Abstract:
A programmable device such as a toy or novelty item has a keyboard which can be activated by a user to set up any one of multiple different motions of the toy. Sounds and lights can be activated to coordinate with the movement. The toy can be a car or other device capable of moving in the environment.

Description:
This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 09/008,378, filed Jan. 16, 1998, which application(s) are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a programmable system for enabling an object, preferably a toy or novelty item, to perform a series of actions chosen by a user. 
     Many toys or novelty items are available in the market which can perform different actions instructed by a player through the use of a remote control device. Typically the use of the remote control device results in a specific action of a toy object, for instance a vehicle. The remote control systems are either infrared, or radio controlled and can only be used to instruct the vehicle to perform individual or separate actions. These kind items are limited in the variability of their performance. 
     Having a variable programmable toy or novelty item would have distinct advantages and benefits in the consumer market. 
     The invention is directed to overcoming the limitations of existing toys and novelty items. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides for an interactive programming system for a toy or novelty item. A user, by pressing appropriate keypad buttons can program or instruct an object to perform a series of preset actions. These actions are preset in that different keys are programmed to operate or effect different actions on the toy or novelty item. This can preferably be accompanied by selected sound effects and light reactions. 
     According to the invention the programmable toy includes a body which has a motor for actuating a motion generator which can be in the form of wheels or other devices to cause the body to move through the surrounding environment. There is a keypad which operates a series of control switches for operation by the user of the toy. The switches are connected to a programmed or programmable microprocessor for translating the received signals from the switches into control signals for operating the motor. The motor can thereby be caused to activate the body in different selected directions according to the action of the motor on the motive generator. 
     In a preferred form of the invention there is a microprocessor which includes a memory function with which predetermined instructions for action and sound effects can be stored. The activities and objects to perform the action and sound effects are determined as selected by the user. 
     The programming system is driven by an integrated circuit chip which is responsive to the different keys. 
    
    
     The invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a toy car in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the car. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view showing the car on a surface in a pop wheel state. 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the car showing the keyboard with 12 keys and the three function switches. 
     FIG. 5 is a rear view of the car. 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the car. 
     FIG. 7 is an underview of the car. 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the car showing the various mechanisms for driving the wheels and the electronic control system. 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional top view of the car showing the drive motors for driving the rear wheels of the vehicle. 
     FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the control units and the microprocessor. 
     FIG. 11 is a more detailed view of the control circuits and the microprocessor. 
     FIG. 12 a  is a representative view of a plane or ship having a keyboard and propeller. 
     FIG. 12 b  is a representative view of a bike having a keyboard and two wheels. 
     FIG. 12 c  is a representative view of a toy or novelty object where there is a sensor for obstacles and/or light environment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The invention is illustrated in relation to a car. 
     A vehicle  20  is shown with a keyboard  21  mounted on the top of the vehicle  20 . There are twelve switches and there are also key switches  22  located in front of the keyboard  21 . There are four spaced wheels, namely, front wheels  23  and  24  in the front of the vehicle  20  and rear wheels  25  and  26  in the rear of the vehicle  20 . Wheels  25  and  26  are driven respectively by motors in a manner that will be described more fully below. The keyboard  21  includes three rows, each of four control switches. The row on the right side is generally indicated by numeral  27 . Numeral  28  indicates the central row and numeral  29  is the row on the left side. 
     At the rear of the vehicle, there is a tranversely located rotatable roller  30 , which is operational when the vehicle  20  tips as illustrated in FIG. 3 into a pop wheel position. The center of gravity of the vehicle in this situation is established so that the rear wheel  25  and roller  30  can balance the vehicle in this position. The control system permits for the vehicle to tip when an appropriate signal is inserted into the keyboard  21 . 
     The rear of the vehicle includes a battery compartment  31 , which has a door, and into which several batteries can be located. The battery compartment  31  can be opened through a door switch or lock  32 , which is appropriately turned to provide access or closure to the battery compartment  31 . 
     When the vehicle tips, it balances on the surface  33  so that the wheel  25  and the roller  30  engage on that surface. The operation of the vehicle is such that it can move on the surface  33  in a forward, rearward, left turn, right turn, or side sinusoidal direction with smaller or larger curves as programmed into the vehicle  20 . 
     The front wheels  23  and  24  are mounted on a suspension mechanism  34  with a suitable. helical spring  35 . The shell of the body is shown as numeral  36 , and can be cast as plastic having an upper portion  37 , which can be screw connected with a lower portion  38 . Within the molded plastic components, there are support elements which can form the structure of the internal workings of the car. This includes a floor  39  for the battery compartment  31 . 
     At least one battery  40  is shown in the batter compartment  31  in FIG.  8 . Mounted ahead of the battery compartment  31 , there is a circuit board  41  which has in part the control circuit to drive two motors  42  and  43 , respectively. Motor  42  is operational through a gear wheel mechanism  44  to operate the wheel  26 , and motor  43  is operational through a gear wheel mechanism  45  to operate the wheel  25 . Power from the control board  41  is directed through a series of conducting cables  47  to the motors, and in turn, the gear mechanisms. Gear mechanisms  44  include at least three interlocking gears  48 ,  49 , and  50 , which activate the wheel  26 . A similar gear system  45  is applicable for wheel  25 . 
     In FIG. 10 there is shown a main control unit or microprocessor  51  connected with a right motor control unit  52  and a left motor control unit  53 . The ON/OFF switch for the motor is represented in FIG. 10 by numeral  53 , and the keyboard  21  is also shown with the multiple keyboard switches connected to the microprocessor main control unit  51 . The keyboard switches are press button elements which close circuits as indicated in the keyboard configuration  21  as shown. The microprocessor also controls a light source LED control unit  54 , which is operational under given programmed conditions of the processor  51 . There is also a speaker  55  which is operational under the control of the microprocessor  51 . 
     The control circuit and microprocessor are described in further detail with reference to FIG.  11 . 
     The control circuit drives the two motors  42  and  43  and a speaker circuit  55  and LED circuit  54 . Transistor pairs are used for driver circuits. The microprocessor  51  has five outputs, labeled  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 , and  16 . The inputs come from lines  5 - 12 . When lines  5 - 12  present configurations given in the table, outputs  1 - 4  and  16  are driven by the microprocessor  51 . 
     When output  1  goes high, the base of transistor Q 16  receives the proper voltage to turn Q 16  on, which allows current to flow through the collector and emitter of Q 16 . This, in turn, raises the voltages at the bases of Q 13  and Q 12  to turn Q 12  and Q 13  on, and since Q 13  is connected to power, this passes current through right motor  43  in a first direction. 
     When output  2  goes high, the base of transistor Q 3  receives the proper voltage to turn Q 3  on, which allows current to flow through the collector and emitter of Q 3 . This, in turn, raises the voltages at the bases of Q 11  and Q 14  to turn Q 11  and Q 14  on, and since Q 14  is connected to power, this passes current through right motor  43  in a second direction. 
     When output  3  goes high, the base of transistor Q 10  receives the proper voltage to turn Q 10  on, which allows current to flow through the collector and emitter of Q 10 . This, in turn, raises the voltages at the bases of Q 5  and Q 7  to turn Q 5  and Q 7  on, and since Q 5  is connected to power, this passes current through left motor  42  in a first direction. 
     When output  4  goes high, the base of transistor Q 1  receives the proper voltage to turn Q 1  on, which allows current to flow through the collector and emitter of Q 1 . This, in turn, raises the voltages at the bases of Q 4  and Q 6  to turn Q 4  and Q 6  on, and since Q 6  is connected to power, this passes current through right motor  43  in a second direction. 
     When output  16  goes high, the base of transistor Q 2  receives the proper voltage to turn Q 2  on, which allows current to flow through the collector and emitter of Q 2 . Since the collector of Q 2  is connected to one of the speaker leads, and the other speaker lead is connected to power, this drives the speaker  55 . Further, the collector of Q 2  is connected to the base of Q 8 , and when Q 2  is on, Q 8  is on. When Q 8  is on, current flows through the LED  54 , causing it to emit light. 
     Example Toy and Operational Characteristics 
     An exemplary toy automobile with the programmable features has the following charateristics: an infinite amount of programming possibilities, about 128 16 ; programmability; 8 action keys; 4 distance or timer keys; and 3 function keys. The function keys are designated as Go; Demo; and Shift keys. 
     Sound Effects can include screeching, honking, speeding, acceleration, engine noise and other verbal sounds. These sounds can be related to the action of the car. 
     Programmable Car 
     The dual motor programmable car is preset with 3 demo functions, there are also 8 action keys, 4 timer keys and shift keys for programming which store up 32 controlling features and 16 interactive process memory positions. The programmable car reproduces sound effects in following the movements. There is an LED light which acts and reacts and matches the action of the car. 
     When the ON/OFF is turned to be in the “ON” position, the car honks twice telling the user that it is ready. The demo button or program button is then used. Pressing the Demo Key  8  once, twice or three times activates 3 different demonstration operations of the automobile. 
     The different levels of programming are the following. 
     Beginning Programming 
     Press one Action Key and one Timer Key. Press “GO”. Repeat the above basic function and add a second Action Key and a second Timer Key, before pressing “GO”. The car holds up to sixteen different actions &amp; timers on each run. 
     Intermediate Programming 
     Adding the Shift Key (before the Action Key or the Timer Key) to the basic programming alters the original actions. Press the Shift Key and one Action Key at the same time. Then press a Timer key. Press “GO”. This program alters the action making it different than the basic program. Press one Action Key. Then press the Shift Key and one Timer Key at the same time. Press “GO”. This program alters the timing making it different than the basic program. 
     Advanced Programming 
     Adding the Shift Key (before the Action Key and the Timer Key) to the basic programming alters the original actions. Press the Shift Key and one Action Key at the same time. Then press the Shift Key and one Timer Key at the same time. Press “GO”. This program alters the action and timing making it different to the basic and intermediate program. 
     To interrupt the program while the car is in action, press the “GO” Key and the car stops. To repeat the last programmed action, press the “GO” Key and the car repeats the last programming. Should the user input the wrong program and want to start over, press the Shift Key down for 3 seconds. The car beeps telling the user that the memory has been erased. There is an automatic shut off after 30 minutes if the car is left in the “ON” position. Within these 30 minutes, a reminding horn sounds every five minutes inviting new play and programming. 
     If desired, function cards can be provided for multiple combination of keys. 
     The keys assignment are as follows: 
     Key Description 
     These are the keys located on the keyboard  21 . 
     Key  1  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Forward: Key  1 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Forward: Key  1 +Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Turbo Forward: Shift (Key  1 )+Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Pause: Shift (Key  1 )+Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Key  2  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Backward: Key  2 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Backward: Key  2 +Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Turbo Backward: Shift (Key  2 )+Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Vibration: Shift (Key  2 )+Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Key  3  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Turn Left Forward: Key  3 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Turn Left Forward: Key  3 +Shift (Timer) 
     Irregular Polygon I: Shift (Key  3 )+Timer Key 
     Rotate—Anti-clockwise: Shift (Key  3 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  4  (Action Key : 4 different modules) 
     Turn Left Backward: Key  4 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Turn Left Backward: Key  4 +Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Transverse Line (Left): Shift (Key  4 )+Timer Key 
     Shaking 3 times: Shift (Key  4 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  5  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Sine-Curve (Small): Key  5 +Timer Key 
     Sine-Curve (Big): Key  5 +Shift (Timer) Key 
     Circle I: Shift (Key  5 )+Timer Key 
     Circle II: Shift (Key  5 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  6  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Pop Wheelies: Key  5 +Timer Key 
     Pop Wheelies &amp; Down: Key  6 +Shift (Timer) Key 
     Makes ‘8’ small turns: Shift (Key  6 )+Timer Key 
     Makes ‘8’ bigger turns: Shift (Key  6 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  7  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Turn Right Forward: Key  7 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Turn Right Forward: Key  7 +Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Irregular Polygon II: Shift (Key  7 )+Timer Key 
     Rotate—Clockwise: Shift (Key  7 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  8  (Action Key: 4 different modules) 
     Turn Right Backward: Key  8 +Timer Key (Time base 2.0 sec.) 
     Turn Right Backward: Key  8 +Shift (Timer) Key (Time base 0.5 sec.) 
     Transverse Line (Right): Shift (Key  8 )+Timer Key 
     Pop Wheelies &amp; Shaking 3 times: Shift (Key  8 )+Shift (Timer) Key 
     Key  9  (Timer Key) 
     Time base×1 
     Key  10  (Timer Key) 
     Time base×2 
     Key  11  (Timer Key) 
     Time base×3 
     Key  12  (Timer Key) 
     Time base×4 
     The keys  22  are the following: 
     Shift Key (Shifts the different modules of Key  1  to Key  12 ) 
     The Shift key is simultaneously active with any one of the other keys. 
     Press and hold the Shift key for 3.0 seconds erases the input program. 
     Demo Key (Select 3 different pre-set program) 
     Press button once (Simple program function) 
     Press button twice within 2.5 seconds (Complex program function) 
     Press button three times within 2.5 seconds (Complicated program function) 
     Go Key (Start a program) 
     Press ‘Go’ key once after a program is completed to start the program 
     Press ‘Go’ key to stop the action when the car is moving 
     LED Indicator 
     This is located in the car  20  and is synchronized with sound which is a speaker in the car  20 . 
     Loudspeaker 
     Sound signal is preset and relates with functions 
     Voice signal is preset and relates to the ‘Go’ key 
     Motor Control 
     Drives the two DC motor forward or backward 
     Controls the speed of motor by the output current 
     Protects the circuit due to the back current 
     Operation Description 
     When the power is on, and the battery is charged, the system goes to a stand-by stage, and a sound signal is made, such a honking :‘Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep”. In the normal stand-by stage, the car performs a sound signal every 5 minutes (maximum 5 times) if no command is input or when the program has been completed. Programming is effected by a keying in procedure. The Action+Timer is one action process. There is a step by step keying in process, with a maximum of 16 interactive processes. 
     Example sequences of nine different keying sequences are now described. Whatever command keys are pressed, there is no right or wrong keying, and the car functions according to the last right keyed-in procedure. GP 1 , GP 2 , GP 3  [Action Key and Time Key] represent right keying actions. Xa [Action Key Only] represents a wrong key only. Xt [Time Key Only] represents a wrong keying. Action  1 , Action  2  represents programmed sequential movements, respectively. 
     1) GP 1 +GP 2 +GP 3 +Go. The car functions and goes through process of“GP 1 ”+“GP 2 ”+“GP 3 ”. 
     2) Xt+Go. The car functions but only goes through a process which has been set beforehand. 
     3) Xa+Go. The car is not activated. 
     4) GP 1 +GP 2 +GP 3 +Preset Action  1 +Go. The car functions and goes through process of “GP 1 ”+“GP 2 ”+“GP 3 ”. “Go” key should be pressed within two seconds after the “preset action” key is pressed. Otherwise, the car performs the function in Preset Action  1 . 
     5) GP 1 +GP 2 +GP 3 +Preset Action  1 . The car functions and goes through the process of “Preset Action  1 ”. 
     6) GP 1 +Xa+GP 2 +Xa+Go. The car functions and goes through the processes of “GP 1 ”+“GP 2 ”. 
     7) Action 1 +Time 1 +Time 2 +Action 2 +Time 1 +Time 2 +Go. The car functions and goes through processes of “Action 1 +Time 2 ” and then “Action 2 +“Time 2 ”. 
     8) Go+Preset Action. The car functions but goes through the process of Preset Action. No program already existed. 
     9) Preset Action+Go. The car stops. “Go” key should be pressed within two seconds after the “preset action” key is pressed. Otherwise, the car performs the function in Preset Action  1 . 
     At any time during the car&#39;s movements based on correctly keyed-in procedures, the car stops cancelling all programmed actions should the “Go” key be pressed. 
     Many other forms of the invention exist each differing from others in matters of detail only. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to a four-wheeled automobile vehicle it is clear that the invention also has application to other devices such as different toys or novelty items. The kind of toys could be a ship, plane, different kind of automobile such as a three-wheeler, or a motor bike, for instance as shown in FIG.  12 B. The surrounding environment would be appropriately a surface, or could be the water in the case of a ship, or air in the case of a plane. In the case of a ship, boat, or plane, the motive generator can be a propeller or screw device. This is illustrated in FIG.  12 A. 
     Sensors for determining the environment could be to determine when the body approaches an obstacle and needs to veer in one direction or the other or stop. Changes in temperature or light could also be other things that the sensors could respond to and then cause the programmable microprocessor to vary the action which is preprogrammed into the device. This is illustrated in FIG.  12 C. 
     In some situations, the programming can be effected remotely and be communicated by radio or infrared control. 
     The invention is to be determined solely by the following claims.