Computer peripheral device for accessing web site content
First Claim
1. A system for accessing web site content, the system comprising:
- a computer peripheral device including;
a. a housing;
b. a connection cable that connects the housing unit to a computer;
c. a plurality of figures, each figure having a base with unique structure characteristics;
d. a receptacle on the housing that is configured to receive the base of one of the plurality of figures;
e. a plurality of switches, a unique combination of which are actuated by the base of a figure inserted in the receptacle; and
f. a controller in the housing that is electrically connected to the connection cable and to the plurality of switches, wherein the controller identifies which one of the plurality of figures is inserted in the receptacle of the housing based on states of the plurality of switches; and
a computer connected to the computer peripheral device by the connection cable, wherein the computer communicates with said controller and stores a web site address associated with an identifier for each of the plurality of figures, said controller generates the identifier for the figure inserted in the receptacle of the housing and sends the identifier to the computer, and wherein the computer activates a web browser application on the computer to access content from a web site using a web site address corresponding to an identifier received from said controller in the computer peripheral device.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer peripheral device is provided comprising a housing, a plurality of figures each having a unique physical appearance and a unique structural characteristic, an identifying portion that is configured to identify one of the plurality of figures, at a time, based on the unique structural characteristic of the figure. The computer peripheral device comprises a controller coupled to the identifying portion that generates an identifier associating with the figure identified by the identifying portion. Connection of the computer peripheral device to a computer is made by a standard connection cable, such as a USB cable. Computer software is installed in the computer to store data associating a web site address with an identifier for each of the plurality of figures. A web browser application is activated to retrieve content from a web site having a web site address corresponding to an identifier received from the controller in the computer peripheral device.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for accessing web site content, the system comprising:
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a computer peripheral device including; a. a housing; b. a connection cable that connects the housing unit to a computer; c. a plurality of figures, each figure having a base with unique structure characteristics; d. a receptacle on the housing that is configured to receive the base of one of the plurality of figures; e. a plurality of switches, a unique combination of which are actuated by the base of a figure inserted in the receptacle; and f. a controller in the housing that is electrically connected to the connection cable and to the plurality of switches, wherein the controller identifies which one of the plurality of figures is inserted in the receptacle of the housing based on states of the plurality of switches; and a computer connected to the computer peripheral device by the connection cable, wherein the computer communicates with said controller and stores a web site address associated with an identifier for each of the plurality of figures, said controller generates the identifier for the figure inserted in the receptacle of the housing and sends the identifier to the computer, and wherein the computer activates a web browser application on the computer to access content from a web site using a web site address corresponding to an identifier received from said controller in the computer peripheral device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for accessing web site content, the system comprising:
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a computer peripheral device including; a. a housing; b. a plurality of figures each having a unique physical appearance; c. an identifying portion on the housing that receives one of the plurality of figures and identifies which of the plurality figures is placed in identifying portion based on a structural characteristic of the figure; d. a connection cable that electrically connects to a computer; and e. a controller coupled to said identifying portion, wherein the controller generates a signal containing an identifier of which one of the plurality of figures is placed in the identifying portion for transmission to a computer via said connection cable; and a computer connected to the computer peripheral device by the connection cable, wherein the computer comprises software that enables communication between said controller in the computer peripheral device and the computer, and wherein the software stores data associating a web site address with an identifier for each of the plurality of figures. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for accessing web site content, comprising:
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a. providing a plurality of figures having a unique physical appearance and structure; b. inserting one of the plurality of figures into a portion of a housing unit; c. structurally identifying which of the plurality of figures is inserted into the portion of the housing unit; d. generating an electrical signal containing information that identifies which of the plurality of figures is inserted into the portion of the housing unit; e. coupling the electrical signal to a computer that has internet access; f. storing in the computer data associating a web site address with an identifier for each of the plurality of figures; and g. receiving at the computer the electrical signal from the housing unit and accessing web site content from a web site address corresponding toy figure that is identified by the information in the electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A system for accessing web site content, the system comprising:
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a computer peripheral device comprising; a. a housing, b. a plurality of figures each having a unique physical appearance, c. an identifying portion on the housing that receives one of the plurality of figures and identifies which of the plurality figures is placed in identifying portion based on a structural characteristic of the figure, d. a connection cable that electrically connects to a computer, and e. a controller coupled to said identifying portion, wherein the controller generates a signal containing an identifier of which one of the plurality of figures is placed in the identifying portion for transmission to a computer via said connection cable; and a computer connected to the device by the connection cable, wherein the computer communicates with said controller, the combination storing a website address associated with the identifier for each of the plurality of figures, said controller sending the signal containing an identifier for a figure placed in the identifying portion of the housing to the computer, and wherein the computer activates a web browser application on the computer to access content from a web site using a web site address corresponding to the signal containing an identifier received from said controller in the computer peripheral device.
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Specification