Electronic educational toy appliance teaching letters words and numbers

• US 6,739,874 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2003
• Issued: 05/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Tinkers & Chance
• Inventors: Marcus, Brian I., Heit, Warren S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rovnak, John Edmund
• Application Number:
  US10/455,022
• Publication Number:
  US 20040002042A1
• Time in Patent Office: 356 Days
• Field of Search: 434/112, 434/116, 434/128, 434/156, 434/159, 434/167, 434/169, 434/172, 434/176, 434/177, 434/178, 434/188, 434/191, 434/201, 434/322, 434/323, 434/327, 434/335, 434/337, 434/340, 434/346, 273/237, 273/238, 273/260, 273/288
• US Class Current: 434/156
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 1/06 and being attachable to, or mounted on, the support
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 1/16 the elements each bearing a plurality of different symbols, signs, or combinations of symbols and signs, only one symbol, sign, or combination thereof, of each element to be used at a time
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 1/36 the elements being connectible by corresponding projections and recesses
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 11/00 Teaching hand-writing, shorthand, drawing, or painting
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 17/00 Teaching reading teaching lip-reading G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 17/003 electrically operated apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/025 with electrically operated apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/04 Speaking with audible presentation of the material to be studied G09B5/04
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 3/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/04 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying a further explanation

Abstract

An electronic educational toy designed to teach letters, words and numbers and stimulate the development of a child'"'"'s mind using audio feedback, the educational toy including an enclosure enclosing a processor, a data storage medium and a speaker and having a substantially flat surface, at least a portion of which comprises a work platform on which a child manipulates and places an object.

Claims

1. An electronic educational toy having a housing for teaching the letters of an alphabet, comprising:

a plurality of audio prompts output by a speaker enclosed within the toy housing, a prompt including a question or instruction having at least one correct response, the question or instruction designed to encourage a child to make a cognitive selection of a letter and indicate the cognitive selection of the letter by placing a graspable object on a work platform, the work platform formed on at least a portion of a substantially flat surface of the toy housing;

one or more sensors capable of sensing the placement of the object by a child on the work platform;

the graspable object capable of being placed and sensed in arbitrary child-defined locations on the work platform, the placement of the graspable object on the work platform in response to the question or instruction indicating the cognitive selection by the child of the letter corresponding to the question or instruction;

a processor enclosed within the toy housing capable of receiving information from the one or more sensors corresponding to the placement of the object by the child on the work platform and using the information from the sensors to determine whether the child'"'"'s cognitive selection of the letter as indicated by the placement of the object by the child on the work platform corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction;

a first audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the first audio feedback response indicating that the letter selected by the child corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction; and

a second audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the second audio feedback response indicating that the letter selected by the child does not correspond to a correct response to the question or instruction,

the toy housing enclosing the speaker, at least a portion of the one or more sensors, the processor and educational software executable by the processor for teaching a child letters of the alphabet, the housing having a substantially flat surface, at least a portion of which comprises the work platform.

2. An electronic educational toy as in claim 1, wherein the processor generates questions or instructions with different levels of difficulty.

3. An electronic educational toy as in claim 2, wherein the processor generates more difficult questions depending on the user having provided correct previous answers.

4. An electronic educational toy as in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a first element and a second element, the first element enclosed within the housing and the second element enclosed within the graspable object, wherein a signal is sent from the first element to the second element, the signal is received by the second element whereupon the second element sends a signal that is used to facilitate the sensing of the object when it is placed on the work platform.

5. An electronic educational toy as in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of images on the work platform to facilitate the interaction between the educational software and the child, wherein the plurality of images on the work platform can be changed.

6. An electronic educational toy as in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded into the toy by users thereof.

7. An electronic educational toy as in claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded via a portable memory capable of being inserted by the user into a portable memory receiving device associated with the toy.

8. An electronic educational toy as in claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being downloaded from a remote location over a data transmission medium.

9. An electronic educational toy having a housing for teaching words of a spoken language, comprising:

a plurality of audio prompts output by a speaker enclosed within the toy housing, a prompt including a question or instruction having at least one correct response, the question or instruction designed to encourage a child to make a cognitive selection of a word and indicate the cognitive selection of the word by placing a graspable object on a work platform, the work platform formed on at least a portion of a substantially flat surface of the toy housing;

one or more sensors capable of sensing the placement of the object by a child on the work platform;

the graspable object capable of being placed and sensed in arbitrary child-defined locations on the work platform, the placement of the graspable object on the work platform in response to the question or instruction indicating the cognitive selection by the child of the word corresponding to the question or instruction;

a processor enclosed within the toy housing capable of receiving information from the one or more sensors corresponding to the placement of the object by the child on the work platform and using the information from the sensors to determine whether the child'"'"'s cognitive selection of the word as indicated by the placement of the object by the child on the work platform corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction;

a first audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the first audio feedback response indicating that the word selected by the child corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction; and

a second audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the second audio feedback response indicating that the word selected by the child does not correspond to a correct response to the question or instruction,

the toy housing enclosing the speaker, at least a portion of the one or more sensors, the processor and educational software executable by the processor for teaching a child words of a spoken language, the housing having a substantially flat surface, at least a portion of which comprises the work platform.

10. An electronic educational toy as in claim 9, wherein the processor generates questions or instructions with different levels of difficulty.

11. An electronic educational toy as in claim 10, wherein the processor generates more difficult questions depending on the user having provided correct previous answers.

12. An electronic educational toy as in claim 9, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a first element and a second element, the first element enclosed within the housing and the second element enclosed within the graspable object, wherein a signal is sent from the first element to the second element, the signal is received by the second element whereupon the second element sends a signal that is used to facilitate the sensing of the object when it is placed on the work platform.

13. An electronic educational toy as in claim 9, further comprising a plurality of images on the work platform to facilitate the interaction between the educational software and the child, wherein the plurality of images on the work platform can be changed.

14. An electronic educational toy as in claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded into the toy by users thereof.

15. An electronic educational toy as in claim 14, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded via a portable memory capable of being inserted by the user into a portable memory receiving device associated with the toy.

16. An electronic educational toy as in claim 14, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being downloaded from a remote location over a data transmission medium.

17. An electronic educational toy having a housing for teaching numbers, comprising:

a plurality of audio prompts output by a speaker enclosed within the toy housing, a prompt including a question or instruction having at least one correct response, the question or instruction designed to encourage a child to make a cognitive selection of a number and indicate the cognitive selection of the number by placing a graspable object on a work platform, the work platform formed on at least a portion of a substantially flat surface of the toy housing;

one or more sensors capable of sensing the placement of the object by a child on the work platform;

the graspable object capable of being placed and sensed in arbitrary child-defined locations on the work platform, the placement of the graspable object on the work platform in response to the question or instruction indicating the cognitive selection by the child of the number corresponding to the question or instruction;

a processor enclosed within the toy housing capable of receiving information from the one or more sensors corresponding to the placement of the object by the child on the work platform and using the information from the sensors to determine whether the child'"'"'s cognitive selection of the number as indicated by the placement of the object by the child on the work platform corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction;

a first audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the first audio feedback response indicating that the number selected by the child corresponds to a correct response to the question or instruction; and

a second audio feedback response output by the speaker enclosed within the toy housing, the second audio feedback response indicating that the number selected by the child does not correspond to a correct response to the question or instruction, the toy housing enclosing the speaker, at least a portion of the one or more sensors, the processor and educational software executable by the processor for teaching a child number, the housing having a substantially flat surface, at least a portion of which comprises the work platform.

18. An electronic educational toy as in claim 17, wherein the processor generates questions or instructions with different levels of difficulty.

19. An electronic educational toy as in claim 18, wherein the processor generates more difficult questions depending on the user having provided correct previous answers.

20. An electronic educational toy as in claim 17, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a first element and a second element, the first element enclosed within the housing and the second element enclosed within the graspable object, wherein a signal is sent from the first element to the second element, the signal is received by the second element whereupon the second element sends a signal that is used to facilitate the sensing of the object when it is placed on the work platform.

21. An electronic educational toy as in claim 17, further comprising a plurality of images on the work platform to facilitate the interaction between the educational software and the child, wherein the plurality of images on the work platform can be changed.

22. An electronic educational toy as in claim 17, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded into the toy by users thereof.

23. An electronic educational toy as in claim 22, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being loaded via a portable memory capable of being inserted by the user into a portable memory receiving device associated with the toy.

24. An electronic educational toy as in claim 22, wherein at least a portion of the educational software is capable of being downloaded from a remote location over a data transmission medium.