Transaction product with selectively illuminated buttons

• US 8,647,203 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2011
• Issued: 02/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Inventors: Hague, Madelaine Ann, Muther, Aaron, Peters, Allan, Weaver, Robert Jerome, Clegg, Timothy P., Samardzija, Primoz, Albrecht, Jessica A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hylinski, Steven J
• Application Number:
  US13/290,043
• Publication Number:
  US 20130116050A1
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: 463/46, 463/25.37, 446/468, 446/485, 200/16.R, 200/61.1, 200/341, 200/342, 200/345
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/0049 Objects with a second use as toy or game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2402 Input by manual operation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/242 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2452 as a signal
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2489 by radio transmitters, e.g. using RFID
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/001 Games or toys connected to, or combined with, other objects; Objects with a second use as a toy or game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/34 using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A transaction product includes an electrical assembly, a housing, a button, and an account identifier. The electrical assembly includes a light. The housing substantially encloses the electrical assembly including the light, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an aperture extending through the exterior surface. The button has a rounded extremity and extends from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface. The button aligns with and surrounds the light such that when the light is lit the button is illuminated. The account identifier is coupled to the housing and links the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable.

Claims

1. A transaction product, comprising:

an electrical assembly including a light;

a housing substantially enclosing the electrical assembly including the light, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an aperture extending through the exterior surface;

a button having a rounded extremity, the button extending from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface, wherein the button aligns with and surrounds the light such that when the light is lit the button is illuminated, the button defines a crush zone coupled to the rounded extremity and positioned within the housing, the light is supported within the housing by a printed circuit board, and the crush zone surrounds the light on the printed circuit board;

an account identifier coupled to the housing and linking the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable; and

an electrical contact pad coupled to the printed circuit board near the light;

wherein;

the electrical contact pad is surrounded by the crush zone, and

the button includes a recessed surface facing the crush zone and an electrical contact node coupled to the recessed surface, such that when the button is pushed, the crush zone collapses and the electrical contact pad contacts the electrical contact node causing the light to one of illuminate and stop illuminating.

2. The transaction product of claim 1, wherein the account identifier is a bar code.

3. The transaction product of claim 1, wherein the account identifier includes at least one of a bar code, a magnetic strip, a smart chip, and a radio frequency identification (RFID) device.

4. The transaction product of claim 1, in combination with a remote database storing the financial account.

5. The transaction product of claim 1, wherein the button is formed of a diffusive material that diffuses light from the light to illuminate a substantial entirety of the button.

6. The transaction product of claim 1, wherein:

the button is one of a plurality of buttons extending from a primary panel formed of the same material as the plurality of buttons,

the primary panel extends between and is coupled to each of the plurality of buttons opposite the rounded extremity; and

the primary panel is enclosed within the housing.

10. The transaction product of claim 1, further comprising indicia applied to each of the housing and the button, wherein the indicia are visually associated to a retailer adapted to accept the associated monetary value of the financial account as payment toward the price of the purchase.

11. The transaction product of claim 1, further comprising decorative scenery applied to the housing, and the button includes decorative indicia visually corresponding to the decorative scenery.

7. A transaction product, comprising:

an electrical assembly including a light;

a housing substantially enclosing the electrical assembly including the light, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an a erture extending through the exterior surface;

a button having a rounded extremity, the button extending from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface, wherein the button aligns with and surrounds the light such that when the light is lit the button is illuminated; and

an account identifier coupled to the housing and linking the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable;

wherein;

the light is one of a plurality of lights,

the button is one of a plurality of buttons,

each button of the plurality of buttons surrounds a different one of the plurality of lights,

the electrical assembly includes an integrated circuit, which directs the electrical assembly to light a random sequence of the plurality of lights maintaining each light in the random sequence for a shorter of a predetermined time period and a time period between when each light is first lit and when a user presses a corresponding one of the plurality of buttons that extends over the light that was lit as part of a gaming session, and

the random sequence only lights one light at a time.

8. The transaction product of claim 7, in combination with a backer and a blister pack configured to support and enclose the transaction product therebetween, the blister pack including a plurality of separate apertures each providing access to a different one of the plurality of buttons while the transaction product is maintained within the blister pack such that the user can initiate and play the gaming session on the transaction product while the transaction product is maintained within the blister pack.

9. The transaction product of claim 8, wherein:

the exterior surface is a first exterior surface,

the housing includes a second exterior surface opposite the first exterior surface, and

the account identifier is coupled to the second exterior surface.

12. A transaction product, comprising:

an electrical assembly including a light;

a housing substantially enclosing the electrical assembly including the light, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an aperture extending through the exterior surface;

a button having a rounded extremity, the button extending from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface, wherein the button aligns with and surrounds the light such that when the light is lit the button is illuminated; and

an account identifier coupled to the housing and linking the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable;

wherein the electrical circuit further comprises a speaker and is configured to output a different sound upon an occurrence of each of the following;

a start of a game, a user pressing a lit one of the plurality of buttons, and a user pressing one of the plurality of buttons that is not lit.

13. A transaction product, comprising:

an electrical assembly including a light;

a housing substantially enclosing the electrical assembly including the light, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an aperture extending through the exterior surface;

a button having a rounded extremity, the button extending from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface, wherein the button aligns with and surrounds the light such that when the light is lit the button is illuminated; and

an account identifier coupled to the housing and linking the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable;

wherein the button is a game interface button, the transaction product further comprises an activation button formed separate from the game interface button, and the activation button is configured to interact with the electrical assembly to initiate a game session including lighting of the light.

14. A stored-value product comprising:

an electrical assembly including means for providing illumination and means for switching which of means for providing illumination is lit;

means for interfacing with the means for switching, wherein the means for interfacing includes;

means for surrounding all but one side of one of the means for providing illumination and one of the means for switching, wherein;

the means for surrounding is at least partially collapsible down upon the one of the means for providing illumination and the one of the means for switching, wherein the means for surrounding includes an electrical contact node facing the one of the plurality of means for switching, the electrical contact node is configured to selectively contact the one of the means for switching when the means for surrounding is at least partially collapsed, and

the means for surrounding is configured to diffuse the illumination and glow when the one of the means for providing illumination is lit; and

means for linking the stored-value product with an account having a value associated therewith such that the stored-value product can be used as payment toward a purchase of one or more of goods and services;

wherein each of the means for surrounding corresponds to a different one of the means for providing illumination and a different one of the means for switching, and all of the means for surrounding commonly extend from a single planar panel formed as a single piece of material with the means for surrounding.

15. The stored-value product of claim 14, further comprising means for enclosing the electrical assembly and for partially enclosing the means for surrounding, wherein the single planar panel is surrounded by the means for enclosing.

16. The stored-value product of claim 14, wherein the electrical assembly is at least partially supported by a printed circuit board within the means for enclosing, and each of the means for providing illumination and the means for switching are coupled to the printed circuit board.

17. A stored-value product comprising:

an electrical assembly including means for providing illumination and means for switching which of the means for providing illumination is lit;

a housing substantially enclosing the electrical assembly including the means for providing illumination, wherein the housing defines an exterior surface and an aperture extending through the exterior surface;

means for interfacing with the means for switching, wherein the means for interfacing has a rounded extremity, extends from within the housing to outside the housing through the aperture and beyond the exterior surface, and the means for interfacing includes;

means for surrounding all but one side of one of the means for providing illumination and one of the means for switching, wherein;

the means for surrounding is at least partially collapsible down upon the one of the means for providing illumination and the one of the means for switching and is illuminated when the one of the means for providing illumination is lit, wherein the means for surrounding includes an electrical contact node facing the one of the means for switching, the electrical contact node is configured to contact the one of the means for switching when the means for surrounding is at least partially collapsed, and

the means for surrounding is configured to diffuse the illumination and glow when the one of the means for providing illumination is lit; and

an account identifier coupled to the housing and linking the transaction product to a financial account having an associated monetary value available toward a price of a purchase, wherein the account identifier is machine readable.