Abstract:
A toy that can move around an object. The toy includes a drive mechanism that can move a housing in either a first direction or a second direction. The toy also includes a sensor that can be used to remotely sense an object. The sensor and drive mechanisms are coupled to a controller that can change the direction of the housing when the object is remotely sensed through the sensor.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a motorized electric toy that can remotely sense and avoid an object. 
     2. Background Information 
     There have been developed a number of toys that emit sounds or move body parts in response to a change of environment. Tiger Electronics sold a toy under the trademark FURBY that would emit speech and move body parts in response to changes in light or movement of the toy. For example, the toy would open its eyes when exposed to light. The FURBY doll had no means to move across a surface. 
     Tyco Preschool sold a toy set under the trademark ELMO AND HIS DOG. The toy set included a dog which contained a receiver and an “ELMO” character that had a transmitter. Pressing the ELMO character would cause the transmitter to transmit signals to the receiver and move the dog. The child could control the movement of the dog through the ELMO character. If the dog encountered an object the child would have to press the ELMO character to move the toy dog around the object. The dog had no means to move around the object without the child&#39;s input. 
     There have been other walking toy dogs such as a product sold by Toybiz under the trademark POOCH THE GOOD PUPPY. The Toybiz dog would move toward a child who emitted a sound. The toy dog also contained a number of buttons that could be depressed to initiate a movement of the dog. For example, the toy would sit when a button was depressed on the dog&#39;s back. Toymax marketed a toy dog that would lift its leg and release a liquid when a child squeezed a bone attached to the dog. None of these toys could sense and move around an object. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of the present invention includes a toy that can move around an object. The toy includes a drive mechanism that can move a housing in either a first direction or a second direction. The toy also includes a sensor that can be used to remotely sense an object. The sensor and drive mechanisms are coupled to a controller that can change the direction of the housing when the object is remotely sensed through the sensor. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of a toy of the present invention engaging a wall; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the toy operating in a different mode; 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the toy operating in the mode shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the toy operating in the mode shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is an illustration showing different components of the toy; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic showing a system of the toy. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, FIGS. 1,  2 ,  3  and  4  show an embodiment of a toy  10  of the present invention. The toy  10  may include a housing  12  that is constructed to simulate a dog. The dog housing  12  may have a plurality of legs  14  that are coupled to a body  16 . The toy dog  10  can move across a surface  18 . Although a housing constructed as a dog is shown and described, it is to be understood that the housing may simulate other objects such as a toy vehicle. 
     The toy dog  10  may move toward an object  20  such as a wall. The toy  10  may move relative to the object  20  in accordance with one of two modes. In the first mode shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the toy dog  10  will move away from the object  20  when the dog  10  makes contact with the wall. In the second mode the toy dog  10  will move away from the object  20  when the dog  10  remotely senses the wall as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. 
     The housing  12  may include eyewear  22  that can pivot relative to a head  24 . The head  24  may have toy eyes  26 . The position of the eyewear  22  corresponds to the mode of the toy  10 . When the toy  10  is in the first mode the eyewear  22  is away from the eyes  26  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. When the toy  10  is in the second mode the eyewear  22  is adjacent to the eyes. With such an arrangement the dog  10  will remotely sense the object  20  and move while it is “wearing” the eyewear  22 . In the first mode the dog  10  will not be wearing the eyewear  22  and will “crash” into the object  20  before moving, thus giving the appearance of being blind. Alternatively, the toy dog  10  may not move away from the object  20  in the first mode. With this embodiment the toy  10  would merely crash into the wall. 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 show an embodiment of the toy dog  10 . The toy dog  10  may include a drive mechanism  28  that moves the body  12  relative to the surface  18 . The drive mechanism  28  may include an electric motor  30  that rotates a pair of drive wheels  32  through a gear train assembly  34 . The toy  10  may have a drive wheel  32  located on each side of the dog housing  12 . Rotation of the drive wheel  32  moves the toy  10  across the surface  18 . The gear train  34  may have clutches that allow only one drive wheel  30  to be engaged so that the toy  10  can turn as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4. The toy dog  10  may have a caster wheel  36  to support the rear end of the housing  12  and allow pivotal movement of the toy  10 . 
     The toy dog  10  may have a remote sensor assembly  38  that is connected to a controller  40 . The controller  40  is also connected to the electric motor  30  and the drive train  34 . The remote sensor assembly  38  may include a transmitter  42  and a receiver  44 . The transmitter  42  may transmit a signal that is reflected from the object  20  and detected by the receiver  44 . By way of example, the transmitter  42  and receiver  44  may transmit and detect light having an infrared wavelength. 
     The controller  40  may include a processor circuit, a memory circuit and associated interface circuits such as analog to digital (A/D) and digital to analog (D/A) circuits (not shown). The various circuits can process signals from the remote sensor assembly  38  to determine when the toy  10  is within a threshold proximity of the object  20 , and provide corresponding signals to the electric motor  30  and drive train  34  to move the toy away from the wall. The process can be performed in accordance with instructions and data provided to the processor circuit. All of the electrical components of the toy  10  can be powered by a battery(ies)  46 . 
     The toy  10  may also have a contact sensor  48  that is connected to the controller  40 . The contact sensor  48  will provide output signal(s) when the sensor  48  engages the object  20 . The output signal(s) is processed by the controller  40  which provides output signals to the drive train  34  so that the toy  10  moves away from the object  20 . By way of example, the contact sensor  48  may be a proximity switch. 
     The eyewear  22  may be attached to a switch  50  that is connected to the controller  40 . The end user may move the eyewear  22  into one of two positions which sets the mode of the toy. When the eyewear  22  is in the position shown in FIG. 2, the controller  40  will be in the second mode and only process data from the remote sensor assembly  38 . When the eyewear  22  is in the position shown in FIG. 1, the controller  40  will be in the first mode and only process data from the contact sensor  48 . By way of example, the switch  50  may be connected to an enable switch of a multiplexor which switches between a remote sensor channel and a contact sensor channel so that the processor receives data from one of the two sensors  38  or  48 . Thus, in the first mode the remote sensor assembly  38  is de-coupled from the controller  40 . In the second mode the sensor assembly  38  is coupled to the controller  40 . 
     The toy  10  may include a speaker  52  that is connected to the controller  40 . The controller  40  may provide signals to the speaker  52  to emit audible sounds in accordance with the processor program. For example, when the object  18  is detected through the remote sensor assembly  38  the speaker may emit the phrase “uh oh” before the toy is moved away from the wall. 
     The toy  10  may include a remote controller  54  that can be coupled to the controller  40  through a connector  56 . The remote controller  54  may have a plurality of buttons  58  that can be manipulated by the end user to control the movement of the toy  10 . The controller  40  may be configured so that input from the remote controller  54  overrides the signals from the sensors  38  or  48 . Alternatively, the signals from the sensors  38  or  48  may override the signals from the remote controller  54  so that the toy  10  automatically moves relative to the object  18 . 
     In operation, the end user turns on the toy  10  through a master “on-off” switch (not shown) and then moves the eyewear  22  to a desired position. The drive mechanism then moves the toy  10 . If eyewear  22  is up as shown in FIG. 1, the toy  10  will move relative to the object only upon contact with the wall. If the eyewear  22  is down as shown in FIG. 2 the toy  10  will move relative to the object upon detection through the remote sensor assembly  38 . 
     While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.