Amusement devices: toys – Having light-or sound-responsive switch or control
Patent
1998-01-30
2000-11-07
Rimell, Sam
Amusement devices: toys
Having light-or sound-responsive switch or control
496297, 84470R, G09B 1500
Patent
active
061428493
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a musical toy which allows a child to play songs by interrupting one or more radiation beams generated by the toy.
Electronic musical instruments have been designed to allow a user to play individual musical notes during a song automatically played by the instrument, or to play individual musical notes separately. One example of such a musical instrument is the Casio Model ML-1, which is basically an electronic keyboard that simulates a piano. In addition to the piano-like keys of the keyboard, the Casio product has five tone buttons which allow a user to select any of twenty-five different musical instruments which can be electronically emulated, depending on what combination of the tone buttons are pressed by the user. For example, if the user selects the combination of tone buttons corresponding to a violin, each time one of the keyboard keys is pressed, the musical note generated by the Casio product will sound like, or emulate, a musical note of a violin.
The Casio product has a number of different operating modes. In a first operating mode referred to as a "play" mode, the Casio product simply plays the musical notes corresponding to the keys of the keyboard pressed by the user. In a second operating mode referred to as a "demo" mode, the Casio product automatically plays one of a number of various songs, as selected by the user, and also simultaneously plays musical notes corresponding to the keys of the keyboard pressed by the user.
Each of the white keys of the Casio product keyboard has an internal light which may be selectively turned on to illuminate the key. In a third operating mode referred to as an "any-key play" mode, the Casio product causes the keys to be illuminated, one at a time, in a particular order which corresponds to a song selected by the user. When the user depresses an illuminated key, the Casio product plays the corresponding musical note, and then illuminates the key corresponding to the next musical note in the song. Thus, by successively depressing the illuminated keys, the user plays the selected song.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,877 to McAvinney, et al. discloses another example of an electronic musical instrument in the form of an electronic harp. The McAvinney, et al. harp utilizes a neon tube disposed at one end of the harp to generate radiation towards the other end of the harp. The radiation is reflected from the other end of the harp towards an array of radiation detectors disposed between the two ends of the harp. The optical scanning device of the McAvinney, et al. harp senses and tracks the movement of the user's fingers and generates sound in response thereto.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a musical toy having a frame member with a substantially unobstructed aperture disposed therein, the aperture having a size large enough to allow a child's hand to be disposed therein, a photoemitter for generating a radiation beam across the aperture, a photodetector positioned to receive the radiation beam, audio generation means for generating a plurality of temporally successive portions of a predetermined musical song, and play means for causing the audio generation means to generate one of the temporally successive musical song portions in response to each interruption of the radiation beam so that repeated interruption of the radiation beam causes the predetermined musical song to be played.
The frame member may have a first portion in which the aperture is formed and a second substantially linear portion, so that the frame member has an overall shape in the form of a portable stringed musical instrument, such as a banjo. The audio generation means may include means for generating a plurality of temporally successive portions of each of a plurality of predetermined musical songs, the musical toy may include a musical song selector for selecting one of the predetermined musical songs, and the play means may include means for causing the audio generation means to generate the
REFERENCES:
patent: 4429607 (1984-02-01), Meno
Horton Gregory
Lightbody Timothy R.
Winslow Robert
Hasbro Inc.
Rimell Sam
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