Patent Application
20150375099
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to hand/eye coordination therapy, and more particularly to a matching game used to improve the hand/eye coordination of a player.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of matching games currently on the market. These games generally allow a single player or multiple players to perform tasks that involve matching one item with another item on the basis of color, shape, size, or other such characteristics of the items. These matching games often involve a component of speed, whereby the player(s) attempt to perform the matching task as quickly as possible. There is a need, however, for a matching game where a player is challenged to improve his or her matching speed while at the same time is provided with a game that will assist in improving his or her hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills—thereby providing a form of rehabilitation therapy to the player.
The present invention is designed to address at least the above-described problems and disadvantages, and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a game and a method of play that will assist in improving the hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills of a player while providing a challenging and fun game environment.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a hand/eye coordination game is provided. The game includes a game case, a color-coded and numbered game board, an automatic sorting tray, removable marble trays, a reset button, a game timer, color-coded marbles, a time recording pad, and a deck of two-sided playing cards, where each card has a number on one side and a color on the other side.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures.
Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific details such as detailed configuration and components are merely provided to assist the overall understanding of these embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
Referring to
The game case 210 holds the components of the game 200 and contains a top and a bottom part, the top part designed to fold down over the bottom part for closing the game case 210.
The game timer 220 is disposed on the inner side of the bottom part of the game case 210 and is used to time game play.
The game board 230 is disposed on the inner side of the top part of the game case 210. The game board 230 contains a series of holes disposed in matrix form, each hole identified by a color and a number. A player uses the holes to place and hold the color-coded marbles 260.
According to a method of play, to be described in detail below, each of the holes hold one color-coded marble 260 each of a color corresponding to the color identifying the hole on the game board 230.
The reset button 240 is disposed above the game board 230 and on the inner side of the top part of the game case 210. The reset button 240 is used to clear the color-colored marbles 260 from the game board 230. Upon pressing the reset button 240, all of the color-coded marbles 260 currently on the game board 230 are released and dropped into the automatic sorting tray 250.
The automatic sorting tray 250 is disposed on the game case 210 on the inner side of the top part of the game case 210 and below the game board 230. The automatic sorting tray 250 is used to catch and automatically sort, by color, the color-coded marbles 260 when they are released from the game board 230. Once sorted, the color-coded marbles 260 may be released into the removable marble trays 270.
The color-coded marbles 260 include a plurality of marbles in each of the colors corresponding to the colors displayed on the game board 230.
The removable marble trays 270 are positioned on the inner side of the bottom part of the game case 210 and are capable of being removed from the game case 210. The removable marble trays 270 are colored-coded and are each designed to hold multiple color-coded marbles 260, the marble color corresponding to the color of the removable marble tray 270.
The playing cards 280 include a plurality of cards each with a color on one side of the card and a number on the other side of the card. The colors on the one side of the playing cards 280 correspond to the colors displayed on the game board 230. The numbers on the other side of the playing cards 280 correspond to the numbers displayed on the game board 230. The playing cards 280 include a card for each number displayed on the game board 230.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention, a method of game play involves a single player, as quickly as possible, retrieving one at a time, a color-coded marble 260 from one of the removable marble trays 270 and placing the color-coded marble 260 into a hole of the game board 230, where the hole of the game board 230 is identified by a color corresponding to the color of the color-coded marble 260. The player repeats the retrieval and placement of the color-coded marbles 260 until all of the holes of the game board 230 are filled or until all of the color-coded marbles 260 have been placed on the game board 230. The player attempts to perform this task as quickly as possible, with the goal of such game play being to increase the speed and accuracy by which the retrieval and placement of the color-coded marbles 260 is achieved.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, to further challenge the player, the method of play described with reference to the first embodiment may be modified to remove the removable marble trays 270 from the game case 210 and to place the removable marble trays 270 at varying distances from the player, causing the player to have to reach varying distances and/or in various directions to retrieve the color-coded marbles 260 from the removable marble trays 270. This method of play will assist the player with his or her reach movement.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the first embodiment of the present invention may be further modified to incorporate the use of the playing cards 280. According to this embodiment, the player places the playing cards 280 in a deck on a table or other play surface with the color coded side of the playing cards 280 facing downward. To begin play, the player flips over the card on the top of the deck of playing cards 280 to reveal the color of the card. The player then, as quickly as possible, grabs a color-coded marble 260 of the color corresponding to the card and places the color-coded marble 260 in a hole on the game board 230 where the hole is identified by the color of the card and the color-coded marble 260. Alternatively, the playing cards 280 may be placed in a deck with the numbered side facing downward. In this case, upon flipping a card on the top of the deck of playing cards 280 to reveal the number of the card, the player quickly locates the corresponding number identifying one of the holes on the game board 230. Upon identifying the number and the hole, the player takes notice of the corresponding color identifying the hole and then grabs a color-coded marble 260 corresponding to the color of the hole.
According to the various embodiments of the present invention described above, the game timer 220 may be used to time each of the games as a means of measuring the player's progress and improvement in speed.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the game board 230 may be a digital game board having a light disposed at each hole on the game board 230, where the holes are identified by a color and a number as described above. The light for each hole is initially in an off state. According to this embodiment, a method of play involves the lights of the holes being automatically and randomly turned to an on state, one at a time. When the light of one of the holes is turned on, the player quickly places a color-coded marble 260 corresponding to the color identifying the lit hole on the game board 230. In this case, the game timer may additionally be used to track the time it takes to place the color-coded marble 260 in the correct hole.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the game 200 is implemented on a touch screen of an electronic device. In this case, the game 200 is displayed on the touch screen and includes a virtual game board having a series of virtual holes displayed in matrix form, each hole identified by a color and number. A virtual game timer, a virtual reset button, virtual marble trays, and virtual marbles are also displayed on the touch screen. The virtual components of the game have the same function as those described above with reference to the physical game 200. However, according to this embodiment, a player interacts with the game through a series of gestures on the touch screen. Here, the method of play is similar to that of the first embodiment. That is, a player, as quickly as possible, retrieves one at a time, a virtual color-coded marble from one of the virtual marble trays and places the virtual color-coded marble into a virtual hole of the virtual game board, where the virtual hole of the virtual game board is identified by a color corresponding to the color of the virtual color-coded marble. The player places the virtual color-coded marble in the virtual hole by, for example, dragging the virtual color-coded marble to the virtual hole and releasing the virtual color-coded marble to drop the virtual color-coded marble into the virtual hole.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the game may be played as a multi-player game. In this case, a first player plays according to the various embodiments described above, and then a second player performs the same method of play as the first player. Here the multiple players compete to achieve the best play time.
As shown from the various embodiments of the present invention, the game 200 offers players, and particularly those players who are recovering from surgery, stroke or various other illnesses, a useful task for the improvement of hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills. Hand/eye coordination is improved by the accurate selection and placement of the color-coded marbles 260 in the holes of the game board 230, based on the corresponding color or number;
and fine motor skills are improved by the picking up of small objects, such as the color-coded marbles 260. The present invention, accordingly, turns such useful tasks into a fun and challenging game that offers players measurable results.
While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to a U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/016,947, which was filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jun. 25, 2014, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62016947 | Jun 2014 | US |
