Deformable sound-generating electronic toy

Abstract

A deformable toy is provided for generating sounds having variable acoustic characteristics. The toy includes a deformable body which changes shapes depending on external pressure applied to the body and a sound-reproducing device for playing back either prerecorded or newly recorded sounds, music, messages, etc., which have a predetermined playback rate as recorded to the device. The device is responsive to changes in shape of the body to vary the playback rate of the sounds by way of a mechanism of the sound reproducing device which varies the playback rate for the sounds being played back from the sound reproducing device to provide a highly interactive game for children which allows them to creatively alter sounds generated from the toy herein. In a preferred form, a pressure transmitting medium fills the toy deformable body and an actuator including a piezoelectric transducer and plunger engaging the body and the transducer responds to pressure transmitted through the medium by deforming of the body to shift the plunger, thus stressing the transducer to signal the toy circuitry for altering the sounds played back from the sound reproducing device of the toy.