Game and exercise device and method
First Claim
1. A game board device for directing body movement in games or exercise comprising,at least one support frame, all such frames employed together defining a suitable game board of limited area;
- a plurality of contact surfaces of relatively the same size and shape and providing part of modular units of generally rectangular shape and of generally the same size supported side by side relative to one another by one another within and filing each support frame employed, in a coordinated matrix pattern so that all the contact surfaces in each frame lie generally in a common plane and provide a continuous matrix of contact surfaces sufficiently close to one another that a player may move a selected body extremity from any contact surface in the matrix to any other without stepping up or down out of the general common plane, andillumination means which is normally-off for each module to separately and selectively illuminate each of the respective contact surfaces individually to cue movement to contact a newly illuminated contact surface by a selected body extremity, andswitching means to selectively connect the illumination means for various contact surfaces to a power source to control the sequence of illumination of a selected contact surface whereby a player is cued to move his selected body extremities to each newly illuminated contact surface as different selected contact surfaces in turn become illuminated and to turn off the illuminated surface at a predetermined time after contact has been made to keep dark the contact surfaces when they are not immediate in play.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A game board device for directing body movements in games, exercise, or physical therapy. It employs a support frame of side-by-side modular units of relatively the same size and shape supporting a continuous matrix of contact surfaces supported in a common plane. The contact surfaces in the adjacent frames are arranged in a coordinated matrix of adjacent surfaces that are illuminatable in various colors. The contact surfaces are illuminated normally one at a time so as to cue sequential steps in a random pattern and at varying speeds in a game or predetermined patterns and adjustable speeds in exercise or therapy. Control of the sequential illumination may be manually or by a program by manually operated device or by computer. It is preferred that the individual frames be hindged to permit folding for storage and transportation.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A game board device for directing body movement in games or exercise comprising,
at least one support frame, all such frames employed together defining a suitable game board of limited area; -
a plurality of contact surfaces of relatively the same size and shape and providing part of modular units of generally rectangular shape and of generally the same size supported side by side relative to one another by one another within and filing each support frame employed, in a coordinated matrix pattern so that all the contact surfaces in each frame lie generally in a common plane and provide a continuous matrix of contact surfaces sufficiently close to one another that a player may move a selected body extremity from any contact surface in the matrix to any other without stepping up or down out of the general common plane, and illumination means which is normally-off for each module to separately and selectively illuminate each of the respective contact surfaces individually to cue movement to contact a newly illuminated contact surface by a selected body extremity, and switching means to selectively connect the illumination means for various contact surfaces to a power source to control the sequence of illumination of a selected contact surface whereby a player is cued to move his selected body extremities to each newly illuminated contact surface as different selected contact surfaces in turn become illuminated and to turn off the illuminated surface at a predetermined time after contact has been made to keep dark the contact surfaces when they are not immediate in play. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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- 14. The device of claim l2 in which the moving actuator is confined to a specific path but can be moved in either direction along the path.
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25. A method of game playing involving stepping from one illuminated contact surface to another where the contact surfaces are arranged in a repetitive pattern fully covering a predetermined game surface area in a common plane compactly so that the player can step from any contact surface to any other in the game area with ease, and the contact surfaces being illuminated one contact surface at a time to provide the player with the only clue as to where he should next step comprising;
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lighting a first contact surface as the cue to where the player should step; lighting a next contact surface as the cue to where the player should next step, while discontinuing the lighting of the previous surface, repeating the second step of the process for as many steps as desired by lighting sequentially different contact surfaces at random and discontinuing the lighting of each lighted contact surface when the player leaves it for a total number of successive steps onto lighted contact surfaces as desired. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A method of providing therapy involving moving alternative body extremities from one illuminated contact surface to another where the contact surfaces are arranged in a repetitive pattern fully covering a predetermined surface area in a common plane sufficiently compactly that the patient can move alternate body extremities from one contact surface to another over a selected area with ease, comprising,
placing the patient receiving therapy in a position to contact the contact surfaces alternating with a selected pair of extremities, illuminating a first contact surface to cue placing a selected extremity on that illuminated surface; -
lighting a next contact surface to cue the patient to place his other selected extremity there while extinguishing the light on the first contact surface, providing a sequence of lighting of contact surfaces, and extinguishing the lighting of the last previously contacted surface to cue movement of the patient for the therapy alternating movement of the selected extremities, and continuing the process for a period prescribed for the therapy while timing successive lighting cues at rates prescribed by the therapy to achieve the desired exercise results.
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29. A device for directing body movement in games or exercise comprising,
a game board providing generally planar contact surfaces arranged in a coordinated pattern for hand or foot contact which contact surfaces are sufficiently large to accommodate the playing extremities of an anticipated largest player so that it is possible for players to contact each contact surface with a hand or foot without also contacting an adjacent contact surface, illumination means to separately and selectively illuminate each of the respective contact surfaces, and means to provide and control the sequence of illumination of the contact surfaces, so that newly illuminated surfaces are lighted no more than two at a time and extinguished after the player contacts the lighted area in order to avoid confusion, whereby a player is directed to move his selected body extremity to a newly illuminated contact surface as the surface, in turn, become illuminated.
Specification