Toy Sensitive to Human Touch

Abstract

A toy including at least one capacitive sensor comprising a metal plate constituting one of the two plates of a capacitor, the second plate being constituted by a portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy, at least one effects generator; and a control circuit including means for causing effects to take place in response to stimulation of said capacitive sensor; the toy being characterized in that said metal plate of said at least one capacitive sensor is used as an antenna for picking tip radio frequency transmission from said portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy.

1 . A toy including at least one capacitive sensor comprising a metal plate constituting one of the two plates of a capacitor, the second plate being constituted by a portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy,
 at least one effects generator; and   a control circuit including means for causing effects to take place in response to stimulation of said capacitive sensor;   the toy being characterized in that said metal plate of said at least one capacitive sensor is used as an antenna for picking up radio frequency transmission from said portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy.   
   
   
       2 . The toy according to  claim 1 , in which the radio frequency transmission is at the frequency of an electrical power distribution network. 
   
   
       3 . The toy according to  claim 1 , including means for charging and discharging the capacitor of said at least one capacitive sensor. 
   
   
       4 . The toy according to  claim 3 , including a counter for measuring the discharge time of said at least one capacitive sensor. 
   
   
       5 . The toy according to  claim 4 , including means for starting the counter when the capacitor is charged, and means for stopping the counter when the capacitor is discharged. 
   
   
       6 . The toy according to  claim 5 , including a control circuit connected to the counter and having means for storing a plurality of discharge times issued by the counter, said plurality of discharge times constituting a collection. 
   
   
       7 . The toy according to  claim 6 , in which the control circuit includes means for analyzing the collection of a plurality of discharge times, and means for detecting variation in the mean value of the collection relative to the mean value of the preceding collection. 
   
   
       8 . The toy according to  claim 6 , in which the control circuit includes means for comparing variation in the values of the discharge times within a single collection with a sinusoidal signal of frequency substantially equal to the frequency of an electrical power distribution network. 
   
   
       9 . The toy according to any preceding claim in which a resistor is located between ground and the base of the first plate of the capacitor of said at least one capacitive sensor, the resistor and the capacitor thus constituting an RC circuit. 
   
   
       10 . The toy according to  claim 1 , including a variable frequency radio frequency generator generating an electromagnetic field,
 at least one accessory including a passive resonant circuit constituted by an inductor connected in series with a capacitor and responsive to an electromagnetic field at a determined frequency; and   means for determining the presence of at least one accessory and for stimulating the effects generator in such a manner as to cause it to produce an effect.   
   
   
       11 . The toy according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it is a doll having a plurality of capacitive sensors situated at various locations of the doll. 
   
   
       12 . A method of detecting human presence for a toy according to any preceding claim, the toy including a capacitive sensor having a metal plate constituting one of the two plates of a capacitor, the second plate of the capacitor being constituted by a portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy, said method comprising at least the steps consisting in:
 making a collection comprising a plurality of values for the discharge time of the capacitor;   comparing the mean value of the collection with a reference discharge time value;   comparing the mean value of the collection with the mean value of the preceding collection; and   comparing any variations between the discharge time values of the capacitor within the collection with a sinusoidal signal of frequency substantially equal to the frequency of the electrical power distribution network.   
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 12 , in which it is concluded that a portion of a living being is present when the variations in the discharge time values present substantially the form of said sinusoidal signal. 
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 12 , in which it is concluded that a portion of a living being is present if the mean value of the current collection is substantially equal to the mean value of the preceding collection, and if it was previously concluded that a portion of a living being was present. 
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 12 , in which it is concluded that no portion of a living being is present when the mean value of the current collection is substantially equal to a reference value. 
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , in which the reference value is a function of external conditions. 
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 12 , in which the collection comprises ten discharge time values.