An impact-activated toy suitable for use in a child's crib which is capable of generating a series of melodies in response to successive impacts by a child spaced by more than, for example, ten minutes from the termination of the preceding melody. A momentary push-button switch for the mother's use is provided to cause the toy to generate a series of melodies in response to actuation by the mother when no melody is being generated or to stop the generation of any melody being generated at the time of the switch actuation.

This invention relates to an impact-activated toy and, more particularly, 
to a toy suitable for use as a crib toy for a young child. 
Sound-activated crib toys, for example, the sound-activated mobile 
described and claimed in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,696, which rotates in 
response to a child's crying, are known. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved 
impact-activated toy. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved 
impact-activated crib toy for use by a young child. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved 
impact-activated crib toy which has different modes of operation. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved 
impact-activated toy which generates music. 
In accordance with the invention, an impact-activated toy comprises a 
housing displaceable by an external impact thereon and an 
impact-responsive switch mounted in said housing. The toy also includes 
means responsive to actuation of the switch for generating sound appealing 
to a child in response to the momentary actuation of the switch caused by 
an impact on the housing. 
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other 
and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following 
description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its 
scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, an 
impact-activated toy 30 constructed in accordance with the invention is 
there represented. The toy 30 includes, for example, a cylindrical housing 
31 having separable portions 32, 32a of a suitable plastic material, which 
may be fastened together by any suitable means (not shown), for example, 
adhesive means. The housing 31 includes a suitable hangar 33 for hanging 
the housing from a rod (not shown) attached, for example, to a child's 
crib. The housing 31 is displaceable by an external impact thereon, for 
example, a push by a child. 
The toy includes an impact-responsive switch 34 mounted in the housing. The 
toy also includes means 35 responsive to actuation of the switch 34 for 
generating sound appealing to a child in response to the momentary 
actuation of the switch caused by an impact on the housing. The switch 34 
and the sound-generating means may, for example, be mounted on a suitable 
supporting board 36 attached inside the housing member 32 to suitable 
mounts 37, 37. The toy preferably also includes a momentary push button 
switch 38 for manually controlling the sound-generating means. 
As represented in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the switch 34 preferably is an 
electromechanical switch comprising a thin, elongated arm 34a and a switch 
contact 34b. The members 34a, 34b may, for example, be made of brass 
having a thickness of 5 mils. The switch 34 is impact actuated, that is, 
the switch member 34a vibrates in response to an impact on the housing to 
make contact with the member 34b. 
As will be explained more fully hereinafter, the sound-generating means 35 
electronically generates music. The sound-generating means preferably 
generates a predetermined sequence of musical melodies in response to 
successive impacts of said housing spaced by less than a predetermined 
interval, for example, ten minutes, from the termination of a preceding 
melody. The sound-generating means preferably generates the same 
predetermined sequence of musical melodies i.e.--beginning with the first 
melody in such sequence--in response to successive impacts of said housing 
spaced by more than the aforesaid predetermined interval from the 
termination of a preceding melody. The sound-generating means generates a 
sequence of musical melodies in response to a first actuation of the 
manually actuated switch 38. 
Referring now more particular to FIG. 4 of the drawings, there is 
represented an electrical schematic diagram of the toy. The switch 34 is 
represented as having a blade 34a movable to a contact 34b upon impact of 
the toy housing but normally in the open position. The switch 38 is also 
normally in the open position but may be closed manually as a momentary 
push-button switch. The circuit includes diodes 40, 41, 42, and 43 as 
components of the circuit for a microprocessor 44 which may, for example, 
be an integrated circuit COPS 444LR manufactured and sold by National 
Semiconductor Corp. and described in its July, 1981 bulletin. The 
microprocessor 44 includes a National Semiconductor EPROM (erasable 
programmable read only memory) that plugs directly into a socket of the 
microprocessor to form the COPS 444LR microprocessor. The EPROM portion of 
the microprocessor may, for example, be an MM2716 16,384-Bit UV Erasable 
PROM manufactured and sold by National Semiconductor Corp. and described 
in its 1980 "Memory" Databook. The EPROM portion of the microprocessor 
contains the program memory (software) that is represented in FIG. 5 
showing the ROM (read only memory) codes that represent the program 
memory. The memory instructs the microprocessor as to the functions it 
should perform, for example, play music, and turn power on or off. The 
program is written into the read only memory of the microprocessor at the 
time of its manufacture. Such programs, which can be generated by those 
skilled in the art of microprocessor programming, are written in the 
so-called "machine language" of the particular microprocessor utilized. 
For the National Semiconductor microprocessor represented in FIG. 4, the 
sequence of numbers and letters set forth in FIG. 5 represents the correct 
machine language program to cause the microprocessor to perform the 
desired functions of the toy. It will be readily appreciated by those 
skilled in the electronic arts that the exact program to be utilized in 
the microprocessor of the toy of the present invention will depend upon 
the internal structure of the microprocessor itself and the choice of 
connections for the various electronic elements of the toy. 
Such microprocessors include a plurality of exposed terminals which are 
sequentially numbered starting with the number 1 by the manufacturer. The 
connections of the various elements to these terminals are indicated by 
the numbering of the terminals in FIG. 4 in which the terminal numbers of 
the microprocessor 44 are preceded by the letter T and thus terminal T28 
of FIG. 4 corresponds to terminal 28 of the microprocessor. The letters DO 
and the like correspond to letters also individually designating the 
terminals on the unit manufactured by National Semiconductor. 
The toy also includes an integrated circuit 50 which is manufactured and 
sold by National Semiconductor as a CD4011M/CD4011C quadruple two-input 
NAND gate which contains four separate NAND gates and is described in 
National Semiconductor 1978 "CMOS" Databook. The NAND gates are labeled 
A,B,C,D and have terminal numbers 1 to 14 corresponding to the 
manufacturers terminal numbers on the physical unit. With terminals 1 and 
2 connected as represented in FIG. 4, the gate A functions as an inverter. 
The remaining gates B, C and D are also connected to function as 
inverters. Gates A, B, C, resistors 52, 53 and variable resistor 54 and 
condenser 55 are coupled to form an oscillator operating at approximately 
2.1 megahertz which provides the basic timing for the operation of the 
microprocessor 44. An oscillator or clock of this type is described in 
National Semiconductor Application Note AN-118, found in the 1978 "CMOS" 
Databook. Variable resistor 54 allows a small adjustment for precise 
setting of this frequency. Section D of integrated circuit 50, resistors 
56, 57, 58, transistors 59, 60, and diodes 41 and 43 comprise the power 
turn-on-off circuitry. When either switch 34 or switch 38 is momentarily 
closed, transistor 60 will turn the integrated circuits 44 and 50 on, that 
is, supply power from batteries 61. The integrated circuit 44 will hold 
itself on through the same components until either the switch 38 is pushed 
again or the program memory of the integrated circuit 44 instructs it to 
turn itself off. A separately represented portion 51 of the integrated 
circuit 50 includes power supply terminals 14, 7 connected to the 
transistor 60 and ground, respectively, for supplying power to the 
integrated circuit 50. 
With respect to the power turn-on, switches 34 and 38 are momentary 
switches that ground the cathodes of diodes 41 or 43 respectively. This 
ground is routed to resistor 56 and resistor 57 in order to turn on PNP 
transistor 60 which applies VCC (for example 6 volts DC) to terminal T11 
of microprocessor 44. When microprocessor 44 senses VCC it immediately 
grounds its terminal T17 (SO) which is inverted to a logic high (for 
example, 6 volts DC) by section D of integrated circuit 50. Current from 
the section D of integrated circuit 50 turns NPN transistor 59 on through 
resistor 58 which holds transistor 60 on through resistors 56 and 57, thus 
latching power on to all components. Section D of integrated circuit 50 
and transfer 59 are necessary in order to isolate VCC (6 volts DC) from 
integrated circuit 44 terminal T17 when power is turned off. This assures 
that there will be no current leakage path back to ground through the 
substrate of integrated circuit 44. 
With respect to power turn-off, switch 38 also provides a momentary ground 
to terminal T21 of integrated circuit 44 through diode 42. The program 
stipulates that whenever music is playing, a momentary grounding of 
terminal T21 (GO) of integrated circuit 44 will instruct integrated 
circuit 44 to cause its terminal T17 (SO) to change from a logic low 
(ground) to a logic high (6 volts DC). This action releases the latched 
condition of transistor 60 and interrupts VCC (6 volts DC) to terminal T11 
of integrated circuits 44, thus stopping the operation of all circuitry by 
the removal of power and stopping the playing of music. 
With respect to function-select circuitry when power is initially applied, 
by a momentary closure of switch 34 or switch 38, diode 40 or diode 42, 
respectively, will also ground either terminal T22 (G1) or terminal T21 
(GO) of integrated circuit 44, depending on which switch was actuated. At 
the same time that the power turn-on sequence occurs as described above, 
the program instructs integrated circuit 44 to read in the state (logic 
high, for example, 6 volts DC, or logic low, for example, ground,) of 
terminals T22 and terminal T21 and respond with the "kids" routine if 
switch 34 has grounded terminal T22 or respond with the "mommy" routine if 
switch 38 has grounded terminal 21. These routines are described herein 
subsequently. Diodes 40, 41, 42, 43 are necessary in order to isolate the 
power turn-on and function select circuitry. 
The transistor 62, resistor 63, resistor 64, resistor 65, resistor 66, 
condenser 67, condenser 68 and diode 69 and a piezo speaker 70 form the 
audio output circuitry. The music generated by the integrated circuit 44 
is coupled to the sound producing speaker 70 through these components in 
such a manner that the musical tones are slowly decayed in amplitude after 
each note is sounded rather than allowing them to end abruptly. This decay 
gives a more pleasing chime-like quality to the music. 
A 50% duty cycle square wave is generated by integrated circuit 44 and 
appears at terminals T28 and T16. Resistors 64 and 65 and condenser 67 
smooth the leading and trailing edges of each cycle so that the sound is 
less harsh than would be heard if listening to an unfiltered square wave. 
The rise and fall time of each note is altered to obtain a chime-like 
quality to the sound, as previously mentioned. This is accomplished by 
allowing each note to turn on rapidly (attack) and fade out slowly (decay) 
instead of ending abruptly. Transistor 62 is a PNP transistor coupling VCC 
(6 volts DC) to the speaker. By reducing current to the base of transistor 
62, the volume of each note produced by the speaker can be lowered or 
decayed at a rate controlled by resistor 66, resistor 63 and condenser 68. 
Each time a new note is generated by integrated circuit 44, the program 
instructs integrated circuit 44 to change terminal T27 (D1) from a logic 
high (6 volts DC) to a logic low (ground) for, for example, 10 
milliseconds. This action grounds the cathode of diode 69 and resistor 66 
which control the discharge time (attack) of condenser 68. After terminal 
T27 is released by integrated circuit 44, resistor 63 controls the 
charging time (decay) of condenser 68. When condenser 68 is discharged 
through resistor 66, transistor 62 is turned on and the note is heard from 
the speaker 70. As condenser 68 charges up through resistor 63 and the 
base-emitter junction of transistor 62, the volume of the notes fades and 
is slowly reduced to zero. 
The switch 34 is a momentary impact-actuated switch which is actuated by 
impact with resulting movement or vibration. The briefest closure of this 
switch in conjunction with diode 40 turns power on to all circuitry, and 
in accordance with the program, causes the first song to be played, and 
causes additional songs to be played in order, if the switch 34 is 
actuated after each previous song has finished playing but before the 
time-out period between songs (for example, 10 minutes has elapsed). If 
the time-out period between songs has elapsed, a subsequent actuation of 
the switch 34 causes the first song to be played again. This is in 
accordance with the program for the "kids" routine. 
The switch 38 is a momentary push-button switch that in conjunction with 
diode 41, is intended to be actuated manually by the child's mother. The 
function of the switch 38 in conjunction with the diodes 43 and 42 turns 
on power to all circuitry, causes integrated circuit 44 to play a series 
of songs continuously for approximately, for example, 20 minutes and then 
turns power off. This is in accordance with the program for the "mommy" 
routine. Switch 38 also turns music and power off if actuated while music 
is playing in either mode i.e. "kids" mode or "mommy" mode. The power 
supply may, for example, be 4 AA size 1.5 volt batteries in series 
combination totaling 6 volts DC. 
It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the "kids" and "mommy" 
routines can be changed as desired by altering the program memory of the 
integrated circuit 44. 
It will also be understood that the integrated circuits 44 and 50 have been 
described with respect to physical units that are particularly suited for 
a developmental embodiment of the invention. A commercial production 
embodiment would desirably use a single integrated circuit, for example, 
National Semiconductor integrated circuit COPS-411L, described in National 
Semiconductor 1980 "MOS" Databook, with circuit connections and program 
memory which are obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the 
foregoing specification. 
While there has been described what is at present considered to be the 
preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those 
skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made 
therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed 
to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit 
and scope of the invention.