TITLE OF THE INVENTIONToy of a Throwing TypeBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the InventionThe present invention relates to toys and particularly to a toy which can be thrown to play with and can produce a sound in response to externally applied physical action.
Description of the Background ArtWell-known playthings which can be thrown to play with are balls for ball games or toy balls for example.
However, conventional balls for ball games or toys are played with by physical actions of throwing and catching thereof simply using the visual and touch senses.
Accordingly, the user would be soon bored with the playing. In addition, such a ball as a toy does not give much fun. Consequently, it is desired to assign any additional values to such balls.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an entirely new toy of a throwing type which can be played with to please not only the senses of vision and touch but also to the sense of hearing.
A toy according to the present invention comprises a housing which forms an outer shape of the toy and which contains sound effect signal generating means for generating a predetermined sound effect signal, a speaker for producing a sound in response to the sound effect signal, and control means for controlling operation of the sound effect signal generating means in response to an externally applied physical action.
According to the present invention, since the control means controls operation of the sound effect signal generating means in response to an externally applied physical action, various sounds of effect can be produced from the inside of the toy, thereby pleasing the sense of hearing of the player.
Consequently, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to obtain an entirely new toy which pleases not only the senses of vision and touch as in the conventional throwing type toys but also the sense of hearing. Thus, the toy of the present invention gives much fun and does not bore the player easily and it can be used as a material for creating new games and thus makes it possible to broaden the range of applications thereof.
In addition, since it can be played with, using the sense of hearing, it can be applied to rehabilitation for blind persons, mental patients or the like. Further, it serves to give interest to small children in throwing balls and thus it is suited as toys for small children.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFig. 1 is an exploded sectional view of a toy according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the toy of the invention in a completed state.
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit portion of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing operation of the control circuit 71 shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is an exploded sectional view of a toy according to another embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the toy of the embodiment of Fig. 5 in a completed state.
Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit portion of the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing operation of the control circuit 71 shown in Fig. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSFig. 1 is an exploded sectional view showing a structure of a throwing type toy according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the instrument in which the respective members shown inFig. 1 are assembled. Referring to those figures, housing members 1 to 4 formed by polyurethane, rubber or the like are assembled to form a spherical housing as shown in Fig.
2. A speaker 5 is contained and fixed in a space between the housing members 1 and 2. A plurality of holes la are formed in the housing member 1 located opposite the front surface of a cone portion of the speaker 5 so that sound can be easily emitted to outside. A bottomed hole is formed in a surface portion of the housing member 2, opposite to the housing member 3 so that an impact sensor 6 is contained in this bottomed hole. The impact sensor 6 detects impact externally applied to the toy and it is formed by a piezoelectric device or the like. A sound circuit board 7 is contained and fixed in a space between the housing members 2 and 3. As described later, the sound circuit board 7 has a single circuit board where a microcomputer, a sound synthesis LSI and the like are incorporated.A bottomed hole is formed in a central portion of an outer surface of the housing member 3 and a battery box 8 is contained in this bottomed hole. Though not shown, a battery for driving the speaker and the circuits on the sound circuit board 7 is contained in the battery box 8. A female screw 8a is formed on the inner wall of the battery box 8. A male screw 4a is formed on the outer wall of the housing member 4 to engage with the female screw 8a. Accordingly, the housing member 4 is fitted and fixed to the battery box 8. A driver groove 4b used for screwing the housing member 4 to the battery box 8 is formed on an outer surface of the housing member 4.
The above described members are assembled into a spherical body as shown in Fig. 2. The surface of the spherical body is covered with a surface member 9 of rubber or the like and, thus, the ball-shaped toy as a complete product is obtained. Preferably, the surface member 9 has separate portions for covering the surface of the housing member 4 and the other members separately.
This serves to facilitate exchange of batteries.
Though not shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the speaker 5, the sound circuit board 7 and the battery box 8 are electrically connected by connection cords. Those connections will be apparent from the block diagram ofFig. 3 to be described later.
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the electric circuit portion of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Referring to Fig. 3, an output of the impact sensor 6 is supplied to a control circuit 71 provided in the sound circuit board 7. The control circuit 71 is formed by a l-chip microcomputer or a logic circuit for example. The sound circuit board 7 further includes a first sound circuit 72 as first sound effect signal generating means, a second sound circuit 73 as second sound effect signal generating means, and an amplifier circuit 74. The first and second sound circuits 72 and 73 generate sound effect signals for producing sounds of effect respectively, and each of them is formed by a sound synthesis LSI for example.More specifically, the first sound circuit 72 generates a sound effect signal representing "whiz" as a sound simulating a throw of a ball and the second sound circuit 73 generates a sound effect signal representing "bang" as a sound simulating a collision of the ball with something. The first and second sound circuits 72 and 73 are turned on and off under the control of the control circuit 71. The outputs of the first and second sound circuits 72 and 73 are supplied to the amplifier circuit 74, where they are amplified. The output of the amplifier circuit 74 is supplied to the speaker 5. The battery 10 contained in the above mentioned battery box 8 supplies electric power for driving the respective circuits in the sound circuit board 7 and the speaker 5.
Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing operation of the control circuit 71 shown in Fig. 3. In the following, the operation of the above described embodiment will be described with preference to Fig. 4.
First, a player uses the ball shown in Fig. 2 and applies at first some impact to the ball. As a result, a detection output is provided from the impact sensor 6.
The control circuit 71 receives the detection output from the impact sensor 6 (in step S1) and determines whether the impact sensor 6 is turned on or not (in step S2).
Then, the control circuit 71 waits for a predetermined period (about 2 to 3 sec.) (in step S4). In the meantime, the player throws the ball. Then, the control circuit 71 operates the first sound circuit 72 (in step S5). In response thereto, the first sound circuit 72 generates a sound effect signal such as "whiz" produced by a throw of the ball for example. This sound effect signal is amplified by the amplifier circuit 74 and the amplified output is supplied to the speaker 5. Consequently, it brings about an effect on the sense of hearing of the player as if a sound "whiz" is produced from the ball thrown by the player, flying in the air.
If the thrown ball is received by another player or it collides with a floor, a ball or other thing and stops, a detection output is provided again from the impact sensor 6. The control circuit 71 receives this detection output (in step S6) and determines whether the input sensor is turned on or not (in step S7). On the other hand, if the ball is not thrown, any detection output is not obtained from the impact sensor 6 and, as the result, after the operation of the first sound circuit 72 (in stepS5), it is determined whether a predetermined period has passed or not (in step S8).If it is determined in the step S7 that the second detection output is received from the impact sensor 6, or if it is determined in step S8 that the predetermined period has passed, the operation of the first sound circuit 72 is stopped (in step S9) and the second sound circuit 73 is operated (in step S10). In consequence, the second sound circuit 73 outputs a sound effect signal representing "bang" caused by a crash for example. This sound effect signal is amplified by the amplifier circuit 74 and the amplified output is supplied to the speaker 5. As the result, a sound "bang" is produced from the ball when the thrown ball is received by the opponent player or stops by collision with the floor or the like. Accordingly, the players have a feeling as if the ball really collides with something.Since the second sound circuit 73 automatically stops its operation, the control circuit 71 determines the stop of the operation of the second sound circuit 73 (in step S11) and returns to the procedure of step S1)Thus, according to the above described embodiment, various sounds of effect are produced from the ball and the players can enjoy playing with the ball using not only the senses of vision and touch but also the sense of hearing. The sounds of effect produced from the ball are not limited to "whiz" and "bang" as in the above described embodiment and any suitable sounds may be produced according to the purposes of the games.
Although both of the first and second sound circuits 72 and .73 in the above described embodiment are operated in response to the detection outputs of the impact sensor 6, either sound circuit or both of the sound circuits may be operated by operation of a switch. Such an embodiment is shown in Figs. 5 to 7. The embodiment shown in Figs. 5 to 7 is constructed such that the first sound circuit 72 is operated in response to operation of a switch 11. This switch 11 is provided on the surface portions of the housing members 2 and 3, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and it has an operation portion penetrating the surface member 9 and projecting outside. The switch 11 is electrically connected with the sound circuit board 7, and an operation signal of the switch 11 is supplied to the control circuit 71.The other structure of this embodiment is the same as in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and, therefore, the description thereof is omitted by designating the corresponding portions by the same reference numerals.
Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing operation of the control circuit 71 in Fig. 7. As can be seen from Fig. 8, the control circuit 71 determines first in step S12 whether the switch 11 is turned on or not. If it is turned on, the control circuit 71 operates the first sound circuit 72 in step S5. The subsequent operations are the same as those of the control circuit 71 of Fig. 3 described with reference to Fig. 4.
Although the outer shape of the toy is in the form of a ball in the above described respective embodiments, it may have any other form such as a hand grenade, a dynamite or a head of a monster. For example, if it has the form of a hand grenade, a sound "whiz" may be produced several seconds after a safety pin is removed, and a sound "bang" may be produced by an impact of attaining the ground. In addition, a costume modeled after an animal or the like may cover the housing member. In such a case, the tail of the animal costume may be coupled with the switch 11 shown in Fig. 5 or 6 so that pulling the tail may turn on the switch 11.
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.