Puzzle box method, system, and computer program product

• US 9,000,890 B1
• Filed: 07/02/2013
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mikal Neal Hart
• Original Assignee: Mikal Neal Hart
• Inventors: Hart, Mikal Neal
• Primary Examiner(s): SYED, NABIL H
• Application Number:
  US13/933,696
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.7, 340/5.71, 340/5.72, 340/5.73, 340/539.23, 340/994, 70/63, 701/61, 701/62, 702/67
• US Class Current: 340/5.73
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5031 Receptacle

Abstract

A box contains a motorized latch for locking the lid of the box and a GPS device for determining a geo-location. The box also contains an electronic controller, which is programmed with a predetermined geo-location and is programmed for driving the latch and a display. The controller is programmed to cause the display to show distances to the predetermined geo-location in response to actuations of a push button mounted on the box. The controller is also responsive to respective current locations. The controller is programmed to disengage the latch If a distance indicated by the GPS device to the predetermined geo-location is less than a predetermined distance, revealing whatever treasures have been hidden inside the box.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a user, a physical object locked inside a box and having a predetermined association with the user;

sending, by an electronic controller, an unlock signal to a latch operator of the box, the unlock signal causing the latch operator to unlock the box, allowing the box to be opened to reveal the physical object inside the box;

reading, by the electronic controller, instances of current geo-location of the box and date from a GPS device;

determining, by the electronic controller for respective instances of actuation of an input device, respective current distances from the respective current geo-locations to a target geo-location stored in a memory for the electronic controller, the target geo-location having a predetermined association with the user and a predetermined association with the physical object;

presenting a message indicating where the box will unlock in response to the input device actuations, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when a current distance is greater than a predetermined threshold distance;

sending the unlock signal to the latch operator for unlocking the box to reveal the physical object inside the box responsive to actuation of the input device when the current distance is NOT greater than the predetermined threshold distance;

powering the electronic controller and said GPS device by a battery;

storing in the memory each instance of the current geo-location and date read from the GPS device; and

shutting down the electronic controller and GPS device a predetermined time after actuation of the input device, such that a date for each instance of input device actuation is captured in the memory without maintaining continuous operation of a clock and charge of the battery is preserved, thereby extending a period during which the electronic controller and GPS device are used for intermittently attempting to find the target geo-location while concurrently enabling the storing of geo-location, and date for instances of an attempt to reveal the physical object inside the box by actuating the input device at a geo-location that is potentially the target geo-location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes the current distance from the current geo-location to the target geo-location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes a description of a previous experience of the user and of how that experience indicates the target geo-location.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising counting, by the electronic controller, how many times the input device is actuated and storing the count in a memory, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when the count of how many times the input device has been actuated exceeds a predetermined limit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when a current date is before a predetermined date.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the date includes the time of day.

7. A system comprising:

a box having first and second portions, wherein the box has an exterior and the first and second portions form an interior space of the box for holding contents therein;

a latch configured for locking the box by engaging certain parts of the latch to lock first and second portions of the box together to lock the contents in the box'"'"'s interior space;

an output device for presenting a message indicating where the box will unlock;

an input device accessible for user actuation from the exterior of the box;

an electronic controller, the controller comprising a processor having a memory and a clock,

wherein the electronic controller is configured with instructions in the memory to drive the output device for presenting the message;

an operator, wherein the electronic controller is being configured to send lock and unlock signals for controlling the operator, and wherein the operator is configured to operate the latch responsive to the lock and unlock signals, and

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to send the lock signal, thereby causing the latch to engage the certain parts of the latch to lock the box, responsive to the electronic controller being initialized and is configured to send the unlock signal, thereby causing the latch to disengage the certain parts of the latch, responsive to the electronic controller receiving a signal caused by actuation of the input device, such that disengaging the certain parts of the latch unlocks the box, allowing the first and second parts of the box to be opened to reveal the contents of the box'"'"'s interior;

a GPS device configured for determining a geo-location of the box,

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to receive communication indicating a current geo-location of the box determined by the GPS device,

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to determine a current distance from the received, current geo-location to a target geo-location,

wherein the electronic controller driving the output device includes the electronic controller causing the output device to present the message in response to the electronic controller receiving the signal caused by actuation of the input device, and

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to NOT send the unlock signal if the current distance is greater than a predetermined threshold distance; and

a battery for powering the electronic controller, GPS device and output device,

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to cause the processor to read from the GPS device responsive to instances of actuation of the input device, the current geo-location and date, and is configured to store in the memory each instance of the current geo-location and date read from the GPS device, and

wherein the electronic controller is further configured to cause the processor, including the clock, to shut down a predetermined time after actuation of the input device, such that a date for each instance of input device actuation is captured without maintaining continuous operation of the clock, so that the shutting down of the processor preserves charge of the battery, thereby extending a period during which the system is used for intermittently attempting to find the target geo-location while concurrently enabling capturing and preserving of geo-location and date for each instance of an attempt to reveal the contents of the box'"'"'s interior by finding the target geo-location.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the message includes the current distance from the current geo-location to the target geo-location.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the message includes a description of a previous experience of the user and of how that experience indicates the target geo-location.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the electronic controller is further configured to count how many times the input device is actuated and store the count in a memory, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when the count of how many times the input device has been actuated exceeds a predetermined limit.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when a current date is before a predetermined date.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the date includes the time of day.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the input device includes a pushbutton.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

program code for configuring an electronic controller with a target geo-location;

program code for initializing the electronic controller;

program code for sending a lock signal to a latch operator of a box responsive to the initializing of the electronic controller, wherein the lock signal causes the latch operator to lock a physical object inside the box for a user;

program code for detecting actuation of an input device of the box;

program code for reading instances of current geo-location of the box and date from a GPS device;

program code for determining, for respective instances of actuation of the input device, respective current distances from the respective current geo-locations to the target geo-location;

program code for presenting a message to the user indicating when the box will unlock in response to the input device actuations;

program code for sending an unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to detecting the actuation of the input device and for preempting the sending of the unlock signal when a current distance is greater than a predetermined threshold distance, wherein the unlock signal causes the latch operator to unlock the box, allowing the box to be opened to reveal the physical object inside the box;

program code for storing in the memory instances of the current geo-location and date read from the GPS device, wherein the electronic controller and GPS device are powered by a battery; and

program code for shutting down the electronic controller and GPS device a predetermined time after actuation of the input device, such that a date for respective instances of input device actuation is stored in the memory without maintaining continuous operation of a clock and such that charge of the battery is preserved, thereby enabling the storing of geo-location and date while concurrently extending a period during which the electronic controller and GPS device are used for instances of an attempt to reveal the physical object inside the box by actuating the input device at a geo-location that is potentially the target geo-location.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the message includes the current distance from the current geo-location to the target geo-location.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the message includes a description of a previous experience of the user and of how that experience indicates the target geo-location.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the program code includes program code for counting how many times the input device is actuated and storing the count in a memory, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when the count of how many times the input device has been actuated exceeds a predetermined limit.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the electronic controller does NOT send the unlock signal to the latch operator responsive to the input device actuation when a current date is before a predetermined date.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the date includes the time of day.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the program code for detecting actuation of an input device of the box includes program code for detecting actuation of a pushbutton.