Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
INTERACTIVE ROBOTIC TOY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to interactive robotic toys and in particular to
an
interactive robotic toy in the form of a creature with a head having a mouth
with a
moveable and jaw in which the jaw can be moved to simulate the opening and
closing
of the mouth in response to a particular stimulus, in conjunction with the
movement
of the head or separately.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Toys that cling to fingers and finger puppets are known in the art. Such toys
provide entertainment to children and adults. U.S. Patent 7,029,361 to Seibert
et al,
entitled "Finger puppets with sounds" directs to a toy being held on or by a
finger,
which includes a body having a top end and a bottom end, and means for
mounting
the toy on a finger coupled to the body. The toy also includes a computer chip
and a
speaker, within the body, for generating sound. The toy further includes a
switch
electrically connected to the computer chip and a finger tapper movably
mounted to
the bottom end of the body. When the finger tapper is depressed, the switch is
actuated to cause the generation of the sound.
U.S. Utility Patent Application Serial No. 15802578, filed November 3, 2017,
discloses an interactive robotic toy which can cling to a finger of a person
and which
exhibits a plurality of physical animations in response to user actions, such
as kissing,
cradling, hanging upside down, petting and the like. It further discloses an
interactive
robotic toy wherein the physical animation is a combination of sound and
motion,
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including head motion, eyes blinking or sound animations (e.g., sound of
laughing,
sound of sneezing, sound of a kiss and the like).
However, there are no interactive robotic toys in which the jaw can move to
simulate the opening and closing of the mouth to create a more realistic
experience for
the user. Further, there are no interactive robotic toys in which the jaw can
move in
conjunction with the movement of the head or separately from the movement of
the
head. The present invention provides that feature.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a prime object of the present invention to provide an
interactive
robotic toy wherein the toy embodies a creature with a rotatable head section
including a fixed jaw and a moveable jaw.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive
robotic toy
wherein the moveable jaw can be moved between an open position remote from the
fixed jaw and a closed position proximate to the fixed jaw.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive
robotic toy
wherein the moveable jaw is moved between its open position and its closed
position
as the head section is rotated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive
robotic toy
wherein the moveable jaw is moved between its open position and its closed
position
as the head section is rotated between its forward position and a position
remote from
its forward position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive
robotic toy
wherein the moveable jaw is in its closed position when the head section is in
its
forward position.
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It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive
robotic toy
wherein the moveable jaw is in its open position when the head section is
rotated
away from its forward position.
The above objects are achieved by the present invention which is directed to
an
interactive robotic toy including: a body section; a head section rotatably
coupled with
the body section. The head section includes a fixed jaw. The toy further
includes a
motor operative to rotate the head section relative to the body section. At
least one
touch sensor is provided for detecting touch. A processor is coupled to the
motor and
the touch sensor. The processor controls the motor to rotate the head section
relative
to the body section in response to the actuation of the touch sensor. The toy
also has a
jaw pivotally mounted to the head section and moveable between an open
position
remoted from the fixed jaw and a closed position proximate the fixed jaw as
the head
section is rotated relative the body section by the motor.
The toy further includes a cam connected to the body section. A protrusion
extends from the cam. A lever is coupled to the moveable jaw such that the
protrusion
causes the lever to move the moveable jaw from its open position toward its
closed
position as the head section is rotated by the motor.
The lever includes a downwardly extending part. The protrusion is situated
under the lever such that the lever moves the moveable jaw toward its closed
position
as the lever part is engaged by the protrusion.
The lever has a middle section. The lever part is situated proximate the
middle
section of the lever. The lever part is engaged by the cam protrusion when the
head
section is in its forward position relative to the body section.
The motor can move the head section relative to the body section between a
forward position and first and second positions remote from and on opposite
sides of
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the forward position. The lever part is remote from the protrusion when the
head
section is in either of its positions remote from its forward position.
Gravity moves
the moveable jaw towards its open position when the lever part is remote from
the
protrusion.
The lever has a generally "U" shape. The lever has first and second end. Each
of
the lever ends are connected to the moveable jaw.
The moveable jaw has a generally "U" shape. The moveable jaw is attached to
the head section by a hinge.
The cam includes a second protrusion extending from the cam spaced from the
w first protrusion and situated over the lever. The second protrusion
acts as a stop
limiting the upward movement of the lever. .
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
To these and to such other objects that may hereinafter appear, the present
invention relates to an interactive robotic toy as described in detail in the
following
specification and recited in the annexed claims, taken together with the
accompanying
drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts and in which:
Figures IA-1G are schematic illustrations of interactive robotic toy,
constructed
and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed technique;
Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a system for operation an interactive
robotic toy, in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosed technique;
and
Figures 3A-3F are schematic illustrations of an interactive toy, constructed
and
operative in accordance with a further embodiment of the disclosed technique.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by
providing
an interactive robotic toy which can cling to a finger of a person. The
robotic toy
exhibits a plurality of physical animations in response to user actions. Such
actions
may include kissing, cradling, hanging upside down, petting and the like. The
physical animation is a combination of sound and motion and may include head
motion, eyes blinking or sound animations (e.g., sound of laughing, sound of
sneezing, sound of a kiss and the like).
Reference is now made to Figures 1A-1G, which is a schematic illustration of
to an interactive robotic toy, generally referenced 100, constructed and
operative in
accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed technique. Figure 1A is an
isometric
front view of Interactive robotic toy 100. Figure 1B is an isometric front
back of
Interactive robotic toy 100. Figure 1C is a front view of Interactive robotic
toy 100.
Figure 1D is a side view of Interactive robotic toy 100 and Figure 1E is a
back view
of Interactive robotic toy 100. Interactive robotic toy 100 includes a body
section 102
and a head section 104 rotatably coupled with body section 102. Interactive
robotic
toy 100 further includes flexible left and right arms 106L and 106R
respectively,
flexible left and right legs 108L and 108R respectively and a flexible tail
110.
Flexible left and right arms 106L and 106R, flexible left and right legs 108L
and
108R and flexible tail 110 are all coupled with body section 102. Body section
102
further includes a batteries cavity in which batteries are located, covered by
battery
cover 120. Head section 104 includes left and right eyes 112L and 112R, a
mouth
opening 114, an on-off switch 116 and loudspeaker holes such as hole 118. Left
and
right eyes 112L and 112R may be embodied as spheres rotating about an axis
perpendicular to axis 115. Half of the spheres are of a color similar to the
body color
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of interactive robotic toy 100 (i.e., emulating eye lids). This half is
referred to herein
as the "lids side". The other half of the sphere are of a dark color (e.g.,
black) thus
emulating the eyes, referred to as the "eyes side". When Left and right eyes
112L and
112R are rotated such that the eyes side thereof are facing the user, Left and
right eyes
112L and 112R appear to be open. When Left and right eyes 112L and 112R are
rotated such that the lids side thereof are facing the user, left and right
eyes 112L and
112R appear to be closed. Alternatively, left and right eyes 112L and 112R
include
respective left and right eye lids 113L and 113R operable to cover or uncover
the
respective left and right eyes 112L and 112R (i.e., close or open left and
right eyes
to 112L and 112R). Interactive robotic toy 100 may cling to a finger of
a user via the
flexible limbs thereof (i.e., left and right arms 106L and 106 R, left and
right legs
108L and 106 R or tail 110). A cross sectional view of interactive robotic toy
100 is
depicted in Figure 1E.
As mentioned above, interactive robotic toy 100 includes a plurality of
physical
animations in response to various actions by the user. For example, when
interactive
toy 100 is turned on, interactive robotic toy 100 may sound a laugh, and
blink. When
hanged upside down via tail, interactive robotic toy 100 may produce sounds
associated with excitement. When cradled, interactive robotic toy 100 may
produce
sounds associated with content and close eyes 112L and 112R.
With reference to Figures 1F and 1G, a system 125 operating interactive robot
toy 100 is located within head section 104. The power supply (e.g., batteries)
operating the system are located within body section 102. The system operating
interactive robotic toy 100 includes an eyes blink actuator 124, at least one
touch
sensor 126, a motor and gears 130, a speaker 132 attached to a PCB 142 and at
least
one sound sensor 134 (e.g., microphone) and at least one orientation sensor
140 (e.g.,
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ball switch, gyroscope, Accelerometer). Eyes blink actuator 124 includes a
solenoid
136 and a magnet 138. The operation of the system operating an interactive
robotic
toy such as interactive robotic toy 100 is further explained in conjunction
with Figure
2.
Reference is now made to Figure 2, which is a schematic illustration of a
system, generally referenced 200, for operation an interactive robotic toy, in
accordance with another embodiment of the disclosed technique. System 200
includes a processor 202. System 200 further includes at least one touch
sensor 204,
at least one sound sensor 206, an orientation sensor 208, an eyes blink
actuator 210, a
to motor 212, a speaker 214 and a memory 216 all coupled with processor
202. Eyes
blink actuator 210 may be embodied as a solenoid and a magnet or as a motor
and
gears. Touch sensor 204 is, for example, a capacitive touch sensor. Sound
sensor 206
may be embodied as a microphone. Orientation sensor 208 is, for example, at
least
one ball switch, a gyroscope or an accelerometer, detecting information
relating to the
orientation of interactive robotic toy 200 about selected axes. Memory 216
stores a
plurality of physical animations for interactive robotic toy. A physical
animation is
defined as a combination of sound animation and motion animation. A motion
animation is, for example, the motion of the head and the blinking of the eyes
of the
interactive robotic toy.
Touch sensor 204 detects touch, for example, on the head section of the
interactive robotic toy, produces a signal indicative that the head section
was touched
and provides that signal to processor 202. Orientation sensor 208 detects
information
relating to the orientation of interactive robotic toy 200, produces a signal
or signals
respective of this information. Sound sensor 208 detects sound in the vicinity
of the
interactive toy, produces a signal indicative to that sound and provides this
signal to
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processor 202. As mentioned above, interactive robotic toy may include two or
more
sound sensors, which define an array of microphones.
Processor 202 receives the signals produced by touch sensor 204, sound sensor
206 and orientation sensor 208. Processor 202 determines when interactive
robotic
toy 200 was touched according to the signal received from touch sensor 204.
Processor 202 determines when a sound was made in the vicinity of interactive
robotic toy 200 and the nature of this sound (e.g., the detected sound is a
sound of a
kiss). For example, processor 202 compares the time signature or the frequency
signature (e.g., a Fourier Transform of the time signal) or both to stored
signatures.
to When an array of microphones is employed processor 202 may further
determine the
direction from which the sound arrived at interactive robotic toy 200, for
example, by
employing interferometry techniques or correlation based techniques (e.g.,
Multiple
Signal Classification ¨ MUSIC).
Processor 202 selects a physical animation or animations associated with the
received signals and the information (e.g., nature of the received sound
received,
direction or arrival of the received sound or the orientation of interactive
robotic toy
200) derived therefrom. Once processor 202 selects the physical animation or
animations, processor 202 produces corresponding signal to eyes blink actuator
210,
motor 212 and speaker 214 to produce the selected animation.
For example, when the interactive robotic toy is held upright and touched on
the
head, motor 212 moves the head from side to side and speaker 214 produces a
laughing sound. As a further example, when the interactive robotic toy is held
horizontally (e.g., cradled) eyes blink actuator 210 rotates the eyes or the
eye lids such
that the eyes of the interactive robotic toy appear closed and speaker 214
produces a
snoring sound.
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As another example, when the interactive toy is held upside down, orientation
sensor 208 detects the orientation of interactive toy 200 and provides
processor 202
with information relating thereto. Consequently processor 202 instructs eyes
blink
actuator 210 to rotate the eyes or the eye lids such that the eyes of the
interactive
robotic toy appear, and speaker 214 produce a sound associated with excitement
(e.g.,
a "Yehh" cry).
As yet another example, when a user kisses the interactive robotic toy (i.e.,
sound sensor 206 detects the sound of a kiss), the speaker 214 produces the
sound of a
kiss. Furthermore, when an array of microphones is employed and the direction
of
to arrival of
the sound is determined, motor 212 rotates the head of the interactive
robotic toy to turn toward the direction from which the sound arrived.
The interactive toy according to the disclosed technique may be in the form of
different animals and creatures. For example, interactive toy 100 (Figures 1A-
1G)
exhibits the form of a monkey. However, the interactive toy according to the
disclosed technique may exhibits forms of other animals and creatures. The
physical
animation or animations which the interactive toy produces correspond to the
animal
or creature. For example, a monkey shall produce sound corresponding to a
monkey.
A dinosaur or a lion shall produce corresponding roars animating anger, or
purrs
animating pleasure or content (e.g. when the head of the interactive toy is
stroked).
With reference to Figures 1G and 2, the interactive toy system (e.g.,
interactive
toy system 125 ¨ Figure 1G or interactive toy system 200 ¨ Figure 2) may
include at
least two touch sensors located on the head. When a user strokes the head of
the
interactive toy, touching the two touch sensors in sequence (e.g., petting the
interactive toy), these touch sensors shall produce a signal in sequence. The
processor
(e.g., processor 202) detects this sequential touching of the two touch
sensors and
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interprets this as action of stroking. Thereafter, processor 202 may select a
pacified or
content animation. For example, the user may stroke the dinosaur and the
processor
shall select a purr sound. According to another example, when the user shakes
the
dinosaur, the dinosaur roars. Shaking is detected, for example, according to
the
derivative of the orientation of interactive toy 200.
The interactive toy according to the present invention may further interact
with
the user by opening and closing the mouth thereof. Reference is now made to
Figures
3A-3F which are schematic illustrations of an interactive toy, generally
referenced
300, constructed and operative in accordance with a further embodiment of the
to disclosed technique. Interactive toy 300 is similar to interactive toy
100. However,
interactive toy 300 exhibits the form of a dinosaur. Interactive toy 300
interacts with
the user as described above in conjunction with Figures 1A-1G and 2 and
further
interacts with the user by opening and closing the mouth thereof. For example,
as the
head of interactive toy 300 rotates, the mouth of interactive toy 300 opens as
further
explained herein below.
With reference to Figure 3A, head 302 of interactive toy 300 is in a forward
position relative to body 304. With reference to Figure 3B, head 302 is
rotated to the
left from the forward position thereof. As head 302 rotated from its forward
position,
jaw 306 of the mouth of interactive toy 300 opens. Jaw 306 is coupled with
head 302
via hinges such that jaw 306 can open and close.
With reference to Figure 3C, a cam 308 is rigidly coupled with body 304 (i.e.,
cam 308 and body 304 do not move one with respect to the other). Cam 308
includes
two protrusions, a first protrusion 310 and second protrusion 312. With
reference to
Figure 3D, jaw 306 exhibits a general shape of the letter 'LP. A lever 314 is
coupled
with jaw 306 such that when lever 314 rises, jaw 306 also rises. Lever 314
also
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exhibits the general shape of the letter `U'. Each end of lever 314 is coupled
with a
respective end of jaw 306.
With reference to Figure 3D, interactive toy 300 is depicted with head 302 in
the forward position. In this position, protrusion 310 pushes on lever 314
upward and
lever 314 closes jaw 306. With reference to Figure 3F, the body of a motor 316
coupled with head 302 at the inner side thereof. The rotating shaft of motor
316 is
coupled with cam 308. As the rotating shaft of motor 316 rotates, head 302
also
rotates relative body 304 and protrusion 310 moves relative to U shaped lever
314
toward of the ends of U shaped lever 314. Consequently jaw 306 is lowered by
the
to force of gravity and the mouth of interactive toy 300 opens.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, jaw 306 may be
coupled directly or via lever 314 to a solenoid or a motor which actively
lowers and
raises jaw 306.
While only a single preferred embodiment of the present invention has been
disclosed for purposes of illustration, it is obvious that many modifications
and
variations could be made thereto. It is intended to cover all of those
modifications and
variations which fall within the scope of the present invention, as defined by
the
following claims:
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