Electronic game apparatus
First Claim
1. An electronic game apparatus comprising:
- a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas;
a first set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board and arranged in a first direction;
a second set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board, said second set of generally parallel transmission lines being arranged in a second direction different from the first direction of said first set of generally parallel transmission lines, said first and second sets of transmission lines forming intersecting points which are electrically isolated from one another, each said intersecting point being positioned proximate a playing area of said playing surface;
a source of electromagnetic energy having a plurality of predetermined different frequencies within a predetermined frequency range;
a plurality of game pieces each game piece containing a resonant circuit having a predetermined resonant frequency correspond a frequency within said predetermined frequency range;
selector means for sequentially supplying electromagnetic energy signals at selected frequencies within said predetermined frequency range to said first set of transmission lines;
detection means connected with said second set of transmission lines for detecting electromagnetic energy at a frequency within said predetermined frequency range on one of said transmission lines of said second set, whereby the presence of a game piece upon a playing area results in the generation of electromagnetic energy within a transmission line of said second set upon receipt by the resonant circuit within said game piece of electromagnetic energy from one of said transmission lines of said first set at a frequency corresponding to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit within said game piece, said detection means detecting said electromagnetic energy within said transmission line of said second set to identify the playing area in which said game piece is located.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic game apparatus which includes a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas and is capable of identifying game pieces and their position on the playing surface. First and second sets of parallel transmission lines are located beneath the playing surface of the playing board. The second set of parallel transmission lines is orthogonal to the first set of transmission lines. The first and second sets of transmission lines form intersecting points which are positioned proximate to a playing area of the playing surface. A source of electromagnetic energy has a plurality of predetermined different frequencies within a predetermined frequency range. A plurality of game pieces, each containing a resonant circuit having a predetermined resonant frequency, correspond to a frequency within a predetermined frequency range. A selector sequentially supplies electromagnetic energy at a selected frequency within the predetermined frequency range to the first set of transmission lines. A detector connected to the second set of transmission lines determines the presence of a game piece by detecting electromagnetic energy at a frequency within the predetermined frequency range on one of the transmission lines.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An electronic game apparatus comprising:
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a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas; a first set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board and arranged in a first direction; a second set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board, said second set of generally parallel transmission lines being arranged in a second direction different from the first direction of said first set of generally parallel transmission lines, said first and second sets of transmission lines forming intersecting points which are electrically isolated from one another, each said intersecting point being positioned proximate a playing area of said playing surface; a source of electromagnetic energy having a plurality of predetermined different frequencies within a predetermined frequency range; a plurality of game pieces each game piece containing a resonant circuit having a predetermined resonant frequency correspond a frequency within said predetermined frequency range; selector means for sequentially supplying electromagnetic energy signals at selected frequencies within said predetermined frequency range to said first set of transmission lines; detection means connected with said second set of transmission lines for detecting electromagnetic energy at a frequency within said predetermined frequency range on one of said transmission lines of said second set, whereby the presence of a game piece upon a playing area results in the generation of electromagnetic energy within a transmission line of said second set upon receipt by the resonant circuit within said game piece of electromagnetic energy from one of said transmission lines of said first set at a frequency corresponding to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit within said game piece, said detection means detecting said electromagnetic energy within said transmission line of said second set to identify the playing area in which said game piece is located. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An electronic game apparatus comprising:
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a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas; a first set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board; a second set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board, said second set of generally parallel transmission lines being orthogonal to said first set of generally parallel transmission lines, said first and second sets of transmission lines forming intersecting points which are electrically isolated from one another, each said intersecting point being positioned proximate a playing area of said playing surface; a source of electromagnetic energy having a plurality of predetermined different frequencies within a predetermined frequency range; a plurality of game pieces each game piece containing a resonant circuit having a predetermined resonant frequency correspond a frequency within said predetermined frequency range; selector means for sequentially supplying electromagnetic energy signals at selected frequencies within said predetermined frequency range to said first set of transmission lines, said selector means including selector switches which determine the order in which the frequency signals are transmitted to the first set of transmission lines; detection means connected with said second set of transmission lines for detecting the presence of electromagnetic energy from the resonant circuit of a game piece at a frequency within said predetermined frequency range on one of said transmission lines of said second set; and processing means for receiving information identifying the frequency of each of the frequency signals supplied by the selector means, the transmission line of the first set to which the frequency signals are supplied and the transmission line of the second set upon which electromagnetic energy from a game piece resonant circuit is detected and for identifying the playing area upon which each game piece is located, whereby the presence of a game piece upon a playing area results in the generation of electromagnetic energy within a transmission line of said second set upon receipt by the resonant circuit within said game piece of electromagnetic energy from a transmission line of said first set at a frequency corresponding to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit within said game piece, said detection means detecting said electromagnetic energy within said transmission line of said second set and said processing means identifying the particular game piece by the frequency of the resonant circuit and identifying the playing area upon which the identified game piece is located by identifying the playing area proximate the intersecting point of the transmission line of the first set which, when supplied with a frequency signal at a selected frequency caused the resonant circuit of the identified game piece to resonate and identifying the transmission line of the second set upon which electromagnetic energy from the resonant circuit of the identified game piece was detected.
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19. An electronic game apparatus comprising:
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a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas; a first set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board and extending in a first direction; and a second set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board, said second set of generally parallel transmission lines extending in a second direction different from the first direction, said first and second sets of transmission lines forming intersecting points which are electrically isolated from one another, each said intersecting point being positioned proximate a playing area of said playing surface. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. An electronic game apparatus comprising:
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a playing board having a playing surface and playing areas; a first set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board; a second set of generally parallel transmission lines located beneath the playing surface of the playing board, said second set of generally parallel transmission lines being orthogonal to said first set of generally parallel transmission lines, said first and second sets of transmission lines forming intersecting points which are electronically isolated from each other, each said intersecting point being positioned proximate a playing area of said playing surface; a source of electromagnetic energy having a predetermined frequency; a plurality of game pieces, each game piece containing a resonant circuit having a resonant frequency; selector means for sequentially supplying electromagnetic energy signals at said predetermined frequency to said first set of transmission lines, said selector means including selector switches which determine the order in which the signals are transmitted to the first set of transmission lines; detection means connected with said second set of transmission lines for detecting the presence of electromagnetic energy from the resonant circuit of a game piece on one of said transmission lines of said second set; and processing means for receiving information identifying the transmission line of the first set to which said electromagnetic energy signals are supplied and the transmission line of the second set upon which electromagnetic energy from a game piece resonant circuit is detected and for identifying the playing area upon which a game piece is located, whereby the presence of a game piece upon a playing area results in the generation of electromagnetic energy within a transmission line of said second set upon receipt of the resonant circuit within said game piece of electromagnetic energy from a transmission line of said first set at the resonant frequency, said detection means detecting said electromagnetic energy within the transmission line of said second set and said processing means identifying the playing area upon which the game piece is located by identifying the playing area proximate the intersecting point of the transmission line of the first set which, when supplied with a signal at the predetermined frequency, causes the resonant circuit of the game piece to resonate and identify the transmission line of the second set upon which electromagnetic energy from the resonant circuit of the game piece is detected.
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Specification