Play method and apparatus for producing a heartbeat-like sound

Claim 1

Play apparatus comprising a baby doll having a layer of plastic skin and a permanent magnet retained against the inner side of said skin in the region of the doll's chest and at a location approximately where a baby's heart should be, and a toy stethoscope including a pair of flexible hearing tubes, each having an earpiece at one end thereof, a sound producing chamber connected to the other ends of said hearing tubes, a flexible diaphragm covering a portion of said chamber, an armature element mounted on said diaphragm, a coil for attracting said armature element when energized so as to deflect said diaphragm from its normal or undeflected condition, circuit means for energizing said coil to cause said attraction, a battery for supplying power to said circuit means, a pair of conductors for connecting said battery to said circuit means, an additional flexible tube having one end into which said conductors extend, a probe housing connected to the other end of said additional tube, and a magnetically responsive reed switch contained in said probe housing, said reed switch having a pair of normally open contacts, whereby when said probe and the reed switch contained therein are juxtaposed with respect to said magnet, said magnet will cause said open contacts to close and complete an electrical path via said conductors to said circuit means to cause energization of said coil and movement of said armature element with a concomitant flexing of said diaphragm to produce a heartbeat-like sould.