology estimated around 50-80 phrases or sayings] but still limiting and repetitive.
Per U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,030 issued to William Rose, 1989—Since the mid-1800's, talking dolls have been known. These early dolls were two types. One with a string activated wood and paper bellows said “Mama” or “Papa”. The other relied on a weight activated cylindrical bellows with holes along one side to emit a crying sound when moved. Some dolls are still made this way today. In the 1890's a doll known as the “Jumeau Bebe and a Phonographe” told jokes, spoke phrases like “Hello, my dear little Mommie”, using a mechanism designed by Thomas Edison, which was a wax cylinder recording activated by a key wound clockwork-like mechanism. In the early 1900's, a doll known as “Dolly” sang and recited nursery rhymes. These dolls also used cylindrical recordings, but the recordings were probably on plastic or rubber cylinders. In 1960, a doll known as “Chatty Kathy” was introduced which had a repertoire of eleven to twenty-two phrases. The voice mechanism was operated by a pull string which activated a miniature phonograph disc that played back pre-recorded phrases.
Over the years, there have been many efforts to make a doll more lifelike and communicative with its owner U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,794 discloses an animated talking doll with a mouth actuating mechanism. Eye and lip movements were coordinated with a phonographic means for reproducing speech. U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,406 proposed an improved mechanism for coordinating the movements of the jaw with a phonograph. U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,696 disclosed a doll in which there were multiple animations in the face.
More recently, it has been proposed to combine a cassette recording in a doll, which includes signals thereon, which will synchronously control the movement of the mouth of the doll, as the recorded phrases are reproduced. It has further been proposed to have two dolls with cassette recordings therein which will appear to simulate intelligent conversation. These last mentioned dolls have also been provided with mouth actuating means, which move the mouth in synchronism with the recorded speech.
A drawback with these dolls is that they are not interactive with the child. Some toy manufacturers maintain that the talking dolls improve the play value for children between three and nine years. Some child psychologists and parents disagree, stating that these dolls do nothing to stimulate a child's imagination. The result is that children are reduced to reacting to a toy passively, much like watching television.
A professor of child development at a leading university has stated that talking toys serve to try to get kids to have a more limited dialogue with themselves. A child development specialist in the Pediatrics Department of a West Coast hospital observed that children often turn off their high tech dolls. This specialist has stated that when he goes through the rooms of a pediatric center, he rarely hears children playing with them. Initially, the children are fascinated, but when the thrill wears off, young children use them in their own way, much as a snuggly teddy bear. Kids need toys, which inspire their imagination.
The loss of interest of the child in the speaking ability of a toy is believed to be due to the repetitious nature in which the toys speak. Children soon become cognizant of the repetitive nature of the vocabulary and lose interest.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,038 issued to Arad, et al, 1994 shows a talking doll that speaks when particular parts of its body are pressed. The body of the doll is a housing that comprises storage means for storing prerecorded audible speech messages, speaker means for playing these messages, and a set of switches. The switches are pressure sensitive, and certain parts of doll's body are pressed to activate switches in order to produce words and other sounds that are prerecorded in storage means. The message choice is determined by the switch the user presses. There is also a mode in which a sequence of pressing on one or on several switches causes reproduction of a sequence of corresponding messages.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,275 issued to Peter Sui Lun Fong, et al, 2001 A set of interactive toys that perform a sequence of actions in response to one another without external activation other than an initial actuation to begin the sequence of actions. Preferably, each toy has an activation switch and/or a receiver for a wireless signal such as an infrared signal which activates the toy. Upon activation, the toy performs a desired action, such as the enunciation of a speech pattern, and signals another toy to perform a responsive action. Preferably, the toy are capable of performing several different action sequences, such as the enunciation of different conversations, the performance of different A movements, etc. Additionally, the toys are programmable by a remote control device. The remote control device either functions as an activation switch, initiating a random or predetermined (yet not user determined) sequence of interactions, or as an interaction selector, such that a desired sequence of actions may be selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,013 issued to Shu-ming Liu, 2004 An interactive toy has a microphone, a speaker, a memory for storing a toy identifier, and an interface to provide communications with a computer system. The computer system connects to a server on a network. The interactive toy provides electrical signals from the microphone, as well as the toy identifier, to the computer system via the interface. The interface enables the computer system to control the speaker to generate audible information according to data received from the server. Alternatively, a processor and memory with networking capabilities may be embedded within the toy to eliminate the need for a computer system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,140 issued to Lebensfeld, et al, 1991
This invention relates to toys, and in particular to toy action figures which generate speech and sound effects.
Toy action figures are miniature figures having a configuration and visual appearance which represent a person or thing of an exciting nature, such as a soldier, policeman, spaceman, robot, creature, fashion model, flight attendant or the like. Current action figures include articulated parts, and in the case of a human figure, articulated body parts such as arms, legs, head, etc. Such action figures are typically from about 2½ inches to about 6 inches in height, with currently popular articulated versions being about 3¾ inches in height. Examples of toy action figures are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,879 (Rissman et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,931 (Allen et al.).
The following U.S. patents disclose dolls with incorporate speech generating or sound effects generating apparatus: U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,551 (Dankman et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,245 (Stowell et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,335 (Rumsey); U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,602 (Rose); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,030 (Rose). U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,879 (Rissman et al.) discloses a toy action figure which incorporates sound effects generating apparatus in the body thereof. In the '551 Dankman et al. and the '879 Rissman et al. patents, a detachable accessory such as a mock weapon may be used to activate the sound generating apparatus incorporated in the body of the doll or action figure. Toy action figures with a detachable backpack accessory that includes sound effects only generating apparatus are currently available from Hasbro, Inc.
The limitation of this prior art; is that all of the inventions are limited in the amount of talking, phrases or sayings, sound effects, speech generation they can do. The prior art is thus repetitious in nature. The prior art provides no solutions to this problem.
Thus, to create the new generation talking toys, the limitations set forth above should be overcome and a device should be created that would provide unlimited sayings, sound effects or speech generation and be able to take human speech and convert it into a characters voice.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a talking toy that when “paired” with a Bluetooth capable smart device such as a computer or iPhone could play unlimited sound effects, catchphrases, sayings, music or speech generation etc.
Bluetooth pairing occurs when two Bluetooth devices agree to communicate with each other and establish a connection.
In order to pair two Bluetooth wireless devices, a password (passkey) has to be exchanged between the two devices. A Passkey is a code shared by both Bluetooth devices, which proves that both users have agreed to pair with each other.
Note: The computer, iPhone or smart device would have an application running on it that would essentially be a repository for sounds. A motion picture company such as Warner Brothers, Disney or Paramount could load sound effects or an actor/actress catchphrase from a movie, or music on the application to be played back over the Bluetooth speaker embedded inside the toy.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a talking toy in which the method of choosing reproduced audible messages would allow to a certain extend to imitate different people/characters. A child could speak a phrase into the Bluetooth capable smart device and have it played back in toy characters voice. (E.g. Buzz Light Year toy character voice).
Another object of the present invention is to provide a talking toy with the ability to be educational in nature.
Another object of the present invention is to provide stereo quality sound via the use of a Bluetooth speaker in combination with a smart device loaded with a stereo sound generating application.
Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for voice generating circuits.
Another object of the present invention is to achieve the above objects in an economical and easy to implement fashion.
The further object of the present invention is to have the action figure light up or vibrate. A sound sensing transducer could activate light and vibration.
The further object of the present invention is to provide a possibility to diversify talk/sayings/speech generation/sound effects etc by simple technical means. By using Bluetooth technology, the means to change noise or talk is controlled by the smart device (intelligence). [A future object of the present invention would be for the application on the smart device to be able to translate from English to Spanish. (Any language conversion) The user would hear the saying, catchphrase etc over the embedded Bluetooth speaker in different language.]
A future object of the present invention would be to incorporate it with toy animatronics.
[Animatronics is the use of electronics and robotics in mechanised puppets to simulate life.
Animatronics are mainly used in moviemaking, but also in theme parks, toys (See Mattel “Stinky” toy and Fisher-Price Imaginext Bigfoot toy] and other forms of entertainment. The technology behind animatronics has become more advanced and sophisticated over the years, making the puppets even more realistic and lifelike.]
All these and other objects of the inventions are met in the talking toy that is described in full detail below. The operation of the device is based on the choice of prerecorded set of messages, phrases, sound effects, talk or sayings in an application. . The choice of a message, phrase or sound effect is made depending what the operator of the smart device decides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a talking toy;

FIG. 2 shows an embedded Bluetooth speaker in the talking toy;

FIG. 3 shows flowchart interaction with Bluetooth capable smart device;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Another object of the preferred embodiment is to work with toys that are associated with motion pictures. (E.g. “Toy Story” and all Pixar films, “Shrek”, “Iron Man”, “Transformers”, “G.I. Joe”, “Angels Camp 3D-Bigfoot movie”, “Checkers”, “Major Matt Mason”)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 2, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the talking toy is an action figure or a doll. 1. Inside suitable part of the toy, there is a Bluetooth speaker 2 and power
As shown in FIG. 3, the embedded Bluetooth speaker is paired with the Bluetooth capable smart device. The Bluetooth capable smart device is transmitting audio communication to the Bluetooth speaker. Speech and sound generation occur out of the speaker, due to the pairing. Unlimited sayings, sound effects, movie catchphrases etc are achieved due to the combination and pairing using wireless technology with smart device.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE

As can be seen from the above description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, this invention provides new possibilities and significant advantages over the known talking toys. This is accounted by the fact that the choice of a sound message for reproduction by the toy is determined by permanent factors that reflect character features as well as by the type of the user interaction. The toy behavior becomes more natural and versatile; it increases the development and entertainment significance of the toy for the child.
Although the description above contains much specificity, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention. (not all-encompassing) Many other ramifications are possible and enablement can be accomplished with someone ordinary skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A talking toy comprising: a housing determining the form and appearance of said talking toy;

sound reproducing means for audible message reproduction via an embedded Bluetooth speaker;

2. The talking toy of claim 1, further comprising: at least one toy paired with a Bluetooth capable smart device such as a computer or iPhone. The smart device having an application on it that is a repository for sound, sayings, phrases per said toy with embedded Bluetooth speaker.

3. The talking toy of claim 1, a set up or configuration in which the toy has some sort of speaker embedded in it; the intelligence for sound or speech reproduction belongs to a smart device such as a computer or iPhone; the embedded speaker and smart device communicate via a wireless networking protocol.

4. The talking toy of claim 3, wherein said audio generating application comprises a plurality of selectively actuable controls, at least one said control being coupled to cause said audio generating application to generate at least one speech pattern, and at least one said control being coupled to cause said audio generating application to generate at least one sound effects pattern, said audio generating application generating said speech and sound effects patterns independently of each other in response to actuation of the respective control.

5. The talking toy of claim 4, wherein user of the audio generating application can speak into the smart device via a microphone; the application would then convert user's audio message or speech into the characters voice of the preferred embodiment(s). (E.g. a child saying “Welcome home” in their respective voice and having it heard in Tim Allen/Buzz Lightyear's voice over the embedded Bluetooth speaker).