Abstract:
An electronic drawing assist toy comprising a drawing control mechanism operative to selecting a pattern to be displayed. A display screen is arranged in a two dimensional memory array and is selectively energized to sequentially display a selected pattern in response to operation of said control mechanism to assist the user in creating a corresponding drawing.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to line drawing toys, and more particularly to electronic toys that assists the user in making drawings.  
         Background Of The Invention  
         [0002]    Drawing is a popular activity. There are a wide variety of items that can be used for drawing. The most basic is paper and drawing tools such as, for example, pencils, pens, and crayons. Self-contained drawing toys exist which provide a convenient way to encourage creativity. These drawing toys are like a reusable pen and paper.  
           [0003]    There are a variety of microprocessor based toys and special purpose learning and teaching devices. None appear to be intended for drawing. Sophisticated computer hardware and software can provide drawing capability using a number of graphic and drawing programs. Such devices facilitate drawing of lines by dragging an electronic pointer around the screen. Such computer hardware and software, however, are not inexpensive, and require knowledge of the software, which often is a formidable task.. Furthermore, small computers, such as a laptop or hand held devices are probably too costly for use as an inexpensive drawing toy.  
           [0004]    Many children, particularly young children may not have an understanding of how to draw figures, even when trying to copy a drawing. They may not know where to begin., where to position other portions of the drawing, or how to produce a desired result. For example, they may not be able to perceive how to connect various portions of a drawing together.  
           [0005]    Even those drawing toys that do exist are not intended to assist the user&#39;s ability and understanding of how to draw a figure or the various portions thereof to produce the whole. Such assistance would be particularly desirable for helping Young children create drawings. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a simple electronic drawing toy for children that would encourage creativity. Such a drawing toy would provide assistance so a user can learn how to, and practice making a drawing. Such an assisted drawing toy would be relatively small, would be self-contained, and easy to use.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In accordance with the present invention there is provided such an electronic drawing assist toy for children. An assist drawing toy incorporating the principles of the present invention would be relatively small., would be self-contained, and easy to use.  
           [0007]    An electronic drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention includes a digital display screen having a plurality of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array and a memory for storing information to be displayed. A drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention stores display information representing a graphic or image that can be displayed on the display screen. Upon selection of an image to be displayed, the drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention selectively displays the selected image incrementally, pixel by pixel, to simulate the drawing of each line or segment which makes up the image to be displayed.  
           [0008]    One observing the image being “drawn” or incrementally displayed, typically a young child, can attempt to manually duplicate on a suitable drawing surface, each segment as it appears on the display screen. In this manner the drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention assists one attempting to create a drawing who observes an incremental display of an image which provides guidance as to what lines to draw in sequence and where to start and when to stop. A disclosed embodiment of the electronic drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention utilizes relatively simple control mechanisms for 1) selecting an image to be incrementally displayed, 2) for initiating the incremental display of the selected image, 3) for pausing the incremental display to permit the observer time to manually create at least a portion of the drawing corresponding to the most recent segment of the image displayed, 4) for reactivating the incremental image display operation, and 5) for erasing and repeating the incremental display from the beginning.  
           [0009]    In an alternative embodiment of the electronic drawing assist toy in accordance with the present invention a stencil is provided to further assist in the creation of a drawing corresponding to the image being incrementally displayed. A stencil is employed having openings corresponding at least in part to one of the stored images in position on the surface on which a drawing is to be created. The stencil includes one or more control members which interact with the electronic drawing assist toy to identify the image to be displayed. Each portion of the image corresponds to a segment of the stencil. As the image is incrementally displayed, the user can trace the corresponding portion of the stencil to create a drawing on the underlying surface.  
           [0010]    In a variation of the alternative stencil embodiment, the stencil is supported on a sensing surface. This sensor senses the manual trace of the stencil pattern. When the entire pattern is traced, a complete image is displayed on the display screen to show the complete image. While it is well known to use a stencil on mylar or the like tracing does not teach a child how to draw.  
           [0011]    Additionally, the various embodiments of electronic drawing assist toys in accordance with the present invention can include an animation capability. Thus once the image is completely displayed it can become animated in that at least some portion of the image can begin to move. The animation can be enhanced, if desired. For example, by storing a number of different animations in memory, and by keeping a count of the number of times an image is displayed, the image animations can be varied as a function of the count. An audio message may also be produced.  
           [0012]    Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the disclosed embodiments thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings in which the details of the invention are fully and completely disclosed as a part of this specification. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an electronic drawing assist toy embodying the principles of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an plan view thereof;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an side view thereof;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view showing the components of an embodiment of an electronic drawing assist toy embodying the principles of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIGS. 5 a  and  5   b  are diagrammatic views showing various displays of a stored image;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an electronic drawing assist toy embodying the principles of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is plan view of a stencil used in the embodiment of the toy shown in FIG. 6; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIGS. 8 a ,  8   b  and  8   c  are diagrammatic views illustrating the use of the toy shown in FIG. 6. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0021]    While the present invention is susceptible of embodiments in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment thereof, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.  
         [0022]    FIGS.  1 - 4  of the drawings illustrate one embodiment of an electronic drawing assist toy  10  in accordance with the present invention. The toy  10  includes a support and housing  12  composed of a front housing  14  and a rear housing and paper pad support  16 . The front wall  14   a  of the front housing  14  includes a screen view opening  18 , and a plurality of additional apertures  20  for receiving two sets of the control buttons, On/Off Button  22 , Image Forward Search button  24 , and Image Backward Search button  26 , of button module  28 , (FIG. 4) and the Draw Button  30 , Go Back Button  32 , and Stop Button  34  of button module  36  (FIG. 4). When the toy  10  is assembled, the front housing  14  is attached to the rear housing  16  by suitable fasteners, such as screws  37  (FIG. 4).  
         [0023]    Turning now to FIG. 4 a circuit board  38  is supported by the rear housing and pad support  16 . The circuit board  38  supports various components, including a microprocessor and memory. Additional image memory is provided by a removable cartridge  42 . The memory cartridge  42  includes front and rear cartridge housings  42   a ,  42   b  which are assembled to form the cartridge housing  42 . Cartridge housing  42  contains and supports a memory board  44 . The memory cartridge  42  is inserted into a cartridge socket  46  supported on, or formed integrally with, the rear housing and pad support  16 . The memory board  44  includes contacts  44   a  which engage the contacts at one end of a connecting cable  48  which are accessible through the bottom of the cartridge socket  46 . The other end of the cable  48  is connected to the circuit board  38 .  
         [0024]    The circuit board  38  supports and is electrically connected to a display device such as LCD display  50 . When the toy is assembled, the LCD display  50  is aligned with and can be seen through the screen opening  18  in the front face  14   a  of the front housing  14 . The circuit board  38  includes a number of contacts (not shown) engaged by each of the control buttons  22 ,  24 ,  26 , respectively, and a number of contacts  52 ,  54 ,  56  engaged by each of the control buttons  30 ,  32   34 , respectively. When the toy  10  is assembled, the circuit board  38  supports the button modules  28 ,  36  with the individual buttons passing through the button apertures  20 . Each of the buttons can be depressed to engage the corresponding contacts on the circuit board  38 .  
         [0025]    The rear housing and pad support  16  also defines a battery compartment  58 , for batteries  60  and battery contacts  62 ,  64 . The batteries  60  are inserted through a battery compartment opening (not shown), formed in the back wall of the rear housing and pad support  16  which is closed by a battery compartment door  66 . The tips of battery contacts  64 , supported in the battery compartment  58 , extend through battery compartment contact slots  68  and make contact with, and are electrically connected to the circuit board  38 .  
         [0026]    The rear housing and pad support  16  includes a lower pad supporting portion  70  which extends beyond the lower edge of the front housing  14 . The lower pad supporting portion  70  provides support for a drawing pad on which the images displayed on the LCD screen can be manually reproduced.  
         [0027]    The toy is turned on and off by operating, e.g., depressing. The On/Off Button  22 . Data corresponding to a plurality of images that can be displayed on the LCD display  50  are, stored in the memory cartridge  40  and can be displayed in sequence. An image stored in memory is selected by operating either the Forward Search Button  24  or the Back Search Button  26 . Each time the Forward Search Button  24  is pushed, the next image in the sequence of data stored in memory is displayed. Each time the Back Search Button to is pushed, the previous image in the sequence of data stored in memory is displayed.  
         [0028]    The Draw Button  30  is operated to display the desired image. The LCD display is cleared and each element, e.g., pixel, of the LCD display  50  is energized sequentially, pixel by pixel, to slowly display the selected image segment by segment. It is intended that the image so displayed be manually reproduced on the drawing pad as the image is displayed. The relatively slow pace of the display acts to assist and illustrate how the image can be drawn, segment by segment. If desired, the display of the image can be paused by operation of the Stop Button  34  before the entire image is displayed, as indicated in FIG. 5 a . The sequential display of the selected image can be resumed, by operating the Draw Button  30 , and stopped repeatedly, until the entire image is displayed, see, e.g., FIG. 5 b . The Go Back Button  32  is operated to clear the LCD display  50  and restart the display of the selected image from the beginning.  
         [0029]    FIGS.  6 - 8  of the drawings illustrate another embodiment of an electronic drawing assist toy  110  in accordance with the present invention. The toy  10  includes a support and housing  112 . The housing  112  includes a raised display portion  114 , a lower tray portion  116  and a stencil card storage portion  117 . The front wall  114   a  of the display portion  114  includes a screen view opening  118 , and a plurality of additional apertures  120  for receiving a set of the control buttons, On/Off Button  122 , the Draw Button  130 , Go Back Button  132 , and Stop Button  134 . The housing also defines a battery compartment for batteries and battery contacts, for receiving batteries that provide power for the toy, as discussed above.  
         [0030]    A circuit board is supported inside the display portion. The circuit board supports the various components including a microprocessor, and memory. Although not shown, additional image memory may be provided by removable cartridges, similar to those described above, which could be inserted into a suitable socket formed in the top of the raised display portion  114  of the housing  112 .  
         [0031]    The circuit board supports and is electrically connected to the batteries, and to a display device such as LCD display  150 , which is aligned with and can be seen through the screen opening  118 . The circuit board  38  includes a number of contacts (not shown) engaged by each of the control buttons  122 ,  130 ,  132 ,  134 , respectively. The individual buttons pass through the apertures  120 . Each of the buttons can be depressed to engage corresponding contacts on the circuit board  138 .  
         [0032]    A recessed pad and stencil support tray  170  is formed in the lower tray portion  116  of the housing  112  adjacent the lower edge of the display portion  114 . The recessed tray  170  includes a support surface  172 , side walls  174 , a bottom wall  176  and a top wall  178  which incorporates a plurality of stencil card tab openings  179 . The recessed tray  170  provides support for a drawing pad on which the images displayed on the LCD screen can be manually reproduced, and for a stencil card  180  positioned on top of the pad. As shown in the drawings′ , a stencil card  180  includes a number of slots  182  which form the segments if an image to be drawn. The slots are wide enough to allow the point of a drawing implement such as a crayon or pencil to pass through and engage the surface of the underlying pad. In this manner the slots  182  in each stencil card  180  serve as guides to assist in the creation of a drawing,  
         [0033]    Each stencil card  180  includes a unique combination of identification tabs  184  along one edge of the card. When a stencil card  180  is inserted into the recessed tray  170 , the tabs  184  are inserted through corresponding tab openings  179  formed in the top wall  178  of the recessed tray  170 . The unique combination of tabs  184  on each stencil card  180  engage switches or contacts on the circuit board to select the image to be displayed.  
         [0034]    The toy is turned on by operating, e.g., depressing the On/Off Button  22 , and is turned off by operating, e.g., depressing the On/Off Button  22  again. Data corresponding to a plurality of images that can be displayed on the LCD display  50  are stored in the internal memory or in a memory cartridge, if incorporated into the toy  110 . An image stored in memory is selected by the unique combination of tabs  184  on the stencil card  180  inserted through the tab openings  179 , as shown in FIG. 8 a.    
         [0035]    In one version of the toy  110 , the desired image is displayed when the stencil is inserted and the On/Off button is operated. When the Draw Button  30  is operated, the LCD display is cleared and each element, e.g., pixel, of the LCD display  50  is energized relatively, pixel by pixel, to slowly display the selected image segment by segment. For example to display an eye, segments of a circle will be illustrated until the eye is complete. The stencil card  180  includes a plurality of slots corresponding to the segments being displayed. This facilitates the manual creation of a corresponding drawing on the drawing surface, e.g. paper, disposed under the stencil. The image is manually reproduced on the drawing surface by inserting a drawing tool, e.g., a pencil or crayon, into a slot  182  corresponding to the segment being displayed on the LCD screen  150  as the image is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8 b.    
         [0036]    The relatively slow pace of the display acts to assist and illustrate how the image can be drawn, segment by segment. If desired, the display of the image can be paused by operation of the Stop Button  34  before the entire image is displayed, as indicated in FIG. 5 a . The display of the selected image can be resumed by operating the Draw Button  30 , until the entire image is displayed, see, e.g. FIG. 5 b . Specifically it can be programmed to hit a start button after which a segment is illustrated and then stopped until the go button is hit again for another segment. It can also be programmed to continue to show segments at a pace to be selected by the child using the toy. A mode button could be included to select the mode desired. The Go back Button  32  is operated to clear the LCD display  50  and restart the display of the selected image from the beginning or if desired to take away a segment one at a time.  
         [0037]    In another version of the toy  110 , support surface  172   a  of the recessed tray  170  includes a sensing member. The sensing member includes sufficient sensors so there is one sensor located adjacent the ends of each stencil slot  182 . For example, the sensing member may be a pressure sensitive membrane, which are well known, which produces an output identifying a position on the sensing member to which pressure is applied, such as by the end of a drawing tool inserted into a stencil slot  182 . An array of switches on a prescribed grid could be provided with a drawing designed around the grid.  
         [0038]    In this version, each portion of the image is manually produced on the drawing surface by inserting a drawing tool, e.g., a pencil or crayon, into a stencil slot  182 , and drawing the segment defined by the slot. The active sensors are determined by the image selected when the tabs  184  are inserted into the tab openings  179  formed in the top wall  178  of the recessed tray  170 . When the active sensors for a stencil slot have sensed the pressure produced by a drawing tool, the corresponding segment is displayed on the LCD display  150 .  
         [0039]    When the image is completely displayed, it can become animated as is well known. A corresponding audio output can also be produced. When the stencil card is removed, the drawing that has been created in outline by tracing the stencil can be embellished as desired.  
         [0040]    Thus there has been disclosed an electronic drawing assist toy which is small and self contained, which is easy to use, and which can be used to illustrate how a variety of patterns or images can be drawn. Such a drawing assist toy can encourage creativity by showing children how to create patterns that are combined to produce images.  
         [0041]    The electronic drawing assist toy  10  incorporating the present invention is implemented using a simple microprocessor as is well known For example, a digital display is driven by the microprocessor. One suitable display is an LCD 64×64 pixel screen. Memory is provided for storage information about the information to be displayed.  
         [0042]    From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effected without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concept of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.