Light and sound producing pet toy

• US 20060249096A1
• Filed: 07/10/2006
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Pet Qwerks Inc. (Petmate Holdings Co.)
• Original Assignee: Pet Qwerks Inc. (Petmate Holdings Co.)
• Inventors: Gick, James W.
• Application Number:
  US11/484,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20060249096A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 119/707
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/025 Toys specially adapted for animals

Abstract

A pet toy that produces sounds or lights when a sensor disposed in the pet toy detects motion or vibration. The sensor is highly sensitive such that the toy will produce sound or lights when the sensor senses that the toy housing has moved, even over a very short distance. The highly sensitive pet toy reacts more like a live creature than prior art pet toys, thereby creating a more interesting toy for pets.

Claims

1. A pet toy comprising:

a housing;

a light source disposed within the housing;

a motion sensor disposed within the housing, said motion sensor comprising a hemispherical conductive cover, a conductive pad and a single conductive ball disposed between the cover and the pad;

a power source disposed within the housing;

a control circuit electrically connected to the power source, the motion sensor and to the light source, said control circuit adapted to cause the light source to emit a light sequence when the motion sensor is triggered; and

wherein the control circuit is further adapted to establish a blanking period.

wherein the motion sensor is triggered when the housing rotates between about 0.5 inches and about 3.0 inches along any axis.

2. The pet toy of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of light sources and wherein the control circuit is further controlled to activate the plurality of light sources in a predetermined pattern.

3. The pet toy of claim 1 wherein the housing further comprises a plurality of bumps disposed on the outer surface of the housing.

4. The pet toy of claim 3 wherein the bumps comprise a transparent, translucent or color filtering material.

5. The pet toy of claim 1 wherein the cover has a radius and wherein the diameter of the ball is sized between about the radius of the cover to less than twice the radius of the cover.

6. The pet toy of claim 1 further comprising a speaker connected to the housing, said speaker electrically connected to the control circuit, and wherein the control circuit is further adapted to cause the speaker to emit a sound sequence when the means for motion sensor is triggered.

7. A pet toy comprising:

a housing having a plurality of bumps disposed on the outer surface of the housing;

a light source disposed within the housing;

a motion sensor disposed within the housing, said motion sensor comprising a hemispherical conductive cover, a conductive ball disposed within the cover and a conductive pad;

a control circuit electrically connected to the power source, the motion sensor and to the light source, said control circuit adapted to cause the light source to emit a light sequence when the means for sensing motion is triggered;

wherein the control circuit is adapted to establish a blanking period; and

wherein the motion sensor is triggered when the housing is rotated less than one-quarter turn about any axis of the housing.

8. The pet toy of claim 7 further comprising a speaker disposed within the housing, said speaker electrically connected to the control circuit, and wherein the control circuit is further adapted to cause the speaker to emit a sound sequence when the means for sensing motion is triggered.

9. The pet toy of claim 7 wherein the cover has a radius and wherein the diameter of the ball is sized between about the radius of the cover to less than twice the radius of the cover.

10. A pet toy comprising:

a housing;

a plurality of light sources disposed within the housing;

a control circuit disposed within the housing and operably connected each of the plurality of light sources, said control circuit adapted to control the plurality of light sources;

an accelerometer operably disposed within the housing and operably connected to the control circuit, said accelerometer capable of detecting rotation of the housing of less than a quarter turn along any axis;

wherein the control circuit is further adapted to cause at least one of the plurality of light sources to emit a light sequence when the sensor senses rotation of the housing of less than a quarter turn along any axis; and

a power source operably connected to each of the plurality of light sources, the accelerometer and the control circuit.

11. The pet toy of claim 10 wherein the light sequence is a rainbow of colors scintillating for a predetermined period of time.

12. The pet toy of claim 10 further comprising:

a speaker disposed within the housing, said speaker operably connected to the control circuit;

wherein the control circuit is further adapted to cause the speaker to emit a sound sequence when the accelerometer senses rotation of the housing of less than a quarter turn along any axis.

13. The pet toy of claim 10 wherein the plurality of light sources comprise a first LED, a second LED and a third LED, wherein the first, second and third LEDs each emit a different color of light and wherein the control circuit is further adapted to control the first, second and third LEDs such that the toy emits a plurality of colors.

14. The pet toy of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of bumps disposed on the outer surface of the housing.

15. The pet toy of claim 14 further comprising a lens disposed on at least one of the plurality of bumps.

16. The pet toy of claim 14 further comprising a light filter disposed on at least one of the plurality of bumps.