FILING HISTORYThis application continues from provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/997,773 filed on Oct. 5, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of puppets and toys. More specifically the present invention relates to a voice puppet including a puppet body and a sound creation assembly including an oscillator circuit with sound producing means contained within a sound box, the sound box having a box port over which a baffle such as a user finger tip is moved to act as a tongue in forming sounds and placed and removed to control the moment and duration of released sound, the box port opening into an oral cavity having a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in a cavity wall, the cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material so that the shape of the oral cavity and of the mouth opening can be manipulated with finger pressure against the cavity wall outer surface to produce various vocal sounds such as words, word segments, laughter, giggles, murmurs, snoring, coughing and crying, the oscillator circuit further including pitch control means, a power source and a circuit activation switch. Sound is further manipulated by operating the circuit activation switch to repeatedly activate and deactivate the circuit.
The puppet preferably is sized to be handheld and the puppet body preferably includes a puppet head with a puppet face. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a closed reservoir partly filled with a conductive liquid such as water containing electrolytes, the oscillator circuit including vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes extending downwardly into the reservoir, and having probe upper ends connected to the rest of the circuit and probe lower ends extending into the conductive liquid to create sonic vibration simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords, and the sound producing means preferably is a speaker contained within the sound box. The extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid determines the pitch of sound produced by the speaker. As a result, the pitch of the produced sound can be altered by tilting the puppet and thus the reservoir forward, backward or from side to side so that the conductive liquid surface is angled to different degrees within the reservoir and the extent to which the probes are immersed is thereby infinitely variable. The amount of conductive liquid in the reservoir and the shape and positions of the probes are calculated to create the desired variation in the electric resistance between the probes completing the oscillator circuit when the puppet body is moved between a vertical upright position to a horizontal reclining position. The more surface area of the probes that is covered by reservoir water, the lower the resistance and the higher the conductivity, the higher the pitch created by the circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been talking dolls and puppets containing sound recordings and playing devices so that the recording or series of recordings can be played again and again. While these devices have had some popularity, they become uninteresting after just a few uses. One problem is that exactly the same sounds or sequences of sounds such as spoken words are always repeated, so that the user becomes tired of hearing the recording. Another problem is that the user only pushes a button or pulls a cord to play the recording and then just listens, so that use of the device is a entirely passive and unchallenging.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a voice puppet which contains mechanical and electrical elements roughly analogous to and replicating the human vocal structure which produce vocal sounds that are manually variable in several respects so that the user has the challenge of creating individually selected and formed vocal sounds including but not limited to speech, laughter, giggles, snoring, coughing and crying.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet which can be both held and operated with a single user hand.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet in which a user finger, or baffle functions as a puppet tongue in creating vocal sounds and which has an oral cavity and mouth opening which can be shaped and manipulated by user fingers to vary sounds in the same way that a human mouth does.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a voice puppet which can be constructed to have virtually any desired stylized or realistic human features, is light in weight, safe and easy to use, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
A voice puppet is provided for creating vocal sounds, including: a puppet body; a sound creation assembly including an oral cavity having a cavity wall and a cavity mouth in the form of an opening in the cavity wall, the cavity wall being formed of flexible and resilient material such that the shape of the oral cavity and of the mouth can be manually manipulated to produce various vocal sounds by squeezing the head to open the mouth to different widths to create vocal sounds, a sound box containing a sound producing device and opening into the oral cavity through a box port over which a baffle such as a user index finger tip can be moved, placed and removed to act as a tongue and to control the timing and duration of released sound and an oscillator circuit including the sound producing device, a variable pitch control device, and a circuit power source.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet head with a puppet face, and the oral cavity is contained within the puppet head, such that the cavity wall forms a portion of the puppet face. The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso, additionally including a cavity air opening in the oral cavity, where the puppet body includes flexible and resilient material such that squeezing the puppet causes air to enter the oral cavity, increasing air pressure within the oral cavity for creating percussive sounds. The oral cavity wall and the sound box preferably are formed of sound blocking material for preventing sound leakage through the cavity wall until the mouth is open.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso and a puppet head and a puppet neck interconnecting the puppet torso and the puppet head. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a reservoir. The reservoir preferably is contained within the puppet torso, and the sound box preferably is contained within the neck area. The oscillator circuit preferably additionally includes a circuit activation switch.
The puppet body preferably includes a puppet torso and puppet head, and the puppet torso has a flexible and resilient torso wall, and the circuit activation switch is a push button switch with a switch button positioned within the puppet torso behind the torso wall, so that depressing the torso wall inwardly adjacent to the push button switch depresses the switch button and thereby activates and deactivates the oscillator circuit.
The puppet head preferably includes a finger port for passing a user index finger into the oral cavity to reach and selectively cover the box port. The sound creation assembly preferably includes a sealed reservoir partly filled with a conductive liquid, the oscillator circuit including vertically extending and spaced apart first and second conductive probes extending downwardly into the reservoir and having first and second probe upper ends and first and second probe lower ends, the first and second probe lower ends extending into the conductive liquid to create conductivity variation and thus produce sonic vibration for simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords; so that the extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid controls the pitch of sound produced by the sound producing device and the extent to which the first and second probes are immersed in the conductive liquid can be varied by tilting the puppet and thereby tilting the reservoir. The first and second probes preferably are shaped so that they are wider and have more surface area at their respective probe upper ends. The sound producing devices preferably includes a speaker contained within the sound box. The conductive liquid preferably is water containing electrolytes. The oscillator circuit preferably additionally includes a photocell mounted on the puppet body outer surface for lowering the vocal pitch range when the puppet is in low light and increasing the pitch range when in bright light.
The reservoir optionally includes an upper fill opening so that conductive liquid can be fed into the reservoir through a fill structure, and so that addition of conductive liquid to the reservoir raises the vocal sound pitch range. The reservoir optionally includes a drain structure for the conductive liquid so that conductive liquid can be drained gradually from within the reservoir into a diaper fitted onto the puppet torso to simulate bodily function, thereby lowering the pitch range and simulating tiredness.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSVarious other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred body configuration of the inventive voice puppet, with a user hand positioned to squeeze the sides of the puppet head to alter the shape of the oral cavity and thereby alter the sounds produced.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of the torso portion of the preferred embodiment having the reservoir for varying pitch.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the embodiment ofFIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the voice puppet body ofFIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a view as inFIG. 1 which is the first in a progression of FIGURES showing the opening of the puppet mouth as the sides of the puppet head are squeezed toward each other.
FIG. 5A is the next FIGURE in the progression started inFIG. 5.
FIG. 5B is the next FIGURE afterFIG. 5A in the progression started inFIG. 5.
FIG. 5C is the next FIGURE afterFIG. 5B in the progression started inFIG. 5, in which the mouth is fully open.
FIG. 6 is a top view of a preferred configuration of the reservoir.
FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir projected fromFIG. 6.
FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional front view of the reservoir ofFIG. 6.
FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir ofFIG. 6.
FIG. 7 a cross-sectional side view of the reservoir ofFIG. 6 containing a conductive liquid having an upper surface below the level of the probes.
FIG. 7A is a view as inFIG. 7 showing the reservoir tilted backward to an acute angle, causing the probe lower ends to be submerged in the conductive liquid.
FIG. 7B is a view as inFIG. 7 showing the reservoir tilted entirely back to a horizontal position so that the probes are entirely submerged in the conductive liquid.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the first embodiment showing the reservoir, one of the batteries, the activation switch, and the sound box, with a user finger inserted into the port in the back of the puppet head and covering the box port, the conductive liquid in the reservoir covering the probe lower ends.
FIG. 8A is a view as inFIG. 8 showing the puppet tilted back at an acute angle and consequently a larger portion of the probes submerged in the conductive liquid.
FIG. 8B is a view as inFIG. 8A showing the puppet tilted entirely back to a horizontal position, and the portions of the probes within the reservoir entirely submerged in the conductive liquid.
FIG. 9 is a view as inFIG. 8 of the second embodiment of the voice puppet having the potentiometer with the weighted lever.
FIG. 9A is a view as inFIG. 9 showing the puppet tilted back at an acute angle and the weighted lever consequently tilted back.
FIG. 9B is a view as inFIG. 9 showing the puppet tilted entirely back to a horizontal position and the weighted lever consequently tilted entirely back.
FIG. 10 is a schematic circuit diagram of the voice puppet.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of the second version of the second embodiment in which the lever is biased with a spring rather than a weight, with the lever being biased fully forward by the spring.
FIG. 11A is a view as inFIG. 11 showing the torso forward wall pushed inwardly and thereby pivoting the lever backward against the biasing of the spring.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSAs required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like characteristics and features of the present invention shown in the various FIGURES are designated by the same reference numerals.
First Preferred EmbodimentReferring toFIGS. 1-8B, avoice puppet10 is disclosed including apuppet body20 and asound creation assembly40 including anoscillator circuit50 withsound producing means70 contained within asound box80 having abox port82 over which a baffle such as a user index finger tip FT or mechanical pivoting member such as a lever is moved, covered and uncovered to respectively act as a tongue in forming sounds and also to control the moment and duration of released sound, thebox port82 opening into anoral cavity90 having acavity mouth92 in the form of an opening in acavity wall94 formed of flexible and resilient material so that the shape of theoral cavity90 and of theopen mouth92 can be manipulated with finger pressure against thecavity wall94 outer surface to produce various vocal sounds such as words, laughter, giggles, murmurs, snoring, coughing and crying, theoscillator circuit50 further including apower source52, acircuit activation switch54 and pitch control means60. Sound is further manipulated by operating theactivation switch54 to activate and deactivate theoscillator circuit50.Puppet10 preferably is sized to be handheld.
Thepuppet body20 comprises apuppet head30 with apuppet face32, and theoral cavity90 preferably is contained within the lower portion of thepuppet head30, such that a portion of theoral cavity wall94 forms thepuppet face32. Thepuppet head30 or just theoral cavity wall94 and thesound box80 preferably are formed of sound blocking material so that there is no sound leakage through theoral cavity wall94. In addition to thepuppet head30, thepuppet body20 preferably includes apuppet torso22 and apuppet neck24 interconnecting thepuppet torso22 andpuppet head30. Squeezing thepuppet body20 causes air to enter theoral cavity90 from within thepuppet torso22 through acavity air opening96, increasing air pressure in theoral cavity90 for creating percussive sounds such as B, P, F, CH and SH sounds. Thesound creation assembly40 includes areservoir42 preferably contained within thepuppet torso22 and thesound box80 preferably is contained within theneck24 area. Thepuppet torso22 preferably has a flexible andresilient torso wall26, and thecircuit actuation switch54 preferably takes the form of apush button switch54 positioned within thepuppet torso22 behind a region of thetorso wall26, so that depressing thetorso wall26 adjacent thepush button switch54 depresses theswitch button54A and thereby activates and deactivates theoscillator circuit50. The rear of thepuppet head30 has afinger port34 for inserting a user index finger tip FT into theoral cavity90 to reach and repeatedly cover and uncover thesound box port82.
Thereservoir42 of thesound creation assembly40 preferably is closed and is partly filled with a conductive liquid such as water containing electrolytes, theoscillator circuit50 including vertically extending and spaced apart first and secondconductive probes56 and58, respectively, extending downwardly into thereservoir42 and having probe upper ends56A and58A connected directly to the remainder ofcircuit50, respectively, and probe lower ends56B and58B, again respectively, extending into the conductive liquid L to create sonic vibration simulating the oscillation of human vocal cords, and the sound producing means70 preferably is aspeaker70 contained within thesound box80. The extent to which the first andsecond probes56 and58 are immersed in the conductive liquid L controls the pitch of sound produced by thespeaker70. As a result, the pitch of the produced sound can be altered by tilting thepuppet10 and thus thereservoir42 forward, backward or from side to side so that the conductive liquid surface LS is angled to different degrees within thereservoir42 and the extent to which theprobes56 and58 are immersed is thereby infinitely variable.
The amount of conductive liquid L in thereservoir42 and the shape and positions of the first andsecond probes56 and58 are calculated to create the desired variation in the electric resistance between theprobes56 and58 completing theoscillator circuit50 when thepuppet body20 is moved between a vertical upright position to a horizontal reclining position. If thebody20 is tilted forward, past the upright position, the sound turns off as the conductive liquid L no longer contacts theprobes56 and58 and thecircuit50 is thereby broken, and rapid on/off sounds can be created by shaking thepuppet body20 and thereby quickly immersing and then removing the probe lower ends56B and58B from the conductive liquid L. The resistivity of the conductive liquid L, the volume of conductive liquid L in thereservoir42, the shape of thereservoir42, the orientation of thereservoir42, and the shape and distance between theprobes56 and58 are adjusted to create a desired resistance variation theoscillating circuit50 requires to create the desired pitch variation. The more surface area of theprobes56 and58 that is covered by conductive liquid L, the lower the resistance and the higher the conductivity, the higher the pitch created by the circuit. The less surface area of theprobes56 and58 covered by the conductive liquid L, and the higher the resistance, the lower the conductivity, and the lower the pitch created by thecircuit50. The closer theprobes56 and58 are to each other, the lower is the resistance through the conductive liquid L between them. The first andsecond probes56 and58 can be positioned in thereservoir42 such that they angle toward each other in a downward direction, to create lower resistance when thepuppet body26 is tilted backward, and positioned such that they are further apart, increasing the resistance when thepuppet body20 is tilted upright. The first andsecond probes56 and58 can be shaped such that they are wider and have more surface area exposed to conductive liquid L when thebody20 is tilted backward. The shape of thereservoir42 can be designed to hold a larger volume of conductive liquid L at the bottom of thereservoir42, such that the entire surface areas of theprobes56 and58 are under the conductive liquid L, when thepuppet body20 and thus thereservoir42 is tilted rearwardly to become horizontal. By turning thereservoir42 upside down, thepuppet10 can create a lower pitch when tilted backward and create a higher pitch when tilted upright to a vertical position.
To lower the vocal pitch range when thepuppet10 is in low light, suggesting sleepiness, aCdS photocell62 can be included in theoscillating circuit50. Thephotocell62 may be mounted on or protruding through thepuppet body20 outer surface, such as on the chest region of thepuppet torso22 above theactivation switch54. Alternatively thephotocell62 may be mounted inside thepuppet body20 behind a translucent region of thetorso wall26. Thephotocell62 lowers thecircuit50 resistance in brighter light causing the pitch to be higher, and increases the resistance when low light contacts it. This is because lower resistance increases the frequency created by the oscillator and higher resistance decreases the frequency created by the oscillator.Photocell62 also provides life-like pitch variation causing more active high pitch sounds in bright outside light. As a result, sunlight creates higher pitch variations to suggest energy and excitement, and low light such as during evening hours creates lower pitch to produce lower frequency sounds as if thepuppet10 is tired. This distinction between simulated high energy moments and lower energy or tired moments, combines with the above mentionedreservoir42 created effect in which higher frequencies are created when thepuppet10 is positioned in an upright position as if awake and active and lower frequencies are created when thepuppet10 is positioned in a reclining position as if relaxing.
These relationships can be expressed as follows:
I. When normal sunlight contacts thephotocell62 the resistance is lower, the pitch range shifts to create higher frequencies: Light intensity=approximately 50,000 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping thepuppet10 from upright position to a reclining position preferably =900 to 500 Hertz;
2. When normal indoor lighting contacts the photocell, the resistance is increased and the pitch range lowers to create laughter, chatter, etc.: Light intensity=approximately 500 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping thepuppet10 from upright position to reclining position preferably =700 Hertz to 300 Hertz;
3. When the photocell is under low light such as evening or bed time illumination, the resistance is increased and the pitch is further reduced to create low frequency murmurs, snoring, etc.: Light intensity=approximately 30 Lux=Frequency variation by tipping thepuppet10 upright to reclining position preferably =500 to 50 Hertz.
Eachpuppet10 can be made to have its own distinctive voice, male or female, just as people do, by creating different oscillator waveform characteristics and the internal shape of theoral cavity90, within substantially the same pitch range, differently shapedoral cavities90 andoral cavity walls94 inside surfaces (seeFIG. 3), and differently shapedsound boxes80.Puppet10 can be given an appearance to match the distinctive voice.
Thereservoir42 may alternatively have an upper fill opening44 so that conductive liquid L can be fed into thereservoir42 through a fill tube passing through mutually aligned and thus registering opening in thepuppet torso wall26. Addition of conductive liquid L to thereservoir42 increases the pitch range, creating the appearance that thepuppet10 has awakened and is re-energized. Alternatively or additionally, the conductive liquid L can be diverted from within thereservoir42 to gradually drain into a diaper to mimic bodily functions. The pitch range lowers as the conductive liquid L drains from thereservoir42, simulating sleepiness or tiredness.
Optionaladditional oscillator circuit50 elements include a vibrator (not shown), motor (not shown) and eccentric weight (not shown) to create shaking and additional sounds such as giggles when thepuppet body20 is squeezed with greater force. A rheostat can be incorporated into theoscillator circuit50 to adjust the sound for the desired pitch variation. A higher pitch can be used for female orbaby puppets10.
Second Preferred EmbodimentA second embodiment is like the first except that thesound creation assembly40 includes a potentiometer orrheostat142 in place of thereservoir42. Therheostat142 includes a pivoting arm or lever144 which for this version swings freely in the manner of a pendulum controlling the level of resistance produced byrheostat142. Pivoting thelever144 in one direction progressively increases resistance and in the opposite direction progressively decreases resistance.
For one version of the second embodiment thelever144 has aweight146 at the leverfree end144A so that tilting thepuppet10 causes thelever144 to pivot relative to the remainder of therheostat142, varying the resistance and thus varying the sound pitch. SeeFIGS. 9-9B.
For another version of the second embodiment,lever144 does not behave as a pendulum but rather is spring-loaded with acompression spring148 so that it is biased to one end of its pivot range and the leverfree end144A is positioned near theflexible torso wall26. Manual pressure against thetorso wall26 adjacent to the leverfree end144A presses thetorso wall26 into contact with the leverfree end144A and moves thelever144 against the biasing of thecompression spring148 varying the circuit resistance and once again varying the pitch. SeeFIGS. 11 and 11A.
While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms or certain embodiments or modifications which it has assumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.