Amusement devices: toys – Figure toy or accessory therefor – Having sounding means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-03
2004-04-13
Ackun, Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices: toys
Figure toy or accessory therefor
Having sounding means
C446S484000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06719604
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Toys and dolls which can be dressed-up by children have always been popular. It is a challenge to find new ways to make the combination of a doll or toy with its clothing or accessories more interesting or entertaining. Teaching children to dress dolls or toys appropriately is one of the uses of ensembles of dolls or toys and their clothing or accessories. It would thus be an advantage to be able to ensure that clothing or accessories to be held by or placed on the doll or toy are correctly positioned. In addition, it would be an advantage if the toy or doll could respond to the child once an article of clothing or an accessory has been placed on the doll or toy in order to indicate that the clothing is acceptable. In this way, an interactive relationship between the child and the doll or toy could be created. It would be a further advantage if multiple toys and dolls could communicate their status to each other, to create interactivity between multiple dolls or toys.
Toys and dolls are often sold along with, or separately from, sets of clothing and accessories intended to be used with such dolls or toys. It would be a great advantage to create a coding system so that different articles or sets of clothing could be recognized by a single doll or toy, or a variety of dolls or toys. The dolls or toys could be pre-programmed to recognize a variety of clothing or accessories, regardless of the particular clothing with which the dolls or toys were sold. This would facilitate flexibility of purchasing decisions and permit a great variety of clothing and accessories to be made available using the instant invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in a major aspect, an interactive dress-up toy comprises removable clothing and accessories; sensor means to detect the specific item of clothing or the specific accessory worn by the toy; and communication means to communicate to the user the status of the clothing and accessories worn by the toy or missing from the toy.
In further aspects of the invention:
(a) the communication means comprises artificial speech;
(b) the communication means comprises lights;
(c) the communication means comprises an electronic display screen;
(d) the sensor means comprises a master sensor and multiple secondary sensors;
(e) the secondary sensors comprise clothing sensors and accessories sensors;
(f) each clothing sensor comprises a light source and a light sensor;
(g) the light source and light sensor are mounted at a short distance from each other and angled such that when an article of clothing is worn by the toy, light emitted from the light source will reflect from a reflective surface on the interior of the article of clothing and be directed towards the light sensor to create a signal;
(h) an array of clothing sensors is coded to match an array of reflective patterns on various articles of clothing;
(i) each accessory sensor comprises a male portion and a female portion;
(j) the male portion comprises a pin of a selected length, namely long or short, and the female portion comprises a hole adapted to receive said pin, the hole ending with a contact plate or switch adapted to be contacted by a long pin;
(k) an array of female portions is coded to match an array of male portions to correspond with various accessories;
(l) an integrated circuit receives signals from one or more secondary sensors to trigger appropriate communication signals to the user;
(m) the removable clothing and accessories comprises multiple sets of clothing and multiple sets of accessories corresponding to different activities.
In a secondary aspect of the invention, an interactive toy comprises at least one removable element; sensor means to detect the presence or absence of the removable element or elements; and communication means to communicate to the user the status of the element or elements present or absent from the toy.
In further aspects of the secondary aspect of the invention:
(a) the communication means comprises artificial speech;
(b) the communication means comprises lights;
(c) the communication means comprises at least one electronic display screen;
(d) the sensor means comprises a source of electromagnetic radiation and a detector of electromagnetic radiation;
(e) the sensor means comprises a source of magnetic fields and a detector of magnetic fields;
(f) the sensor means comprises a source of magnetic interference and a detector of magnetism;
(g) the electromagnetic radiation is of infrared frequency;
(h) the electromagnetic radiation is of radio frequency;
(i) the electromagnetic radiation is of visible light frequency;
(j) the status of the element or elements or its or their presence or absence from the toy corresponds to a set of one or more stored audible messages relating to said status;
(k) the status of the clothing corresponds to the presence or absence of a particular activity or personality;
(l) the status of the clothing triggers the communication means to produce audible signals appropriate to said status chosen from a set of signals appropriate to all possible clothing statuses;
(m) the status of the accessory corresponds to the presence or absence of a particular activity or personality;
(n) the status of the accessory triggers the communication means to produce audible signals appropriate to said status chosen from a set of signals appropriate to all possible accessory statuses.
In a further aspect of the invention, one doll or toy comprising sensor means and communication means as aforesaid, further comprises transmission and receiving means such that said doll or toy can communicate its status to other dolls or toys, and vice and generate appropriate audible comments accordingly.
In the doll of the preferred embodiment, several light sources and sensors are mounted at or below the surface of the doll or toy. In order to be able to code the articles of clothing, a light signal is adapted to be reflected only from specific areas of the clothing. It is important to have a sensor which is sensitive enough to ensure that a signal will be created when clothing is properly positioned. Overly high sensitivity, however, may render the sensor subject to unwanted signals.
A doll's clothing is typically made of cloth. Black cloth is generally non-reflective to light, such as infrared light, while white cloth is generally reflective of such light. Nonetheless, different materials exhibit different reflectivities depending upon factors such as their colour, physical construction (including the density of the weave), chemical structure, cleaning agents used on the material, and wear (for example, crushing of the material in use or storage). Under certain circumstances, even nearly black material may reflect infrared signals. Thus, errors in recognition of the particular clothing worn by the doll can arise. It is important to improve the reliability of the system comprising the doll or toy and the clothing by clearly differentiating reflective areas from non-reflective areas of the clothing. To achieve this differentiation, one can use special areas of reflective material and/or material which is a good reflector of the particular light source chosen, and special non-reflective areas and/or material which is a very good non-reflector. Coloured plastic can also be used to make reflective or non-reflective sections of clothing. Cloth fibres may be natural, such as wool, cotton or silk; or synthetic, such as polyester, polyethylene, nylon, etc.
Non-reflective areas may be composed, for example, of black felt sewn or glued to the inside of the doll's clothing. Felt has been found to be a good choice since it is dense and is unlikely to permit stray signals to pass through it. Other embodiments are also possible; for example, a black pigment printed onto the inside of the clothing or onto a patch fastened to the clothing may be very effective. By the same token, a reflective area may be comprised of white felt. Felt may be very good material to choose when appropriate since it is dense and reflective when coloured white.
Gordon J. Zimmerman, Esq.
Kramer & Amado P.C.
Thinking Technology Inc.
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