Claims
[1] A functional soother, in which a coupling cylinder extends from a rear side of a teat body to which a teat is coupled to face forward, a container- shaped Printed Circuit Board (PCB) casing is detachably coupled to the coupling cylinder, and a PCB, on which components of a sound generation circuit unit for generating sound are mounted, is contained in a reception space between the coupling cylinder and the PCB casing, wherein the sound generation circuit unit comprises: memory for storing source sounds; a speaker; a microphone for receiving sound and converting the sound into electrical signals; a source sound storage circuit unit for converting electrical signals, input from the microphone, into source sound and storing the resulting source sound in the memory; a source sound playback circuit unit for playing back a source sound stored in the memory and outputting the playback source sound through the speaker; buttons; and a control unit for controlling the source sound storage circuit unit so that the source sound circuit unit stores the source sound, generated through the microphone, in the memory in response to manipulation of the buttons, and controlling the source sound playback circuit unit so that the source sound playback circuit unit reads a source sound, selected in response to manipulation of the buttons, from the memory, plays back the read source sound, and outputs the played source sound through the speaker.
[2] A functional soother, in which a coupling cylinder extends from a rear side of a teat body to which a teat is coupled to face forward, a container- shaped Printed Circuit Board (PCB) casing is detachably coupled to the coupling cylinder, and a PCB, on which components of a sound generation circuit unit for generating sound are mounted, is contained in a reception space between the coupling cylinder and the PCB casing, wherein the sound generation circuit unit comprises: memory for storing source sounds; a speaker; a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connected to an external computer or an Internet and configured to download various source sounds; a source sound storage circuit unit for storing the source sounds, downloaded through the USB, in the memory; a source sound playback circuit unit for playing back the source sounds stored in the memory and outputting the played source sounds to the speaker; buttons; and a control unit for controlling the source sound storage circuit unit so that the source sound circuit unit stores the source sound, downloaded through the USB, in the memory in response to manipulation of the buttons, and controlling the source sound playback circuit unit so that the source sound playback circuit unit reads a source sound, selected in response to manipulation of the buttons, from the memory, plays back the read source sound, and outputs the played source sound through the speaker.
[3] The functional soother as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sound generation circuit unit further comprises a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) for displaying operating status of the sound generation circuit unit or discharge status of a battery.
[4] The functional soother as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the buttons comprise a power of/off button and a button for selecting a source sound to be played back.
[5] The functional soother as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sound generation circuit unit further comprises a volume switch for adjusting a volume of the sound output through the speaker.
[6] The functional soother as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sound generation circuit unit further comprises an earphone jack electrically connected to an earphone, and configured to output sound, played back by the source sound playback circuit unit, to an outside. |
Description
FUNCTIONAL TEATS FOR PLAYING
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates, in general, to a functional soother, and more particularly to a functional soother that is capable of issuing a mother's voice and sound, various pieces of music, natural sounds, etc., capable of stabilizing an infant's emotion, to the infant, as well as providing a feeling of satisfaction, occurring when the infant holds a teat in his or her mouth, to the infant. Background Art
[2] As is well known, infants can have a feeling of satisfaction by sucking the teats themselves while passing through the oral phase, even when milk does not flow from the teats. Since Soothers were developed with an eye to this fact. Since such a soother is configured such that a ring is disposed on the rear side of the soother to allow an infant to hold the soother and a teat made of soft silicon material is provided on the front side thereof, the infant can satisfy his or her desire naturally by holding the front teat in his or her mouth while holding the ring.
[3] However, such conventional soothers are advantageous in that they can provide infants with a feeling of satisfaction when the infants suck the teats, but have a structural limitation because they cannot issue mothers' voice and sounds, various pieces of music, etc. to stabilize the infants' emotions. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[4] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a functional soother that is capable of issuing a mother's voice and sound, various pieces of music, natural sounds, etc. capable of stabilizing an infant's emotion to the infant, as well as providing a feeling of satisfaction occurring when the infant puts the teat in his or her mouth, in order to overcome the structural limitation of the conventional soothers.
Technical Solution
[5] In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a functional soother, in which a coupling cylinder extends from a rear side of a teat body to which a teat is coupled to face forward, a container-shaped Printed Circuit Board (PCB) casing is detachably coupled to the coupling cylinder, and a PCB, on which components of a sound generation circuit unit for generating sound are mounted, is contained in a reception space between the coupling cylinder and the PCB casing, wherein the sound
generation circuit unit includes:
[6] memory for storing source sounds; a speaker; a microphone for receiving sound and converting the sound into electrical signals; a source sound storage circuit unit for converting electrical signals, input from the microphone, into source sound and storing the resulting source sound in the memory; a source sound playback circuit unit for playing back a source sound stored in the memory and outputting the playback source sound through the speaker; buttons; and a control unit for controlling the source sound storage circuit unit so that the source sound circuit unit stores the source sound, generated through the microphone, in the memory in response to manipulation of the buttons, and controlling the source sound playback circuit unit so that the source sound playback circuit unit reads a source sound, selected in response to manipulation of the buttons, from the memory, plays back the read source sound, and outputs the played source sound through the speaker.
[7] According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a functional soother, in which a coupling cylinder extends from a rear side of a teat body to which a teat is coupled to face forward, a container- shaped Printed Circuit Board (PCB) casing is detachably coupled to the coupling cylinder, and a PCB, on which components of a sound generation circuit unit for generating sound are mounted, is contained in a reception space between the coupling cylinder and the PCB casing, wherein the sound generation circuit unit includes:
[8] memory for storing source sounds; a speaker; a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connected to an external computer or an Internet and configured to download various source sounds; a source sound storage circuit unit for storing the source sounds, downloaded through the USB, in the memory; a source sound playback circuit unit for playing back the source sounds stored in the memory and outputting the played source sounds to the speaker; buttons; and a control unit for controlling the source sound storage circuit unit so that the source sound circuit unit stores the source sound, downloaded through the USB, in the memory in response to manipulation of the buttons, and controlling the source sound playback circuit unit so that the source sound playback circuit unit reads a source sound, selected in response to manipulation of the buttons, from the memory, plays back the read source sound, and outputs the played source sound through the speaker.
[9] According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the sound generation circuit unit further includes a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) for displaying operating status of the sound generation circuit unit or discharge status of a battery.
[10] According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, the buttons include a power of/off button and a button for selecting a source sound to be played back.
[11] According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention, the sound generation circuit unit further includes a volume switch for adjusting a volume of the sound output through the speaker.
[12] According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention, the sound generation circuit unit further includes an earphone jack electrically connected to an earphone, and configured to output sound, played back by the source sound playback circuit unit, to an outside.
[13] The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be interpreted as having general or meanings, but should be interpreted as having meanings and concepts in conformity with the technical spirit of the present invention based on the principal in which an inventor can appropriately define the concepts of terms in order to describe the inventor's own invention in the most appropriate way.
Advantageous Effects
[14] The functional soother according to the present invention not only provides a feeling of satisfaction, occurring when an infant holds the teat in his or her mouth, but is also provided with a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), on which a sound generation circuit capable of generating a mother's voice and sound, natural sounds, music, etc. is disposed, thereby providing advantages of stabilizing the infant's emotion as well as providing a feeling of satisfaction occurring when the infant holds the teat in his or her mouth. Brief Description of the Drawings
[15] FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a functional soother according to the present invention;
[16] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the functional soother according to the present invention;
[17] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the functional soother according to the present invention; and
[18] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the construction of a sound generation circuit unit on a
PCB within the functional soother according to the present invention.
[19] <Description of reference numerals of principal elements in the drawings>
[20] 10: teat 11: teat body 2: coupling cylinder
[21] 13: PCB casing 12a, 13a: spiral threaded portion 14: PCB
[22] 15: reception space 18: sound generation circuit unit 19: memory
[23] 20: source sound playback circuit unit 21: speaker 22: control unit
[24] 23: piezoelectric battery 24: microphone 25: source sound storage circuit unit
[25] 26: USB 27: LED 28: LCD
[26] 29: button 30: volume switch
[27] 31 : earphone jack
Mode for the Invention
[28] The above-described objects, characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description.
[29] A functional soother according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[30] It is to be noted that the same elements or parts thereof are designated by the same reference numerals as far as possible throughout the drawings. In the following description of the present invention, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted in order to prevent the gist of the present invention from being obscured.
[31] FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a functional soother according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the functional soother according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the functional soother according to the present invention.
[32] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a teat 10 to be held in an infant's mouth is integrally coupled to and supported on the front side of a teat body 11 by a teat fastening rim 11a. A coupling cylinder 12 extends from and is formed on the rear side of the teat body 11. A spiral threaded portion 12a for assembly and disassembly is formed in the outer circumference of the coupling cylinder 12.
[33] A container- shaped PCB casing 13 is detachably coupled to the spiral threaded portion 12a of the coupling cylinder 12 in such a way that a spiral threaded portion 13a, provided on the inner circumference of the PCB casing 11, is engaged with the spiral threaded portion 12a of the coupling cylinder 12. A PCB 14, etc. are contained in a reception space 15 between the coupling cylinder 12 and the PCB casing 14.
[34] The top portion of the PCB 14, received in the reception space 15 formed between the coupling cylinder 12 and the PCB casing 13, is safely protected and supported by a PCB cover 16, which is fastened and supported by screws 16a, as shown in FIG. 3. Here, the PCB cover 16 may also be coupled to the inner circumference of the PCB casing 13 using a thermal fusion method, as an alternative to the coupling method using the screws 16a.
[35] As a result, the PCB 14 is contained in the PCB casing 13 so that it cannot be seen from the outside, and can be separated from or attached to the coupling cylinder 12, along with the PCB casing 13.
[36] Furthermore, a mobile ring 17, which can be held in the hand when an infant use the
soother, is provided on the rear side of the PCB casing 13.
[37] According to the present invention, a sound generation circuit unit 18 for generating a mother's voice and sound, music and natural sounds is provided on the PCB 14. This will be described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 4.
[38] Referring to FIG. 4, the sound generation circuit unit 18 includes memory (or a memory chip 19) for storing a mother's voice and sound, music, natural sounds, etc. to be issued to an infant, a source sound playback circuit unit 20 for selectively playing back the mother's voice and sound, music, natural sounds, etc. stored in the memory 19 and outputting them to a speaker 21, a control unit 22 for controlling the drive of the m emory 19 and the source sound playback circuit unit 20, and a piezoelectric battery 23 for supplying power to the memory 19, the source sound playback circuit unit 20 and the control unit 22. Accordingly, the sound generation circuit unit 18 can issue the mother's voice and sound, various pieces of music, natural sounds, etc., which are helpful to the stabilization of emotions, to an infant.
[39] It is preferred that the speaker 21 be installed near the coupling cylinder 12 or the
PCB casing 13 so that an infant can hear the sound output from the speaker 21. The coupling cylinder 12 or the PCB casing 13 must have a structure having a number of holes, so that sound can be transmitted to the outside.
[40] Furthermore, the device of the present invention can not only play back various sounds stored in the memory 19, but can also download various sounds from a computer or the like or output playback sound through a speaker or earphones.
[41] That is, according to the present invention, a microphone 24 for gathering voice is connected to a source sound storage circuit unit 25 and the source sound storage circuit unit 25 stores a voice (that is, a source sound), input through the microphone 24, in the memory 19 under the control of the control unit 22. Accordingly, not only various source sounds stored in the memory 19 in a process of manufacturing the soother, but also a user's voice, etc. can be stored in the memory 19 and issued to an infant frequently.
[42] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 26, through which various source sounds, such as music and sound, can be downloaded from an Internet-capable computer or an external device storing various source sounds, is connected to the source sound storage circuit unit 25, and the source sound storage circuit unit 25 stores voice (that is, a source sound), downloaded through the USB 26, in the memory 19 under the control of the control unit 20. Accordingly, not only various source sounds stored in the memory 19 in a process of manufacturing the soother, but also a user's voice, etc. can be stored in the memory 19 and frequently issued to an infant.
[43] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) 27 or
a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 28 is connected to the control unit 20 of the sound generation circuit unit 18. The LED 27 or LCD 28 displays operating status, such as the power on/off of the functional soother, including the sound generation circuit unit 18, or the discharge status of the piezoelectric battery 23.
[44] Furthermore, a number of buttons 29 is connected to the control unit 20 of the sound generation circuit unit 18. These buttons 29 have functions of turning on and off the power of the functional soother, including the sound generation circuit unit 18, setting a sound playback mode and a sound storage mode, and selecting a source sound to be played back.
[45] Further, according to the present invention, a volume switch 30 connected to the control unit 20 of the sound generation circuit unit 18 can be used to adjust the volume of sound output from the speaker 21 or an earphone jack 31 (which will be described later).
[46] Furthermore, the additional earphone jack 31 is connected to the source sound playback circuit unit 20 of the sound generation circuit unit 18 along with the speaker 21. Accordingly, a source sound, played by the source sound playback circuit unit 20, can not only be heard through the speaker 21, but can be also heard through an earphone connected to the earphone jack 31.
[47] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above-described present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the attached drawings, but various corrections and modifications can be made within a range that does not depart from the technical spirit of the invention. Accordingly, such correction and modifications are to be considered to pertain to the claims of the present invention.