Sound or voice responsive timepiece

A timepiece having a speech synthesizer output device is disclosed herein. The speech synthesizer is responsive to sound input such as human voices (e.g., what time is it?) or the sound of clapping of hands to provide an audible indication of time information. The intensity of the audible indication is varied with the intensity of the sound input.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a timepiece capable of providing an audible 
indication of time information in the form of synthesized human voices in 
response to a sound or voice. 
Timepieces are known which provide, for example, by means of a liquid 
crystal display a visual display of time information in response to an 
incoming sound (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52/45507). 
Also known is a timepiece adapted to display time in response to sound or 
a clapping of hands (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 
53/38627). It may not be convenient to look at such a timepiece when the 
user is visually impaired or does not wish to divert his or her attention 
away from something for any reason. 
With timepieces operable in response to actuation of an input means such as 
a key switch, a touch switch or a wireless remote control, a user may well 
operate such an input means in the vicinity of the timepieces so that a 
visual display of time, rather than an audible display, is adequate. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
timepiece capable of providing an audible indication of time information 
in response to sound or voice which avoids the above discussed problems 
with known devices. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a timepiece 
capable of providing an audible indication of time information in response 
to the sound of clapping of hands or words such as capable of "what time 
is it?" as well as controlling the intensity or volume of the audible 
display according to the intensity of the sound of clapping of hands or 
human voices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a timepiece according to an 
embodiment of the present invention, which includes a microphone MIC for 
receiving a sound or human voice, a buffer amplifier BA for amplification 
of the output of the microphone, a predetermined number of band pass 
filters BF.sub.1 -BF.sub.n for dividing the human voice input into several 
components of different frequency bands, an equal number of low pass 
filters LF.sub.1 -LF.sub.n one for each of the band pass filters, a 
multiplexer MP, a level detector LS for detecting the level of the sound 
or human voice from the buffer amplifier, a time axis detector TS, an 
amplifier normalizer AQ for normalizing the amplitude of each envelop 
output derived from the respective filters for each frequency band, an 
analog-to-digital converter AD for conversion of an analog signal to a 
digital signal. There is further provided a first sound information memory 
M.sub.1, typically a RAM, for storing digital codes indicative of the 
normalized envelop outputs of the respective frequency bands, a second 
sound information memory M.sub.2, typically a RAM, to which the contents 
of the first memory M.sub.1 are loaded via time axis modifier TQ, and a 
third sound information memory M.sub.3, typically a RAM, for storing the 
digital coded output of the analog-to-digital converter which converts the 
envelop output normalized according to the amplitude of the output signal 
of the level detector LS. The last memory M.sub.3 has an input control IC 
and an output control OC. A time axis modifier TQ executes time axis 
modification on the contents of the memory M.sub.1 in response to the 
output signal of the time axis detector TS and shifts the so modified 
contents of the first memory M.sub.1 to the second memory M.sub.2 upon 
completion of introduction of the sound input. A sound information 
comparator J.sub.1 is operatively connected between the memories M.sub.2 
and M.sub.3, while a comparator J.sub.2 is connected between the memory 
M.sub.2 and the time axis detector TS. The illustrated timepiece further 
includes an AND gate AG, an OR gate OG, a sound generation time detector 
J.sub.3, a clock generator CG, a divider DV, a timekeeping counter CO, a 
data transmission control DO, a voice synthesizer control VSC, a loud 
speaker SP, a register switch WS for registering a specific instruction 
word of use for delivery of an audible indication of time information, an 
amplifier AMP and a hold circuit AH for holding the output of the level 
detector LS. 
The above timepiece operates in the following manner. 
(Register Mode) 
This is a mode by which a word is registered for enabling the user to 
instruct the timepiece to deliver an audible indication of time 
information such as updated time of the day, alarm time settings and 
elapsed time, etc. For example, when a user wants to use the words "what 
time is it?" to learn the current time, the register switch WS is first 
switched ON and then the user says "what time is it?" into microphone MIC. 
The envelop outputs of the respective frequency bands are derived through 
the band pass filters BF.sub.1 -BF.sub.n and the low pass filters LF.sub.1 
-LF.sub.n and normalized through the amplitude normalizer AQ. That is, the 
circuit AQ normalizes the respective envelop amplitudes based upon the 
amplitude of the output signal of the level detector LS. By the 
analog-to-digital converter AD the output signal of the AQ circuit is 
converted into digital codes and stored into the sound information memory 
M.sub.3 via the input control IC. It is noted that under this circumstance 
the comparator J.sub.1 is inhibited from reading the contents of the 
memory M.sub.3 under control of the output control OC. 
(Normal Mode) 
By switching OFF the register switch WS, the timepiece is brought into 
normal mode wherein time will be audibly indicated when the user says the 
same words as previously registered in the timepiece. Firstly, the digital 
codes indicative of the normalized envelop outputs of the different 
frequency bands are loaded into the sound information memory M.sub.1. Upon 
completion of introduction of the sound input, the time axis modifier TQ 
executes time axis modification on the contents of the memory M.sub.1 
based upon the output signal of the time axis detector TS and loads the 
resultant contents into the memory M.sub.2. The purpose of the time axis 
modification is to compress or expand the digital signals to be equal in 
length to the length of time for audible indication regardless of whether 
it was said slowly or quickly. Thereafter, the comparator J.sub.1 compares 
information in the memory M.sub.3 and that in the memory M.sub.2 and, if a 
degree of correlation of more than a given value is found, provides an 
agreement signal S.sub.1. The data transfer control DO permits the count 
of the timekeeping counter to be serially shifted to the voice synthesizer 
control VSC. The amplifier AMP varies its amplification factor as a 
function of the amplitude of the output signal from the hold circuit AH 
and then drives the loud speaker SP. The hold circuit AH allows an audible 
indication of "it's now--" to be delivered with an enhanced intensity when 
the viewer says loudly "what time is it?." The comparator J.sub.2 decides 
whether the contents of the memory M.sub.2 contains a typical frequency 
band component characteristic of sound of clapping of hands and, when 
regarded as the hand clapping sound, provides a signal S.sub.2. On the 
other hand, the circuit J.sub.3 detects the length of time of the sound 
input and when it is less than a given length, provides a signal S.sub.3. 
When the signals S.sub.2 and S.sub.3 have been developed the data transfer 
control DO becomes operable. 
As stated previously, the present invention provides an audible indication 
of time in response to mere generation of a simple sound without special 
or difficult manipulation. Even children or feeble or handicapped persons 
can easily render the timepiece operable to audibly indicate time and 
whenever necessary. 
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be 
varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure 
from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications are 
intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.