Interactive doll or stuffed animal

• US 8,545,283 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2009
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: IDENT Technology AG (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: IDENT Technology AG (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: Richter, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): HARPER, TRAMAR YONG
• Application Number:
  US12/366,810
• Publication Number:
  US 20090209170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,698 Days
• Field of Search: 446/297
• US Class Current: 446/297
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 13/00 Toy figures with self-moving parts, with or without movement of the toy as a whole
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 2200/00 Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/28 Arrangements of sound-producing means in dolls; Means in dolls for producing sounds

Abstract

A toy has a body in the form of a doll or a living being, an audio output to reproduce audio effects, a memory to provide audio data, a controller to control the reproduction of different audio effects based on the reading of the audio data, and a sensor for generating detection signals correlated with the proximity of an object to the toy. The controller is designed in such a way that a selection of the reproduced audio effects depends on an evaluation of the detection signals and of signals generated by a provided interface device that is connected through devices in the play accessories being fed to that controller, and/or being made available for access.

Claims

1. A toy comprising:

a body;

an audio output on the body;

a memory in the body storing a plurality of elements of different audio data;

a sensor on the body for detecting different movements of objects adjacent the body, wherein the sensor comprises an electrode which is coupled with an oscillator to emit an electric alternating field and a detector configured to detect amplitude changes in the electric alternating field when an object enters the electric alternating field and further configured for generating respective detection signals corresponding with the different movements; and

a controller in the body connected to the output, to the memory, and to the sensor for selecting from the memory a one of the elements of audio data according to the generated detection signal and for playing the selected audio-data element via the output.

2. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor is capable of detecting a user'"'"'s hand.

3. The toy defined in claim 2 wherein the sensor is designed as a gesture sensor.

4. The toy defined in claim 3 wherein the gestures are recognized by the controller.

5. The toy defined in claim 4 wherein the sensor can distinguish between different paths of movement of the hand, whereby gestures can be interpreted.

6. The toy defined in claim 5 wherein the movements as path of movement can be broken down and evaluated along two axes.

7. The toy defined in claim 5 wherein the dynamics of the motion are also detected by the sensor.

8. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein an electronic circuit component represents the object detected by the sensor.

9. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the detector is a synchronous detector.

10. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises a transmitter electrode coupled with said oscillator and a receiving electrode coupled with said detector.

11. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the toy is provided with actuators.

12. The toy defined in claim 11 wherein the actuators cause movement of an arm, lips, eyes and or different body movements of the body.

13. The toy defined in claim 12 wherein the body movements are related to a detected proximity event.

14. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises a torso electrode.

15. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises two hand electrodes.

16. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises two foot electrodes.

17. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises a head electrode.

18. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor configuration comprises a position sensor.

19. The toy defined in claim 1, further comprising an interface electrode to input couple a signal carrying a data string.

20. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer.

21. The toy defined in claim 1, further comprising a clock.

22. The toy defined in claim 1, further comprising an interface.

23. The toy defined in claim 1, further comprising eyes and a camera integrated into at least one of the eyes.

24. The toy defined in claim 23 wherein picture data generated by the camera is stored in a memory integrated in the toy.

25. The toy defined in claim 24 wherein the picture data is subject to text recognition.

26. The toy defined in claim 25 wherein speech reproduction occurs according to evaluation of the text data.

31. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises an electrode with a plurality of locally distributed electrode sections forming a sensor system responding to changes in the electric alternating field emitted by at least one electrode section in the vicinity of the respective electrode section, wherein the oscillator is part of an exciter circuit, and a circuit through which the individual electrode sections of the electrode are successively connectable to the exciter circuit.

32. The toy defined in claim 31 wherein activation of the electrode sections to the exciter circuit is done in such a way that the individual electrode sections are successively coupled with the exciter circuit with an oscillation frequency unique to the respective electrode section.

33. The toy defined in claim 31 wherein the duration for the working off of the oscillation cycles is detected, and is processed as the capacity of the condenser correlating with the dimension of the respective active electrode section.

34. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises an electrode with a plurality of locally distributed electrode sections forming a sensor system responding to changes in the dielectric properties in the vicinity of the respective electrode section, the toy further comprising a wake-up circuit operated via this electrode that in the event of the absence of certain detection events places the toy into an energy saving mode and then with decreased energy consumption with lower sample rate proximity detection returns to a normal operating mode.

27. A toy comprising:

a body;

an actuator in the body configured to moving a part of the body;

a memory in the body storing a plurality of elements of different body movement;

a sensor on the body for detecting different movements of objects adjacent the body, wherein the sensor comprises an electrode which is coupled with an oscillator to emit an electric alternating field and a detector configured to detect amplitude changes in the electric alternating field when an object enters the electric alternating field and further configured for generating respective detection signals corresponding with the different movements; and

a controller in the body connected to the actuator, to the memory, and to the sensor for selecting from the memory a one of the elements of body-movement data according to the generated detection signal and for effecting the selected body movement via the actuator.

28. The toy defined in claim 27 wherein the object movement is detected at an area in front of a torso of the body.

29. The toy to claim 28 wherein the object movement is detected at a foot area of the body.

30. The toy defined in claim 27 wherein dynamics of the object movement are evaluated.