Not applicable.
This invention relates to card games and more particularly to methods and apparatus for playing card games, such as poker, multiple times. It also relates to graphical user interface features for a computer or other electronic game device, which are advantageous when playing multi-play games. The methods and user interface features can be used in electronic games, for example games that are provided by a gaming web site on the World Wide Web.
The well-known poker game five-card draw involves each player receiving an initial hand of five cards. One at a time, each player makes a selection of cards they wish to hold. They then discard unwanted cards and receive a replacement of discarded cards. The resulting hand is then ranked in accordance with poker hand rankings and the hand with the highest ranking wins.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,823,873 and 6,067,006, both issued to Ernest Moody, disclose multi-hand variations of five-card draw poker, wherein multiple hands are played simultaneously in an electronic video poker format. In one representative example, a card game is played in which three rows of cards are dealt to a player. The player makes a wager for each row of cards. All three rows of cards are dealt face up with each row having the same cards by rank and suit. The player selects none, one or more of the face up cards from one of the rows as cards to be held. The cards that are held are also held in all of the other rows. Replacement cards for the non-selected cards are dealt into each row. The poker hand ranking of each five card hand by row is determined. The player is then paid for any winning poker hands based on a pay table and the amount of the player's wager.
The graphical user interface aspects of the '873 and '006 patents are rudimentary at best and are not especially well suited to many environments, including on-line poker in which a player uses their computer to access a gaming application hosted by a web site on the World Wide Web. There is a need in the art for an improved multi-play poker game, and associated graphical user interface design, which enhances the user experience.
In a first aspect, a method is disclosed for playing a multiple-hand draw-type poker game. The method includes a step of displaying a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards. The pool hand is not a played hand, that is, it is not subject to wagering or poker hand rankings. Rather, it is a hand that is displayed to the player only for purposes of selection of cards to be held. Preferably, at the time of display of the pool hand, the played hands do not exist and are not displayed to the user. As such, the pool hand presents a clear, intuitive, and user friendly format to select cards to be held in multi-play poker. The display of the pool hand results in a satisfying, easy to understand graphical user interface experience. It is considered a substantial improvement over the user interface design of the above-cited Moody patents. In the Moody patents cited previously, the user selects cards to be held from one of the played hands, which confuses the selection of cards and the playing of hands. The use of the pool hand as described herein avoids such confusion.
The method continues with the step of designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards. In an embodiment in which the game is played on a computer terminal, the designation can be made by simply clicking the mouse on the card or cards the player wishes to hold. In one possible embodiment, an icon such as “held” appears over the card to illustrate to the user that they have selected that card as a held card.
After the player has finished the task of selecting none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards, the player clicks on a “deal” icon. Playing hands now appear in a separate area of the display, such as above the pool hand. The cards that are held are reproduced into a plurality of playing hands. The game may be played with any number of playing hands for multi-hand poker playing, such as five, ten or fifty hands. Each of the playing hands includes the same held cards that were designated as held cards in the pool hand. In some embodiments, the pool hand can be grayed out and only the designated held cards are shown face up, with unselected cards turned over.
The method continues with the step of completing the plurality of playing hands with new, randomly selected, face up cards. For example, if the game is a five card draw game and the user designated two cards in the pool hand (say, for example, a pair of jacks), each of the playing hands is dealt three additional cards. Thus, each played hand includes the same pair of jacks, and three additional randomly selected cards. In a preferred embodiment, the additional cards that are added to complete each hand are dealt from a separate deck of cards. Thus, in this example, the first played hand will include the pair of jacks and three additional random cards from one deck (with the two jacks removed), the second played hand will have the same pair of jacks and three additional random cards from a different deck (with the two jacks removed), etc.
The method continues with the step of determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands. Each hand is ranked separately. The ranking can be in accordance with standard poker hand rankings.
In a second aspect, a method for facilitating play of a multiple-hand poker game is provided. The method includes a step of displaying a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not played. The method continues with a step of receiving a selection from a player designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards. The method continues with a step of retaining the held cards in a face up orientation and turning face down any cards of the pool hand not designated as a held card. The method continues by reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands. The method continues with a step of completing the plurality of playing hands with new, face up, randomly selected cards. A ranking is then determined for each of the completed playing hand.
In still another aspect, a method is provided for facilitating play of a multiple-hand poker game. The method comprises a step of receiving a wager associated with a plurality of hands to be played. A pay table may be provided on the screen display to show the odds associated with poker hand rankings that provide for a payback. Here, N is the number of hands that are played in the multi-hand poker game. N could be any integer of 2 or more. The method continues with the steps of dealing a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not a played hand. The method continues with the steps of receiving a selection designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards, retaining the held cards in a face up orientation and turning face down any cards of the pool hand not designated as one of the held cards, reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands, completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards, and determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands. The method continues with the step of determining a payout amount based on the ranking of each of the played hands, the wager and a pay table.
In still another aspect, an apparatus is provided for playing a multiple-hand poker game. The apparatus comprises a storage medium containing a set of machine-readable instructions (i.e., software instructions) for controlling a display device, such as a video poker machine, computer display or display of any other gaming device. The machine readable instructions, which may be readily coded from the present disclosure by persons skilled in the art, comprise instructions for generating the following displays on the display device: (1) a pool hand, (2) a plurality of playing hands for playing a multiple-hand poker game; (3) a pay table comprising a display of poker hand rankings and the associated payout odds for each hand in the rankings, (4) a control section, the control section comprising at least one of wagering controls, a deal icon and a draw icon; and (5) ranking indicia for illustrating the poker hand ranking of at least one of the playing hands. The ranking indicia can be superimposed over the played hand. For example, if a hand has a poker hand ranking of a flush, the ranking indicia “flush” can appear superimposed over the hand. The ranking indicia may also display the payout for that hand. The total payout for all the played hands is determined by summing the individual payouts for each hand having a minimum poker hand ranking. In one representative embodiment, the instructions for the display are downloaded from a gaming site on the World Wide Web.
A presently preferred embodiment will be described below in conjunction with the appended drawing Figures, of which:
Referring now to the drawings,
Before describing the method of playing multi-play poker in detail, some of the features of the display shown of
The display of
The display includes a region 14 that is devoted to the later display of the playing hands. The region 14 includes borders 16, each of which delineate the area where a playing hands is later displayed. In
The display of
The game of
The display further includes a control section 18, where a set of icons are presented which allow the user to exercise control over the wagering of money and the execution of play of the game. The icons in the control section 18 include a deal icon 20. When the deal icon 20 is activated (e.g., by mouse click), the game commences and the five cards in the pool hand 12 are turned face up, as shown in
The icons in the control section 18 include the leftmost icon 40, which is a credit meter that reflects a running balance of a player's credit account. The balance on the account will vary according to the ebb and flow of the game. The credits meter thus allows the user to track how much money they have won or lost, and helps the user decide whether to quit the game or continue playing.
The controls section 18 icons includes a group of icons 42, which include MENU, BANK, HELP, OPTIONS, STATS and EXPERT icons. The MENU icon, when activated, takes the player through to a “games lobby” display which presents the player with a menu of games available for play. The BANK icon takes the player to a banking application where the player may purchase credit to top up their player account. The HELP icon displays help text describing the rules of the game to the player. The OPTIONS icon allows the player to configure certain game parameters such as, for example, speed of play, sound effects, autohold feature, etc. The STATS icon is used for display of parameters relating to the player's current session of play of this particular game such as, for example, number of hands played to date, duration of current session, hands played per hour, a ranking of the player's highest wins, etc. The EXPERT icon toggles between two modes, EXPERT and REGULAR. These will be described subsequently.
The control section 18 includes a “coin size” set of icons 44, which display the current “coin size” used for the wager on each of the N playing hands. The coin size is $0.10 in
The DEAL icon 20 toggles between two modes, a DEAL mode and a DRAW mode. In the DEAL mode, the activation of the icon initiates a turn of the game by dealing cards in the pool hand face up, whereupon the icon switches to the DRAW mode. In the DRAW mode, the player selects which cards to hold in the pool hand. When they have finished the selection, they activate the icon 20. The activation initiates a phase of the game in which the held cards are replicated in each play hand and any additional cards are dealt in each play hand to complete the playing hands. The hands are then ranked, as shown in
The display includes the BET ONE and BET MAX icons 46 and 48. The manner of use of these icons changes depending on whether the player is in EXPERT mode or REGULAR mode (the state of toggling the EXPERT icon in the group of icons 42). In the REGULAR mode, BET ONE increments by 1 the number of coins (or units) of the current standard “coin size” that are wagered on each play hand. There is a minimum value of 1 coin or unit per hand. There is a maximum of 5 coins or units per hand. The BET MAX icon 48 wagers 5 coins of the current standard “coin size” per play hand. When the BET ONE or BET MAX icon is activated, play commences automatically by dealing the cards in the pool hand 12 (i.e., turning the cards face up).
The DOUBLE icon 50 initiates a side game in which the player is given a chance to double his winnings (if any) on the current turn of the game. This side game is explained further below in conjunction with
When the player is in EXPERT mode, several additional icons appear (not shown). An ANALYZE icon appears which displays to the player the probabilities of obtaining a winning poker hand as a function of the cards held in the pool hand. A SHOW HINTS icon displays a warning message to the player each time the player's selection of held cards in the pool hand differs from optimal play by more than a quantifiable threshold. A DEAL 10× icon appears which, when activated, plays 10 consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player. A DEAL 5× icon occurs, which when activated, plays 5 consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player. An AUTOPLAY icon appears which plays a selectable number of consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player. The player is also able to configure stopping rules and a doubling strategy.
When the player has any winnings in a turn of the game, he can elect to either play a double side wager (using icon 50) or collect the winnings. The COLLECT icon 52 allows the player to receive his winnings and the player's credit account balance is updated to reflect these winnings. If the player clicks on the DEAL icon 20 to initiate a new turn of the game, without first having clicked on the COLLECT icon 52 to collect the previous winnings, this action causes a COLLECT operation to occur anyway behind the scenes.
The explanation of play of multi-play poker in accordance with the illustrated embodiment will now be made with reference to
The next step in the process is the designation of cards to be held for later replication into each of the playing hands.
After completion of the process of designation of none, one or more held cards, the user activates the draw icon 20.
Referring now to
A ranking of the ten playing hands 70 then occurs. The ranking can be done in accordance with standard poker hand rankings. No ranking of the pool hand occurs, as it is not used for playing and remains grayed out. Moreover, non-selected cards are not replaced with new cards in the pool hand. The ten playing hands in the example of
Additionally, ranking indicia in the form of an icon with the rank of the hand is superimposed on each played hand having a minimum poker hand ranking (pair of Jacks or better). Thus, hand 72 has a Jacks or better indicia 74 superimposed over the hand and hand 76 has a Straight indicia 78 superimposed over the hand. The indicia 74 and 78 also indicate the payout for the hand. Jacks or better has a payout of 0.10, which is the payout for Jacks or better (1) multiplied by the coin value of 0.10 units and 1 coin per hand wagered. A Straight has a payout of 0.4, which is the payout for Straight (4) multiplied by the coin value of 0.10 and one coin per hand wagered. Thus, the size of the wager on each hand is the coin size multiplied by the number of coins. The total wager is equal to ten times the wager on each hand (in a ten hand game). The total payout for each hand is equal to the coin size multiplied by the pay table multiplier for the ranking of each hand, multiplied by the number of coins wagered. The total payout for all ten hands is arrived by summing the payouts for the individual hands.
In the example of
An alternative GUI design for a ten play multi-play poker game is shown in
A yet further alternative embodiment is shown in
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a method for facilitating play of a multiple-play poker game has been described. The method includes a step of displaying a pool hand 12 comprising a plurality of face up cards (
In still another aspect, a method is provided for facilitating play of a multiple-hand poker game. The method comprises a step of receiving a wager associated with a plurality of hands to be played. For example, the player may wager a given amount (say, $10, or some number of units of wager) that the total sum of poker hand rankings for N hands will be equal or greater than a certain score. The wager size is indicated in the coin size icon 48 of
In still another aspect, an apparatus is provided for playing a multiple-hand poker game. The apparatus comprises a storage medium containing set of machine-readable instructions for controlling a display device, such as a video poker machine or terminal, computer display, or display of any other gaming device. The set of instructions can be downloaded as an executable file from a web site, for example in an on-line gaming situation, or stored locally on the game device, as in the case of a video poker terminal. The machine readable instructions comprise instructions for generating the following displays on the display device: (1) a pool hand 12, (2) a plurality of playing hands 70 for playing a multiple-hand poker game; (3) a pay table (boxes 22-38, 115, field 117) comprising a display of poker hand rankings and the associated payout odds for each hand in the rankings, (4) a control section 18, the control section comprising at least one of wagering controls (e.g., icons 44, 46, 48), a deal icon and a draw icon (which can be combined as shown in the Figures); and (5) ranking indicia 74, 76 for illustrating the poker hand ranking of at least one of the playing hands. The ranking indicia can be superimposed over the played hand, as shown in
At the completion of the multi-hand poker game, the player can optionally play a side game to double their money. The player activates the double icon 50. The screen of
In the example of
The disclosed embodiments meet a need in the art for an improved multi-play poker game, and associated graphical user interface design, which enhances the user experience. To more fully understand this aspect of the disclosure, a discussion of the graphical user interface (GUI) aspects pertaining to electronic games that are played on-line will described in greater detail.
The primary function of a GUI in an on-line or electronic game is primarily to give the player a means by which he is able to interact with the game. The GUI also provides a means of communication between the player and the remotely located gaming server. The GUI permits necessary information to be presented to the player, and provides controls by which the player can give effect to his decisions during game play.
A good GUI is a one that correctly reflects the goals of the player. Information is displayed to the player at the correct times and in the correct context during game play and the player is guided through the game task flow. A good GUI makes the correct use of information, illustrations and heuristic guidelines to ensure that the player can interact with the game as effortlessly as possible.
Conversely, a poor GUI design is one which has been designed without consideration for what the goals of the player are. A bad GUI can also result from a poor graphical interface design. Poor graphical interface design arises mainly through poor choice of colors, fonts, image sizes, and location of fonts and images on a screen. This leaves the player with no visual clues as to where he should be focusing his attention on the screen.
One of the reasons why it is desirable to have a good GUI is because it can produce positive psychological effects on a player. One of the ways in which this can be observed can be in the confidence levels of the player. If a GUI is easy to use, then it leaves the player feeling confident about his abilities to interact with the interface. Players do not like to feel stupid or inadequate, so they will often choose a game that is easier to play over a game that is more difficult to play. If the player feels like they do not understand the GUI or how to interact with the game, they will walk away from it and may never play it again.
A further way in which a good GUI can have a positive psychological effect on a player is if the graphical interface design leaves the user with a sense of credibility and trustworthiness in the game (and the web site or other source of the game). Players will choose a trustworthy and credible looking interface over one that looks untrustworthy and disreputable.
Effective GUI design is especially important with on-line gaming. A gaming site may potentially attract a large number of players, and a significant amount of money may be wagered at the site. The hosts of such sites will only generate revenues and profits if the users are having a satisfying experience with the GUI associated with the games and continue to play, and if the site can attract new players, including complete novices. If the players are not satisfied, i.e., the GUI design is a poor one, they will go elsewhere for their game playing. Accordingly, effective GUI design for on-line games is important to the success of any on-line gaming site. This is particularly true for multi-play poker games.
The GUI features described herein provide for an enhanced user interface experience. In particular, the ranking indicia (
The user interface features of the present game design are superior to previous game designs from a GUI perspective, for several reasons. Firstly, the game design is clearer as it is easier for the player to know on which hand he has to make his hold decisions because, as shown in
Secondly, in previous designs, all held cards were immediately reproduced in each of the played hands, so it is confusing to the player as his eyes are drawn naturally away from the pool hand to the played hands, and making it difficult for the player to maintain attention on the pool hand until the player has completed his hold decisions. In the present design, however, the user concentrates initially on just the pool hand 12 (
Furthermore, the position of the pay table in
Additionally, as shown in
The present game design creates increased trust for the player relative to previous designs which use of five card backs to represent each played hand. The prior designs gives rise to an impression that each of the played hands has been pre-dealt from the start of the game. In contrast, the present design clearly shows the user that the playing hands are not dealt until after the selection of held cards has occurred and the user presses the draw icon 20, as is illustrated in
The present game design provides a much better use of screen real estate as there is more unused space than previous designs, which leaves the user feeling less stressed with the amount of information he needs to absorb. For example, the pay table in
Another feature is the difference in relative size of the cards in the pool hand and the cards of the played hand. Note, in
In the present game design, replication of held cards does not occur simultaneously in the played hands at the time of selection of held cards, as can be appreciated from inspection of
Web-Based Gaming Embodiment
As noted previously, the games of
At the hardware level, the client computer 200 may take the form of any general purpose computing device such as a personal computer running a Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows ME and the like operating system, or alternative such as a Linux operating system. Only one such computer 200 is shown, but in practice any number of client computers may be connected simultaneously with the gaming server 202 and play the games. The gaming server 202 takes the form of a general purpose computing platform and may operate, for example, under a Windows Server 2003 operating system or other state of the art system. The gaming server 202 may include other functions, such as an HTML web page server. In a representative embodiment, the gaming server is managed by a entity offering Internet casino gaming services via a presence on the World Wide Web.
The router 210 provides one point of contact for all download clients 200 communicating with the gaming server 202. A download client 200 establishes a connection to the router 210 when a player using the download client 200 wishes to play a game. The router 210 receives a message from the download client and passes the message to the game service 212 for processing.
In the illustrated embodiment, the game service module 212 is written as one or more Windows Server 2003 services. The game service 212 generates an outcome for the game, determines the results of any wagers and transmits the outcome and the result of the wager back to the download client. The processing logic executed by the game service module 212 is explained in more detail in the flow chart of
The casino database 214 is used to log the state of a player's session with the casino. The game service 212 on the gaming server 202 writes the outcome of the game and the result of the wager to the casino database 214, before the outcome and the result of the wager are transmitted back to the download client 200. The casino database 214 uses a state engine such that if the download client 200 disconnects from the gaming server 202 for whatever reason (say, communication failure or session termination by the player), the player will, upon subsequent reconnection with the gaming server 202, be presented with an identical screen display and game state as when disconnection occurred.
The server 202 also includes an ancillary services module 216 that performs ancillary functions related to operation of the gaming site, such as banking, player login, player registration, and the like.
The client computer 200 executes client software that is either downloaded from a remote download server and subsequently installed on the client computer, or is installed directly from a storage medium such as a compact disc. In the illustrated embodiment, the software is downloaded directly from the gaming server 202.
Starting with
At step 304, the client software determines the coin size (0.10 in
At step 306, the client software determines the number of coins played (depending on the state of activation of the BET ONE and BET MAX icons 46 and 48 in
At step 308, the client software determines the number of played hands. For example, in a ten hand game such as shown in
At step 310, the client software computes the total wager as the product of number of coins multiplied by the coin size multiplied by the number of played hands.
At step 312, the client software determines if the account balance is greater than or equal to the total wager. If the answer is no, then processing proceeds to step 314 and display of an error message and the processing stops 316.
If the answer is yes, at step 318 the client software constructs a datagram containing the coin size, number of coins and number of hands played.
At step 320, the datagram is encrypted by the encryption engine 236 in the client software and the communication utilities module 228 transmits the datagram generated at step 318 to the gaming server over the Internet 206. The processing 300 proceeds with the flow chart shown in
At step 322, the datagram generated at step 318 is received at the router module 210 in the gaming server 202 and passed to the game service 212.
At step 324, the game service 212 computes the total wager.
At step 326, the game server debits the player account balance by the total wager amount.
At step 328, the game server “deals” five cards of a pool hand. In practice, this step may take the form of random selection of five cards from a standard deck of playing cards (i.e., the digital equivalent of this action) and storage of data indicating the selection of cards in memory.
At step 330, the game service 212 constructs a datagram containing the updated account balance and the five cards dealt in the pool hand 12.
At step 332, the datagram generated in step 330 is sent to the router module 210 and transmitted over the Internet 206 to the client computer 200. The processing flow 300 continues with
At step 334, the datagram generated at step 330 is received at the client computer 200.
At step 336, the display of the cards in the pool hand 12 face up occurs. (See
At step 338 the client software enables the user to select cards to be held and the player uses the mouse to click on the displayed pool hand card to select it.
At step 340, the processing determines whether the selection is completed. If not, the selection process at step 338 continues.
At step 342, the selection is completed and the user activates the DRAW icon 20.
At step 344, the client software constructs a datagram containing data signifying the held cards in the pool hand 12, the number of playing hands (10 in the example of
At step 346, the datagram is transmitted to the gaming server 202. The processing flow 300 continues with
At step 348, the router 210 receives the datagram constructed at step 344 and forwards it to the service module 212.
At step 350, the service module 212 determines the held cards from the datagram.
At step 352, the service module 212 creates a first playing hand by adding to the held cards additional cards selected at random from a deck of playing cards, with the held cards removed, to make up a complete poker hand.
At step 354, the poker hand “dealt” at step 352 is ranked.
At step 356 the ranking is analyzed to determine whether it is a “winning hand”, i.e., has a minimum poker hand ranking (Jacks or better in the Game of
If the hand is a winning hand, the processing proceeds to step 358 and the service module 212 determines the payout and updates the player balance at step 360.
If the hand is not a winning hand (and after step 360 is performed), the processing proceeds to step 362, where a check is made to determine whether the hand just processed in steps 352-360 is the last hand.
If no, a count is incremented at step 364 and the processing loops back to step 352. Steps 352-362 repeat until all the hands in the game are created and processed.
At step 366, after the last hand has been created and processed, the service module 212 determines the total win for all played hands by summing up the payouts calculated at step 358.
At step 368, the service module 212 constructs a datagram containing the updated account balance, the cards in each played hand, the rank of each played hand, the payout of each played hand, and the total win or payout for all the played hands.
At step 370, the datagram generated at step 368 is sent from the router 210 to the client computer 200 over the Internet 206. The processing continues with the flow chart shown in
At step 372, the datagram generated at step 368 is received at the client computer 200.
At step 372, the display of
If the player then activates the DEAL icon the process 300 of
The processing of
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that we have described a gaming server 202 adapted for communication with a remote gaming device 100 over a network 206. The network 206 could be a local area network in an embodiment where the remote gaming device 100 and the gaming server 202 are in the same building (e.g., in a casino environment). The gaming server 202 comprises a computing platform (e.g., Windows Server 2003) and a game service module 212 implemented in software executable by the computing platform. The game service module 212 includes instructions for receiving a datagram from the remote gaming device 202 representing a wager on a plurality of hands in a multi-play poker game (datagram constructed at step 318), and instructions responsively generating a pool hand 12 (step 328) comprising a random selection of cards and transmitting a datagram (steps 330, 332) containing data representing the pool hand 12 to the remote gaming device for selection of cards to be held in a multi-play poker game (
From the foregoing it will also be appreciated that we have described a client computer 200 for playing a multi-play poker game with a pool hand 12, comprising a general purpose computing platform (e.g., PC with Windows operating system), and a memory storing gaming software comprising a set of machine-readable instructions. The instructions include communications utilities 228 (
While presently preferred embodiments have been described in some detail, persons skilled in the art will appreciate that variation can be made from the specifics of the disclosed embodiments without departure from the scope of the invention. For example, the detailed processing shown in
This is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/058,680 filed Feb. 14, 2005, pending.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5118109 | Gumina | Jun 1992 | A |
5732950 | Moody | Mar 1998 | A |
5816915 | Kadlic | Oct 1998 | A |
5823873 | Moody | Oct 1998 | A |
5957774 | Holmes, Jr. et al. | Sep 1999 | A |
5976016 | Moody et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
6007066 | Moody | Dec 1999 | A |
6098985 | Moody | Aug 2000 | A |
6120378 | Moody et al. | Sep 2000 | A |
6474645 | Tarantino | Nov 2002 | B2 |
6517074 | Moody et al. | Feb 2003 | B1 |
6561898 | Moody | May 2003 | B2 |
6565432 | Moody | May 2003 | B2 |
6568680 | Moody et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
6585587 | Falciglia, Sr. | Jul 2003 | B2 |
6612927 | Slomiany et al. | Sep 2003 | B1 |
6638163 | Moody | Oct 2003 | B2 |
6729621 | Moody | May 2004 | B2 |
6877747 | Moody | Apr 2005 | B2 |
6878060 | Moody | Apr 2005 | B2 |
7056206 | Aoki et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
20010035608 | Hoyt et al. | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20020042296 | Walker et al. | Apr 2002 | A1 |
20020061778 | Acres | May 2002 | A1 |
20020107063 | Ashley et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
20030070178 | Boyd et al. | Apr 2003 | A1 |
20030155716 | Parker | Aug 2003 | A1 |
20040004324 | Stefan | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040113363 | Moody | Jun 2004 | A1 |
20040160008 | Sawyer | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20050151319 | Berman et al. | Jul 2005 | A1 |
20060183527 | Honour | Aug 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
0893147 | Jan 1999 | EP |
WO 03034358 | Apr 2003 | WO |
WO 03093921 | Nov 2003 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20080070662 A1 | Mar 2008 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11058680 | Feb 2005 | US |
Child | 11981420 | US |