Handheld Electronic Bubble Game

This application is a continuation of U.S. nonprovisional application Ser. No. 18/361,739, filed Jul. 28, 2023. U.S. application Ser. No. 18/361,739 claimed the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 63/369,700, filed Jul. 28, 2022. The contents of both application Ser. Nos. 18/361,739 and 63/369,700 are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.77(b)(6), Applicant hereby provides the following statement regarding prior disclosures by the inventor or a joint inventor:

The subject matter disclosed in the present application was previously embodied in a commercial product sold under the name “Buffalo Games Pop It Pro—The Original Light Up, Pattern Popping, Pop It Game” (ASIN: B07G7FZQDM), which was made publicly available on or about Aug. 1, 2022. Additionally, the subject matter was publicly disclosed in videos publicly posted in July 2022. These disclosures were made by the inventor or joint inventor of the present application and/or the disclosed subject matter was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or joint inventor. Accordingly, such disclosures are not prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(A).

The present invention relates to games and, more particularly, to a handheld electronic bubble game.

People appear to have been involved in the playing of games since the beginning of recorded history. The almost universal interest in games seems to be due to the excitement engendered by competition and chance. Competitive games are probably more exciting, other factors being equal; but they normally require that several persons be involved in each such game. Many competitive games are complex and require many players, large fields, and a substantial amount of equipment.

Recently, various improvements in electronic circuitry have allowed the reduction in size and cost of data processing circuitry. Handheld electronic games enable a player to compete with criteria set by the game software. Even so, a novel game has a distinct attractiveness to a player.

As can be seen, there is a need for a novel, simple, handheld electronic game.

In one aspect of the present invention, a handheld electronic game includes a housing assembly having a front housing portion and a rear housing portion; resilient domes protruding from the housing assembly, each of the resilient domes having a first surface and a second surface transitionable from a first position wherein the first surface is a convex surface of the dome to a second position wherein the second surface is the convex surface of the dome; a programmable, interactive system including a microprocessor and a sensor mounted within the housing, wherein the sensor is electrically connected to the microprocessor and is operative to sense when one or more of the elastomeric domes transitions from the first position to the second position or from the second position to the first position; and at least one light emitting diode mounted within the housing, electrically connected to the programmable, interactive system.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description, and claims.

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, one embodiment of the present invention is a handheld electronic game having a sheet of “bubbles”, i.e., convex domes, protruding from a housing. The bubbles may be “popped” by pressing down on them, which inverts them to concave.

The number of bubbles is not particularly limited and may be, for example, about 5 to about 10 bubbles.

In some embodiments, a light emitting diode (LED) and a touch or pressure sensitive input component are located directly under each of the bubbles, such that the bubbles are individually illuminated when the corresponding LED is activated. For example, in an embodiment having 10 bubbles, the game may also have 10 LEDs and 10 input sensors. The sensors may include, but are not limited to, proximity sensors, including capacitive sensors, or any other type of sensor operative to sense when a bubble has been depressed.

As used herein, the terms “pop” or “popped” refer to depressing a convex dome to a concave condition. The terms “unpop” or “unpopped” refer to resetting a dome from concave to convex condition.

The game may have a programmable and interactive system for illuminating and extinguishing LEDs for individual bubbles, detecting when they are popped, and detecting when they are reset. The system may comprise electronics including components selected from but not limited to a microprocessor, batteries to power the device, a speaker to produce sound, and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). The PCBA may be electrically connected to, among other components, the LEDs and the touch sensitive (e.g., capacitive) inputs. The inputs may alternatively be mechanical switches, activated by the bubble. The microprocessor may illuminate a pattern or sequence of LEDs and may track the player's success in successfully popping the bubbles according to the pattern or sequence. The microprocessor may provide increasingly difficult games for the player, which may include increasing the number of bubbles that must be popped and/or decreasing a predetermined amount of time in which the game may be played.

When a bubble is popped, the input under the bubble may sense pressure from the user's finger and sends a signal to the microprocessor, so the microprocessor knows the bubble has been popped. The microprocessor may perform an action based on this input, such as turning the LEDs on or off and playing sounds.

The game may comprise a reset mechanism that allows a player to “reset” or unpop some or all the popped bubbles. For example, a plastic reset button may be pressed or squeezed to activate electronic switches on the PCBA. Those inputs send a signal to the microprocessor, letting it know the user has reset the bubbles. The bubbles are physically reset (pushed into their original convex state) by plastic pins, one for each bubble, that move through the PCBA and push the bubbles upward. Preferably, the reset button is large, having a size sufficient so that the player may easily reset the bubbles. The reset button may be positioned on the back of the unit, opposite the bubbles.

The game may be powered by rechargeable or disposable batteries, such as AA, AAA, and the like.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise a sheet of 26 bubbles, each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. In these embodiments, the player may be guided to spell a word by popping a predetermined set of bubbles in a predetermined sequence.

A method of playing the game may include a player “popping” illuminated bubbles to turn off or extinguish lights and/or play sounds.

The materials of manufacture are not particularly limited. The game may have a plastic housing. The sheet of bubbles may be manufactured from rubber, silicone, or resilient plastic. The reset button may be a resilient plastic or rigid plastic.

The method of manufacture is not particularly limited. The housing may be molded and/or tooled, for example.

The components may be fastened together using any suitable attachment means, such as attachment hardware. A non-limiting example may include screws.

1 30 FIGS.through 1 10 FIGS.- 12 20 FIGS.- 22 29 FIGS.- 11 FIG. 1 10 FIGS.- 21 FIG. 12 20 FIGS.- 30 FIG. 21 29 FIGS.- Referring to,illustrate a first embodiment of a handheld electronic bubble game;illustrate a second embodiment of a handheld electronic bubble game; andillustrate a third embodiment of a handheld electronic bubble game.shows a method of using the game of.shows a method of using the game of.shows a method of using the game of.

1 FIG. 6 FIG. 9 10 FIGS.and 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 14 16 14 16 30 32 14 18 40 16 20 50 22 14 16 32 32 50 14 As shown in, the gamehas a housing assemblycomprising a front housing componentand a rear housing component, with apertures,,formed in the front housing component, the rear housing component, and formed between upper edges of the front and rear housing components,. A unitary elastomeric panel, with a plurality of domes or bubblesformed in rows therein, is mounted within the front housing componentaperture. A reset actuator or buttonis slidably mounted within the rear housing componentaperture; see. A speakeris mounted in the apertureformed between the front and rear housing components,. In the illustrated embodiment, a domein the top row may be depressed or “popped” to select a predetermined game algorithm (see) and a domein the bottom row may be depressed to select the volume setting of the speaker, as indicated by indicia displayed on the front housing component.

3 FIG. 16 14 24 40 42 44 As shown in, the rear housing componentis fastened to the front housing componentwith screws. The buttonalso serves as a battery compartment (not shown) having a cover, secured with a screw.

7 FIG. 31 FIG. 8 FIG. 34 12 30 35 46 40 42 46 32 34 32 37 39 32 34 40 32 40 46 34 32 32 34 40 50 Turning to, a microprocessor printed circuit boardmounted within the housing assemblybehind the unitary elastomeric panelhas aperturesconfigured to accommodate rods or postsextending from an interior of the button, perpendicular to the plane formed by the battery compartment cover, with one of the rodsaligned behind each bubble. The printed circuit boardgenerally detects when a bubblehas been depressed with a capacitive sensor antennaand has light emitting diodesaligned with each of the bubbles, which are activated when the bubble is depressed. (See.) The printed circuit boardmay also detect when the buttonis depressed to reset the bubblesand the gameplay. As shown in, when the buttonis depressed, the rodsslidably pass through the printed circuit board, pressing an interior of the bubbles, resetting any depressed bubbles. The printed circuit boardis electronically connected with the battery compartment in the buttonand is electronically connected to the speaker.

10 40 34 11 FIG. The gamemay be used as shown in the flowchart in. The user may press one of three bubbles in the top row to select a game and may depress or squeeze the buttonto start the game. Software on the microprocessor starts the game, sets a timer for the allowed time limit, turns on a certain number of LEDs and waits for user input. The user attempts to press bubbles to reconstruct the pattern of illuminated LEDs displayed at each level. If user pops the illuminated (LED on) bubbles within the time allowed, the level of play is complete, and the user may squeeze the reset button to reset the bubbles and continue to the next level of the game. If the user fails to reproduce the sequence displayed within the allotted time, the game ends, and the microprocessor displays the user's score, using a pattern and sequence of LEDs turning on/off. The printed circuit boardmay be configured to enter a “sleep” mode when the game has been inactive for a predetermined period.

12 FIG. 110 112 114 116 60 130 114 32 32 As seen in, a second embodiment of the gameaccording to an embodiment of the present invention has a substantially circular housing assemblycomprising a front housing componentcoupled to a rear housing component, forming a handleon its perimeter. An elastomeric panelmounted within an aperture in the front housing componenthas bubblesarranged in a square configuration with an additional bubblein the center.

14 FIG. 15 FIG. 116 140 116 114 24 140 142 44 illustrates the rear housing componentwith a buttonslidably mounted in an aperture therethrough; see. The rear housing componentis fastened to the front housing componentwith screws. The buttonhas a battery compartment formed therein, with a coverfastened in place with a screw.

18 FIG. 134 32 140 140 146 32 146 146 32 146 32 32 130 32 As shown in, a printed circuit board/processoris mounted within the housing behind the bubbles. A speaker is mounted within the housing, offset from the button. The buttonhas a rodaligned with each bubble. The printed circuit boardhas apertures formed therethrough, operative to slidably accommodate the rods, which may be used to reset “popped” bubbles. The printed circuit boardoperates LEDs (not shown) aligned behind each bubble. Volume may be controlled by a bubbleindicated by indicia on the panel, while another bubblemay be used to obtain the current high score.

21 FIG. The method of operation, illustrated in, is comparable to the method of operating the first embodiment of the game.

134 32 In some embodiments, the LEDs may emit multiple colors in a pattern. The printed circuit boardmay be configured to operate multiple games, such as a game that illuminates a predetermined pattern of colors which may be randomly reset from use to use and monitors whether the user depresses the bubblesassociated with colors predetermined to be correct in the predetermined pattern, while avoiding bubbles associated with colors predetermined to be incorrect, such as red.

22 FIG. 24 FIG. 210 210 212 214 216 24 214 216 218 220 212 232 232 232 215 214 217 210 250 219 212 210 illustrates an electronic handheld bubble gameaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. The gamecomprises a housing assemblyhaving a lobed circumference, including a front housing componentand a rear housing component, fastened together with screws(see). The housing components,have colocated apertures,formed therethrough spaced around the perimeter of the housing, with an individual resilient dome or bubblemounted in each aperture. Each bubblehas a first marking disposed on a first surface and a second marking disposed on a second surface opposite the first surface. In the illustrated example, which is not intended to limit the invention, the first marking on each bubbleis a number, each number being distinct from the others, and the second marking is an animal icon, each animal icon being distinct from the others. A control panelis displayed on the front housing component, housing switchesenabling the user to select operational features of the game, a speaker, and a centrally positioned LED (not shown) visible through a window. While the invention is not limited thereto, the LED housed within the illustrated housing assemblyis visible from both the front and the rear of the deviceand may emit multiple colors of illumination in predetermined or random patterns.

24 FIG. 32 FIG. 221 216 242 44 232 233 231 As shown in, a battery compartmentis formed in the rear housing component, with a battery compartment lidfastened thereon with a screw. Each bubblehas a protrusionon its second surface aligned with a notch in the housing (not shown), activating a sensor(see) when the bubble is depressed.

212 234 250 221 The housing assemblyhouses a microprocessor having a printed circuit boardelectronically connected to the sensors (not shown), the LED (not shown), the speaker, and the battery compartment.

210 210 30 FIG. The gamemay be operated as described in. The user slides switches to select game features and depresses a bubble to start the game. The user may continue to pop bubbles to activate other sounds (e.g., “ONE!”) associated with the first surface of each of the bubbles. The gamedetects if it is inverted and the microprocessor emits a sound and illuminates the LED. As the user depresses bubbles, the microprocessor emits a sound (e.g., “ROAR!”) associated with the second surface of the bubble and illuminates the LED.

31 FIG. 7 8 FIGS.and 34 301 302 35 303 35 304 35 37 32 As shown in, the printed circuit boardofhas a heightand a width, with rows of holesspaced center-to-center by a first distance, while individual holesin each row are spaced center-to-center by a second distance. Each holeis encircled with a capacitive sensor antenna, which senses when an immediately adjacent bubbleis “popped”. Adjacent to each hole is a light-emitting diode (LED), which is selectively illuminated by the microprocessor.

32 FIG. 23 FIG. 231 233 232 illustrates the location of a sensorof, adjacent to a flange or protrusionextending from the bubble.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.