Abstract:
A toy bank in the shape of an animal, doll, or character with an accompanying sound that correlates to the animal, doll, or character when a coin is deposited into the bank is provided according to the invention. The sound is provided by an integrated circuit inside a sound module contained inside the bank that transmits the prerecorded sound bite to a speaker. The sound module is automatically activated when the falling coin applies force against an associated prong that extends partially into the coin slot. Moreover, a clear, transparent collection chamber in the animal or character can allow the child to see the money grow in the bank. A coin counter installed inside the bank for determining the denomination of each inserted coin and showing the cumulative total of the deposited coins on an associated display panel provides further encouragement to the child to continue to deposit coins into the bank. Such a sound, visual accumulation of coins, and coin counter display provide a viscerally fun response to the depositing of coins into the bank, thereby further encouraging the child to save his or her money. By adapting the toy bank to a school mascot or popular entertainment or newsworthy figure with a sound bite to match, the toy bank could appeal to teenagers and adults too.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/168,275 filed on Jun. 28, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to the saving of money, and more specifically to a coin bank in the shape of an animal or character containing a receptacle for receiving deposited coins which activate a pre-recorded sound bite correlated with the animal or character when inserted into the bank to encourage the saving of money, entertain, or appeal to nostalgia. The bank can also display a cumulative tally of the coins deposited therein. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Saving money is contrary to human impulsiveness. It is much easier to spend money to buy products that a person desires, because this appeals to instant gratification—a powerful and often-times irresistible human trait. This can particularly be true for children. 
         [0004]    Therefore, it is known within the prior art to provide coin banks in the shape of animals that may appeal to humans, children in particular. Ceramic piggy banks are one example. Silver banks in the shape of rabbits or other animals are yet another example. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,817 issued to Ferrero. Such banks contain a rigid hollow body with a slot on top. The deposited coins collect within the hollow body of the animal bank until they are later removed by means of a plugged hole in the bottom, and deposited in a real bank or otherwise used. 
         [0005]    The primary appeal of such animal banks is the natural human psychological response to deposit “spare coins” within a fun or cute bank. Done over a prolonged period of time, such occasional coin deposits can grow to a substantial sum of money. This is a particularly valuable lesson for children, since it illustrates a reward for delayed gratification in the form of saving money. 
         [0006]    Nevertheless, for many children, animal banks with hard surfaces may be insufficiently appealing to generate a desire to save. Such animal banks may become quickly forgotten, gathering dust on the back of a dresser or closet shelf. Thus, efforts have been made to provide coin banks in the shape of familiar objects like animals or dolls, but with soft or plush exteriors that are huggable like a child&#39;s stuffed animal or doll. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,831,313 issued to Cichy; 4,401,259 issued to Knutson; and 6,186,852 issued to Davis. Children may want to play with such cuddly or huggable toy banks by depositing coins therein, thereby instilling a savings ethic. 
         [0007]    Still other efforts have been made within the prior art to provide a direct visual response to the depositing and collection of coins within a toy bank. Hence, U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 24,355 issued to Whalen, for example, takes the form of a soft-sided pig with a stomach that visibly expands as the deposited coin collection grows. Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,408 issued to Chestnut discloses a hard-surfaced dragon bank with a transparent cylindrical container within the main body for collecting the coins, and a serpentine pathway from the coin slot in the mouth to the collection chamber, so that child can watch the coin travel a circuitous path to the stomach. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,650,452 issued to Martin and 4,345,400 issued to Katzman et al. provide banks in the form of ducks or birds wherein the bill or beak moves or “chews” after the coin is deposited to entertain the child. 
         [0008]    See U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 291,938 issued to Kauffman; 354,834 and 378,786 issued to Chestnut; 426,595 issued to Jager; and 458,727 issued to Beacham for a variety of animal shapes for a toy bank. See also U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0045709 filed by Beacham et al. for a multi-compartment piggy bank that allows a child to allocate deposited coins between different financial objectives, including savings, spending, donations, and investments. 
         [0009]    Sound is another appealing motivator to encourage children to deposit their coins into a toy bank. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,002,313 issued to Hutchison discloses a chime bank containing a series of ramps for travel of the deposited coins with vertically-oriented chime at the end of each ramp, so that the coin strikes the chime to provide a tone. U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,452 issued to Martin entails a bird-shaped bank with a beak whose bottom portion is hinged to strike the body of the bird to make a percussive sound in response to the deposit of a coin. Yet, such sounds are relatively simplistic, and unlikely to appeal to a contemporary child accustomed to the visceral response of video games. Collection Etc., Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Ill. therefore now sells coin banks in the shape of traffic-lights or railroad crossing signals with electrical switches that activate flashing lights and the sound of a train passing through the station to entertain the child. However, the child needs to separately activate these signs and sounds by means of the manually-operated switch, since they are not triggered by the deposit of the coins. 
         [0010]    A superficially related but nonanalogous approach to rewarding a child is adopted by U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,407 issued to Dunford. It is directed to the task of teaching a child to use an adult toilet. Dunford discloses a “decorative container” placed on top of the toilet tank. The decorative container should be something that the child can hug, and toward this end Dunford suggests that it could be pig-shaped. When the child successfully uses the toilet, her parent supplies her a “reward token,” which is defined by Dunford as “an appropriate item that the child regards as a reward.” Candy and personalized good conduct tokens are provided as examples, along with a coin, although it is unclear how a small child would sufficiently understand the intrinsic value of money to regard it as a reward. 
         [0011]    Once the child inserts the reward token through a slot in the decorative container, it actuates an electronic music generator contained inside the decorative container to play “an enjoyable musical tune familiar to the child” like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” The musical tune does not appear to be correlated to the character of the decorative container. Finally, Dunford teaches that the parent should permit the child to empty the decorative container of its accumulated reward tokens and convert them into a larger reward that provides her instant gratification. While this important feature of the Dunford patent contradicts the inherent requirement of a toy bank that the child leave coins in the bank for a long time period to learn and practice money saving and fiscal discipline, such objectives are irrelevant to Dunford&#39;s decorative container that is employed for the entirely different purpose of teaching a small child over a short timeframe to use a toilet. 
         [0012]    Being able to include a prerecorded sound bite directly correlated to the animal or character shape of a toy bank could be very advantageous in terms of providing a viscerally fun response to the depositing of coins in the bank, thereby further encouraging the child to save his or her money. Moreover, a transparent collection chamber in the animal or character could allow the child to see the money grow in the bank. Furthermore, a coin counter contained within the toy bank operatively connected to a visual display panel for showing the cumulative amount of inserted coins will further encourage the child to save money. By adapting the toy bank to a school mascot or popular entertainment or newsworthy figure with a sound bite to match, the toy bank could appeal to teenagers and adults too. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    A toy bank in the shape of an animal, doll, or character with an accompanying sound that correlates to the animal, doll, or character when a coin is deposited into the bank is provided according to the invention. The sound is provided by an integrated circuit inside a sound module contained inside the bank that transmits the prerecorded sound bite to a speaker. The sound module is automatically activated when the falling coin applies force against an associated prong that extends partially into the coin slot. Such a sound provides a viscerally fun response to the depositing of coins into the bank, thereby further encouraging the child to save his or her money. Moreover, a clear, transparent collection chamber in the animal or character could allow the child to see the money grow in the bank. A coin counter installed inside the bank for determining the denomination of each inserted coin and showing the cumulative total of the deposited coins on an associated display panel provides further encouragement to the child to continue to deposit coins into the bank to save money. Furthermore, by adapting the toy bank to a school mascot or popular entertainment or newsworthy figure with a sound bite to match, the toy bank could appeal to teenagers and adults too. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    In the accompanying drawings: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective front view of a lamb embodiment of the toy bank of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective back view of the toy bank embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the coin slot housing, throat, and stomach portions of the toy bank of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the exterior of the sound module. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of the interior of the sound module of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a perspective front view of a further embodiment of the toy bank containing a coin counter and display panel. 
           [0021]      FIGS. 7-9  are cutaway views of the coin counter device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0022]    A toy bank comprising the shape of an animal or popular character containing a transparent chamber for collecting deposited coins and a sound chip that is triggered by each deposited coin to play a prerecorded sound bite that is congruent with the animal or character is provided by the invention. The toy bank can also feature a coin counter and associated display panel for showing the cumulative total of coins deposited into the bank. Such invention may provide a fun, entertaining, and educational method for encouraging children to save their money by depositing their coins into the bank, instead of spending it on other things. Moreover, a toy bank in the form of a popular or nostalgic figure could be appealing to teenagers or adults, as well. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 1 and 2  show the toy bank  10  of the present invention. In this case, it takes the form of a lamb with a head  12 , eyes  14 , ears  16 , nose  17 , mouth  18 , main body portion  20 , arms  22 , and legs  24 . It is important for the animal to be visually realistic enough that a child can readily identify with it. The animal can have a hard surface made from any suitable material like plastic, metal, ceramic, or wood for purposes of this invention. It can also be made from a soft material like cloth or felt. Even more ideally, it can take the form of a plush toy, so that the toy bank is similar to the other stuffed animals or dolls that a child likes to hug or cuddle and play with. 
         [0024]    Inserted into hole  30  in the top of the animal&#39;s head is coin slot housing  32 , as shown more clearly in  FIG. 3 . Coin slot housing  32  is a rectangular prism having two opposing side walls  34  and  36  and two opposing end walls  38  and  40 . Extending from the top edge of the housing is lip  42  which surrounds the perimeter of the housing. Also fabricated into the housing is slot  44  which extends vertically through the housing. The cross-sectional length and width a and b, respectively, of this slot must be sufficient to enable a coin to pass through it, while not too large so as to allow the coin to wobble or flutter while it travels downwardly through the slot, or otherwise enable a child to insert unwanted objects into the slot. For purposes of United States coins, slot  44  should be ¾″×1¾″ in dimensions, preferably ⅛″×1¼″. The toy bank of the present invention can be manufactured to accommodate foreign coins, as well. 
         [0025]    Throat  48  constitutes a rectangular-shaped tube having cross-sectional dimensions that complement the cross-sectional dimensions of coin slot housing  32 , so that the housing fits closely inside the throat. When properly inserted, the top wall  50  of the throat will abut the bottom surface of lip  42 , and flanges  52  and  54  extending inwardly from the top wall of the throat  48  will snap fit into groove  46  around the perimeter of the coin slot housing so that the two parts are joined in a secure fashion. The throat is preferably made from flexible plastic material to prevent breakage, as the toy bank is huggable and can be held by children. 
         [0026]    Stomach or belly  60  is preferably shaped like an oval prism, although other shapes may be employed, too. It constitutes two halves  62  and  64 . Half  62  has a series of prongs  66  which extend from circumferential end  68 . Half  64  has a series of recesses  70  formed into the circumferential end  72 . Prongs  66  are snap-fitted into the recesses  70  in a mated relationship to secure the two halves  62  and  64  together to form the stomach  60  that collects the deposited coins within the bank, as described more fully below. 
         [0027]    The stomach is inserted through hole  74  in the belly of the animal  10  so that the ends protrude slightly from the front and back of the animal. While the stomach chamber may be made from any suitable material, it is preferably manufactured from a clear and transparent or semi-transparent, but unbreakable, material like acrylic plastic, so that the child can clearly see the deposited coin collection grow over time from the front or back of the animal. This may provide an important incentive for the child to keep depositing coins, and thereby receiving a visual reward for saving. 
         [0028]    Rectangular cutaway regions  76  and  78  in stomach halves  62  and  64 , respectively, cooperate to form through hole  80 . The lower end of throat  48  is inserted into through hole  80  with outward flanges  82  on the throat snap fitting against sides  84  and  86  of the through hole to secure throat  48  to stomach  60 . It will be appreciated that a coin inserted into slot  44  of the toy bank will travel in a downwards direction by means of gravity through the slot and throat  48 , and fall into stomach  60  whereupon it remains until plug  88  is removed from discharge hole  90  in the bottom of the stomach  60  to remove the collected coins when, e.g., the child wishes to deposit the coins in a savings bank account. 
         [0029]    For a preferred embodiment, the animal  10  sits 14 inches high with a 7-inch long throat  48  and a 5-inch round stomach  60 . The bottom of the round stomach extends another 2 inches, and is supported by a 4½″ round base to balance the weight of the stomach filled with coins. The plug  88  is preferably 1½″ in diameter for U.S. coinage. 
         [0030]    In an important feature of the invention, coin slot housing  32  contains a sound chip that is activated when the coin depresses prong  92  as it travels through the slot  44 . As shown more fully in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , housing  32  actually constitutes a first half  96  and a second half  98  containing recessed chambers  100  and  102 , respectively. 
         [0031]    Installed in chamber  100  is a “sound module” or “sound chip” constituting a one-time programmable voice integrated circuit  106  that is powered by button cell batteries  108 . A sound chip is an integrated circuit (i.e., a “chip”) designed to produce sound. It may do this through digital, analog, or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips normally contain oscillators, envelope controllers, samplers, filters, and amplifiers. Prong  92  is wired to integrated circuit  106  so that when it is depressed to a sufficient degree by a coin falling through slot  44  to complete the electrical circuit, current is sent to the sound chip to cause the prerecorded sound bite to be played through speaker  110  contained in chamber  102  of housing half  98 , and connected to integrated circuit  106  by wires  112 . Such sound chips are produced by a large number of manufacturers, and may be sourced from George Kaufman at www.gmkmg.com or Popwin Giftware Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong for purposes of this invention. 
         [0032]    In an example embodiment of the invention, the integrated circuit can include read only memory or ROM that is preprogrammed by the manufacturer with the particular animal or character sound. Additionally, the integrated circuit can include an amplifier to increase the animal or character sound output. One skilled in the art will recognize the versatility of utilizing integrated circuits to modify or alter the audible outputs. Any changes or modifications to the circuitry should be considered to be within the spirit and scope of this invention. 
         [0033]    While this invention has been illustrated by a lamb, it could just as readily take the form of any other animal that is appealing to a child, including but not limited to dogs, cats, horses, monkeys, frogs, bears, pigs, cows, ducks, horses, donkeys, elephants, lions, and tigers. The sound bite should be congruent with the animal. Therefore, a toy bank in the form of a lion might include a sound chip containing two to three prerecorded seconds of a lion roaring. Likewise, a toy bank in the form of a dog (there are a large number of possible breeds) could include barking on the sound chip. 
         [0034]    Alternatively, the toy bank could adopt the form of a doll or a character. A wide variety of different characters are possible, including without limitation cartoon or animation characters, famous entertainers or movie stars, prominent political figures, and significant historical figures. Thus, a Disney character could sing one of their songs, Scooby Doo could exclaim “Scooby Doo!”, Elvis Presley could sing part of one of his popular songs, or Abraham Lincoln could recite part of the “Gettysburg Address.” 
         [0035]    In another possible embodiment of the present invention, the toy bank could adopt the form of a college mascot who sings part of the school&#39;s fight song when a coin is deposited into the bank. Due to a healthy dose of nostalgia, such toy banks could appeal to adults who are alumni of that college. Because almost anything can be prerecorded onto the sound chip, the toy bank of the present invention could take on almost an infinite number of forms. 
         [0036]    A further embodiment of the toy bank  10  of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 6-9  featuring coin counter  200  contained between coin slot  32  and throat  48 , coupled with a display panel  202  mounted inside or to the surface of the animal bank. The coin counting apparatus of the present invention includes a coin denomination detecting means  206 , and a circuitry  208 . 
         [0037]    Referring now to the embodiment in  FIGS. 6-9  showing the interior mechanics of counter device  200 , the coin denomination detecting means  206  is provided with a passageway which the width is defined by a pair of flat walls  209  and  210  spaced by a certain distance D, a measurement greater than the thickness of the thickest coin, and the breadth is defined by a pair of elements  212  and  214 , one of which is movably disposed respectively to both side of the passageway and generally spaced from the other element by a distance C, a measurement less than the smallest coin diameter. The movable element  214  is provided with a shaft having two ends  216  and  218  to keep this element  214  moving along the guiding slots  217  and  219  and between the walls. The second end  218  of the shaft is attached with a rack  220  for engaging to a pinion  222  which is further affixed with an arm  224 .  FIG. 9  illustrates the moved position of these aforegoing means which have been actuated consequently by an inserted coin. 
         [0038]    The arm is provided with an elastic conductive wiper  230  having a first and a second contact ends  232  and  234  to make contact respectively with an arched conductive strip  236  and a plurality of contact segments  238   a ,  238   b  . . . lined in arc on a circuit board  240 . Taking the center of the pinion  222  as a central point, there will be two different radii formed respectively from the axle to the first and the second contact ends  232  and  234  whereby the above indicated arc lines of both the conductive strip  236  and the lined contact segments are made. 
         [0039]    The contact segments are spaced according to the varying coin diameters, which will be discussed in further detail hereinafter. However, these segments  238   a ,  238   b , . . . are electrically connected with the detecting means  206  of the circuitry  208  to generate respectively varying signals for detection of the coin denominations. 
         [0040]    As a coin is inserted into the coin slot  32  and is pressed to pass through the passageway  207 , it forces the movable element  214  to move along and between the two opposite guiding slots  216  and  218 , thus the rack attached thereon will also be moved and rotate the pinion  222  to actuate the arm  224  moving clockwise. The larger the inserted coin is, the farther the arm moves. The two contact ends  232  and  234  contact respectively with the conductive strip  236  and the contact segments and by and the movement of the arm to generate signals in response to the insertion, and thereby provide signals concerning the denomination of the inserted coin to be displayed on the display window  202  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0041]    Since there are some coins with microdifferences in diameters, errors made in a production line or assembly line, in the construction of coin distinguishing means of the conventional type could result in erroneous coin diameter readings. To overcome this danger, the present invention employs a rack together with a pinion to actuate an arm, and in view of that the length of the arm, as well as the distances between the axle and the respective contact ends, are greater than the pitch diameter of the pinion, thus forming a magnifying mechanism for enlarging the moving distance, and the conductive wiper is thereby moved to a distance greater than the relative moving distance of the rack. Consequently, the contact segments are arranged and spaced from each other with appropriate greater distances which will reduce the probability of erroneous coin diameter readings due to errors in the productive process of the coin distinguishing the means. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,611 issued to Shuie, which is incorporated hereby by reference in its entirety. 
         [0042]    The counter device  205  suitable for the present invention can be sourced from Like Electronics or Shenzhen Electronics, both located in Shenzhen, China. 
         [0043]    The counter  200  of toy bank  10  can also be equipped with a reset button  250  for returning the monetary display of display window  202  to zero. This feature is useful when the child empties the accumulated coins from the bank, or wishes to keep track of the coins accumulated within the bank over a shorter time period. The circuitry of counter  200  can allow several different tallies to be displayed on display window  202  in conjunction with reset button  205 . 
         [0044]    The sound module, counter device, and display panel are shown as separate devices. However, it is possible to combine two or more of them into the same device for economy of manufacture. 
         [0045]    The toy bank of the present invention appeals to the senses visually by allowing a person to see how much money he has collected, and providing a very appealing decorative item to a child&#39;s room. The bank provides a sense of accomplishment by the child seeing how much money he has saved. The bank also appeals to the sense of touch because it is soft and huggable. The bank also appeals to the sense of sound by deposit of a coin activating a familiar and recognizable sound or tune, which corresponds to the theme of the bank. This encourages children to keep inserting coins to activate the sound again. 
         [0046]    The above specification, figures, examples, and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.