SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING ELECTRIC POWER TO MOBILE AND ARBITRARILY POSITIONED DEVICES

• US 20110148041A1
• Filed: 08/05/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Childlikes, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Childlikes, Inc.
• Inventors: Randall, Mitch
• Granted Patent: US 8,235,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 273/237
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2404 Keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2407 Joystick
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2439 the input being a code, e.g. ID
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2442 Sensors or detectors
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2457 Display screens, e.g. monitors, video displays
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/247 audible, e.g. using a loudspeaker
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2494 Battery, e.g. dry cell
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00643 Electric board games; Electric features of board games electric word or number games A63F3/0421; computer chess G06F; electric raffle games A63F3/081
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 18/12 Electric current supply to toy vehicles through the track
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 439/95 Electrical connector adapted to transmit electricity to mating connector without physical contact, e.g. by induction, magnetism, or electrostatic field

Abstract

Various contact systems and methods for manufacturing and using such are disclosed herein. Examples of the contact systems include a surface with one set of pads biased at a first voltage level, and another set of pads biased at a second voltage level. Such a contact system can be used, for example, to transfer power to an electromechanical device disposed thereon. In one particular example, the electromechanical device can include a power storage element and two or more couplings. When one of the couplings contacts a pad biased at the first voltage level, and another of the couplings contacts a pad biased at the second voltage level, a circuit is completed where some derivative of the differential between the first voltage level and the second voltage level is placed across the power storage element. Completion of the circuit causes the power storage element to charge. Power can be drawn from the power storage element to operate the electromechanical device.

Claims

1-17. -17. (canceled)

18. A game system, comprising:

a game surface, wherein the game surface includes a substantially non-conductive insulation region, a plurality of first pads, and a plurality of second pads disposed on a substantially non-conductive substrate;

a power source, wherein the power source is electrically coupled to the plurality of first pads and to the plurality of second pads, and wherein the power source is operable to bias the plurality of first pads at a first voltage level and to bias the plurality of second pads at a second voltage level;

an electromechanical device, wherein the electromechanical device includes a movement element, a power storage element, and a plurality of couplings; and

wherein the plurality of couplings complete a circuit including the power storage element, a first conductive contact between one of the plurality of couplings and one of the plurality of first pads, and a second conductive contact between another of the couplings and one of the plurality of second pads.

19. The game system of claim 18, wherein the power storage element includes a device selected from a group consisting of:

a capacitor and a rechargeable battery.

20. The game system of claim 18, wherein the movement element is selected from a group consisting of:

a leg, a flexible brush, and a wheel.

21. The game system of claim 18, wherein at least a portion of the substantially non-conductive substrate is formed of a material selected from a group consisting of:

plastic, glass, rubber, paper fibers, ceramic, and silicon.

22. The game system of claim 18, wherein an upper surface of the plurality of first pads and the plurality of second pads is continuous, two-dimensional.

23. A method for manufacturing a contact system, the method comprising:

providing a substantially non-conductive substrate;

forming a conductive material on the substantially non-conductive substrate, including forming an adhesive layer between the conductive material and the substantially non-conductive material;

defining a plurality of first pads in the conductive material;

defining a plurality of second pads in the conductive material; and

defining an insulation region between the plurality of first pads and the plurality of second pads.

24. (canceled)

25. (canceled)

26. A game system, comprising:

a contact system;

an electromechanical device disposed on the contact system; and

a controller system, wherein the controller system includes;

a transmitter for transmitting one or more commands to the electromechanical device; and

a receiver for receiving location information associated with the electromechanical device.

27. A game system, comprising:

a plurality of electromechanical game devices, with the plurality of electromechanical game devices being capable of moving in response to movement commands and further capable of transmitting positional signals;

a wireless receiver configured to receive the positional signals from the plurality of electromechanical game devices;

a plurality of user input devices adapted to receive user inputs;

a wireless transmitter that transmits movement commands to the plurality of electromechanical game devices; and

a processing system that communicates with the wireless receiver, the plurality of user input devices, and the wireless transmitter, with the processing system including a position-computing algorithm and a game algorithm, the processing system being configured to receive user movement inputs from the plurality of user input devices, determine a current position, a current orientation, and a current state of a particular electromechanical game device from the position-computing algorithm and from one or more successive positional signals received from the particular electromechanical game device, obtain a desired position of the particular electromechanical game device from the game algorithm, process the current position, the current orientation, and the current state with the desired position and thereby determine a movement command for the particular electromechanical game device, and transmit the movement command from the game controller to the particular electromechanical game device.

28. A method of controlling a plurality of electromechanical game devices in a game system, comprising:

receiving user movement inputs from one or more user input devices;

receiving one or more successive positional signals from a particular electromechanical game device;

determining a current position, a current orientation, and a current state of the particular electromechanical game device from a position-computing algorithm and from the one or more successive positional signals;

obtaining a desired position of the particular electromechanical game device from a game algorithm;

processing the current position, the current orientation, and the current state with the desired position and thereby determining a movement command for the particular electromechanical game device; and

transmitting the movement command to the particular electromechanical game device;

wherein the particular electromechanical game device moves in response to the movement command.

30. A location system for locating a particular remote device of a plurality of remote devices, comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and antenna;

two or more spaced-apart microphones; and

a processing system in communication with the RF transmitter and the two or more spaced-apart microphones, with the processing system configured to transmit an audio response command to the plurality of remote devices through the RF transmitter, receive an audio response signal from the particular remote device in the two or more spaced-apart microphones in response to the audio response command, and determine a single bit of information and a position of the particular remote device relative to the two or more spaced-apart microphones.

29. The method of claim 30, wherein the particular electromechanical game device arrives at the desired position by iteratively receiving the user movement inputs and the successive positional signals, by iteratively determining successive positions, successive orientations, and successive states of the particular electromechanical game device, and by iteratively determining and transmitting successive movement commands.

31. A location method for locating a particular remote device of a plurality of remote devices, comprising:

transmitting an audio response command to the plurality of remote devices through the RF transmitter;

receiving an audio response signal from the particular remote device in the two or more spaced-apart microphones in response to the audio response command; and

determining a single bit of information and a position of the particular remote device relative to the two or more spaced-apart microphones.

32. A power transfer system for providing power to electrically powered game pieces, toys, or other devices, comprising:

a power transfer surface comprising two separate conductive surface sections that are not in electrical contact with each other on a substantially non-conductive substrate so that the two separate conductive surface sections of the power transfer surface can be charged at different voltage levels from each other, wherein one of the two separate conductive surface sections has a header trace portion that forms one marginal edge portion of the power transfer surface and the other separate conductive surface section has a header trace portion that forms an opposite marginal edge portion of the power transfer surface, and wherein each of the two separate conductive surface sections is shaped with a plurality of conductive columns extending in spaced-apart in relation to each other from the respective header trace portion of that respective conductive surface section toward, but not all the way to, the opposite header trace portion of the other conductive surface section such that the columns of one of the conductive surface sections are interdigitated with the columns of the other conductive surface section and with edges of the columns of one of the conductive surface sections are in fitting, but not electrical contacting, relation with edges of the columns of the other conductive surface section to form a continuous surface, and wherein the columns have non-linear edges that alternatively widen and narrow such that individual columns are shaped with a plurality of widened pads connected electrically to adjacent widened pads by narrow connecting portions of the column that extend between adjacent pads; and

a power source, electrically coupled to the two separate conductive surface sections in a manner that applies charges to the respective separate conductive surface sections at different voltage levels or polarities.

33. The power transfer system of claim 32, wherein the widened pads are polygon shaped and connected at vertexes of the polygon-shaped pads to the vertexes of adjacent polygon-shaped pads.

34. The power transfer system of claim 33, wherein the pads are square.

35. The power transfer system of claim 32, wherein the power source is a transformer and includes a current limiting circuit.

36. The power transfer system of claim 35, wherein the continuous surface is selected from a group consisting of:

continuous two-dimensional; and

continuous three-dimensional.

37. The power transfer system of claim 32, wherein the two separate conductive surface sections are spaced apart from each other by a distance, and wherein the distance is greater than a dimension of a receiving contact associated with an electrical device disposable on the game surface.

38. The power transfer system of claim 32, wherein the contact system further comprises a current limiting circuit between the power source and the conductive surface sections.

39. The power transfer system of claim 38, wherein the power source has an alternating current output.

40. The power transfer system of claim 38, wherein the power source has a direct current output.

41. The power transfer system of claim 32, including an insulation region between edges of the respective separate conductive surface sections that are adjacent each other.

42. The power transfer system of claim 44, wherein the two separate conductive surface sections are formed within a plurality of impressions within the non-conductive substrate.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the two separate conductive surface sections and the insulation region are disposed on the non-conductive substrate.

44. The power transfer system of claim 32, wherein upper surfaces of the two separate conductive surface sections are continuous with each other in a two-dimensional plane.

45. A game system, comprising:

a game surface, wherein the game surface includes a power transfer surface comprising two separate conductive surface sections that are not in electrical contact with each other disposed on a substantially non-conductive substrate so that the two separate conductive surface sections of the power transfer surface can be charged at different voltage levels from each other, wherein one of the two separate conductive surface sections has a header trace portion that forms one marginal edge portion of the power transfer surface and the other separate conductive surface section has a header trace portion that forms an opposite marginal edge portion of the power transfer surface, and wherein each of the two separate conductive surface sections is shaped with a plurality of conductive pads extending in columns spaced apart in relation to each other from the respective header trace portion of that respective conductive surface section toward, but not all the way to, the opposite header trace portion of the other conductive surface section such that the columns of one of the conductive surface sections are alternately interspersed with the columns of the other conductive surface section and with edges of the columns of one of the conductive surface sections in fitting, but not electrical contacting, relation with the columns of the other conductive surface section to form a continuous surface and wherein the columns have non-linear edges that alternatively widen and narrow such that individual columns are shaped with a plurality of widened pads connected electrically to adjacent widened pads by narrow connecting portions of the column that extend between adjacent pads; and

a power source, wherein the power source is electrically coupled to the two separate conductive surface sections to bias the pads of one of the two separate conductive surface sections at a first voltage level or polarity and to bias the pads of the other separate conductive surface section at a second voltage level;

an electromechanical device, wherein the electromechanical device includes a movement element, a power storage element, and a plurality of couplings; and

wherein the plurality of couplings complete a circuit including the power storage element, a first conductive contact between one of the plurality of couplings and the pads of said one of the two separate conductive surface sections, and a second conductive contact between another of the couplings and the pads of said other separate conductive surface section.

46. The game system of claim 45, wherein the columns have non-linear edges that alternatively widen and narrow such that individual columns are shaped with a plurality of widened pads connected electrically to adjacent widened pads by narrow connecting portions of the column that extend between adjacent pads.

47. The game system of claim 46, wherein the pads are square.

48. The game system of claim 45, wherein the power storage element includes a device selected from a group consisting of:

a capacitor and a rechargeable battery.

49. The game system of claim 45, wherein the movement element is selected from a group consisting of a leg, a flexible brush, and a wheel.

50. The game system of claim 49, wherein at least a portion of the substantially non-conductive substrate is formed of a material selected from a group consisting of:

plastic, glass, rubber, paper fibers, ceramic, and silicon.