Abstract:
A novelty system for attaching to a vehicle featuring a first housing designed to resemble a front or a head of a mascot and a second housing designed to resemble a back portion or a tail of the mascot; means of attaching the housings to the front and rear of the vehicle, respectively; a speaker disposed in the first housing for emitting sounds such as animal sounds or fight songs; a motor disposed in the second housing for moving or rotating the second housing; and a remote control for controlling the first and second housings.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a sports novelty item, more particularly to an electronic sports novelty item for mounting on a vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many fans want to support their favorite teams in any way possible. The present invention features a sports team novelty system for attaching to a vehicle, which allows a user to display support for his/her favorite team. The novelty system is designed to resemble an animal or mascot for a sports team. 
     Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of the first housing of the sports team novelty system of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the second housing of the sports team novelty system of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the remote control for the sports team novelty system of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the sports team novelty system of the present invention as attached to a vehicle. 
         FIG. 5  is a block representation of the electrical components of the novelty system of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-5 , the present invention features a sports team novelty system  100  for attaching to a vehicle  105 . The novelty system  100  of the present invention allows a user to display support for his/her favorite team. 
     The novelty system  100  is designed to resemble an animal or mascot for a sports team. In some embodiments, the novelty system  100  resembles a tiger. In some embodiments, the novelty system resembles another animal or mascot such as a hornet, a bulldog, an eagle, a wildcat, a cougar, a falcon, a devil, a wolf, a Trojan, or the like. 
     The novelty system  100  comprises a first housing  110 , which is designed to resemble the front or head part of the animal or mascot (e.g., a tiger head, an eagle head, a hornet head). The first housing  110  is for installing on the front  106  of a vehicle  105 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is attached to the front  106  of a vehicle  105  via one or more first straps  190  (e.g., elastic straps), for example with first hooks  191 . 
     The novelty system  100  of the present invention further comprises a second housing  120  designed to resemble the back portion or tail of the animal or mascot (e.g., tiger tail, eagle tail, hornet stinger). The second housing  120  is for attaching to the rear  107  of a vehicle  105 . In some embodiments, the second housing  120  is attached to the rear  107  of the vehicle  105  via one or more second straps  192  (e.g., elastic straps), for example with second hooks  193 . 
     Disposed inside the first housing  110  is a first microprocessor  160 . A speaker  180  is disposed on the housing  110  and is operatively connected to the first microprocessor  160 . The system  100  also comprises a first receiver operatively connected to the first microprocessor  160 . The first microprocessor  160  comprises a memory component (e.g., random access memory, flash memory) programmed with various sounds, for example sounds such as sounds of animals (e.g., tiger roar) and/or songs such as fight songs for teams. When the speaker  180  is activated, it emits the sound accordingly. 
     The first microprocessor  160  and/or speaker  180  and/or first receiver are operatively connected to a power source. In some embodiments, the power source is an electrical system of the vehicle  149  or a battery. In some embodiments, the microprocessor  160  and/or speaker  180  and/or first receiver  170  are operatively connected to the electrical system of the vehicle  149  via first wiring  145 . 
     A motor  210  and a second receiver  270  are both disposed inside the second housing  120 . The motor  210  (when activated) functions to cause the second housing  120  to move or rotate (e.g., if the second housing  120  is a tiger tail, the tiger tail can be made to wag). Such motors are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. A second microprocessor  260  is operatively connected to the motor  210  and the second receiver. 
     The second microprocessor  260  and/or motor  210  and/or second receiver  270  are operatively connected to a power source. In some embodiments, the power source is an electrical system of the vehicle  149  or a battery. In some embodiments, the second microprocessor  260  and/or motor  210  and/or second receiver  270  are operatively connected to the electrical system of the vehicle  149  via second wiring  148 . 
     The novelty system  100  the present invention further comprises a remote control  310 , which allows a user to operate the system  100  while inside the vehicle  105 . Disposed inside the remote control  310  are a third microprocessor  340  and a transmitter  330 , wherein the transmitter  330  is operatively connected to the third microprocessor. 
     A plurality of control buttons  320  for operating the first housing  110  and/or the second housing  120  are disposed on the remote control  310 . For example, a first housing button may function to control the first housing  110  and a second housing button may function to control the second housing  120 . The control buttons  320  may each be operatively connected to the third microprocessor. Control buttons  320  are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. 
     The third microprocessor is configured to receive a first input signal from the first housing button when the first housing button is pressed. Upon receipt of the first input signal, the third microprocessor is configured to generate a first output command to the transmitter  330  to cause the transmitter  330  to emit a first transmitter signal to the first receiver. 
     The first microprocessor  160  is configured to receive a first receiver input signal from the first receiver when the first receiver receives the first transmitter signal from the transmitter. Upon receipt of the first receiver input signal the first microprocessor  160  is configured to generate a speaker output command to the speaker  180  to cause the speaker  180  to emit a sound. 
     The third microprocessor is configured to receive a second input signal from the second housing button when the second housing button is pressed. Upon receipt of the second input signal, the third microprocessor is configured to generate a second output command to the transmitter  330  to cause the transmitter  330  to emit a second transmitter signal to the second receiver. 
     The second microprocessor  170  is configured to receive a second receiver input signal from the second receiver when the second receiver receives the second transmitter signal from the transmitter. Upon receipt of the second receiver input signal the second microprocessor  170  is configured to generate a motor output command to the motor  210  cause the motor  210  to move the second housing  210 . 
     In some embodiments, the third microprocessor and/or the transmitter  330  are operatively connected to a power source. In some embodiments, the power source is an electrical system of the vehicle  149  or a battery. In some embodiments, the third microprocessor and/or the transmitter  330  are operatively connected to the electrical system of the vehicle  149  via third wiring  147 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the microprocessor stores all information for the first housing  110  (e.g., sounds such as tiger roar, fight songs, etc.). An audio circuit may supply the information to an amplifier (e.g., a 50 W amplifier), which is then fed to the speaker. In some embodiments, the amplifier comprises volume control. The transmitter may be a UHF-FM transmitter. The 12V DC vehicle power supply may provide regulated power supply with a quick disconnect plug from the car battery. 
     The first housing  110  and/or the second housing  120  may be constructed in a variety of sizes. In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 5 to inches tall as measured from the top end  113  to the bottom end  114 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 10 to 15 inches tall as measured from the top end  113  to the bottom end  114 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is more than about 15 inches tall. 
     In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 5 to 10 inches long as measured from the first side end  111  to the second side end  112 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 10 to 15 inches long as measured from the first side end  111  to the second side end  112 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is more than about 15 inches long. 
     in some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 5 to 10 inches wide as measured from the front end  115  to the back end  116 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is between about 10 to 15 inches wide as measured from the front end  115  to the back end  116 . In some embodiments, the first housing  110  is more than about 15 inches wide. 
     As used herein, the term “about” refers to plus or minus 10% of the referenced number. For example, an embodiment wherein the first housing  111  is about 10 inches wide includes a first housing  111  that is between 9 and 11 inches wide. 
     The following the disclosures of the following U.S. Patents are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein: U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,390; U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,951; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,679; U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,039; U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,633; U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,866; U.S. Pat. Application No. 2007/0124972; U.S. Pat. Application No. 2006/0001284. 
     Various modifications of the invention, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. Each reference cited in the present application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.