US20030003839A1

US20030003839A1 - Intercommunicating toy

Info

Publication number: US20030003839A1
Application number: US10/006,248
Authority: US
Inventors: Chun-Ping Lin
Original assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp
Current assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp
Priority date: 2001-06-19
Filing date: 2001-12-10
Publication date: 2003-01-02
Also published as: TW572767B; JP2003010561A

Abstract

An intercommunicating toy comprises a toy body; a storage device inside the toy body for storing a first data; a communication interface inside the toy and electrically connected to the storage device for transmitting a second data to update the first data in the storage device; a controller inside the toy body and electrically connected to the storage device for controlling the communication interface in order to update the storage device; and a wireless communication device inside the toy body for providing an intercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy according to a control command of the controller.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to an intercommunicating toy, and more particularly to a toy which can intercommunicate with other toys by way of wireless communication for increasing the fun effect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the internet technology is improved day-by-day, the toy applications are designed for firmware updateable to meet the market requirement in addition to functions of speaking, singing, and acting.

FIG. 1 shows the conventional toy supporting the technology of internet software download. The

toy

11 can download the newest software to the flash memory inside the toy 11 by way of connecting the cable 12 to the computer 13. Certainly, the newest software can be downloaded from the internet 15 to the toy 11 through the connection wire 14 to the computer 13. The interface ports between the computer and the toy may be a parallel port or a serial port. Because the operation interface is convenient to the user, this kind of toy is fashionable to the toy market.

The conventional toys is always improved, but they are all independent, and the intercommunication among the toys is lacking. If the toys have the function of intercommunication, they will be marketable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a toy for intercommunication to other toys by way of wireless communication technology.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy that can talk with other toys or act according to other toys.

According to the present invention, an intercommunicating toy comprises: a toy body; a storage device inside the toy body for storing a first data; a communication interface inside the toy and electrically connected to the storage device for transmitting a second data to update the first data in the storage device; a controller inside the toy body and electrically connected to the storage device for controlling the communication interface in order to update the storage device; and a wireless communication device inside the toy body for providing an intercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy according to a control command of the controller.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the storage device is an updateable memory.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the updateable memory is a flash memory.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the first data is a software and the second data is a new software.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the second data is obtained from a computer through the communication interface, and the computer is connected to an internet.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the communication interface is a parallel port.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the communication interface is a serial port.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the controller includes a system control/voice process device.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the wireless communication device is a radio frequency (RF) wireless communication device.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the wireless communication device is an infrared rays (IR) wireless communication device.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the communication interface is a wireless communication interface for providing the intercommunicating toy to wirelessly download the second data from a computer.

According to the present invention, an intercommunicating toy comprises: a first toy having a first wireless communication device; and a second toy having a second wireless communication device; the first toy and the second toy communicate through the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device; the second toy acts according to a first command of the first toy; the first toy acts according to a second command of the second toy so as to make an intercommunication effect.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both the first toy and the second toy have an updateable memory.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the software is updated through a communication interface; the communication interface is connected to a computer; the computer is connected to a web site of an internet.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are a radio frequency wireless communication device.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are an infrared rays wireless communication device.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the toys have a shape of an animal.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the intercommunication effect includes a sound, a light and an act.

The present invention may best be understood through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [0027]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conventional toy for updating the software. [0028]
FIG. 2 is a system diagram for two toys' intercommunication according to the present invention; [0029]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram according to the present invention; [0030]
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram for communication interface and data transmission according to the present invention; and [0031]
FIG. 5 is a system control/voice process device block diagram according to the present invention.[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIG. 2 showing the system diagram for two toy's intercommunication. For instance of two dog toys' intercomunication, the [0033] dog toys 21,22 can call or respond each other by way of wireless communication. For example, the dog toy 21 gives a bark, and the hardware will send a command requiring a response to the dog toy 22. When the dog toy 22 receives the command, it will respond the bark sound. The same principle may apply to other intercommunications easily.
In general, the contents of the intercommunication includes every voice, song, and action according to the present invention. These data of the voice, song and action may be updated from the web site of the internet or the CD-ROM provided by the toy maker. The toys have a communication interface which can connect to the computer for updating the new version software. The computer interface includes the serial port, the parallel port, the USB port, the game port, etc. [0034]
FIG. 3 shows the hardware block diagram of the intercommunicating toy. The intercommunicating toy includes a [0035] toy body 30, a communication interface/data transmission control device 31, an updateable memory 32, a wireless communication device 33, system control/voice process device 34, speaker 35, lamplight/motor 36, etc. The communication interface/data transmission control device 31 may work to download the software from the computer or the internet to the updateable memory 32. The intercommunication among toys is the main feature of present invention. The intercommunicating toys may intercommunicate with other intercommunicating toys for increasing the fun or game effect.
In addition, the system control/[0036] voice process device 34 can control the wireless device to communicate with other intercommunicating toys by way of radio frequency (RF) or infrared rays (IR) communication. The system control/voice process device 34 can also drive the speaker 35 and lamplight/motor 36 to make the intercommunicating toy having the effects of sounding, lighting, vibrating, etc. The operation is easy to do. For example of dog toys, they may be designed as the second dog toy follows the first dog toy to bark, to sing songs, to swing the tail, etc. Thus the dog toys may have the intercommunication effects. Furthermore the toy's fun may be increased.
Certainly, the new software may be put on the CD-ROM or the web site provided by the toy maker. It may be downloaded through the communication interface/data [0037] transmission control device 31. The communication interface/data transmission control device 31 can also upload the status of the intercommucating toy to the computer. Totally, the main work of the communication interface/data transmission control device 31 is the communication and control between the toy and the computer for transmitting data efficiently. The interfaces that the communication interface/data transmission control device 31 can handle include the serial port, the parallel port, the USB port and the game port.
The new contents of the toy may be stored in the [0038] updateable memory 32 after they are downloaded. The updateable memory 32 may store the voice and song data or the control program. The updateable memory 32 may be the flash memory, DRAM(Dynamic RAM) or SRAM (Static RAM), etc.
The system control/[0039] voice process device 34 is the main control element. It handles the execution and the control of the system program, the data of voice and song, the actions, etc, where the actions of the toy can be showed by driving the motor or the lamplight. The system control/voice process device 34 can also be as a control element for the transmission of the control signal and the wireless data. Thus the toy may intercommunicate each other by the execution of those functions.
The [0040] wireless communication device 33 is the control element for the voice and the wireless control signal. In addition to transimit the control signal and the control program of the toy, it can even transmit the voice of the user. The transmission mediums may be the radio frequency (RF), the infrared rays (IR), etc. Certainly, the RF carier may be 27 MHZ, 49 MHZ, 315 MHZ, 433 MHZ, 900 MHZ, and the IR transmission may be a general IR or the IRDA.
FIG. 4 shows the computer interface/data transmission control block diagram, wherein includes the computer interface [0041] communication protocol control 41, the data transmission direction control 42, data sequence transfer device 43 and the memory data storage control 44.
The computer interface [0042] communication protocol control 41 may detect the comupter basic interface setting and select the most suitable driving program to transmit (download or upload) the updateable data, where the computer interface includes the serial port, the parallel port, the USB port and the game port.
The data [0043] transmission direction control 42 may handle the data flow, and control downloading data to the toy or uploading data to the computer.
The data [0044] sequence transfer device 43 may transfer the data formats. The serial format data of the serial port may be transferred to the format which is fit to the format of the memory. Regarding to the parallel data format of the parallel port or the serial data format of the USB port and game port, the data sequence transfer device 43 involved to transfer them.
The memory [0045] data storage control 44 may control the data storage of the memory. The memory may be the flash memory, the DRAM, the SRAM, etc.
FIG. 5 shows the system control/[0046] voice process device 34. This is the contorl kernel of the intercommunicating toy. It includes the memory data read/write control 51, the voice data play 52, the melody data play 53, sound/light/motor control device 54, RF/IR signal and data transmission control 55 and wireless communication protocol control 56.
The memory data read/[0047] write control 51 can handle the data read for the memory and the control program or the access control for restoring the toy current status to the memory.
The voice data play [0048] 52 can decode the voice data stored in the memory and play back the voice data.
The melody data play [0049] 53 can decode the delody data and play back the melody data.
The sound/light/[0050] motor control device 54 can handle the toy actions by driving the motors, controlling the light, excuting the system program.
The RF/IR data and [0051] signal transmission control 55 can control the RF or IR devices to transmit data or receive data exactly. Another purpose of the RF/IR data and signal transmission control 55 is treated as a window to the data or the control signal. Therefore, RF/IR data and signal transmission control 55 is the control center of the wireless communication device.
The wireless communication protocol control [0052] 56 handles the complicated communication protocol of RF or IR. Thus the target of “intercommunication function” of the intercommunicating toy may be attained and the intercommunication operations may be implemented. The applications of the intercommunicating toy is as followed:
1. Single toy can be controlled and played. [0053]
2. Two or more toys can controlled and played respectively. [0054]
3. Two or more toys can communicate with the control signal or data each other. [0055]
4. Two or more toys can be controlled and played simultaneously and further the channel shared purpose may be attained. [0056]
While the invention has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. [0057]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An intercommunicating toy comprising:

a toy body;

a storage device inside said toy body for storing a first data;

a communication interface inside said toy and electrically connected to said storage device for transmitting a second data to update said first data in said storage device;

a controller inside said toy body and electrically connected to said storage device for controlling said communication interface in order to update said storage device; and

a wireless communication device inside said toy body for providing an intercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy according to a control command of said controller.

2. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said storage device is an updateable memory.

3. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 2 wherein said updateable memory is a flash memory.

4. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said first data is a software and said second data is a new software.

5. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said second data is obtained from a computer through said communication interface, and said computer is connected to an internet.

6. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said communication interface is a parallel port.

7. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said communication interface is a serial port.

8. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said controller includes a system control/voice process device.

9. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said wireless communication device is a radio frequency (RF) wireless communication device.

10. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said wireless communication device is an infrared rays (IR) wireless communication device.

11. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said communication interface is a wireless communication interface for providing said intercommunicating toy to wirelessly download said second data from a computer.

12. An intercommunicating toy comprising:

a first toy having a first wireless communication device; and

a second toy having a second wireless communication; said first toy and said second toy communicate through said first wireless communication device and said second wireless communication device; said second toy acts according to a first command of said first toy; said first toy acts according to a second command of said second toy so as to make an intercommunication effect.

13. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein both said first toy and said second toy have an updateable memory.

14. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 13 wherein said software is updated through a communication interface; said communication interface is connected to a computer; said computer is connected to a web site of an internet.

15. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 14 wherein said communication interface is a parallel port.

16. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 14 wherein said communication interface is a serial port.

17. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein both said first wireless communication device and said second wireless communication device are a radio frequency wireless communication device.

18. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein both said first wireless communication device and said second wireless communication device are an infrared rays wireless communication device.

19. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein said toys have a shape of an animal.

20. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein said intercommunication effect includes a sound, a light and an act.