Hand held electronic game with sensors for realistic simulation
First Claim
1. A hand held electronic game, comprising:
- a housing;
a finger element coupled to said housing at a fixed end, and having a first finger receiving area and an actuating element coupled to a free end, said finger element being capable of moving between a first position and a second position and said finger receiving area having an open end adjacent said fixed end and a closed end adjacent said free end; and
a finger-movement sensing device rigidly coupled to said housing and coupled to said finger element at both said first position and said second position.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hand held electronic game having sensors requiring the user to perform functions similar to those required during the activity simulated by the game. In a hand held electronic bowling game, both finger-movement sensors and game-moving sensors require the user to grip and swing the game housing much like swinging a bowling ball while finger-receiving sensors measure movement in the fingers and game housing-movement sensors measure the forcefulness and speed of the user'"'"'s swing with the ball. The sensors include printed circuit boards and the game-moving sensor can utilize a LED and a photodiode along with a periodically transparent extension, which moves between the LED and the photodiode to determine the force of the swing by centrifugal force.
113 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A hand held electronic game, comprising:
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a housing;
a finger element coupled to said housing at a fixed end, and having a first finger receiving area and an actuating element coupled to a free end, said finger element being capable of moving between a first position and a second position and said finger receiving area having an open end adjacent said fixed end and a closed end adjacent said free end; and
a finger-movement sensing device rigidly coupled to said housing and coupled to said finger element at both said first position and said second position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
said housing is generally in the shape of a sphere. -
3. A game according to claim 2, wherein
said housing is a truncated sphere. -
4. A game according to claim 1, wherein
said housing has a second finger receiving area having an open end and a closed end. -
5. A game according to claim 4, wherein
said housing has a third finger receiving area directly coupled to said first finger receiving area. -
6. A game according to claim 1, wherein
said first finger receiving area is biased in said first position by a spring coupled between said housing and said finger receiving area. -
7. A game according to claim 1, wherein
said finger-movement sensing device includes a printed circuit board.
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8. A hand held electronic game, comprising:
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a housing; and
a housing-movement sensing device rigidly coupled to said housing, said device including a resilient element coupled to a weight-extension assembly, said resilient element coupled between said housing and said weight-extension assembly and said weight-extension assembly capable of moving upon movement of said housing, said sensing device further having a light source, and a light sensor for receiving light from said light source, and said weight-extension assembly having an extension positioned between said light source and said light sensor. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23)
said housing is generally in the shape of a sphere. -
10. A game according to claim 9, wherein
said housing is a truncated sphere. -
11. A game according to claim 8, wherein
said housing has a three finger receiving areas, each of said areas having an open end and a closed end. -
12. A game according to claim 8, further comprising:
a printed circuit board coupled to said housing-movement sensing device, said light source, and said light sensor.
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13. A game according to claim 12, wherein
said housing-movement sensing device has a cover attached to said printed circuit board and overlying said resilient element and said weight-extension assembly. -
14. A game according to claim 13, wherein
said resilient element is a spring coupled to said housing through said cover. -
15. A game according to claim 8, wherein
said weight-extension assembly including a metallic weight attached to a plastic extension. -
16. A game according to claim 8, wherein
said light source is a light emitting diode. -
17. A game according to claim 8, wherein
each of said light source and said light sensor are coupled to a printed circuit board. -
18. A game according to claim 8, wherein
said extension has a plurality of holes extending completely there through. -
19. A game according to claim 8, wherein
said extension has indicia. -
21. A game according to claim 14, wherein
said spring is a variable-rate spring. -
22. A game according to claim 21, wherein
said variable-rate spring varying turns-per-inch. -
23. A game according to claim 21, wherein
said variable-rate has a varying spring wire diameter.
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20. A hand held electronic game, comprising:
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a housing;
a finger element coupled to said housing at a fixed end, and having a first finger receiving area and an actuating element coupled to a free end, said finger element being capable of moving between a first position and a second position and said finger receiving area having an open end adjacent said fixed end and a closed end adjacent said free end;
a finger-movement sensing device rigidly coupled to said housing and coupled to said finger element at both said first position and said second position; and
a housing-movement sensing device rigidly coupled to said housing, said device including a resilient element coupled to a weight-extension assembly, said resilient element coupled between said housing and said weight-extension assembly and said weight-extension assembly capable of moving upon movement of said housing, said sensing device further having a light source, and a light sensor for receiving light from said light source, and said weight-extension assembly having an extension positioned between said light source and said light sensor.
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Specification