Patent Publication Number: US-6992593-B2

Title: Toy with remotely controlled security alarm

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/892,374, filed Jul. 14, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,533. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention disclosed herein relates to a toy, such as a toy vehicle, which has a remotely controlled security alarm. 
     Toy designers seek to provide toys which replicate real life because realistic toys have high play value, and typically, the more realistic the toy, the greater its play value. Among the many toys for which this is evident are toy vehicles. Realism in toy vehicles has been achieved in appearance, sound and function. For example, miniature toy vehicles are sold which seek to replicate in appearance the full scale real life versions down to minute details. Some reduced scale toy vehicles even have functioning parts, such as doors that open, etc. Other reduced scale toys, somewhat larger than miniatures, provide more elaborate functioning parts and/or provide sound effects, while retaining much if not all of the detail of the miniatures. Still other toy vehicles provide functionality and/or sound effects by remote control. See, for example, the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,219,962; 4,242,107; 4,325,199; 4,580,994; 4,817,948; 4,946,416; 4,964,837; 5,024,626; 5,045,016; 5,195,920; and 5,306,197. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention disclosed herein to replicate some or all vehicle security alarm functions in a toy vehicle. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a security alarm device or system in a toy vehicle. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a security alarm device in a toy vehicle which is remotely controlled. 
     The invention achieves this and other objects by replicating one or more vehicle alarm functions in a toy vehicle. 
     A toy vehicle which incorporates a security alarm device in accordance with the invention comprises a controller having a control input, at least one sensor. coupled to the controller, and a signaling device coupled to the controller. The security alarm device has an armed state and an unarmed state and is responsive to the at least one sensor in its armed state and to the control signal input to assume the armed and unarmed states. The controller causes the signaling device to generate a signal in response to activation of the at least one sensor in the armed state of the security alarm device and cause the signaling device to cease generating the signal when the alarm device is placed in its unarmed state. 
     In another embodiment, a toy vehicle incorporates a security alarm device in accordance with the invention comprising the controller and signaling device described above, bur does not necessarily include the sensor. In this embodiment, the controller causes the signaling device to a generate a signal in response to a change in state of the security alarm device between its armed state and its unarmed state. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the security device includes the sensor and the controller causes the signaling device to generate a signal in response to a change in state of the security alarm device between its armed state and its unarmed state. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the signaling device comprises an audio device which generates a sound signal, but may instead comprise a visual device which generates a visual signal, or both. 
     The toy vehicle may comprise a propulsion system including an electric motor which propels the toy vehicle and a motor drive which selectively supplies power to the electric motor, and the controller is coupled to the motor drive and disables the motor drive when the alarm device is in its armed state. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the security alarm device and all or selected other vehicle functions are controlled remotely by a remote control device coupled to the control input of the controller. Preferably, the remote control device and the security alarm device are wirelessly coupled, and the toy vehicle comprises a receiver coupled to the control input of the security alarm device controller operative to wirelessly receive a signal from the remote control device. The controller is responsive to the receiver to cause the security alarm device to assume its armed and unarmed states. 
     The sensor may be a motion sensor or a microswitch or magnetic switch, for example. 
     The remote control device may include an infrared transmitter and the receiver correspondingly includes an infrared receiver. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the controller includes a sound synthesizer and the signaling device comprises a speaker coupled to the controller to receive sound signals therefrom. The synthesizer generates beep sound signals representing changes of state of the security alarm device between its armed and unarmed states and a siren sound or a honking horn signal, and the controller causes the synthesizer to generate the beep signals in response to a change in state of the security alarm device between its armed state and its unarmed state and the siren or honking horn sound in response to activation of the at least one sensor in the armed state of the security alarm device. 
     The signalling device may be a visual device such as the vehicle lights, or the signalling device can include audio and visual devices. The audio and visual devices may be lights and a horn which are typically provided with a vehicle, or audio and visual devices which form part only of the alarm device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like numerals in the different figures refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a toy vehicle and a remote control incorporating a security alarm device in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the security alarm device, the vehicle head lights and tail lights and the vehicle motor; and 
         FIG. 3  is a circuit schematic diagram of an implementation of the block diagram of  FIG. 2   
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a toy vehicle  10  includes the security alarm device  12  represented in  FIG. 2 . The vehicle  10  includes wheels  14  at least one of which is driven by a motor  16  ( FIG. 2 ) in conventional fashion except for interaction between the alarm device  12  and the motor  16  (via the motor drive  18 ). The vehicle  10  may include head lights and tail lights  22  and  23 , which may also be conventional except for any interaction with the alarm device  12 . The alarm device  12  may include an indicator  26  (e.g., a lamp or a light-emitting diode “LED”) which indicates whether the alarm device  12  is in an armed state or an unarmed state. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the alarm device  12  includes a remote control  30  and a receiver  32  ( FIG. 2 ) carried by the vehicle  10  which are wirelessly coupled together. In the preferred embodiment, the remote control  30  includes an infrared transmitter and the receiver  32  is an infrared receiver. However, the remote control  30  may be connected to the toy vehicle by one or more conductors, in which case the receiver  32  may be omitted. Also, the remote control  30  may include a transmitter other than an IR transmitter. e.g., a radio transmitter or an ultrasonic sound transmitter, etc., and the receiver  32  will be compatible with the transmitter. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the remote control  30  may control the following alarm and vehicle functions:
         alarm arm and disarm (push button switch # 1 );   engine revving sound (push button switch # 2 );   motor drive (push button switch # 3 ); and   vehicle lights (push button switch # 4 ).       

     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the remote control  30  transmits coded signals to the receiver  32  carried by the vehicle, which detects the transmitted signals and supplies the detected signals to a controller  40 . The controller  40  decodes the signals supplied by the receiver  32  and selectively activates the lamp drive  42  which drives the vehicle head lights  22  and the vehicle tail lights  23 , the lamp drive  44  which drives the alarm indicator  26 , the speaker drive  46  which drives the speaker  48  and the motor drive  18  which drives the motor  16 . One or more sensors  50 ,  51  are coupled to the controller  40  to provide signals representing security violations. In the preferred embodiment, sensor  50  is a motion sensor. Additional sensors such as sensor  51  may be microswitches or magnetic switches which provide a signal to the controller  40  when the switch is activated and/or deactivated representing, for example, opening and closing a door or hood or trunk lid. 
     The controller  40  is preferably a programmed computer which includes a sound synthesizer, and is programmed to carry out the functions described herein and generate sound signals representing the sounds described herein in response to input signals from the receiver  32  and the sensors  50 ,  51 . Alternatively, a separate sound synthesizer may be provided. 
       FIG. 3  shows an implementation of the block diagram of  FIG. 2 . In the remote control  30 , the push button switches ## 1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4  are coupled to a modulator  60 , which modulates the drive to transistor  62  differently in response to activation of each of switches ## 1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4 , and thereby modulates the current to the IR emitter  64 . The IR emitter  64  emits modulated IR light in accordance with the different current modulation patterns provided by the modulator  60 . The modulator  60  may be any conventional modulator and the IR emitter  64  may be any conventional IR emitter such as an IR LED. 
     In the vehicle  10 , an IR receiver  32  detects the modulated IR light emitted by the IR emitter  64  and supplies the detected signal to a demodulator  70 , which demodulates and decodes the received signal and provides an output signal on the appropriate output Out  1 , Out  2  or Out  3  depending upon the modulated signal received by the IR receiver  32 . The outputs Out  1 – 3  of demodulator  70  are coupled to trigger inputs TG  1 – 3  of a controller circuit  74 . The motion sensor  50  is coupled to a fourth input of the controller circuit  74 . An LED alarm indicator  26  is coupled to the STA output of the controller circuit  74 , and when lit indicates that the alarm is armed. In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the LED  80  replaces the separate head lights  22  and tail lights  23  of  FIG. 2 . 
     The IR receiver  32 , the demodulator  70  and the controller circuit  74  may be conventional. In the preferred embodiment, the controller circuit  74  is a Series W528x integrated circuit available from Windbond Electronics Corp. (Republic of China), and includes an ADPCM (adaptive differential pulse-code modulation) voice synthesizer. The controller circuit  74  includes a programmed processor, which may be programmed by one of skill in the art to carry out the functions described herein. 
     While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications, as will be apparent to those of skill in the art, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention as set forth in the appended clams is thus not limited to the precise details of construction set forth above as such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the defined claims.