U.S. patent application number 09/739323 was filed with the patent office on 2002-02-21 for toy for animals.
Invention is credited to Noto, Yasunori.
Application Number | 20020020362 09/739323 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18738285 |
Filed Date | 2002-02-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020020362 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Noto, Yasunori |
February 21, 2002 |
Toy for animals
Abstract
A toy for pets, which is designed to encourage sedentary pets to
exercise by attracting them to the chaotic movement of a movable
object, is provided. The toy for animals includes a rotating unit,
which is provided so as to allow the axis of rotation to be angled
with respect to the vertical direction; a first rod having a base
portion connected coaxially with the axis of rotation and a tip
portion bent with respect to the base portion; a second rod, which
is connected to the tip portion of the first rod and has enough
flexibility to be deflected from the longitudinal direction; and a
movable object mounted to the tip of the second rod with a string
material. The movable object is moved chaotically in the vertical
and horizontal directions within a three-dimensional space around
the rotating unit by chaotically rotating the axis of rotation of
the rotating unit in an arbitrary rotating direction.
Inventors: |
Noto, Yasunori; (Fukuoka,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUGHRUE, MION, ZINN, MACPEAK & SEAS
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington
DC
20037
US
|
Family ID: |
18738285 |
Appl. No.: |
09/739323 |
Filed: |
December 19, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
119/707 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K 15/025
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
119/707 |
International
Class: |
A01K 029/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 18, 2000 |
JP |
2000-248361 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A toy for animals comprising: rotating means provided so as to
allow an axis of rotation to be angled with respect to the vertical
direction; a first rod having a base portion connected coaxially
with the axis of rotation and a tip portion bent with respect to
the base portion; a second rod, which is connected to the tip
portion of the first rod and has enough flexibility to be deflected
from the longitudinal direction; and a movable object mounted to a
tip of the second rod with a string material; wherein the movable
object is moved chaotically in a vertical direction and in a
horizontal direction within a three-dimensional space around the
rotating means by chaotically rotating the rotary shaft of the
rotating means in an arbitrary rotating direction.
2. The toy for animals according to claim 1, wherein the rotating
means is provided so as to allow the axis of rotation to have an
elevation angle of 45.degree. to 80.degree. with respect to the
horizontal direction.
3. The toy for animals according to claim 1, wherein the first rod
is bent so as to to be angled of 150.degree. to 170.degree. between
the tip portion and the base portion.
4. The toy for animals according to claim 1, wherein chaotic
rotation of the rotating means is achieved by dividing signal
levels of an original signal into a first area, a second area and a
third area so as to convert the original signal to digital data,
and using chaos data in which the digital data is converted so as
to make a left rotation, a stop and a right rotation when the
signal level of the original signal is in the first area, the
second area and the third area, respectively.
5. The toy for animals according to claim 4, wherein the second
area has a width of 100 to 700 ms.
6. The toy for animals according to claim 1, further comprising a
pedestal having an adjustable angled arm, wherein the rotating
means is built in a housing which is mounted on a tip of the arm.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a toy for animals which is
designed to encourage sedentary pets to be active, and more
particularly, to a novel improvement to attract pets attention over
a long period by chaotically controlling the movement of an amusing
movable object.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a conventional toy for
animals.
[0005] In FIG. 3, a pedestal 1 has a built-in motor 2 for
controlling electrical driving. This motor 2 has a rotary shaft 2A
arranged in a vertical direction. Additionally, a flexible rod 3
which is 10 to 30 cm long is connected to this rotary shaft 2A. The
rod 3 is bent nearly at a right angle, and is provided with a
movable object 4 in the shape of, for example, a mouse at the tip
thereof.
[0006] Moreover, in order to make the apparent movement of the
movable object 4 complex, the rod 3 is constituted of a rigid
material at a base portion and a flexible material at a tip portion
thereof, depending on the toy.
[0007] In such a conventional toy for pets, when the motor 2 is
rotated, the movable object 4 rotates on a plane where the pedestal
1 is installed. Thus, animals such as cats show interest and chase
the movable object 4, thus allowing sedentary pets to exercise
without human assistance.
[0008] With the above-noted configuration, the conventional toy has
the following problems. Specifically, since the movement of the
movable object 4 is limited to the range on the plane where the
pedestal 1 is installed, the movement is only two-dimensional and
is unlikely to repeatedly attract the attention animals over a long
period.
[0009] Moreover, the rotation of the movable object 4 has a
pattern, so that pets quickly lose interest.
[0010] Further, even if the movable object 4 is rotated
chaotically, the movement of the movable object 4 is only
two-dimensional as mentioned above, and thus will not attract
animals repeatedly or over a long period. The method of providing
chaotic movement to the movable object 4 is also unclear.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a toy for animals that can sufficiently amuse pets by
achieving three-dimensional and chaotic movement of a movable
object, thus solving the above-noted problems.
[0012] The toy for animals of the present invention includes a
rotating unit, which is provided so as to allow an axis of rotation
to be angled with respect to the vertical direction; a first rod
having a base portion connected coaxially with the axis of rotation
and a tip portion bent with respect to the base portion; a second
rod, which is connected to the tip portion of the first rod and has
enough flexibility to be deflected from the longitudinal direction;
and a movable object mounted to the tip of the second rod with a
string material, and is controlled so that the movable object is
moved chaotically in the vertical and horizontal directions within
a three-dimensional space around the rotating unit by chaotically
rotating the axis of rotation of the rotating unit in an arbitrary
rotating direction. Moreover, the rotating unit may be provided so
as to allow the axis of rotation to have an elevation angle of
45.degree. to 80.degree. with respect to the horizontal direction.
The first rod may also be bent so as to to be angled of 150.degree.
to 170.degree. between the tip portion and the base portion.
Additionally, the chaotic rotation of the rotating unit may be
achieved by dividing signal levels of an original signal into a
first area, a second area and a third area so as to convert the
original signal into digital data, and using chaos data in which
the digital data is converted so as to make a left rotation, a stop
and a right rotation when the signal level of the original signal
is in the first area, the second area and the third area,
respectively. Moreover, the second area may have a width of 100 to
700 ms. Furthermore, the toy for animals may further include a
pedestal having an angle adjusting arm, and the rotating unit may
be built in a housing which is mounted on the tip of the arm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a structural view, schematically showing a toy for
animals according to the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram, showing the principle of
extracting chaos data for use in the toy for animals of the present
invention; and
[0015] FIG. 3 is a structural view, schematically showing a
conventional toy for animals.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] A preferred embodiment of the toy for animals according to
the present invention will be explained in detail along with the
drawings.
[0017] Additionally, the same reference numerals are used for the
same or equivalent parts as those of the conventional toy, and the
explanation thereof is omitted.
[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the toy for animals of the present
invention has a pedestal 10 in the form of a stand. To an arm 10A
of this pedestal 10, a housing 10B that has a built-in motor 11 and
battery box 11B is mounted, and the angle of the arm 10A is
arbitrarily adjustable by an angle adjusting bolt 10C.
[0019] Specifically, an axis of rotation 11A of the motor 11 is
provided so as to to be angled relative to the vertical direction.
The elevation angle of the axis of rotation 11A relative to the
horizontal direction is preferably between 45.degree. and
80.degree..
[0020] Moreover, a rigid first rod 12 is connected coaxially with
the axis of rotation 11A. A tip portion 12A of this first rod 12 is
bent so as to to be angled with respect to a base portion 12B. The
angle between the tip portion 12A and the root portion 12B is
preferably 150.degree. to 170.degree..
[0021] Additionally, the battery box 11B is mounted to the motor 11
which performs the chaotic driving control described later.
[0022] To the tip portion 12A of the first rod 12, a second rod 13
is connected that has flexibility enough to be freely deflected
from the longitudinal direction thereof. To the tip of the second
rod 13, a movable object 15 is attached with a string material 14
such as a fishing line. When the toy of the present invention is
used for, cats, for instance, this movable object 15 may be an
object having a similar shape, pattern, color and so forth as a
mouse, or ribbons, or the like that cats like.
[0023] FIG. 1 shows a spring rod having a spring in the middle as
an example of the second rod 13. However, the second rod 13 may be
a flexible rod material that can be deflected from the longitudinal
direction and is not limited to one having a spring in the middle.
The sizes in FIG. 1 are examples.
[0024] In such a rotation mechanism, the movable object 15 moves in
the horizontal and vertical directions within the three-dimensional
space surrounding the motor 11 (see dashed-line section in FIG. 1)
when the rotary shaft 11A of the motor 11 is rotated. This is
because the rotary shaft 11A is angled with respect to the vertical
direction, and the first rod 12 is bent.
[0025] Next, the rotation of the motor 11 will be explained.
[0026] The toy for animals of the present invention chaotically
drives the motor 11 by using a microchip in which chaos data is
stored.
[0027] This chaotic drive control performs drive control by the
motion of deterministic chaos. The drive control of the motor 11 is
based on, for instance, chaos data obtained from various chaotic
phenomena in nature such as the murmurs of a stream, the strength
of wind blowing through a field and movement of breaking waves on
the ocean, artificial chaos data based on other actual data or
formulas, and so forth.
[0028] Chaos data for use in the chaotic drive control is prepared
by carrying out the following procedure on original signals.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the procedural
steps to obtain chaos data from original signals.
[0030] For instance, a human pulse is used as an original signal
20. This original signal 20 is read by a computer in a data format
such as a PCM format or a text format. The original signal 20, read
thereby, is analog data which expresses time-serial signal levels
of the original signal 20.
[0031] The vertical axis in FIG. 2 indicates the signal level of
pulses, which are used as the original signal 20, and the
horizontal axis indicates time.
[0032] Two straight lines Y=Y1 and Y=Y2 are drawn parallel to the
horizontal axis, and the original signal 20 is divided into three
areas, first, second and third areas, from the low signal
level.
[0033] Various chaos data, based on the original signal 20 such as
pulses, are obtained by determining the signal level of the
original signal 20 in the first area, the second area and the third
area as "right rotation", "stop" and "left rotation",
respectively.
[0034] The digital data, obtained from the first, second and third
area of the original signal 20, is assumed to be "0", "1" and "2",
respectively. When the digital data is converted into binary
numbers, the digital data, "00", "01" and "10", is obtained.
[0035] When the motor 11 switches from left rotation to right
rotation, there is always a pause. Thus, "1" (="01"), obtained from
the second area of the original signal 20 equivalent to the stop
motion should be the data to stop the motor 11.
[0036] However, in driving the general motor 11, "00" is the data
to stop the rotation. Thus, it is necessary to convert the data in
the second area equivalent to the stop motion to "00" and the data
in the first area to "01", so that the motor 11 is driven with left
rotation in the first area, stop in the second area, and right
rotation in the third area.
[0037] Accordingly, in the toy for animals of the present
invention, the chaos data, obtained by such a data conversion, is
used to drive the motor 11.
[0038] Next, the method of setting the rotation speed in the
process of preparing chaos data will be explained below.
[0039] The original signal 20, read by a computer in a data format
such as a PCM format or text format, is analog data which expresses
time-serial signal levels of the original signal 20.
[0040] By arbitrarily setting intervals in extracting the
time-serially arranged data as chaos data for use in the drive
control of the motor 11, the rotation speed of the motor 11 may be
arbitrarily changed.
[0041] For example, when the chaos data which is used to drive the
motor 11 is obtained by extracting the time-serially arranged data
per unit time, the motor 11 is driven by the rhythm in which a
human pulse or the like is reproduced (in other words, the waveform
and period are the same as those of the pulse). Additionally, when
the original signal 20 is extracted, for instance, per time period
which is five times as brief as the unit time mentioned above, the
chaos data is time-compressed, so that the rotation speed of the
motor 11 increases.
[0042] Accordingly, by adjusting the unit time to extract the
time-serially arranged data, the rotation speed of the motor 11 may
be adjusted.
[0043] Moreover, in order to set the operation time of left
rotation, the stop time, and the operation time of right rotation
of the motor 11 during the preparation process of the chaos data,
the two straight lines (Y=Y1, Y=Y2) in FIG. 2 may be set
differently. Specifically, the intervals of "00", "01" and "10"
data obtained from the original signal 20 may be changed by
arbitrarily selecting the width of the signal level of the first,
second and third areas (in the direction of the vertical axis in
FIG. 2). As a result, the operation time of left rotation, the stop
time, and the operation time of right rotation may be arbitrarily
set in terms of chaos data for use in the drive-control of the
motor 11.
[0044] By the above-mentioned procedure, chaos data may be prepared
for use in chaotic drive-control. The chaos data obtained thereby
is stored in a microchip, which is built in a driving unit of the
motor 11.
[0045] According to the toy for animals of the present invention,
the motor 11 is driven by using the chaos data obtained by dividing
the original signal 20 into three-stages of signal levels.
Therefore, the movable object 15 may be chaotically moved by using
the chaos data easily prepared thereby, and can sufficiently
attract animals to the movable object 15.
[0046] Moreover, the movable object 15 can be moved chaotically in
the horizontal and vertical directions within the three-dimensional
space surrounding the motor 11. Thus, the movement of the movable
object 15 becomes realistic, like a living creature such as a
mouse, and pets such as cats will play with the toy of the present
invention for a long time as if they were chasing a real mouse.
Accordingly, sedentary pets such as house cats can get a sufficient
level of exercise.
[0047] The toy for animals of the present invention includes a
rotating unit, which is provided so as to allow an axis of rotation
to be angled with respect to the vertical direction; a first rod
having a base portion connected coaxially with the axis of rotation
and a tip portion bent with respect to the base portion; a second
rod, which is connected to the tip portion of the first rod and has
enough flexibility to be deflected from the longitudinal direction;
and a movable object mounted to the tip of the second rod with a
string material. The movable object moves chaotically in the
vertical and horizontal directions within a three-dimensional space
around the rotating unit by chaotically rotating the rotary shaft
of the rotating unit in an arbitrary rotating direction. Therefore,
the movement of the movable object 15 becomes realistic, like a
living creature such as a mouse, and pets such as cats will play
with the toy of the present invention for a long time as if they
were chasing a real mouse. Accordingly, sedentary pets such as
house cats can obtain a sufficient level of exercise. Additionally,
since the rotating unit is provided so as to allow the axis of
rotation have an elevation angle of 45.degree. to 80.degree. with
respect to the horizontal direction, the three-dimensional movement
of the movable object may mimic the movement of a living creature.
The first rod is also bent so as to to be angled of 150.degree. to
170.degree. between the tip portion and the base portion, so that
the movable object can move realistically like a living creature in
three-dimensional space. Additionally, the chaotic rotation of the
rotating unit is achieved by dividing signal levels of an original
signal into a first area, a second area and a third area so as to
convert the original signal into digital data, and using chaos data
in which the digital data is converted so as to make a left
rotation, a stop and a right rotation when the signal level of the
original signal is in the first area, the second area and the third
area, respectively. Thus, chaotic drive-control may be achieved by
the chaos data that can easily be prepared based on an original
signal such as a human pulse. Moreover, the second area has a width
of 100 to 700 ms, so that the movement of the movable object may be
realistic like a living creature. Furthermore, the toy for animals
further includes a pedestal having an adjustable angled arm, and
the rotating unit is built in a housing which is mounted on the tip
of the arm. Therefore, a toy for animals may be easily and
economically provided.
* * * * *