Abstract:
A toy vehicle that measures and displays performance characteristics is presented. The toy vehicle may be configured to measure performance of the toy, such as speed or acceleration, and display a value for the performance characteristic. A display for showing the performance values may be mounted on the body of the toy vehicle. Movement of the toy vehicle may be measured using an accelerometer. The toy vehicle may determine the number of wheel rotations in a set period of time using a rotary encoder. The value of the performance characteristic may be output to a microprocessor onboard the toy vehicle. The microprocessor may use the value in calculations and the result of the calculations, such as a scaled speed value, may be shown on the display screen.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/687,375, filed Jun. 3, 2005, and entitled “Toy Vehicle with On-Board Electronics,” incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     The present disclosure relates generally to toy vehicles with on-board electronics, and more specifically to toy vehicles incorporating electronics to record and display data related to the performance of the toy vehicle.  
         [0003]     Examples of known toy vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,800,389, 2,896,708, 3,546,668, 3,618,397, 3,652,937, 3,944,114, 4,237,648, 4,247,107, 4,265,047, 4,280,300, 4,292,758, 4,330,127, 4,409,196, 4,424,566, 4,479,650, 4,451,911, 4,946,416, 4,964,837, 5,306,197, 5,637,996, 5,692,956, 5,855,483, 5,928,058, 6,155,928, 6,200,219, 6,293,798, 6,354,844, 6,461,240, 6,688,985, D446,215, D492,685 and published patent applications US2001/0045978, US2002/0144701, US2002/0187725, US2003/0188594, US2004/0038395, US2004/0077285, US2004/0224742, US2005/0064942, WO199615837, WO2002078810, WO2004233847. The disclosures of all of these patents and publications are incorporated herein by reference.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     A toy vehicle of the present disclosure may be rolled by children on flat surfaces, down inclines or along flexible tracks and may not use motors or other power sources for motion. A toy vehicle may include electronic sensors such as rotary optical encoders or accelerometers that monitor motion of the vehicle or monitor motion of a wheel of the vehicle. The toy vehicle may be used to simulate racing and the displayed data may be used to compare vehicle speed with other similar toy vehicles or with other runs of the same vehicle.  
         [0005]     The data recorded by the sensors may be used to perform calculations relating to the motion or speed of the vehicle. The recorded data and/or results of the calculations may be made available to the user The data may be displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display (“LCD”) as part of the toy, a remote LCD screen, through Light Emitting Diodes (“LEDs”), through an audio output such as a speaker, or even through a conventional computer output device by plugging the vehicle into the computer or by plugging removable memory from the vehicle into the computer.  
         [0006]     Values calculated and displayed may include speed, distance traveled, length of time of travel and acceleration (“G Force”). Some embodiments of the toy vehicle may include keys or control inputs that allow the user to change what information is displayed.  
         [0007]     The advantages of the present invention will be understood more readily after a consideration of the drawings and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a user rolling a toy vehicle on the floor showing a display incorporated in the car body indicating the calculated speed.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the toy vehicle of  FIG. 1  with the body cutaway showing wheels with an encoder pattern on one wheel, an encoder, a microprocessor, a power supply, control inputs and a display with a calculated speed.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of an alternate configuration of a rotary encoder including a light source and detector on opposite sides of a disk, the disk with opaque sections and transparent sections.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the functional components of the toy vehicle of  FIGS. 1 and 2  showing an encoder, a microprocessor, memory, a power supply, control inputs and a display showing a calculated speed.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the functional components of an alternate embodiment of the toy vehicle of  FIGS. 1 and 2  showing an accelerometer, a microprocessor, memory, a power supply, control inputs and a display with a calculated speed.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing an alternative configuration of a toy vehicle including LED lights associated with the engine, a display incorporated into the engine area and three user control inputs behind the engine.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing an alternative configuration of a toy vehicle including a connector extending from the vehicle and the connector being plugged into a computer to transfer information between the vehicle and the computer. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a user  8  is shown rolling a toy vehicle  10  on the floor. Toy vehicle  10  includes a body housing  12  in the form of a car body and a display  14 . Display  14  shows a speed corresponding to the vehicle velocity. The speed displayed may not be the actual speed of toy vehicle  10  but may correspond to the speed of a full scale vehicle.  
         [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a toy vehicle  10  similar to  FIG. 1  is shown with body housing  12  cut away to show functional components. Similar numbering is used for clarity in this and subsequent figures as in the previous figure. Toy vehicle  10  again includes display  14  and also shows control inputs  16 , a motion sensor  18 , an encoder pattern  20 , a wheel  22 , a microprocessor  24 , a power supply  26  and memory  28 . Display  14 , motion sensor  18 , power supply  26  and memory  28  are operably connected to microprocessor  24 . Motion sensor  18  may be an accelerometer  30  or a rotary encoder  32 .  
         [0017]     A user playing with toy vehicle  10  may push the vehicle across the floor as fast as possible to achieve the highest possible speed. In some applications, multiple users may race their toys by giving them an initial velocity and releasing them side by side. Toy vehicle  10  may travel down an incline to gain speed. Users may try to attain the highest speed or acceleration possible with the data displayed on toy vehicle  10 .  
         [0018]     Wheel  22  rotates as toy vehicle  10  moves. Wheel rotations may be detected and counted by rotary encoder  32 . Rotary encoder  32  may incorporate a light source  34 , a detector  36  and encoder pattern  20 .  
         [0019]     Encoder pattern  20  may be printed on wheel  22 . Encoder pattern  20  may comprise contrasting patterns of a black section  38  and a white section  40 . Encoder pattern  20  may rotate in front of light source  34  and detector  36 . Light from light source  34  may be reflected from the surface of encoder  20 . Black section  38  and white section  40  of encoder pattern  20  may reflect different amounts of light. Detector  36  may differentiate the amount of light reaching it from light source  34 .  
         [0020]     Where encoder pattern  20  is on the surface of wheel  22 , encoder pattern  20  rotates with wheel  22 . When white section  40  is proximate to encoder  32 , it reflects more light from source  34  which may cause detector  36  to emit an ‘ON’ signal. Black section  38  may reflect less light than white section  40  and may result in detector  36  emitting an ‘OFF’ signal.  
         [0021]     Where encoder pattern  20  comprises only one white section  40  and one black section  38 , each rotation will result in detector  36  emitting an ‘ON’ signal once. Each ‘ON’ signal will indicate one rotation at microprocessor  24 . Light source  34  and detector  36  may comprise a single unit. Light source  34  may be an LED.  
         [0022]     In  FIG. 3 , an alternate embodiment of rotary encoder  32  is shown including light source  34 , detector  36  and disk  42 . Disk  42  may be mounted on an axle  44  and comprise encoder pattern  20 . Disk  38  may have clear section  46  and an opaque section  48 . Light source or emitter  34  and detector  36  may be mounted on opposite sides of disk  38  such that light only reaches detector  36  when clear section  46  of disk  42  is between source  34  and detector  36 .  
         [0023]     Where encoder pattern  20  comprises one clear section and one opaque section of disk  38 , each rotation will result in detector  36  emitting an ‘ON’ signal once. Each ‘ON’ signal will indicate one rotation. Disk  38  may have multiple clear sections separated by opaque sections.  
         [0024]     These encoder pattern configurations are examples and should not be construed as limitations. Any encoder pattern configured to operate with rotary encoder  32  may be used and still fall within the scope of this disclosure.  
         [0025]     Microprocessor  24  may count the number of distinct ‘ON’ values transmitted by encoder  32  over a set period of time. The wheel circumference may be programmed into microprocessor  24  and the distance traveled may be calculated using the wheel circumference. If the wheel circumference is 2 centimeters (cm) and there are 50 rotations in a second, the distance traveled by toy vehicle  10  is 100 cm and the toy vehicle velocity is 100 cm per second. A velocity of 100 cm per second is equivalent to 3.6 kilometers per hour.  
         [0026]     Microprocessor  24  may be further programmed to multiply this value by the scale of vehicle  10 . For example, if toy vehicle  10  is a scale model 1/32 nd  the size of a real car, the speed displayed may be 115 kilometers per hour. Microprocessor  24  may further convert this value to other units such as miles per hour and display a speed of 71 miles per hour. The reported speed value may be saved into memory  28 . The speed value may be shown on display  14 .  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram of the functional components of toy vehicle  10  is shown. Toy vehicle  10  again includes display  14 , microprocessor  24 , power supply  26 , memory  28  and optical rotary encoder  32  including encoder pattern  20 . Rotation of encoder pattern  20  may be detected by rotary encoder  32  and sends a digital signal to microprocessor  24 . Microprocessor  24  converts the digital signals to an appropriate value to be sent to display  14 . Control inputs  16  may be used to configure microprocessor  24 . Toy vehicle  10  may include discrete memory unit  28 .  
         [0028]     In an alternate configuration, motion sensor  18  may be an accelerometer  30 . A single axis accelerometer may determine acceleration in one direction, such as by measuring the deflection of a cantilever beam on an integrated circuit chip. The chip may include means for measuring the deflection of the beam and transmitting that data from the chip as an electronic signal. Other methods of determining acceleration may also be used.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a block diagram shows the functional components of an alternate configuration of toy vehicle  10 . Toy vehicle  10  includes display  14 , microprocessor  24 , power supply  26  and accelerometer  30 .  
         [0030]     In this example, accelerometer  30  may be supported by housing  12  and configured to measure the acceleration resulting from moving the car forwards and backwards. Data sent from accelerometer  30  may be received by microprocessor  24 . Microprocessor  24  may determine a speed value at any point in time from the measured acceleration and send the speed value to display  14 .  
         [0031]     Microprocessor  24  may convert the acceleration data from accelerator  30  to the required units and format to be sent to display  14 . Control inputs  16  may be used to configure the functions of microprocessor  24 .  
         [0032]     Microprocessor  24  may use the information from rotary encoder  32  or accelerometer  30  to determine other toy vehicle performance measures. Microprocessor  24  may determine elapsed time to reach a certain speed. Microprocessor  24  may also determine if the current speed value is higher than a highest or maximum speed value stored in memory and may replace a current speed value in memory.  
         [0033]     Control input  16  may comprise keys. The keys may be used to change a mode of play for the toy vehicle or the keys may be used to reset values stored in memory  28  or on microprocessor  24 . Keys may include a mode key  38 , a reset key  40  and a unit key  42 .  
         [0034]     Toy vehicle  10  may have several functional configurations for recording and reporting toy vehicle performance. Mode key  38  may be used to select from a plurality of modes such as Try Me mode, Speed Test mode, Highest Speed mode, and Time-trial mode. Reset key  40  may be used to clear and reset the display contents. Unit key  42  may be used to change a display unit of measure. In some embodiments, the selectable units of display may include M/h (miles per hour), km/h (kilometers per hour), or Rev/s (revolution per second).  
         [0035]     In Try Me mode, the current speed of the car may be displayed. In this mode, the internal electronics of vehicle  10  may use the information obtained by the rotary encoder  32  or accelerometer  30  to calculate the current speed of the vehicle. If the current speed calculated is higher than the highest speed record, then the current speed may be stored in the highest speed record. Reset key  40  may have no function in this mode.  
         [0036]     The user may select Speed Test Mode using Mode key  38 . The Speed Test mode may display the highest speed of the current run. The speed displayed may be different than the speed stored in memory as the highest speed. If the speed displayed in Speed Test Mode is higher than the value stored in memory  28  as the highest speed, the new higher speed value may be replaced with the lower speed value in memory.  
         [0037]     In Highest Speed Mode, display  14  may show the maximum speed attained. The user may press Reset key  40  in this mode to clear the maximum speed record to zero. When vehicle  10  is in Highest Speed Mode toy vehicle  10  may only display memory contents and motion sensor  18  may be turned off.  
         [0038]     The speed value unit of measure may be selected by pressing Unit key  42 . For example, pressing the Unit key may change the display from units of Miles per Hour to Kilometers per Hour.  
         [0039]     Time-Trial Mode measures the time it takes for vehicle  10  to reach a predetermined speed, for example the time duration in ms (milliseconds) it takes for vehicle  10  to travel from 0 mph to 100 mph. The time may be displayed in increments of 250 ms per step until the speed of 100 mph is reached. When vehicle  10  is in Time Trial Mode, electronic motion sensor  18  may be turned on. The time displayed may increment in tenths of a second.  
         [0040]     The decimal point on display  14  may be represented by an underscore. Pressing Reset key  40  may ready the on-board electronics for another time trial by clearing the LCD screen to zero. Unit key  42  may have no function in Time Trial mode.  
         [0041]     Some embodiments of vehicle  10  may also include an auto shut down function. The internal electronics of toy vehicle  10  may automatically shut down to save power when not in use for a predetermined length of time, such as one minute. Display  14  and microprocessor  24  may be turned off on system shut down. Additionally, display  14  may dim when a battery requires replacement or an icon may appear.  
         [0042]     In some embodiments of vehicle  10 , there may be default game play settings and default display settings when the toy is first turned on. For example, the default mode of play may be Current Speed Mode, the default display may be 0000, and the default maximum speed recorded may be 0000.  
         [0043]     Referring again to the example depicted in  FIG. 1 , display  14  has three numeric digits to display speed and at least one icon or set of alphabetic, such as Mph, to indicate the unit of measure of display  14 . Alternative embodiments of vehicle  10  may include more digits and icons to display information. In an alternate embodiment of vehicle  10 , display  14  consists of four digits used for display of a digital number and an icon in front of the digital number indicating the mode and/or unit in use, such as M/hr, km/hr, etc. Display  14  may have four digits for display of a digit number and seven icons for display of unit or mode.  
         [0044]     The mode selected may be displayed in an upper segment of display  14  above the four digit number When in Try Me mode, Speed Test mode, Highest Speed mode or Time Trial mode, display  14  may display “TRY”, “TEST”, “MAX”, and “0-100” respectively. The display unit selected may be displayed in a side segment to the right of the four digit number. When in miles per hour, kilometers per hour, or revolutions per minute, display  14  may show “MPH”, “KPH”, and “REV” respectively.  
         [0045]     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a toy vehicle  10  is shown in an alternate configuration with a representation of an engine visible and LED lights as part of the engine representation. The engine representation also incorporates display  14 . Control inputs  16  may be located behind the engine.  
         [0046]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a toy vehicle  10  is shown with a USB connector  44  located at the rear portion of vehicle  10 . Vehicle  10  may include body  12  and display  14 . USB connector  44  may be used to connect to a computer  200 . Data from vehicle  10  may be uploaded to computer  200 , and data from computer  200  may be downloaded to vehicle  10 . Computer  200  may display data uploaded from vehicle  10 , calculated information uploaded from vehicle  10 , or calculated information determined using data uploaded from vehicle  10 .  
         [0047]     In an alternate embodiment, vehicle  10  may include a speaker. Vehicle  10  may download audio files from computer  200  and play the audio files during acceleration or at other times during play.  
         [0048]     In an alternate embodiment, vehicle  10  may record multiple measurements of vehicle performance and save the measurements to memory  28 . For example, vehicle  10  may record speed of vehicle  10  every second for 20 seconds as vehicle  10  travels along a track. The results may be downloaded from memory  28  to computer  200 . Computer  200  may create a graphical chart displaying the collected speed values.  
         [0049]     These configurations are presented as examples and should not be construed as limitations. Connector  44  may be a different kind of connector or comprise a cable. Connector  44  could be a wireless link such as a link using infrared or radio communication. Command inputs may comprise more or fewer buttons. Similarly, display configurations, play modes and encoders described here are examples only and should not be considered limitations. Other configurations than those presented which perform similar functions are within the scope of this disclosure.  
         [0050]     It is believed that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in its preferred form, the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. Similarly, where any claim recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such claim should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.  
         [0051]     Inventions embodied in various combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed through presentation of new claims in this or a related application. Such new claims, whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to the same invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of the inventions of the present disclosure.