Interactive sound producing toy
First Claim
1. A sound producing apparatus, comprising:
- a toy, having a head portion including a pair of opposed jaw members movable between a closed first position and an open second position by the user of the toy;
a sound producing unit located in said toy, said sound producing unit including a speaker for outputting audio and further including single or multiple prerecorded syllable verbal audio events of any language or phonetic character; and
a switch for selectively actuating said sound producing unit to initiate at least one of said syllable verbal audio events in complete realistic and natural synchronization with the commencement of movement of the jaw members between said first and second positions without said jaw members contacting each other,whereby, each said syllable verbal audio event is terminated in a natural manner by said switch when said jaw members return to said first position, independent of the length of time elapsed in returning said jaw members to said first position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sound-producing toy configured to represent a living being having movable parts to simulate a natural form of animation of a mouth includes a sound-producing unit operable in the response to the simulated animation. Animation may be simulated by a hand inserted in the toy, by operation of an actuator incorporated in the toy, or by a remote control device. The apparatus includes a switch that activates a sound-producing unit, which produces a sequence of syllables that is capable of being synchronized with the animation of the mouth. The onset, coda, and duration of each syllable'"'"'s nucleus is controlled by the user of the toy with the ability to synchronize visual animation and the vocal performance of a familiar song, poem, or other series of verbal audio events divided into individual syllables, in a totally realistic manner. In another aspect of the invention, a musical instrumental sequenced performance may be synchronized with the vocal presentation and the synchronized visual animation of the toy.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sound producing apparatus, comprising:
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a toy, having a head portion including a pair of opposed jaw members movable between a closed first position and an open second position by the user of the toy; a sound producing unit located in said toy, said sound producing unit including a speaker for outputting audio and further including single or multiple prerecorded syllable verbal audio events of any language or phonetic character; and a switch for selectively actuating said sound producing unit to initiate at least one of said syllable verbal audio events in complete realistic and natural synchronization with the commencement of movement of the jaw members between said first and second positions without said jaw members contacting each other, whereby, each said syllable verbal audio event is terminated in a natural manner by said switch when said jaw members return to said first position, independent of the length of time elapsed in returning said jaw members to said first position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A sound producing apparatus comprising:
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a hand covering configured to be worn on a human hand inside a hand puppet; a sound producing unit located in said hand covering, said sound producing unit including a speaker for outputting audio and further including prerecorded syllable verbal audio events; and a switch for selectively actuating said sound producing unit to initiate at least one of said syllable verbal audio events in response to the movement of the hand in synchronization with the start of movement and continuation of movement of the thumb and fingers of the hand between a closed first position and an open second position without requiring contact between the thumb and fingers, whereby, each said syllable verbal audio event is terminated by said switch when said thumb and fingers return to said first position, independent of the length of time elapsed in returning said jaw members to said first position. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification