Color changing toys, games and devices

• US 8,708,767 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2011
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Funfare LLC
• Original Assignee: Funfare LLC
• Inventors: Heller, Jason Gene, Albert, Charles, Garrett, Joshua William, McKnight, Jeff, Martinez, Eduardo
• Primary Examiner(s): DENNIS, MICHAEL DAVID
• Application Number:
  US13/220,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20120052762A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 446/147
• US Class Current: 446/147
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/22 Optical, colour, or shadow toys puzzles with optical elements A63F9/0613; kaleidoscopes G02B27/08
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 5/00 Musical or noise- producing devices for additional toy effects other than acoustical musical tops A63H1/28; sound-producing dolls A63H3/28; musical toy vehicles A63H17/268; acoustical vehicle-signalling devices A63H17/32; whistling toy locomotive arrangements A63H19/14; music, sound or noise production in general G10

Abstract

In one aspect of the present invention, a toy arrangement involving a flickering, animated and/or luminescent toy object will be described. The toy arrangement includes a toy object having an ultraviolet sensitive layer. A light source is arranged to illuminate the ultraviolet sensitive layer with ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet sensitive layer is arranged to emit colored light in response to exposure to the ultraviolet light. In some implementations, the light source is arranged to vary the intensity of the ultraviolet light, which in turn can cause the colored light emitted from the toy object to fade, brighten and flicker. The toy arrangement may also include a speaker that emits sounds that are synchronized with changes in the colored light.

Claims

1. A method of illuminating a toy object with ultraviolet light to create a colorful light display, the method comprising:

providing an object having at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer that forms a pattern wherein the ultraviolet sensitive layer is transparent such that the pattern is hidden from view in the absence of ultraviolet light;

illuminating the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer with ultraviolet light using the at least one light source, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer arranged to absorb the ultraviolet light and emit a colored light in response such that the previously hidden pattern is revealed, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer, when not exposed to the ultraviolet light, being arranged not to emit the colored light;

increasing and decreasing the intensity of the ultraviolet light repeatedly, thereby causing the intensity of the emitted colored light to also increase and decrease; and

generating sound at a speaker and synchronizing the sound with changes in the intensity of the emitted colored light.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the ultraviolet light is generally invisible to a human eye; and

the emitted colored light is not powered by an electrical system that is internal to the object.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer includes a first ultraviolet sensitive layer and a second ultraviolet sensitive layer;

the at least one light source includes a first light source that is arranged to emit ultraviolet light at the first ultraviolet sensitive layer and a second light source that is arranged to emit ultraviolet light at the second ultraviolet sensitive layer; and

the method further comprises changing the intensity of the illumination from the first light source at a first frequency and changing the intensity of the illumination from the second light source at a different second frequency such that the colored light emitted from the first ultraviolet sensitive layer flickers at a different frequency from that of the second ultraviolet sensitive layer.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the at least one light source includes a non-ultraviolet light source arranged to emit non-ultraviolet, visible light and an ultraviolet light source arranged to emit the ultraviolet light;

the method further comprises switching between different types of lights, which includes;

illuminating the object with the non-ultraviolet light, the non-ultraviolet light having a first color, thereby bathing the object in the first color; and

after the illuminating of the object with the non-ultraviolet light, turning off the non-ultraviolet light source to cease the bathing of the object in the first color and illuminating the object with the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source, which causes the colored light to be emitted from the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer, the colored light having a second color that is different from the first color.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object is a first card for playing in a card game, the method further comprising:

playing a card game involving a multiplicity of cards that includes the first card and a second card, the first and second cards having markings that indicate how the card is used in game play wherein the first and second cards appear generally identical when not exposed to the ultraviolet light, the first card having first pattern formed from the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer that is different from a second pattern on the second card that is also formed from an ultraviolet sensitive layer, the first and second patterns on the first and second cards being formed from transparent ultraviolet sensitive layers such that the first and second patterns are hidden from view in the absence of ultraviolet light; and

exposing the first pattern on the first card to the ultraviolet light, thereby causing the first pattern on the first card to emit the colored light, the colored light indicating a difference in how the first card and the second card can be played in the card game.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, the object being a first card for use in a battle card game, the method further comprising:

playing the battle card game in which the first card and a second card represent entities that are fighting with one another;

exposing the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer on the first card to the ultraviolet light, thereby causing the colored light to be emitted from a first pattern that is formed from the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer being generally invisible to a human eye prior to exposure to the ultraviolet light; and

animating an aspect of the fight between the first and second cards using the colored light from the first pattern.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein the battle card game is played using a battle card game platform, the method further comprising:

inserting the first and second cards into a card engagement feature on the battle card game platform, the card engagement feature holding the first and second cards upright so that they are visible to players of the game;

illuminating the first card that is being supported by the card engagement feature with the at least one light source, which is positioned on the battle card game platform; and

generating the sound at the speaker, which is positioned on the battle game card platform.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the at least one light source includes a first light source arranged to emit a non-ultraviolet, colored light and a second light source arranged to emit an ultraviolet light;

the first light source is arranged to emit a light of a first color and the ultraviolet sensitive layer is arranged to emit a light of a second color that is different from the first color when it is exposed to the ultraviolet light;

illuminating the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer with lights from both the first and second light sources; and

mixing the first and second colors from the first light source and the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer to generate a light of a third color that is different from both the first and second colors, thereby causing the first ultraviolet sensitive layer to emit a glow having the third color.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object is moving rapidly such that the colored light emitted from the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer on the object causes a persistence of vision effect, thereby creating an illusion of one selected from the group consisting of a three dimensional object and a two dimensional object with a shape that is different from said object.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the object is in motion in a first direction; and

the method further comprising;

turning on and off the ultraviolet light in rapid succession such that the colored light emitted from the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer causes an illusion of movement; and

varying the frequency of the turning on and off of the ultraviolet light to create an illusion of movement of the object in a second direction that is different from the first direction.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object is a card having a drawing and a plurality of characters from an alphabet on a front face of the card and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving input from a user at a device;

based on the input, determining at the device whether the user chose some of the characters in a correct sequence to spell a particular word that describes the drawing on the card; and

when the correct sequence has been inputted into the device, illuminating the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer on the card with the ultraviolet light, thereby causing the previously hidden pattern to become visible.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object is a card, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer forming a pattern on the card, there being a plurality of numbers and a plurality of items visible on a front face of the card, at least some but not all of the items belonging to a particular class of object and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving input from a user at a device;

determining at the device whether the input indicates that the user correctly chose one of the numbers that represents how many of the items belong to the particular class of object; and

when the correct one of the numbers has been inputted into the device, illuminating the pattern on the card with the ultraviolet light, thereby causing the previously hidden pattern to become visible.

13. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object is a card, the method further comprising:

receiving the card at a viewing device such that a surface of the card forms a bottom of a recessed region in the device and is viewable through a viewing aperture on the device;

positioning the at least one light source on the device such that the at least one light source is arranged to direct the ultraviolet light onto the surface of the card;

receiving input from a user at the device; and

in response to the input, activating the at least one light source to direct ultraviolet light towards the ultraviolet sensitive layer on the surface of the card, thereby revealing the previously hidden pattern.

14. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein:

the at least one light source includes a first light source and a second light source that are positioned in different locations on the device and are arranged to illuminate different locations on the surface of the card;

receiving input from the user at the device; and

selectively activating the first light source or the second light source depending on the user input wherein the first and second light sources are arranged to reveal different patterns on the card using ultraviolet light.

15. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein:

the first and second ultraviolet sensitive layers are on a single surface of the object and are positioned adjacent to one another.

16. A method of illuminating a toy object with ultraviolet light to create a colorful light display, the method comprising:

providing an object having at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer wherein there is a pattern painted on the object in the shape of a face, the face including a mouth region that is covered with the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer; and

illuminating the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer with ultraviolet light using at least one light source, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer arranged to absorb the ultraviolet light and emit a colored light in response, the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer, when not exposed to the ultraviolet light, being arranged not to emit the colored light;

increasing and decreasing the intensity of the ultraviolet light repeatedly, thereby causing the intensity of the emitted colored light to also increase and decrease to create an appearance of motion on the surface of the toy object;

generating sound at a speaker and synchronizing the sound with changes in the intensity of the emitted colored light;

illuminating the mouth region with the ultraviolet light, thereby causing the mouth region to glow with the colored light and giving an impression that the mouth is opening;

not illuminating the mouth region with the ultraviolet light such that the at least one ultraviolet sensitive layer in the mouth region does not emit the colored light, thereby giving an impression that the mouth is closed; and

generating audible speech that is synchronized with the simulated opening and closing of the mouth, thereby giving an impression that the mouth region is producing words.