Electronic throw-and-catch game
First Claim
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1. A catch-and-throw apparatus, comprising:
- a housing;
one or more grip areas along said housing configured for being gripped;
one or more sensors in said housing and associated with said one or more grip areas for sensing when said one or more grip areas is gripped;
a microprocessor for communicating to an indicator system in said housing for indicating one or more of said one or more grip areas after detecting said housing has been thrown; and
the microprocessor for operating said indicator system to perceivably indicate one or more of said one or more grip areas, for receiving feedback from said one or more sensors relating to which of said one or more grip areas is gripped, and for perceivably indicating whether said one or more grip areas that is gripped corresponds to said one or more grip areas that is indicated.
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Abstract
An electronic catch-and-throw game is disclosed that requires physical skill, logical thought, and advancing complexity in order to challenge players of all skill levels and hold their interest.
30 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A catch-and-throw apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; one or more grip areas along said housing configured for being gripped; one or more sensors in said housing and associated with said one or more grip areas for sensing when said one or more grip areas is gripped; a microprocessor for communicating to an indicator system in said housing for indicating one or more of said one or more grip areas after detecting said housing has been thrown; and the microprocessor for operating said indicator system to perceivably indicate one or more of said one or more grip areas, for receiving feedback from said one or more sensors relating to which of said one or more grip areas is gripped, and for perceivably indicating whether said one or more grip areas that is gripped corresponds to said one or more grip areas that is indicated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of operating a catch-and-throw system, the system including a device having a housing, one or more grip areas along the housing and an audio indicator system, the method comprising:
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a) throwing the housing; b) a processor system communicating to the indicator system for indicating one or more of the grip areas by the indicators; c) catching the housing at the one or more grip areas indicated in said step b) after it has been thrown and detected to be thrown by the processor; and d) indicating whether the housing was caught in step c) at the one or more grip areas indicated in said step b). - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of operating a catch-and-throw system, the system including a device having a housing, grip areas along the housing, sensors associated with the grip areas, indicators associated with the grip areas, a microprocessor and switches for determining the game mode, the method comprising:
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(a) selecting a game mode via one or more of the switches; (b) monitoring the sensors by the microprocessor after said step (a) to determine whether the device has been thrown; (c) selecting a pattern of grip areas to be indicated by the indicators when it is determined in said step (b) that the device has been thrown; (d) indicating the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c) by the indicators; (e) catching the device and receiving feedback from the sensors to determine which grip areas are being held after said steps (c) and (d); (f) comparing which grip areas are held against which grip areas were indicated by the indicators; (g) providing a first perceivable feedback when the grip areas held in said step (f) match the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c); and (h) providing a second perceivable feedback, different than the first perceivable feedback, when the grip areas held in said step (f) do not match the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c). - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An apparatus, comprising:
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a housing, said housing defining a catch system, said catch system including one or more catch regions; a sensor system, coupled to said housing and coupled to said catch system, said sensor system detecting a catch status of said catch system; an indicator system, coupled to said housing, for indicating a catch pattern, said catch pattern identifying one or more of said one or more catch regions; and a processor system, communicated to said sensor system and communicated to said indicator system, for determining a thrown-state for said housing and for generating said catch pattern by said indicator system when said thrown-state has a predetermined value indicating said housing has been thrown, and said processor system for determining a conformance between said catch status and said catch pattern after said thrown-state indicates said housing has been caught. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method, the method comprising:
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a) tossing a housing, said housing defining a catch system, said catch system including one or more catch regions wherein said housing includes a sensor system coupled to said catch system for detecting a catch status of said catch system and wherein said housing includes an indicator system for indicating a catch pattern, said catch pattern identifying one or more of said one or more catch regions; b) determining a toss-state for said housing; c) generating said catch pattern by said indicator system when said toss-state has a predetermined value indicating said housing has been tossed, and d) determining a conformance between said catch status and said catch pattern after said toss-state indicates said housing has been caught.
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42. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium carrying program instructions for operating a catch-and-throw system, the system including a device having a housing, grip areas along the housing, sensors associated with the grip areas, indicators associated with the grip areas, a microprocessor and switches for determining the game mode when executed using a computing system, the executed program instructions executing a method, the method comprising:
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(a) selecting a game mode via one or more of the switches; (b) monitoring the sensors by the microprocessor after said step (a) to determine whether the device has been thrown; (c) selecting a pattern of grip areas to be indicated by the indicators if it is determined in said step (b) that the device has been thrown; (d) indicating the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c) by the indicators; (e) receiving feedback from the sensors to determine which grip areas are being held after said steps (c) and (d); (f) comparing which grip areas are held against which grip areas were indicated by the indicators; (g) providing a first perceivable feedback when the grip areas held in said step (f) match the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c); and (h) providing a second perceivable feedback, different than the first perceivable feedback, when the grip areas held in said step (f) do not match the pattern of grip areas selected in said step (c).
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Specification