JP7611435B2 - Production output toy and production output toy set - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a performance output toy capable of outputting performance using sound or the like, and a performance output toy set including the performance output toy.

Patent Document 1, cited below, discloses a spring-powered toy in which a first moving body modeled after an animal and a second moving body modeled after a harp are mounted on a base so that they move back and forth at different speeds, and the first moving body (animal) moves as if it is playing the second moving body (harp).

However, in the above-mentioned wind-up toy, the main effect is the predetermined movements of the first moving body (animal) and the second moving body (harp), and the effect is not based on the user's operation, so in this respect it cannot be said to be very entertaining.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 62-074888

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a performance output toy and a performance output toy set that can output a performance according to the user's operation.

The performance output toy of the present invention comprises a main body unit, a linear unit provided on the main body unit, and an output unit capable of outputting a performance in response to an operation on the linear unit, and the main body unit includes a support unit capable of supporting at least one end of the linear unit in a movable state. The toy according to the present invention includes a main body, a linear part provided on the main body, and a sound output part capable of outputting a performance by sound output, the main body includes a support part capable of supporting at least one end of the linear part in a movable state, the linear part is made up of a first linear part to an n-th linear part in total (n is an integer of 2 or more), each linear part includes a detection part capable of detecting the movement of each linear part based on a contact operation on each linear part, and further includes a mounting part to which an item can be attached and a recognition part capable of recognizing the item attached to the mounting part, the items are of multiple types, the recognition part is capable of recognizing the type of the item attached to the mounting part, and the sound output part is capable of outputting a performance corresponding to the type of the item recognized by the recognition part when the movement of the linear part is detected by the detection part. The toy according to the present invention includes the above-mentioned toy and an item that can be attached to the toy.

The effect output toy and effect output toy set of the present invention can increase the interest by outputting effects according to the user's operations.

FIG. 1(A) is a front view of a performance output toy to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 1(B) is a cross-sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 1(A), and FIG. 1(C) is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 1(A). FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a control system of the performance output toy shown in FIG. Figure 3(A) is a front view of an item (one example) that can be attached to the performance output toy shown in Figure 1, Figure 3(B) is a rear view of the same item, Figure 3(C) is a side view of the same item, and Figure 3(D) is an explanatory diagram of how to attach the same item to the performance output toy shown in Figure 1. 4(A) and 4(B) are explanatory diagrams of a method of using the performance output toy shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of performance output by the performance output toy shown in FIG.

For the sake of convenience, in the following explanation, the near side in Figure 1(A) will be referred to as "front," the far side as "rear," the left side as "right," the right side as "left," the top side as "up," and the bottom side as "bottom," and directions will be indicated in the same way in other figures.

Configuration of the performance output toy and control system
First, the configuration of a performance output toy 10 to which the present invention is applied and the configuration of its control system 20 will be described with reference to Figs.

As shown in FIG. 1, the performance output toy 10 includes a main body 11, a linear portion 12, a support portion 13, an attachment portion 14, and a translucent portion 15.

The performance output toy 10 is formed with an appearance that imitates a harp (musical instrument), and the main body 11 is formed with an opening 11a that penetrates in the front-rear direction and has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front. Although not shown in the figure, a power source such as a storage battery or a rechargeable battery is housed inside the main body 11 and can be inserted and removed, and a power switch is provided on the rear face of the main body 11.

In addition, FIG. 1(A) shows the opening 11a as being rectangular in shape when viewed from the front, but there are no particular limitations as long as the shape allows for placement of the linear portion 12. In addition, the shape of the main body 11 when viewed from the front may be changed to match the shape of the opening 11a, etc.

As shown in Fig. 1(A) and Fig. 1(B), the linear portion 12 is made up of a total of four linear portions, a first linear portion 12a, a second linear portion 12b, a third linear portion 12c, and a fourth linear portion 12d, and each of the non-supported portions (portions excluding the upper and lower ends) is located inside the opening 11a. Each of the linear portions 12a to 12d is formed linearly from a rigid material such as ABS resin or polypropylene, and preferably has the same diameter, and more preferably is parallel to each other in the left-right direction and is spaced equally apart.

In FIG. 1(A), the linear portion 12 is shown as being made up of a total of four linear portions 12a-12d, but it may be three or less, or five or more. In other words, a single linear portion is sufficient, but considering the diversification of the performance output, it is preferable to have n linear portions (n is an integer of 2 or more).

As shown in FIG. 1B, the support portion 13 is made up of four upper stationary support portions 13a and four lower movable support portions 13b, and each stationary support portion 13a and each movable support portion 13b are provided facing the inner upper surface and inner lower surface of the opening 11a.

Each of the immovable support parts 13a supports the upper end of each of the linear parts 12a to 12d in a stationary state, and is composed of, for example, a recess (reference number omitted) provided on the inner upper surface of the opening 11a, and the upper end of each of the linear parts 12a to 12d is fixed by fitting it into each recess with an adhesive.

Each movable support portion 13b movably supports the lower end of each linear portion 12a to 12d, and is formed, for example, from a long hole 13b1 that penetrates the inner lower surface of the opening 11a in the vertical direction, and the lower end of each linear portion 12a to 12d is inserted into each long hole 13b1 so that it can move in the front-rear direction.

That is, each of the linear portions 12a to 12d is designed so that the lower end of each can be moved along the corresponding slot 13b1 under elasticity with the upper end as the base point by flicking the unsupported portion with a fingertip or the like (contact operation, see the arrow in Figure 4). Incidentally, the maximum movement of the lower end of each of the linear portions 12a to 12d is limited by the front-to-rear dimension of each slot 13b1.

As shown in FIG. 1(B), detection elements 22a (four in total, see FIG. 3) consisting of well-known switches such as tactile switches and push switches are provided in the lower part of the main body 11 so as to face the lower ends of the linear parts 12a to 12d.

Each detector element 22a is for detecting an operation on each of the linear portions 12a to 12d when the above-mentioned contact operation is applied to each of the linear portions 12a to 12d and the lower end of each of the linear portions touches the detector element 22a (see FIG. 4(B)). Of course, when the above-mentioned contact operation is applied to each of the linear portions 12a to 12d but the lower end does not touch the detector element 22a, the operation of each of the linear portions 12a to 12d is not detected.

As shown in Figures 1(A) and 1(C), the mounting section 14 is a hole that penetrates the lower front surface of the main body section 11 in the front-rear direction and has a horizontally long rectangular shape when viewed from the front. At the deepest part of the hole, recognition elements 23a (5 in total, see Figure 3) consisting of well-known switches such as tactile switches and push switches are provided. The method of mounting the object AR (see Figure 2) to the mounting section 14 and the method of recognition will be described in detail later.

As shown in Figs. 1(A) and 1(B), the light-transmitting section 15 is provided in the center of the upper surface of the main body section 11 and has a spherical shape, and the light output section 24b (see Fig. 3) consisting of a monochromatic light-emitting diode or a multi-colored light-emitting diode is provided at the bottom inside. The light-transmitting section 15 is transparent or translucent (including those colored milky white or lightly colored), and light from the light output section 24b (see Fig. 3) passes through the light-transmitting section 15 and is emitted to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control system 20 of the performance output toy 10 includes a main control unit 21 including a microcomputer and various drivers, a detection unit 22 for detecting operations having the four detection elements 22a mentioned above, a recognition unit 23 for recognizing items having the five recognition elements 23a mentioned above, an output unit 24 having a sound output unit 24a such as a speaker and the light output unit 24b mentioned above, and a memory unit 25.

The ROM of the main control unit 21 or the storage unit 25 stores a program for performing the performance output shown in FIG. 5. The storage unit 25 also stores performance data for performing performances by outputting sounds such as voice, music, and sound effects, and performance data for performing performances by outputting light such as continuous light emission or blinking light emission (including the light emission color in the case of the multi-color light output unit 24b).

{Configuration of an article, a method for wearing the article, and a method for recognizing the article}
Next, the configuration of an object AR (one example) that can be attached to the attachment section 14 of the performance output toy 10 described above, and a method of attaching the object AR to the attachment section 14 and a method of recognizing the object AR will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in Figures 3(A) to 3(C), the item AR has an insertion part ARa that is heart-shaped when viewed from the front and a horizontally elongated rectangular shape when viewed from the rear, and has a total of five recognized parts ARb consisting of hemispherical protrusions on the rear surface of the insertion part ARb. The shape of the insertion part ARa when viewed from the rear is such that it can be detachably fitted into the attachment part 14 in a predetermined orientation.

When attaching the item AR to the attachment section 14 of the performance output toy 10, as shown in FIG. 3(D), the orientation of the insertion section ARa of the item AR is aligned with the orientation of the attachment section 14, and then the insertion section ARa is fitted into the attachment section 14. By this attachment, each recognized section ARb of the item AR touches each recognition element 23a of the recognition section 23, and the item AR is recognized.

If there is a concern that the insertion portion ARa of the article AR shown in Figures 3(A) to 3(C) may be attached to the mounting portion 14 upside down, a mark indicating the upside down orientation may be provided on the insertion portion ARa of the article AR, or the insertion portion ARa and the mounting portion 14 may be provided with projections and recesses for alignment, or the rear view of the insertion portion ARa and the front view of the mounting portion 14 may be made polygonal to restrict the mounting orientation.

For convenience, Figures 3(A) to 3(C) show the number and position of the recognized parts ARb in accordance with the number and position of the recognition elements 23a of the recognition unit 23 described above, but if at least one other type of article (not shown) is prepared with a different number and position of the recognized parts ARb, it is possible to distinguish and recognize the type of article AR and the other article based on the number and position of the recognized parts ARb. The other articles here include articles that are a different color from the article AR, as well as articles that have a different shape when viewed from the front from the article AR.

To add a bit more about identifying the object AR and other objects, when the number of recognized parts ARb is five, the arrangement of the recognized parts ARb can be up to 31 patterns, including combinations when the number of recognized parts ARb is five and when the number of recognized parts ARb is one to four and the positions of each are changed. In other words, a recognition unit 23 with five recognition elements 23 can identify up to 31 types of objects.

How to use the production output toy and the production output process
4 and 5, a method of using the effect output toy 10 and a flow of effect output by the effect output toy 10 will be described. In this description, for convenience, the above-mentioned object AR and a plurality of types of objects including other objects will be collectively referred to as "object AR".

The user selects a desired item AR from a number of types of items AR and attaches it to the attachment portion 14 of the performance output toy 10 (see FIG. 3(D) and FIG. 4). The user then performs an operation (touch operation) of flicking at least one of the four linear portions 12a to 12d that make up the linear portion 12 with a fingertip or the like (see the arrow in FIG. 4).

When the item AR is attached to the attachment section 14, the recognized portion ARb of the item AR comes into contact with at least one of the five recognition elements 23a of the recognition section 23, and the item AR is recognized (including type identification).

In addition, when a touch operation is applied to at least one of the four linear portions 12a to 12d, the linear portion bends and its lower end touches at least one of the four detector elements 22a of the detector 22, and the operation on that linear portion is detected. As mentioned above, even if a touch operation is applied to at least one of the four linear portions 12a to 12d, if the lower end of the linear portion does not touch the detector element 22a, the operation on that linear portion is not detected.

To elaborate on the contact operation, since the linear portion 12 is made up of four linear portions 12a to 12d, there are a maximum of 15 patterns of operations on the linear portions 12a to 12d, including combinations when the number of linear portions to which the contact operation is applied is four, and combinations when the number of linear portions to which the contact operation is applied is one to three, each in a different position. In other words, the detection unit 22, which has four detection elements 22a, can distinguish a maximum of 15 types of operations. In addition, contact operations include cases where one flicks one to four of the four linear portions 12a to 12d individually with a fingertip, and cases where two to four of the four linear portions 12a to 12d are flicked consecutively by moving the fingertip left and right.

The performance output of the performance output toy 10 is based on operation detection by the four detection elements 22a of the detection unit 22 and item recognition (including type identification) by the five recognition elements 23a of the recognition unit 23. Therefore, when performing performance output even when an item AR is not attached to the attachment unit 14, the following cases may occur during the above-mentioned use: (X1) a case where both item recognition and operation detection are satisfied, (X2) a case where only operation detection is satisfied, and (X3) a case where only item recognition is satisfied. In other words, during the above-mentioned use, it is determined which of cases X1 to X3 applies in steps ST101 to ST103 of FIG. 5.

In case X1, performance data corresponding to the combination of the recognized type of item AR and the position and number of linear portions 12a to 12d where operation was detected is selected from all performance data stored in memory unit 25 (see step ST104 in Figure 5).

Then, a sound (voice, music, sound effects, etc.) effect based on the selected effect data is output from the sound output section 24a of the output section 24, and a light (continuous light emission, blinking light emission, etc., including the emitted color in the case of the light output section 24b that emits multi-color light) effect based on the selected effect data is output from the light output section 24b and emitted to the outside through the light-transmitting section 15 (see step ST105 in FIG. 5). Incidentally, since the effect output in step ST105 in case X1 has a predetermined time, the effect output stops when the time has elapsed.

In case X2, performance data corresponding to the position and number of linear portions 12a-12d where operation was detected is selected from all performance data stored in memory unit 25 (see step ST104 in FIG. 5). Incidentally, in case X2, since it is not necessary to attach the item AR to the attachment portion 14, the deterioration of the appearance can be prevented by covering the attachment portion 14 with a lid part or the like (not shown).

Then, a sound (voice, music, sound effects, etc.) effect based on the selected effect data is output from the sound output section 24a of the output section 24, and a light (continuous light emission, blinking light emission, etc., including the emitted color in the case of the light output section 24b that emits multi-color light) effect based on the selected effect data is output from the light output section 24b and emitted to the outside through the light-transmitting section 15 (see step ST105 in FIG. 5). Incidentally, since the effect output in step ST104 in case X2 has a predetermined time, the effect output stops when the time has elapsed.

In case X3, since no operation is detected on the four linear portions 12a to 12d, sound and light effects are not output in principle.

<Main Effects>
Next, there will be described main actions and effects obtained by the aforementioned performance output toy 10. In this description, for convenience, the aforementioned object AR and other objects will be collectively referred to as "object AR".

The effect output toy 10 can output effects in response to operations on the operation unit 12, which can enhance the entertainment value. In addition, if there are two or more linear units 12, the types of effects that can be output can be diversified, which can further enhance the entertainment value mentioned above.

In addition, the performance output toy 10 can output a performance according to a combination of the recognition of the object AR attached to the attachment portion 14 and the detection of an operation on the linear portion 12, making it possible to output a wider variety of performances and further enhance the entertainment value mentioned above.

<<Variation>>
Next, a description will be given of a modified example of the aforementioned performance output toy 10. In this description, for convenience, the aforementioned object AR and other objects will be collectively referred to as "object AR".

(Variation 1) Although the upper end of the linear portion 12 (12a to 12d) is supported in a stationary state and the lower end is supported in a movable state, the upper end may also be supported in a movable state so that the entire linear portion 12 moves when an operation is applied to the linear portion 12.

For example, if non-through elongated holes (with the same outline as elongated hole 13b1) are provided on the inner upper and lower surfaces of opening 11a, and the upper and lower ends of linear portion 12 inserted into the upper and lower elongated holes are biased forward by an elastic member such as a coil spring, and detector element 22a is positioned so that the lower end of linear portion 12 comes into contact with it when linear portion 12 moves backward, an operation on linear portion 12 can be detected when the entire linear portion 12 moves backward.

(Variation 2) Although the above embodiment has an attachment unit 14 capable of attaching an object AR and a recognition unit 23 capable of recognizing the object AR, the attachment unit 14 and the recognition unit 23 may be eliminated if the performance is to be output only by operating the linear portion 12.

(Variation 3) Although the above shows a device that outputs sound effects and light effects in response to operations on the linear portion 12, the light output portion 24b may be eliminated if only sound effects are to be output. In this case, the light-transmitting portion 15 may be opaque (merely decorative), or the light-transmitting portion 15 itself may be eliminated.

(Variation 4) Although the mounting unit 13 is shown to be capable of mounting different types of objects AR, if the mounting unit 14 and the recognition unit 23 are eliminated and a substitute object that replaces the object AR is provided in an uninterchangeable and rotatable manner, it is possible to change the presentation that is output when the linear portion 12 is operated by rotating the substitute object.

For example, if a detectable part consisting of a protrusion or the like is provided on the rotating part of the substitute item mentioned above and four detector elements are provided at 45° intervals around the rotating part, and the detectable part touches one of the detector elements by rotating the substitute item by 45°, it is possible to output a performance according to the combination of the rotational position (four positions) of the substitute item detected by the four detector elements and the positions and number of the linear parts 12a to 12d whose operations are detected.

10...toy with performance output, 11...main body, 11a...opening, 12...linear portion, 12a-12d...first linear portion to fourth linear portion, 13...support portion, 13a...immovable support portion, 13b...movable support portion, 14...attachment portion, 15...translucent portion, 20...control system, 21...main control portion, 22...detection portion, 22a...detection element, 23...recognition portion, 23a...recognition element, 24...output portion, 24a...sound output portion, 24b...light output portion, AR...item, ARa...insertion portion, ARa...recognized portion.

Claims (10)

A performance output toy,
A main body portion,
A linear portion provided on the main body portion;
A sound output unit capable of outputting a performance by sound output ,
the main body portion includes a support portion capable of movably supporting at least one end portion of the linear portion,
The linear portion includes a first linear portion to an nth linear portion, the first linear portion to the nth linear portion being a total of n linear portions (n is an integer of 2 or more),
a detection unit capable of detecting a movement of each linear portion based on a touch operation on the linear portion is provided for each linear portion;
Further, the device includes a mounting unit capable of mounting an article, and a recognition unit capable of recognizing the article mounted on the mounting unit,
There are a plurality of types of the article, and the recognition unit is capable of recognizing the type of the article attached to the attachment unit,
The sound output unit is capable of outputting a performance corresponding to the type of the item recognized by the recognition unit when the detection unit detects the movement of the linear portion.
A performance output toy. The unsupported portion of the linear portion is provided so as to be located inside an opening provided in the main body portion.
The presentation output toy according to claim 1 . The first linear portion to the nth linear portion are parallel to each other and are equally spaced apart.
The effect output toy according to any one of claims 1 to 2 . the support portion includes a stationary support portion that supports one end of the linear portion in a stationary state, and a movable support portion that supports the other end of the linear portion in a movable state,
The linear portion is formed from a hard material having elasticity with one end of the linear portion as a base point.
The effect output toy according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . The stationary support portion and the movable support portion are provided to face each other on an inner surface of an opening portion provided in the main body portion.
The effect output toy according to claim 4 . The movable state is a state in which a maximum value of the movement of the other end of the linear portion is limited.
The toy according to claim 4 or 5 . The detection unit is configured to detect the movement of the linear part when the other end of the linear part touches a detection element, and not to detect the movement of the linear part when the other end of the linear part does not touch the detection element.
The toy according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . The performance output from the sound output unit corresponds to the position or number of the operated linear portion among the first linear portion to the nth linear portion.
The effect output toy according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . The performance output toy is formed in an appearance imitating a harp.
The effect output toy according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . A performance output toy set comprising the performance output toy according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and the item according to claim 1 .