US20060286895A1

US20060286895A1 - Talking doll

Info

Publication number: US20060286895A1
Application number: US11/455,069
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul Thomson; Wolfgang Strobel; Stephen Ziegler; Mark Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-06-17
Filing date: 2006-06-17
Publication date: 2006-12-21

Abstract

A doll having a body and a speech mechanism within the body, wherein the speech mechanism plays a first emotional speech phrase upon the activation of a switch at a first location within the doll's body and a second emotional speech phrase at a second location within the doll's body.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to talking dolls of the type having internal prerecorded speech mechanisms and more particularly, to a talking doll of the type having internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanisms, wherein the doll has a first speech pattern when activated by pressing on a first part of the doll's body and a second speech pattern activated by pressing on a second part of the doll's body.
Dolls have been developed for entertainment in which various speech phrases occur upon activation of a switch mechanism. Such speech phrases have included sayings that have been solely complimentary or are such that they reflect positive attitudes. While such dolls provide entertainment, until now, no such dolls have been developed for entertainment purposes such that they have speech phrases that are complimentary when activated in one manner and derogatory when activated in another manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a first emotional speech phrase upon the activation of a switch at a first location within the doll's body and a second emotional speech phrase at a second location within the doll's body.
It is also desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays several different speech phrases for the same activation place within the doll's body.
It is similarly desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that allows the speech phrases to be randomly accessed.
It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a first derogatory emotional speech phrase upon the activation of a switch at a first location within the doll's body and a second complimentary emotional speech phrase at a second location within the doll's body.
It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a sexual or other response sound upon the activation of a switch positioned at a particular location within the body of the doll.
It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a sexual or other response sound upon the activation of a switch positioned at a particular location within the body of the doll and of a timing mechanism that activates the sound mechanism after a certain amount of time.
It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a sexual response sound upon the activation of a series of switches positioned at particular locations within the body of the doll.
It is desirable to provide a talking doll of the type having an internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism that plays a sexual or other response sound upon the activation of a switch positioned at a particular location within the body of the doll and wherein said sexual or other response increases in intensity upon continued activation of said switch.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a talking doll having within it a speech mechanism comprising a microprocessor speech synthesizer computer chip that contains thereon several prerecorded or recordable speech phrases and which is activated by electro-mechanical speech-activating switches that are placed under the doll's outer skin at two different locations or contact points, on the doll's body. Each speech-activating switch activates the speech chip to play a different one of the several prerecorded or recordable speech phrases for one of two different emotions, one being complimentary and one being derogatory, through a speaker(s) mounted within the doll's body. The talking doll is structured so that activation of a speech-activating switch on one area of the doll will immediately turn the power on and play the desired speech phrase on the portion of the chip associated with the area of the doll's body.
The doll is further equipped with two characteristic types of prerecorded or recordable speech, a first characteristic speech includes derogatory speech when activated by an activation switch located in a neutral body part, such as a hand, arm, and the like, and a second characteristic speech including complimentary speech when activated by an activation switch located in a private body part, such as the groin, crotch, genital, or buttock area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

To provide a more complete understanding of the present invention and further features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a talking doll of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 shows a fragmentary front elevational view of the doll of FIG. 1 with the outer skin and coverings removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to talking dolls and more particularly, to a talking doll for entertainment purposes that speaks a derogatory phrase when activated by a switch located in a hand or arm or other region of the doll's body and a complimentary phrase when activated by a switch located in the groin, crotch, genital, or buttock portion (herein referred to as “private portion”) of the doll's body. The application however, is not intended to be limited by the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. It should be understood that as used herein the term “speech” includes a single word, a plurality of words, a sound (such as a burp or other body sounds), a plurality of sounds, and any combination thereof.
In an embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 1, the doll 100 is in the form of a human male having a body 102 having a chest portion 104 and head 106, a right arm 108 and hand 110, a left arm 112 and hand 114, a right leg 116 and foot 118, a left leg 120 and foot 122, and a private portion 124. Not shown in FIG. 1 are the speech mechanism parts of the present invention, e.g., the electro-mechanically activated switches that activate the speech mechanisms, the microprocessor that runs the speech programs and stores the speech data, the mechanism that reproduces the speech data signals and feeds them to the speaker, and the speaker mechanism that plays the speech phrases. It should be understood that a microphone for recording speech and an amplifier to improve sound quality may also be included in the speech mechanism.
The internal mechanisms of the doll 100 may be covered by any of the conventional materials used for stuffing and covering dolls. Preferably, the outer surfaces or “skin” of the head 106, hands 110, 114 and feet 118, 122 should be made from a suitable, flesh-colored flexible polymeric material, such as polyurethane or polyvinyl polymer or co-polymer, and the body 102, arms 108, 112 and legs 116,120 should preferably be stuffed with a non-flammable, nontoxic, polymeric fiber-fill material, such as a spun or cut polycarbonate. The material that comprises the outer surface or “skin” of head 106 of doll 100 is made of a flesh-colored, semi-rigid polymeric material. It should be understood that skin may also be of a softer, fabric or fabric-like or rubber-like material.
Within various parts of the doll 100 are electro-mechanically activated speech activating switches that are set beneath the doll's skin. FIG. 2 shows a cutaway version of FIG. 1 revealing the placement of the electro-mechanical speech activating switches and the speech mechanisms. The speech-activating switch 126 that activate the playing of derogatory speech phrases are set at various places in the right hand 110 or left hand 114, as shown in FIG. 2. The speech-activating switch 128 for playing complimentary speech phrases is situated within the private portion 124 of the body 102.
Each of the speech-activating switches may be one of many electro-mechanical switches in the art of electrical switches but is preferably of the push-button momentary-type switch. Using momentary-type switches for speech activation enables each switch to be activated by only momentary pressure and then immediately deactivated, without requiring sustained pressure on the switch. Each of the speech-activating switches is connected through a wire 130 to an assembly 132 having the following functions: microcontroller, speech synthesizer, speech ROM, program ROM, data RAM, and oscillator. This assembly, which is capable of allowing the doll to operate, is mounted on a printed electronic circuit board 134. The assembly preferably comprises a single integrated chip (IC), and any commercially available IC having the aforementioned functions could be used. An example of such a commercially available IC is a ISD5216 speech chip/microprocessor manufactured by Winbond Electronics Corporation, which can be custom-manufactured with digitized prerecorded speech data and program software data in ROM (read-only memory). The microprocessor is also equipped with a memory buffer for temporary storage of the desired sequence of phrases during programming operation. It should be understood that the doll may also contain a microphone and chip mechanism allowing recording of speech sounds and subsequent playback of said sounds after activation of the appropriate activation switch. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the doll may include a conventions USB type input mechanism effective for recording sounds.
As shown in FIG. 2, the assembly 132 is set within the body 102 of doll 100 and is surrounded with stuffing (not shown) to prevent damage to the assembly 132 by jarring or other violent motions and to insulate the assembly 132 from extreme temperatures. Electrically mounted to the assembly 132 and facing toward the front of the doll 100 is a small speaker 136, such as those typically used in toy applications. A battery pack 138 containing places for one or more batteries for powering the doll 100 is removably mounted within the doll 100. The doll 100 is also provided with a door or removable panel 140 for user access to the battery pack 138. Also, as discussed, electro-mechanical speech-activating switch 126 is mounted within the arm 108, 112 or hand 110, 114 of the doll 100 for playing derogatory speech phrases. In addition, because the electronic “power up” and automatic shut-off features, discussed below, enable the doll 100 and its internal circuitry to be normally powered-off and to be powered-on only from the time a speech-activating switch 126, 128 is pressed until the time the associated speech has completed playing, the physical movement of a switch from the “on” position to the “off” position and back again is rendered unnecessary. The speech chip within the assembly 132 comprises prerecorded speech phrases that have been digitized, processed and synthesized. Preferably, the speech phrases are arranged in pairs, each pair being associated with either the hand or crotch area switches, 126, 128, respectively, as discussed above. For example, when the hand switch 126 is activated, a derogatory phrase is played. When the crotch switch 128 is then activated, a related complimentary phrase is then played.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the internal prerecorded or recordable speech mechanism of the assembly operates to play a sexual response sound upon the activation of a switch positioned at a particular location within the body of the doll. In this way when the appropriate activation switch is activated by the user the doll plays a sexual or other responsive sound. In another embodiment, the speech mechanism includes a timer or counter such that the sexual or other responsive sound is made after the activation switch has been activated for a certain period of time or after a certain number of activations of the switch.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the speech mechanism is activated to play a sexual or other response sound upon the activation of a series of switches positioned at particular locations within the body of the doll.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the speech mechanism operates to play a sexual or other response sound upon the activation of a switch positioned at a particular location within the body of the doll and increases in intensity upon continued activation of the switch.
Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understandings, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, it should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as exemplary of the principals of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the subject specification.

Claims

1. A doll comprising:

a body;

an internal speech mechanism that plays a first emotional speech phrase upon the activation of a switch at a first location within said body and a second emotional speech phrase at a second location within said body.

2. The doll of claim 1 wherein said speech mechanism is effective for playing more than one speech phrase activated by the same activation switch within said body.

3. The doll of claim 1 wherein said speech mechanism that allows the speech phrases to be randomly accessed.

4. A doll comprising:

an internal speech mechanism within said body, wherein said speech mechanism is operates to play a first derogatory emotional speech phrase upon the activation of a switch at a first location within the said body and a second complimentary emotional speech phrase at a second location within said body.

5. The doll of claim 4 wherein said speech mechanism operates to play a sexual response upon the activation of said switch positioned at said first location within said body.

6. The doll of claim 4 wherein said speech mechanism operates to play a sexual response upon the activation of said switch positioned at said first location within said body and includes a timing mechanism that activates said sound mechanism after a certain amount of time.

7. The doll comprising a body; a speech mechanism within said body; and a series of switches positioned at particular locations within said body and wherein said speech mechanism operates to play a sexual response upon the activation of said series of switches.

8. The doll of claim 7 wherein said speech mechanism operates to play a sexual response upon the activation of one of said switches and wherein said sexual response increases in intensity upon continued activation of said switch.