Card stack reader, card thereof, card case, method for manufacturing card, game machine using the same, computer-readable storage medium on which game program is recorded

• US 7,556,197 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2008
• Issued: 07/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Kato, Fumihiro, Yoshida, Toshikazu, Terada, Takaharu, Shiba, Hidenori, Kaji, Toshiyuki, Ohara, Toru, Yamauchi, Takao, Nishino, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien Minh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mai; Thien T
• Application Number:
  US12/071,789
• Publication Number:
  US 20080182636A1
• Time in Patent Office: 497 Days
• Field of Search: 235/454, 235/462.01, 235/462.1, 463/25, 463/13, 463/11, 463/29, 463/47, 273/149.R, 273/273, 273/292, 273/304
• US Class Current: 235/454
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation

Abstract

Embodiments describe a card stack reader having an imaging unit which reads an image from a peripheral side portion of a stack of cards, each card having a read code along a peripheral side edge thereof, the read code indentifying the card, and a code recognizing unit which recognizes the read code of each from the image read by the imaging unit.

Claims

1. A game apparatus comprising:

a game program execution means which executes a game program;

an input means, operable by a player, and

a card data detection means which is arranged to mount a set of cards for a single scan, the set of cards being selected by the player from a variety of cards which include cards representing game characters as well as functions related to the game characters and provided with code patterns indicative of the game characters or the functions related to the game characters,

wherein said card data detection means detects, in a single scan, a set of data from said cards selectively mounted to the card data detection means, said detected data containing data indicative of a game character selected by the player and of a function related to the game character,

wherein said game program execution means executes the game program to perform a game with the game character selected by the player and the function related to the game character determined in response to said data detected from said set of cards mounted to the game apparatus and in response to signals from said input means.

2. A game apparatus comprising:

a game program execution means which executes a game program;

an input means, operable by a player, and

a card data detection means which is arranged to mount a set of cards for a single scan, the set of cards being selected by the player from a variety of cards related to game characters and provided with code patterns related to the game characters,

wherein said card data detection means detects, in a single scan, a set of data from said cards selectively mounted to the card data detection means, said detected data containing data related to the game characters selected by the player,

wherein said game program execution means executes the game program to perform a game with the game characters selected by the player in response to said data detected from the set of cards mounted to the game apparatus and in response to signals from said input means.