WO1999035627A1

WO1999035627A1 - Remotely controlled toy and wireless remote operable in a point of sale package

Info

Publication number: WO1999035627A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/000451
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Chu Ki Kwan; Steven Lebensfeld; Carmine Russo; Russell Javors
Original assignee: Toymax Inc.
Priority date: 1998-01-12
Filing date: 1999-01-08
Publication date: 1999-07-15
Also published as: AU2109599A

Abstract

A 'try me' feature (fig. 1) is disclosed for remotely controlled devices such as remotely controlled toys for point of sale demonstration or sampling. A secondary link (46 in fig. 2) is provided between the remote control device (12a) and the remotely controlled device (10a). When the secondary link is selected or present, activation of a control on the remote control device (12a) will cause the remotely control device (10a) to react to the same or similar to the way it reacts under wireless remote control alone using the secondary link. In the preferred embodiment, the secondary link (46) includes a disconnectable wired coupling (48) and uses the primary wireless link. The remotely controlled device (10a) and the remote control device (12a) may be contained in a point of sale package (14 in fig. 1) or configured in a point of sale display. In one embodiment, the remotely controlled device (10b in fig. 3) has a switch (50) by way which the secondary coupling and 'try me' operation, or normal wireless remote control operation is selected. When the devices are provided in a point of sale package (14 in fig. 1), the switch is factory set to 'try me' operation, which precludes solely wireless operation in the package via the primary link.

Description

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TOY AND WIRELESS REMOTE OPERABLE IN A

POINT OF SALE PACKAGE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein relates to a remotely controlled toy, for

example, a car, or other device operated with a wireless remote control device, which

may be sampled, tried or otherwise operated from the remote control device without

operating other similar toys or devices. This facilitates, makes practical or enables

operation of the remotely controlled device, for example in a point of sale package or a

point of sale display configuration.

Point of sale packaging which enables a toy to be viewed, touched and/or

operated while in the package is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Nos.: 4,925,025

(Anten et al.); 5,172,806 (Mickelberg); 5,289,916 (Mickelberg); 5,411,138 (Klawiter);

and 5,695,056 (Bender et al.).

The invention disclosed herein facilitates, makes practical or enables a remotely

controlled toy or other device to be operated or tried while in a package, for example

by a prospective purchaser in a point of sale package. The invention thus provides a

"try me" feature for a remotely controlled device at the point of sale.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF TH. E INVENTION

It is an object of the invention disclosed herein to enable a remotely controlled

toy or other device normally operated by means of a wireless remote control device to be sampled, tried or otherwise operated without operating other similar toys or

devices.

It is another object of the invention facilitate, make practical or enable a

remotely controlled toy or other device normally operated by a wireless remote control

device to be sampled, tried or otherwise operated while in a package, e.g., a point of

sale package, or a point of sale display configuration.

It is another object of the invention to provide a selectable wireless only

coupling and a coupling including a wired coupling between a toy or other remotely

controlled device and a remote control therefor.

The invention achieves these and other objects by providing a secondary link

between the remotely controlled device and the remote control device other than a

primary wireless link used in normal operation and selectivity between the links. The

secondary link may be a separate wired or wireless link, or a link which includes both

a wired and a wireless coupling, where the wireless coupling may be the same as or

different from the primary wireless link or include the primary wireless link. The

secondary link may be selected for operation of the remotely controlled device and the

remote control device in a point of sale package or display. This allows a plurality of

remotely controlled devices which may be operated by the remote control device of

another remotely controlled device to be operated individually, or where the primary

link is line of sight in a configuration where the remote control device and the

remotely controlled device are not configured to establish a line of sight primary link. The secondary link may be another wireless link with characteristics amenable

to individual operation of each remotely controlled device/remote control device pair

or groups thereof, or may be a wired link. The secondary wireless link may be of the

same or different type as the primary wireless link selected or configured to be capable

of individual operation or operation in a point of sale package or display. In the

preferred embodiment, the secondary link comprises a disconnectable wired link or

coupling between the remotely controlled device and the remote control device in

addition to the primary wireless link or coupling, i.e., the secondary link includes the

wired link and the primary wireless link.

"Wireless link" or "wireless coupling" are equivalent terms used herein in a

broad sense and encompass a link or coupling that does not require the remotely

controlled device and the remote control device to be tethered, and including but not

limited to electromagnetic, optical including infrared, electrostatic, and acoustical and

ultrasonic links and couplings. Similarly, "wired link" or "wired coupling" are

equivalent terms used herein in a broad sense and encompass a link or coupling

achieved through a tether (e.g., a cable which conducts electricity, light, sound, etc.)

coupled to the remotely controlled device and the remote control device. "Try me"

operation or "try me" configuration are used herein in a broad sense and encompass

operation over the secondary link or coupling, regardless of whether the remotely

controlled device and the remote control device are in a package or configured in a point of sale display. "Package" encompasses two or more packages tethered, linked

or coupled together, unless the context indicates otherwise.

A combination incorporating a preferred embodiment of the invention includes

a remotely controlled device having at least one controllable feature and a remote

control device having at least one manually actuable control, in which the remote

control device and the remotely controlled device are wirelessly coupled and operative

to control the at least one feature upon actuation of the at least one control via the

wireless coupling, and are also coupled by a disconnectable wired coupling. The

remotely controlled device, the remote control device and the disconnectable wired

coupling are operative to also control the at least one feature in response to activation

of the at least one control. The combination allows selection of the wireless coupling

or the wired coupling. The remotely controlled device may be a toy car, and the

controllable feature may be sound, e.g., an engine revving sound.

In accordance with one embodiment, the disconnectable wired coupling

includes a first connector coupled to the remotely controlled device and a second

connector coupled to the remote control device. In this combination, the remotely

controlled device comprises a receiver adapted to receive signals wirelessly

transmitted by the remote control device and a controller which controls operation of

at least one feature of the remotely controlled device, where the controller is coupled

to be responsive to a signal from at least one of the receiver and the first connector to

control the at least one feature. And, in this combination, the remote control device comprises a transmitter and at least one manually actuated control, where the

transmitter wirelessly transmits a signal adapted to control the at least one feature and

adapted to be received by the receiver of the remotely controlled device in response to

activation of the at least one control, and the first connector couples a signal adapted to

control the at least one feature to the second connector in response to activation of the

at least one control.

The wired coupling may be disconnected and the remotely control device

operated by wireless remote control only using the remote control device. The

remotely controlled device and the remote control device may be configured so that

wireless only, or operation with a wired coupling is selected manually, e.g., by means

of a switch or the physical presence or absence of a wired coupling. Where operation

is dependent upon the presence or absence of the wired coupling, in the presence of

the wired coupling, the remotely controlled device may be operated solely via the

wired coupling or both wirelessly and via the wired coupling. Selection may also be

made automatically by electronic detection of the presence or absence of a wired

coupling. Thus, selection may be made manually or automatically.

A preferred combination comprises a manually operable switch coupled to

enable the combination to selectively control the at least one feature entirely wirelessly

or using the disconnectable wired coupling.

A cable removably coupled to the remotely control device and the remote

control device via connectors may provide the wired coupling, or the connectors may directly mate. Preferably, the connectors mate so that the wired coupling is

disconnected simply by separating the remote control device from the remotely

controlled device.

The combinations described above may comprise a package, preferably a point

of sale package, holding the remotely controlled device and the remote control device,

with the at least one control being accessible for activation from outside the package,

or the remotely controlled device and the remote control device may configured in a

point of sale display.

The remotely controlled device may be a toy, or a consumer electronics device

such as a video (e.g., television) or audio device (e.g., receiver), or other device whose

identity will be apparent from the disclosure herein

A method incorporating a prefeired embodiment for activating a remotely

controlled device with a wireless remote control device associated therewith,

comprises the steps of coupling the remotely controlled device and the remote control

device with a disconnectable wired coupling and conditioning the remotely controlled

device, the remote control device or both to operate via the wireless coupling when the

remotely controlled device and the remote control device are coupled only by the

wireless coupling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which

are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like numerals in the different

figures refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a remotely controlled device and a

remote control device in a point of sale package incorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram of one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to Fig. 1, a remotely controlled toy car 10 and a remote control

device 12 therefor are contained in a point of sale package 14 so that the toy car 10

and remote control device 12 are visible from outside the package 14. A cable 16 is

coupled to the toy car 10 and the remote control device 12, which together with

connectors 34 and 44 shown in Figs. 2 and 3, form a wired coupling between the toy

car 10 and the remote control device 12. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4 and

described below, mating connectors 34, 44 on the toy car 10 and the remote control

device 12 may form the wired coupling. The package 14 either has a flexible element

overlaying at least one of the control buttons 18 or at least one of the control buttons

18 is uncovered. In either case, at least one of the control buttons 18 is accessible

from outside the package to be pressed. The toy car 10 and the remote control device 12 may have one or more optical

devices 20 (e.g., car head lights and tail lights) and/or a sound device (e.g., speaker

20c shown in Fig. 4). The toy car 10 may also include an electric motor (shown in

Fig. 4) for propelling the toy car. In normal remote control operation, pressing one or

more buttons 18 on the remote control device 12 will cause an optical device or

devices and/or the sound device and/or the electric motor to be energized.

One or more of the optical device(s) 20, the sound device 20c and the motor

20b may be operated while the toy car 10 and the remote control 12 are in the package

14, without operating a similar toy car 10 nearby. For example, pressing one or more

buttons 18 on the remote control device 12 may cause the optical device(s) 20 to flash

and/or a particular sound to be emitted by the sound device 20c.

Many variations on the package 14 are possible. Some possibilities depend

upon the particular feature of the toy car 10 that is made a "try me" feature

controllable via wired coupling and the form that the wired coupling takes. For

example, if only the sound device can be energized via cable 16, then no part of the

toy car need be visible through the package 14.

Refeiring to Fig. 2, a remote control device 12a according to the invention

comprises one or more manually actuable controls 18, a controller 30, a transmitter 32

and a connector 34. A remotely controlled device 10a according to the invention

comprises a receiver 40, a controller 42, a controlled feature 20 (e.g., an optical device

in the case of toy car 10) and a connector 44. The remote control device 12a and the remotely controlled device 10a cooperate to provide a wireless coupling 46

therebetween. The manually actuable control(s) 18, the controller 30 and the

transmitter 32 of the remote control device 12a, and the receiver 40, the controller 42

and the controlled feature 20 of the remotely controlled device 10a may all be

conventional, or as described below.

Still referring to Fig. 2, the connectors 34 and 44 provide a wired coupling

referenced generally by 48 between the remote control device 12a and the remotely

controlled device 10a. A cable 16 may be connected to connectors 34 and 44, or

alternatively, the connectors 34 and 44 may be mating connectors that connect to each

other without a cable therebetween. The connectors 34 and 44 of wired coupling 48,

and the cable 16, if used, are consistent with the type of wired coupling employed.

For a simple electrical wired coupling, the connectors 34 and 44 are simply connected

to appropriate electrical circuits, and the cable 16 comprises one or more electrical

wires. For an optical wired coupling, cable 16 may comprise a fiber optical cable

coupled to appropriate optical circuits via appropriate connectors, etc.

The remotely controlled device 10a operates conventionally under control of

the remote control device 12a via the wireless coupling 46. In addition, the remotely

controlled device 12a , the remote control device 12a and the wired coupling 48

cooperate to provide the "try me" feature described herein. The remotely controlled

device 10a and/or the remote control device 12a may be configured so that wireless or

wired operation is dependent upon the presence or absence of the wired coupling 48. For example, in the presence of the wired coupling 48, the remotely controlled device

10a may be operated solely via the wireless coupling 46 or both wirelessly and via the

wired coupling 48. Alternatively, as represented in Fig. 3, operation may be manually

selected by means of a manually operable switch 50.

In the embodiment represented in Fig. 3, the switch 50 couples the wired

coupling 48 to the controller 42a. Operation and/or the state of the switch couples the

wired coupling 48 to the controller 42a to configure the remotely controlled device

10b for "try me" operation or remote control wireless operation. The connector 44

here is coupled to the switch 50. In this embodiment, the connector 34 is coupled to

the transmitter 32b of the remote control device 12b, which upon actuation of a control

18 outputs an appropriate signal to the connector 34 for "try me" operation. The

transmitter 32a may be configured so as not to transmit a wireless signal when it

outputs a signal to connector 34, or signals may be both wirelessly transmitted when a

control 18 is activated. Preferably, the controller 42a in the remotely controlled device

10b and/or the receiver 40a is conditioned so as not to respond to a wireless signal

when the remotely controlled device 10b is configured for "try me" operation (e.g., a

wired coupling is present or a switch is in a "try me" state).

Fig. 4 depicts the embodiment of the invention depicted in Fig. 1 which

operates with a remotely controlled toy having a security alarm device. The

cormectors 34 and 44 on the remote control device 12 and the toy car 10 mate to form

the wired coupling. The remote control device 12 controls a security alarm device in the toy car 10, lights and sound emitted by the toy car and the toy car's motor. The

remote control device 12 transmits IR light and includes a modulator 30a and an IR

emitter or transmitter 32c. The connector 34 is also connected to the modulator 30a.

In response to activation of one or more buttons 18, modulator 30a outputs a signal on

pin 7 to transmitter 32c and a signal on pin 10 to connector 34, and remote control

device 12 outputs signals on the wireless coupling 46 and the wired coupling 48.

The remotely controlled toy car 10 herein includes an IR receiver 40b, a

controller 42b comprising a demodulator 65 and a controller circuit 66, and controlled

features 20a, b, c and d. The toy car 10 also includes the connector 44, a switch 50a,

50b and a driver circuit 70. The switch 50a, b is two pole, two position: "TM"(for "try

me" operation) and "NM"(for "normal mode" wireless operation). In the "TM"

position, switch portion 50a couples the driver circuit 70 to receive signals from the

modulator 30a via the wired coupling 48 (connector 34 and connector 44) and to

supply current (power) to the demodulator 65 of the controller 42b and receiver 40b.

In the "NM" position, switch portion 50a disconnects the driver circuit 70 from the

demodulator 65 and the receiver 40b, thereby electronically disconnecting the

disconnectable wired coupling, and directly couples power to pin 13 of the

demodulator 65 and to receiver 40b.

The switch 50b is connected to disable the sensor switch 72 when the toy car 10

is configured for "try me" operation. Switch portion 50b selectively disconnects and

connects the TG4 output of the controller circuit 66 to the STE input of controller circuit 66 in the "TM" and "NM" positions, respectively. Other features may be

controlled by the control circuit 66, such as an alarm indicator, not shown.

The remotely controlled toy 10 and the remote control device 12, the circuitry

of which is depicted in Fig. 4, operate as described below, and in addition implement

the "try me" feature described herein to activate one or more of features 20a-20d. The

switch 50a, b is set for "try me" operation at the factory. Therefore, no power is

supplier to the receiver 40b and the controller 65, and the toy cars 10 while in

packages 14 will not respond to signals received via a wireless coupling from the

remote control device in another package. (Power may be continuously supplied to

the receiver 40b, i.e., the power input to receiver 40b may be connected directly to

4.5v if a receiver device is selected that has a low stand-by current drain so as to not

prematurely drain the batteries, and as long as the demodulator 65 can be disabled by

disconnecting power thereto.) However, a toy car 10 will respond to an activation of

the remote control 12 in the same package since power is applied to the controller 65

and receiver 40b by the driver circuit 70 as controlled by the wired coupling 48. As

mentioned above, a cable may couple connectors 34 and 44, or they may be mating

connectors. If the package 14 permits, the connectors 34 and 44 may be mating

connectors so that the wired coupling is disconnected simply by separating the remote

control device 12 from the toy car 10.

When the toy car 10 is in a package, a direct line of sight may be established

between the IR LED 32c in the remote control device 12 and the IR receiver 40b in toy car 10. However, as a practical matter that may not be necessary since the remote

control device 12 and the IR receiver 40b are so closely positioned that IR light is

received even though there is no line of sight between the IR LED 32c and the IR

receiver 40b. The remote control 12 and the IR receiver 40b are thus approximately

positioned to allow the IR receiver to receive IR light from the LED 32c in the remote

control device 12 while in the package 14.

The car 10 includes wheels, at least one of which is driven by the motor 20b

shown in Fig. 4 in conventional fashion except for interaction between the security alarm

device and the drive for the motor 20b. The car 10 includes head lights and tail lights 20,

which may also be conventional except for any interaction with the security alarm device,

which may include an indicator 26 (e.g., a lamp or a light-emitting diode "LED") that

indicates whether the security alarm device is in an armed state or an unarmed state.

In the preferred embodiment, the security alarm device is controlled by IR light.

The remote control device 12 includes the IR modulator 30a and the IR emitter 32c, and

the remotely controlled car 10 includes an IR receiver 40b. However, the remote control

device 12 may include a transmitter other than an IR emitter, e.g., a radio transmitter or

an ultrasonic sound transmitter, etc., and the receiver 40b will be compatible with the

transmitter.

The remote control device 12 may control the following alarm and vehicle

functions:

alarm arm and disarm (push button switch #1);

engine revving sound (push button switch #2); motor drive (push button switch #3); and

vehicle lights (push button switch #4).

The remote control device 12 transmits coded signals to the receiver 40b carried

by the car 10, which detects the transmitted signals and supplies the detected signals to

the demodulator (decoder) 65. In the remote control device 12, the push button switches

#1, 2, 3 and 4 are coupled to the modulator 30a which modulates the drive to transistor 62

differently in response to activation of each of switches #1, 2, 3 and 4, and thereby

modulates the current to the IR emitter 32c. The IR emitter 32c emits modulated IR light

in accordance with the different current modulation patterns provided by the modulator

30a, which may be any conventional modulator. The IR emitter 32c may be any

conventional IR emitter such as an IR LED.

In the car 10, the IR receiver 40b detects the modulated IR light emitted by the IR

emitter 32c and supplies the detected signal to the demodulator 65, which demodulates

and decodes the received signal and provides an output signal on the appropriate output

(TGI, TG2 or TG3) depending upon the modulated signal received by the IR receiver

40b. The outputs TGI -3 of demodulator 65 are coupled to trigger inputs TG 1-3 of the

controller circuit 66. The sensor switch 72, e.g., a motion sensor, is coupled to a fourth

input of the controller circuit 66. The alarm indicator LED 26 is coupled to the STA

output of the controller circuit 66, and when lit indicates that the alarm is armed. In the

circuit diagram of Fig. 4, the LED 20a represents the head lights and tail lights 20. The

motor 20b, driven by a motor drive in response to the remote control, drives the car's wheels. The speaker 20c is driven by the speaker drive 74 to sound the alarm and vehicle

sounds (e.g., the engine revving sound).

The modulator 30a, the IR receiver 40b, the demodulator 65 and the controller

circuit 66 may be conventional. In the preferred embodiment, the controller circuit 66 is a

Series W528x integrated circuit available from Windbond Electronics Corp. (Republic of

China), and includes an .ADPCM (adaptive differential pulse-code modulation) voice

synthesizer. The controller circuit 66 includes a programmed processor, which may be

programmed by one of skill in the art to cairy out the functions described herein.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in connection with

a remote controlled toy car. However, the invention has application with other toys

and devices. For example, the invention may be used with an infrared toy target game,

a line of which is currently available from Toymax Inc. under the trademarks LASER

CtLALLENGE , LASER CHALLENGE PRO and other trademarks. These toys

include speakers and lights which are activated remotely, and which could also be

activated in a package by the secondary link and the wired coupling described herein.

The invention may also have application to remotely controlled devices and remote

control devices which are not contained within the same package but nonetheless

present the need of "try me" operation other than in normal wireless operation. For

example, wireless operation of remote control devices in point of sale displays may

not be suitable or possible in some instances. In such applications, the remote control

device may be coupled to the remotely controlled device employing wired coupling as

disclosed herein with the remotely controlled device not in a package. While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with

preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications, as will be apparent to

those of skill in the art, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of

the invention. For example, an all wired secondary link may be established which

transmits coded information to the controller. Specifically, with respect to Fig. 4, pin

7 of the transmitter 30a may be connected to the output of IR receiver 40b. Circuitry

as needed may be coupled between pin 7 and the output of IR receiver 40b to provide

the same or compatible signals as does IR receiver 40b for the functions activated or

controlled by the remote control device 12.

The invention as set forth in the appended clams is thus not limited to the

precise details of construction set forth above as such variations and modifications are

intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the

defined claims.

Claims

1. In the combination comprising a remotely controlled device having at

least one controllable feature and a remote control device having at least one manually

actuable control, in which the remote control device and the remotely controlled

device are coupled in a primary wireless link operative to wirelessly control the at

least one feature upon actuation of the at least one control, the improvement

comprising a secondary link which couples the remotely controlled device and the

remote control device, and a selector which conditions the remotely controlled device

to operate via the primary link alone or using the secondary link, the remotely

controlled device and the remote control device being operative using the secondary

link to also control the at least one feature in response to the selector and activation of

the at least one control, the remotely controlled device not responding to another

similar remote control device solely wirelessly upon actuation of the at least one

control of the another remote control device when the selector is configured to

condition the remotely controlled device to operate using the secondary link.

2. In the combination comprising a remotely controlled toy device having

at least one controllable feature and a remote control device having at least one

manually actuable control, in which the remote control device and the remotely

controlled device are coupled in a primary wireless link operative to wirelessly control

the at least one feature upon actuation of the at least one control, the improvement

comprising a secondary link which couples the remotely controlled device and the remote control device, and a selector which conditions the remotely controlled device

to operate via the primary link alone or using the secondary link, the remotely

control of the another remote control device when the selector is configured to

condition the remotely controlled device to operate using the secondary link.

3. The combination of claim 1 or 2 wherein the selector comprises a

switch.

4. The combination of claim 1 or 2 wherein the secondary link comprises a

disconnectable wired coupling between the remotely controlled device and the remote

control device, and the selector comprises the absence or presence of the wired

coupling which conditions the remotely controlled device to operate via the primary

link alone or using the secondary link, respectively.

5. The combination of claim 1 or 2 wherein the secondary link includes the

primary wireless link and another link.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein the another link comprises a wired

link.

7. In the combination comprising a remotely controlled device having at

least one controllable feature and a remote control device having at least one manually actuable control, in which the remote control device and the remotely controlled

device are wirelessly coupled and operative to wirelessly control the at least one

feature upon actuation of the at least one control, the improvement comprising a

disconnectable wired coupling which couples the remotely controlled device and the

remote control device, the at least one controllable feature of the remotely controlled

device being operable by the remote control device when the at least one control is

actuated with the disconnectable wired coupling connected to also control the at least

one feature, the disconnectable wired coupling conditioning the remotely controlled

device not to respond to another similar remote control device solely wirelessly upon

actuation of the at least one control of the another remote control device.

8. In the combination comprising a remotely controlled toy device having

manually actuable control, in which the remote control device and the remotely

controlled device are wirelessly coupled and operative to wirelessly control the at least

one feature upon actuation of the at least one control, the improvement comprising a

one feature, the disconnectable wired coupling conditioning the remotely controlled device not to respond to another similar remote control device upon actuation of the at

least one control of the another remote control device.

9. The combination of claim 1, 2, 7 or 8 comprising a package holding the

remotely controlled device and the remote control device, the at least one control

being accessible for activation from outside the package.

10. The combination of claim 9 wherein the package is a point of sale

package.

11. The combination of claim 1, 2, 7 or 8 wherein the remotely controlled

device and the remote control device are configured into a point of sale display.

12. The combination of claim 7 or 8 comprising a switch coupled to enable

the combination to selectively control the at least one feature solely wirelessly or using

the disconnectable wired coupling.

13. The combination of claim 7 or 8 wherein the combination is operative to

control the at least one feature solely wirelessly only when the disconnectable wired

coupling is disconnected.

14. The combination of claim 7 or 8 wherein the combination is operative to

not control the at least one feature solely wirelessly when the disconnectable wired

coupling is connected.

15. A combination comprising a remotely controlled device, a remote

control therefor coupled to the remotely controlled device wirelessly and by a disconnectable wired coupling coupled to the remotely controlled device and to the

remote control device,

the remotely controlled device comprising:

a receiver which provides an output signal in response to a signal

received by the receiver that was wirelessly transmitted by the remote control device;

a controller which controls operation of at least one feature of the

remotely controlled device the controller being coupled to be responsive to the output

signal from the receiver and a signal from the wired coupling to control the at least one

feature; and

a selector coupled to the controller which causes the controller to operate

responsive only to the output signal from the receiver or responsive to the output

signal from the receiver only when a signal is received from the wired coupling;

the remote control device comprising:

a transmitter; and

at least one manually actuated control:

the transmitter wirelessly transmitting a the signal to be received by the receiver

of the remotely controlled device in response to activation of the at least one control,

and the signal to the wired coupling.

16. A combination comprising a remotely controlled toy device , a remote

remote control device,

the remotely controlled device comprising:

a receiver which provides an output signal in response to a signal

a controller which controls operation of at least one feature of the

remotely controlled device, the controller being coupled to be responsive to the output

feature; and

a selector coupled to the controller which causes the controller to operate

the remote control device comprising:

a transmitter; and

at least one manually actuated control;

the transmitter wirelessly transmitting the signal to be received by the receiver

and the signal to the wired coupling.

17. The combination of claim 15 or 16 comprising a package holding the

being accessible for activation from outside the package.

18. The combination of claim 17 wherein the package is a point of sale

package.

19. The combination of claim 15 or 16 wherein the remotely controlled

20. The combination of claim 15 or 16 wherein the selector comprises a

manually actuable switch.

21. The combination of claim 15 or 16 wherein the combination is operative

to control the at least one feature solely wirelessly only when the disconnectable wired

coupling is disconnected.

22. The combination of claim 15 or 16 wherein the combination is operative

to not control the at least one feature solely wirelessly when the disconnectable wired

coupling is connected.

23. The combination of claim 15 or 16 wherein the disconnectable wired

coupling comprises a wire, a first connector connected to a first end of the wire and

removably connected to the remote control device, and a second connector connected

to a second end of the wire and removably connected to the remotely controlled

device.

24. The combination comprising a remotely controlled device having at least

one controllable feature, a remote control device having at least one manually actuable

control, a package containing the remotely controlled device and the remote control

device such that the at least one control is accessible for manual activation from outside the package and such that the at least one feature when activated is discernible

outside the package, a disconnectable wired coupling which couples the remotely

controlled device and the remote control device in the package, the remotely

controlled device, the remote control device and the disconnectable wired coupling

being operative to control the at least one feature in the package in response to

activation of the at least one control when the disconnectable wired coupling is

connected while the remotely controlled device is not operative to respond solely

wirelessly to another similar remote control device upon actuation of the at least one

control of the another remote control device, the remote control device and the

remotely controlled device being wirelessly coupled and operative to wirelessly

control the at least one feature upon actuation of the at least one control at least when

the disconnectable wired coupling is disconnected.

25. A combination comprising a remotely controlled toy device having at

least one controllable feature, a remote control device having at least one manually

actuable control, a package containing the remotely controlled device and the remote

control device such that the at least one control is accessible for manual activation

from outside the package and such that the at least one feature when activated is

discernible outside the package, a disconnectable wired coupling which couples the

remotely controlled device and the remote control device in the package, the remotely

being operative to control the at least one feature in the package in response to activation of the at least one control when the disconnectable wired coupling is

control of the another remote control device, the remote control device and the

remotely controlled device being wirelessly coupled and operative to wirelessly

the disconnectable wired coupling is disconnected.

26. The combination of claim 24 or 25 comprising a switch coupled to

enable the combination to selectively control the at least one feature solely wirelessly

or using the disconnectable wired coupling.

27. The combination of claim 24 or 25 wherein the combination is operative

coupling is disconnected.

28. The combination of claim 24 or 25 wherein the combination is operative

coupling is connected.

29. In the combination comprising a remotely controlled device having at

least one feature upon actuation of the at least one control, the improvement comprising a secondary link which couples the remotely controlled device and the

remote control device, and means for conditioning the remotely controlled device to

operate via the primary link alone or using the secondary link, the remotely controlled

device and the remote control device being operative using the secondary link to also

control the at least one feature in response to the means for conditioning and activation

of the at least one control, the remotely controlled device not responding to another

control of the another remote control device when the conditioning means is

configured to condition the remotely controlled device to operate using the secondary

link.

30. A method for activating a remotely controlled device with a wireless

remote control device associated therewith having a primary wireless coupling for

normal operation, comprising the steps of coupling the remotely controlled device and

the remote control device with a secondary coupling and conditioning the remotely

controlled device, or the remote control device or both to selectively operate solely via

the primary wireless coupling, or to operate using the secondary coupling while not

responding solely wirelessly to another similar wireless remote control device.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the conditioning step comprises

actuating a switch.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the secondary coupling comprises a

discormectable wired coupling between the remotely controlled device and the remote control device, and the conditioning step comprises connecting or disconnecting the

wired coupling.