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TALKING BOOK
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 This invention relates to talking books having entertainment and education value and more particularly to a talking book which utilizes a separate audio playback player which when connected with a book will reproduce by sound the io story of the book so the user can hear the story at the same time the user reads the story.
2) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Talking books have long been known. Such talking books are in common use by children. It has been discovered that 15 talking books provide audio visual entertainment and education for children. Audio visual education entails the simultaneous utilization of the visual and auditory faculties of a human. Simultaneous exercise of these faculties results in greater progress by the child in both reading and learning. 20
Various types of devices have been provided within the prior art to accomplish the audio visual exposure of children. One particular type of such device comprise expensive electronic teaching equipment intended for intensive use in schools and other institutions of learning. Another type of 25 such devices in a simpler form would be the inclusion of phonograph records included in conjunction with printed material such as books. The user is to remove the phonograph record and play the phonograph record at the same time the book is read. 30
Also, within the prior art there are numerous forms of talking books. These books have tape cassettes of a conventional type or utilize an electronic chip that produces a synthesized sound. The tape or the chip is included within 3J the book and is activated in some form by means of a playback device which may be separate from the book or may be included within the book.
One of the disadvantages of such prior art audio visual devices is that they have been relatively complex and 40 complex devices are difficult for children to operate. Also, such devices have been relatively expensive and therefore not available to all children because of being financially limited only to children of affluent parents.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of the present invention is to construct an audio visual apparatus which can be manufactured at very low cost and therefore sold to the ultimate consumer at a low cost which makes the audio visual device 50 available to not only rich people but also to poor people.
Another objective of the present invention is to construct an audio visual device which can be easily operated by very young children. 55
Another objective of the present invention is to construct an audio visual device which is composed of few parts which thereby minimizes the possibility of a mechanical breakdown and therefore provides for an extended time period of usage. 60
The audio visual device of the present invention utilizes a book that resembles a conventional book having an inner cover and an outer cover with pages located therebetween. The size of the pages is substantially less than the size of the inner cover and the outer cover producing a head area on the 65 inside surface of the inner cover and the outer cover which does not include any of the pages. Mounted within this head
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area is a cassette with this cassette including a prerecorded continuous cassette tape. This cassette is to be engageable with a separate playback device. It is to be understood that the playback device is to be usable with a wide variety of different cassettes and books. The playback device, when engaged with the cassette, includes a slide switch which is to be slid by the user from a deactivating position to an activating position thereby causing the cassette tape to be played. Mounted in conjunction with the slide switch is a manually pressable button. This button must be pressed in order to move the slide switch from the activating position to the deactivating position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the audio visual device of the present invention which utilizes an audio playback device in conjunction with a conventional book hence producing what is commonly referred to as a talking book;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the playback device utilized within this invention;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the playback device included within this invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4—4 of FIG. 3 showing the internal components of the playback device of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view through the playback device and the cassette with which it is connected showing the playback device in the deactivating position; and
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the playback device in the activating position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring particularly to the drawings there is shown the talking book 10 of the present invention. Talking book 10 includes a book 12 which is composed of a front cover 14 and a rear cover 16. The front covers 14 and 16 are normally constructed of a planar rigid material, usually a plastic or paper. The front cover 14 and rear cover 16 are shown to be of a basically rectangular configuration. However, it is to be understood that any desirable configuration for the covers 14 and 16 can be utilized.
The front cover 14 and rear cover 16 are connected together at a spine 18. The front cover 14 and rear cover 16 can be located in a closed position which will locate the covers 14 and 16 in juxtaposition. In between the covers 14 and 16 will be a stacked series of pages 20. The pages 20 are also connected to the spine 18. It is to be understood that the front cover 14 can be moved to an open position which will locate the front cover 14 in alignment with the rear cover 16 at which time the user may individually move the pages 20 to affect reading of the book 12.
It is to be noticed that within FIG. 1 the size of the pages 20 is substantially less than the size of the front cover 14 and the rear cover 16. It is to be noticed that the pages 20 are also rectangular in configuration and generally will be all of the same size although this is not mandatory. Also, the front cover 14 and rear cover 16 are the same size but, again, this is not mandatory. The portion of the inside surface of the front cover 14 and rear cover 16 that does not contain the pages 20 is defined as the head area 22. Fixedly mounted within this head area 22 is a cassette 24. Mounted within the cassette 24 is an endless audio tape 26. Audio tape 26 is
