Hide and find toy game

A hide and find game includes a first game element to be hidden in a play area and a second, portable game element to be carried by a player through-out the play area. A wireless transmitter is incorporated in one of the first and second game elements to emit a signal of a given strength. A wireless receiver is incorporated in one of the first and second game elements to receive and compare the transmitted signal with a threshold level. The receiver includes a sound generator that is actuable to generate a sound informing the player that a second portable game element has been brought closer than a predetermined distance from the first hidden game piece whereby the player is prompted to find the first, hidden game element. The threshold level is set as a function of the predetermined distance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The invention disclosed herein relates to a hide and find game which
 includes at least one and preferably a plurality of elements to be hidden,
 known as game elements, and at least one finder or detector element, which
 is used by a game player to find the hidden element or elements. The game
 elements are hidden in a play area of finite boundaries typically by a
 player other than the one hiding the game elements. The game action
 promoted by this invention involves the hiding of one or more hidden
 elements and then using the detector element to locate the hidden
 elements.
 The development of electronics, which can perform a variety of functions
 and can be manufactured at relatively low cost, has made the use of such
 electronics in toys attractive. In particular, toys which are capable of
 producing audible sounds upon activation by the user have in the past
 proven to be very successful. Noise-generating toys were activated by a
 user manually depressing a switch device. Further, this type of prior art
 had to be directly activated by the user thus limiting the play activity
 of the resulting toy.
 Electronic circuits were adapted to electrically control the movement of
 toys and the audible sounds emitted therefrom. For example, U.S. Pat. No.
 3,443,338 to Collins discloses a toy which simultaneously mimics a dog's
 physical movements while emitting an audible sound which imitates a dog's
 bark. The mechanism for eliciting the simulated dog movements and barks is
 directly activated by a switch controlled by the user.
 U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,919 discloses a toy which avoids the use of a
 mechanical switch in a toy to initiate the generation of sound by
 incorporating an optical sensing circuit for activating an audio
 generator, which comprises optical sensors for sensing the intensity in at
 least one field of radiation. A comparator circuit is coupled to the
 optical sensors and triggers a pulse at a determined differential level in
 the intensity of light between the optical sensors. An oscillating circuit
 is reactively coupled to the comparator circuit and generates audio
 signals in response to the triggered pulse at the differential level
 determined by the comparator means. A speaker is coupled to the oscillator
 circuit for emitting the audio signals. The above described circuit is
 shown adapted for use in a toy doll which portrays a small child. The
 optical sensors are positioned in the eyes of the doll and the fields of
 radiation are the areas generally in front thereof.
 U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,052 discloses the adaptation of electronics to the
 traditional children's game, RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT. The traditional game
 involves a number of players, a caller and the rest of the players who try
 to sneak up on the caller. The caller turns his or her back on the
 remaining players giving them a GREEN LIGHT to advance. At any time, the
 caller can turn around and yell RED LIGHT. If the caller sees any player
 moving, that player is sent back to the starting point. This patent
 replaces the caller with electronics, which include multiple indicators,
 sensors, timers, and switches to interact with one or more player(s). One
 such indicator includes a plurality of color coded lights usually one red
 and one green indicating stop and go respectively. Another indicator
 includes an audio output device indicating general player participation in
 addition to detecting motion with a sensor. A programmed microcomputer is
 coupled to the indicators, a motion sensor and a speaker. A randomly
 varying time interval is provided under program control. The toy functions
 to sense the motion of the player(s) and to initiate an output during the
 time when the stop or red indicator is lit. Motion detected during this
 time results in a specific audio output. When the green or go indicator is
 lit the audio output is altered.
 Audio generators may be used in security systems to alert merchandisers of
 a detected theft. Each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,369; 5,072,213; and
 5,099,228 describes such a security system and, further, the use of a
 wireless or RF transmission system which includes a transmitter that is
 coupled to the protected merchandise and is actuated to transmit a warning
 signal when an attempted theft is detected. A receiver is disposed
 remotely to detect the wireless signal and to provide an alarm,
 illustratively generated by an audio generator, warning of the theft. It
 is not necessary to dispose a transmitter at the site of the merchandise
 (or other object to be monitored). Other prior systems that detect or
 monitor dispose their transmitter proximate to the object to be monitored
 and transmit a wireless signal to a remote device which serves to actuate
 an alarm. The monitoring device can be passive and simply reflect energy
 back to the transmitter, which detects the reflected energy.
 Alternatively, the monitoring device may be active; such an active device
 may include its own receiver for receiving the transmitted signal, use
 that receive signal to energize its receiver and transmitter and, upon
 sensing a particular condition, actuate its transmitter to transmit a
 return signal to the remote transmitter, whereby a warning signal, e.g.,
 an audio signal, may be generated at the remote transmitter.
 Similarly, transmitters and receivers have been employed to find lost
 objects, such as keys or TV remote controls. Typically, a receiver is
 attached to the object which may be lost. The user, who is seeking to find
 the lost device, has a transmitter which transmits a wireless or RF
 signal. That signal is received by the receiver which in turn actuates a
 sound generator to aid the user in finding the lost object. Such
 transmitters and receivers are designed to operate over a relatively large
 area so that the lost object is found as quickly as possible. For example,
 if the TV remote control is lost in the family room of a home, the
 strength of the transmitted signal and sensitivity of the receiver are set
 so that all such receivers in that area of interest, e.g., the family
 room, will be activated to generate a sound.
 OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Therefore, it is an object of this invention to adapt electronics to
 implement the play of a hide and seek game.
 It is a still further object of this invention to enhance the play activity
 by actuating a sound that will prompt a player to find a hidden game
 element.
 In another object of this invention, various sounds are generated not only
 to inform the player when he or she is relatively close to a hidden
 element, but also when the player is further than a predetermined
 distance.
 In accordance with these and other objects of this invention, there is
 disclosed a hide and find game, which comprises a first game element to be
 hidden in a play area and a second, portable game element to be carried by
 a player throughout the play area. A wireless transmitter is incorporated
 in one of the first and second game elements to emit a signal of a given
 strength. A wireless receiver is incorporated in one of said first and
 second game elements to receive and compare the transmitted signal with a
 threshold level. The receiver includes a sound generator that is actuable
 to generate a sound informing the player that a second portable game
 element has been brought closer than a predetermined distance from the
 first hidden game element or is within the same room, or is on a line of
 sight with the first game element. The threshold level is set as a
 function of the predetermined distance.
 In a further aspect of this invention, a visual indicator device may be
 used in lieu of or with the sound generator. The visual indicator may
 display messages relative to the location of the first hidden game piece
 or the distance between the first hidden game element and the second game
 element.
 In a further aspect of this invention, the transmitter may transmit signals
 which when detected simply cause a sound tone to be generated, or they may
 be modulated or coded with information which when demodulated or decoded
 provide modulated or coded information at the receiver. For example, the
 wireless carrier may be AM or FM modulated with speech (e.g., "The hidden
 piece#1 is within range"), which is played by the portable game element.
 In a further aspect of this invention, the information or signals
 indicative of the sound to be generated may be stored within a memory
 incorporated within the sound generator or otherwise connected thereto.
 The sound generator is operative in a first mode to generate a first sound
 indicative to the player that the portable detector is spaced a distance
 from the hidden game element not greater than the predetermined distance,
 thus alerting the player that the player is close to the game element
 hidden in the play area. The sound generator is also operable in a second
 mode to generate a second sound indicative to the player that the portable
 detector is spaced a distance from the hidden game element greater than
 the predetermined distance, thus alerting that the player needs to look
 further in the play area to find the hidden game element.
 In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the wireless transmitter is
 incorporated into the first, hidden game element and the wireless receiver
 is incorporated into the second, portable game element.
 In another aspect of this invention, both of the wireless transmitter and
 the wireless receiver are incorporated into the same one of the first,
 hidden game element and the second, portable game element. In the other of
 the first and second game elements, a device for reflecting the
 transmitted signal from the wireless transmitter signal is incorporated in
 the one game element to reflect back to the wireless receiver in the one
 game piece from the other game element.
 In another aspect, the transmitters may transmit coded signals, which are
 decoded in the receiver, and the sound generator may provide responses
 dependent upon the particular code decoded by the receiver, for example,
 to identify the particular transmitter, to identify whether or not a
 particular transmitter is within or beyond a predetermined distance,
 and/or to provide encouraging messages to players to continue looking for
 hidden transmitters.
 In a still further embodiment of this invention, a greater number of the
 hidden game elements may be included in the game than the number of
 portable detector elements. In one illustrative embodiment, the game may
 include only one portable detector element, while a plurality of the
 hidden game elements may be included. Inspection of FIGS. 2 and 3
 indicates that the receiver includes more elements than and is therefore
 more expensive to manufacture than the transmitter. Thus to reduce the
 total cost to manufacture the hide and find game, a transmitter will be
 incorporated into each of the plurality of game elements to be hidden, and
 a receiver is incorporated into the portable detector element.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a hide and find game 10 in
 accordance with the teachings of this invention. The game 10 includes a
 detector element 12 and a plurality of game elements 14 which are employed
 in accordance with the game 10 to be hidden by a first player in a play
 area of discrete boundaries. A second player, unaware of where the game
 elements 14 are hidden, uses the detector element 12 to find the hidden
 elements 14.
 As will be described in detail below, each of the hidden game elements 14
 includes a wireless transmitter 16, shown in detail in FIG. 2, to transmit
 a signal that is used in accordance with the game 10 to locate each of the
 hidden elements 14. In a particular, illustrative embodiment of this
 invention, the wireless transmitter 16 transmits a wireless or RF signal
 of a predetermined frequency. In turn the portable detector element 12
 includes a receiver 40, as shown in detail in FIG. 3. The receiver 40 is
 tuned to receive the signal of predetermined frequency as transmitted by
 the wireless transmitter 16. In accordance with the intended play of the
 game 10, when the second player carries the detector element 12 close to
 any of the first, hidden game elements 14, the receiver 40 in the detector
 element 12 will give an audio indication that at least one of the hidden
 elements 14 is spaced not further from the portable detector element 12
 than a predetermined distance.
 Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the
 wireless transmitter 16, which is incorporated into each of the portable
 detector elements 12. The transmitter 16 includes a power source 18 in the
 form of a battery, and a power switch 20, which may be closed by a player
 when the game is to be played. It is appreciated that in order to extend
 the life of the power source 18 that the switch 20 should only be closed
 when the game 10 is to be played and, in particular, the element 14 is to
 be hidden. The wireless transmitter 16 further includes an oscillator 22,
 which is comprised of a first gate 24, a second gate 26 and a resistor R2
 and a capacitor C2. These elements are configured and of selected
 impedances to generate at the output terminal 3 of the gate 26 an
 electrical signal of a desired frequency. In this illustrative embodiment,
 the frequency is set at a range of 500 Hz to 10 kHz based upon
 considerations of extending the life of the power source 18 and to
 facilitate the use in the receiver 40 of elements of reduced cost. In one
 preferred embodiment of this invention, the output frequency of the
 oscillator 22 is set at 1 kHz.
 In turn, the relatively low frequency generated by the audio oscillator 22
 is applied to a buffer gate 28 which isolates the oscillator 22 from the
 transmitting section of the transmitter 16 to be described. The low
 frequency signal appearing on the output terminal 11 of the buffer gate 28
 is applied to a super-regenerative receiver circuit including a transistor
 and a tank circuit 30, which is comprised of a variable capacitor C3, an
 inductor L1, a capacitor C1 and a resistor R1, which are of selected
 impedances and configured to generate a signal of a frequency, which is
 relatively high to that generated by the audio oscillator 22. As is
 understood in the art, the tank circuit 30 generates a carrier signal,
 which is modulated by the audio signal generated by the oscillator circuit
 22. In an illustrative embodiment of this invention, the output signal,
 which appears across the capacitor C3, has a frequency of 300 MHz. Such a
 high frequency is illustratively selected in view of the relatively lax
 regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission. In turn, the
 high frequency output signal of the tank circuit 30 is applied to the base
 of a transistor Q1. In turn, the transistor Q1 is switched on and off to
 apply the voltage that is developed across the variable capacitor C2 to an
 antenna 32, whereby a high frequency signal is wirelessly transmitted. A
 further advantage of generating such a relatively high signal is that the
 dimensions and cost of the antenna 32 may be significantly reduced. In an
 illustrative embodiment of this invention, the antenna 32 may take the
 form of an electrically conductive path that is printed on a circuit
 board. The length of the antenna 32 to generate such a signal may be in
 the order of 1/2 inch, which is not deemed to be a critical dimension to
 permit the wireless transmitter 16 to efficiently operate.
 Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a detailed schematic of the various
 elements and their manner of inner-connection to comprise the receiver 40.
 In particular, the receiver 40 includes a power supply 44 in the form of a
 battery and a power switch 42, which may be opened and closed manually by
 a game player. After the power switch 42 has been closed and the power
 supply is applied to energize the elements of the receiver 40, the
 receiver 40 may now operate to receive the signals wirelessly transmitted
 from one or more of the wireless transmitters 16, which are included in
 corresponding ones of the hidden elements 14. The wireless or RF signal
 (or signals) is received by an antenna 48, and is applied thereby to a
 tank circuit 46, which comprises elements of such impedance and so
 configured to induce a relatively high signal corresponding to the carrier
 frequency of the signal transmitted by one or more of the transmitters 16.
 In an illustrative embodiment of this invention, the transmitted signal is
 in the order of 300 MHz frequency. The tank circuit 46 is induced to
 generate a similar signal that is applied to the base of a transistor Q2
 to apply a corresponding signal to a filter 50. The filter 50 is comprised
 illustratively of a resistor R5, a resistor R6, a capacitor C5, and a
 capacitor C6, whose impedances and configuration are selected to pass
 (filter) the audio signal that was imposed upon the high frequency carrier
 signal by the transmitter 16, while filtering out the relatively high
 frequency carrier signal. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the
 passed audio signal is in the range of 500 Hz to 10 kHz and in a preferred
 embodiment is 1 kHz. The passed audio signal is in turn applied to a first
 amplifier 52, which is made up of a resistor R7, a resistor R8 and a
 transistor Q3. The first amplifier 52, as will become evident from the
 further description, provides a first stage of audio amplification to the
 demodulated audio signal. The second stage of audio amplification is
 provided by a second amplifier 54 which is comprised of a gate 56, a
 capacitor C8 and a resistor R10 which are configured as shown in FIG. 3. A
 resistor R9 is inter-connected between the output of the first amplifier
 52 and the input of the second amplifier 54 and serves, as will be
 explained in detail later, to set the gain of the second amplifier 54 and
 therefore the amplitude of the signal outputted therefrom.
 Next, the amplified audio signal is applied to a peak detector 58, which
 comprises in an illustrative embodiment of this invention a capacitor C9,
 a Zener diode D1, and a Zener diode D2, which are configured to clip or
 detect those signals whose amplitudes are in excess of a predetermined
 amplitude or threshold level. The peak detector 58 operates to detect
 signals received by the receiver 40 of an amplitude greater than the
 predetermined threshold level while ignoring or not responding to received
 RF signals where amplitudes are less than the predetermined level or
 threshold. It will be appreciated that the further away a particular
 wireless transmitter 16 is from its hidden element 14 and its receiver 40,
 the weaker the received signal will be. In other words, the further away a
 wireless transmitter 16 is from the receiver 40, the smaller the amplitude
 of the signal received by the receiver 40 and detected by the peak
 detector 58. Thus, the peak detector 58 is able to distinguish those
 hidden elements 14 and their wireless transmitter 16 that are spaced from
 the detector element 12 and its receiver 40 by more than the predetermined
 distance by not developing a signal at its output and, conversely,
 identifying those hidden elements 14 and their wireless transmitters 16
 that are spaced from the detector element 12 and its receiver 40 by a
 distance that is less than the predetermined distance.
 The signal developed on the output of the peak detector 58 is in turn
 applied to a filter 60, which converts the AC output of the peak detector
 58 to a DC voltage using a capacitor C10 and a resistance R11 configured
 as shown in FIG. 3. This voltage is in turn applied to a gate 62, which
 operates to invert the DC voltage, before it is in turn applied to a
 trigger input TG1 of an audio signal or sound generator 64 in the form of
 a speech processor, which in one particular embodiment may take the form
 of a processor manufactured by WINBOND under its designation W5282. In one
 illustrative embodiment of this invention, the audio signal generator 64
 stores first and second messages. Illustratively, the first message would
 be generated when at least one hidden game element 14 and its wireless
 transmitter 16 are spaced from the receiver 40 at a distance less than the
 predetermined distance, indicating that the second player is relatively
 close to a hidden game element 14. Such a first message, illustratively,
 may say "We are getting close" or "I see something", thus telling the
 second player that he or she is relatively close to the hidden game
 element 14. The second message, illustratively, may say "Let's keep
 looking" or "I don't see anything", thus indicating to the second player
 attempting to find a hidden game element 14 that he or she is relatively
 far away, at least further than the predetermined distance from the hidden
 game element 14 and therefore, needs to move on hopefully to a position
 that is relatively close to the hidden game element 14.
 As shown in FIG. 3, the SPK output of the audio signal generator 64 is
 coupled to an audio transducer 66 in the form of a speaker, whereby the
 stored electrical messages may be converted to audio sounds as may be
 heard by the players. The transducer 66 may be connected to the SPK output
 through a transistor Q4 connected to a resistor R13, as shown in FIG. 3,
 and the transducer 66 is also connected to the switch 42 for received an
 operating voltage.
 The hide and find game 10 of this invention may be operated to carry out
 the game activity by at least first and second players. Initially, the
 first player will close the switch 20 of each game element 14 to be hidden
 that is to be used in the game 10. Then the first player will hide a
 selected number of the hidden elements 14 throughout the game area. It is
 appreciated that the game area may be inside or outside of a particular
 enclosure such as a home or residence. Then the second player, who is
 unaware of where the elements 14 have been hidden, will pick up the
 detector element 12 and will energize it by closing its switch 42. As the
 second player moves through the game space carrying the detector element
 12, he or she will in the normal course of the game approach one or more
 of the hidden elements 14 at a distance less than the predetermined
 distance. Then, the receiver 40 will detect that a wireless transmitter 16
 is relatively close and will operate to actuate the audio signal generator
 64 to make a sound that will inform the second player that he or she is
 relatively close to at least one hidden game element 14. On the other
 hand, while the second player is spaced a distance from one of the hidden
 game elements 14 greater than the predetermined distance, the audio signal
 generator 64 will generate a second different sound which indicates to the
 second player that he or she is at a distance greater than the
 predetermined distance from one of the hidden game elements 14. In this
 fashion, the game elements and, in particular, the detector element 12 and
 the hidden elements 14 function to guide the second player to find all of
 the hidden game elements 14.
 The game value of this invention is related, at least in one illustrative
 embodiment, to the setting the threshold level at which the receiver 40
 actuates its sound generator 64 as a function of the predetermined
 distance between the receiver element 12 and the hidden game element or
 elements 14. Though there is no precise range of the predetermined
 distance that must be set, the play of the game may be effected if the
 predetermined distance is set too long or too short. If the threshold
 level were set too high, i.e., the predetermined distance is too long, the
 generator 64 would be actuated at any time the receiver element 12 is
 carried by a player into the game area or, at least, when the detector
 element 12 is at a distance from one of the hidden game elements 14 that
 the player would not be particularly helped by actuating the sound
 generator 64. For example, alerting a player when he or she was far from a
 hidden game element 14 would not help the player to find that game element
 14.
 On the other hand if the threshold level were set too low, the sound
 generator 64 would not be actuated as the player carrying the receiver
 element 12 through the game area or, at least, may not be actuated in time
 to prevent the loss of player interest in the game. It is appreciated that
 this game is intended for use by younger children whose attention spans
 are short. It has been found that if the predetermined distance is set
 preferably to be in the range of 5 to 10 feet, the game play is enhanced
 and the interest of the player is most likely maintained until the hidden
 game element 14 is found. It is also appreciated that the predetermined
 distance depends on the size of the play area, the larger the play area
 the longer the predetermined distance.
 It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made
 apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained and,
 since certain changes may be in the forgoing construction without
 departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters
 contained in the foregoing construction or shown in the accompanying
 drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
 While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with
 the preferred embodiment, many variations and modifications, as will be
 evident to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from
 the spirit and scope of the invention.
 In the above described preferred embodiment, the predetermined distance is
 set by adjusting the relative strength of the wireless or RF signal
 transmitted by the transmitter 40 and the gain imparted to the received
 signal as imparted by the first and second amplifiers 52 and 54, as well
 as the particular characteristics of the Zener diodes D1 and D2. The
 configuration of the particular circuitry or the values of the component
 parts could be changed, or one or more of these circuits of the receiver
 40 could adjusted or a circuit of the transmitter 14 could be changed or
 adjusted to cause the detector circuit 58 to output a signal that would
 actuate the sound generator 64. In the illustrated embodiment, the gain of
 the second amplifier is set by the value of the resistor R9 as shown in
 FIG. 3. This resistor could be replaced with a resistor of a different
 resistive value or a variable resistor which could be manually adjusted by
 the player, without departing from the teachings of this invention. In a
 further embodiment, the fixed resistor R10 could be changed to a variable
 resistor to vary the predetermined distance.
 The preferred embodiment has been described above in terms of a hard wired
 circuit of discrete electrical elements, as could be formed on a circuit
 board. As would be recognized by one skilled in the art, such circuits
 could be replaced without departing from the scope of this invention by
 other components such integrated circuit chips or programmed
 microprocessors, or by combinations of such components.
 In the above description, the preferred embodiment incorporates the
 receiver 40 into the portable detector element 12 and the transmitter 16
 into each of the game elements 14 to be hidden. It will be appreciated
 that the receiver 40 may be incorporated into each of the game elements
 14, and the transmitter 16 into the portable element 12, without departing
 from the scope of this invention. In addition, both of the transmitter 16
 and the receiver 40 may be incorporated into one element, i.e., the game
 element 14 or the portable element 12. In such an embodiment, the other
 element would require a responding element that would receive the signal
 transmitted from the transmitter 16 and then retransmit a responsive
 signal back to the receiver 40 also incorporated into the one element.
 Such a responsive device could be a passive device and simply reflect
 energy back to the receiver 40 which would detect the reflected energy.
 Alternatively, the responsive device could be active and include, for
 example, a further transmitter and receiver without departing from the
 teachings of this invention. It is also contemplated that the further
 receiver could be designed to store and use some of the energy of the
 signal received from the transmitter 16 to power the responsive device.
 In a further contemplated embodiment, the single filter 50 as shown in FIG.
 3 could be replaced with a plurality of filters, each of which could be
 used to demodulate an audio signal of different frequency and to actuate
 the speech processor 64 to output a different verbal message dependent on
 the frequency of the received signal. In a similar embodiment, the
 transmitted signal could be encoded with digital signals, e.g., 001, 011,
 101 etc. The receiver 40 would include suitable decoding capability to
 permit the detection of each coded signal, whereby the speech processor 64
 would output a different verbal message.
 Though the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a single detector
 element 12 and a plurality of game elements 14 to be hidden, it is
 appreciated that a plurality of detector elements 12 could be used to play
 the game 10 of this invention.
 At a minimum, this game 10 could be played with a single detector element
 12 and/or a single game element 14 to be hidden.
 Referring to FIGS. 4-5, additional embodiments for the transmitter and
 receiver are respectively illustrated for operating and playing the
 disclosed hide-and-find game using the components shown in FIG. 1.
 The transmitter 70 shown in FIG. 4 includes a transmitter processor 72
 which responds to the settings of input lines 74 to generate regular coded
 pulses on output line 76. For example, the transmitter processor 72 may
 regularly, at periodic intervals, output predetermined digital pulse of
 ones and zeros, such as 100111, which forms a coded signature unique to
 the particular transmitter, and so uniquely identifying the respective
 hidden game element 14 incorporating the respective transmitter 70. A
 first hidden game element may output 100111, while a second hidden game
 element may output 111001.
 The transmitter processor 72 may be a TX6 transmitter chip available from
 Realtek, and the input lines 74 may be hardwired during manufacture of
 each hidden game element and its respective transmitter circuit 70.
 Alternatively, the input lines 74 may be incorporated into a dip switch
 capable of being set to customized values by the user.
 The transmitter 70 includes an oscillator 78 generating a 49.860 MHz signal
 which is applied with the output coded signal on output line 76 to a
 modulator, which includes a modulating transistor 80. The output coded
 signal is modulated by the modulating transistor 80 and then amplified by
 an amplifier, which may include an amplifying transistor 82, to generate
 an output signal applied to a tank circuit 84 for output by an antenna 86
 as an RF or infrared signal representing the coded signature associated
 with the transmitter 70.
 The transmitter 70 may also include an on-off switch for providing
 operating power to the components thereof from a battery 90. An optional
 light emitting diode (LED) 92 may also be included to visually indicate to
 a user that the transmitter 70 is currently transmitting the output coded
 signal.
 In conjunction with the transmitter 70 shown in FIG. 4, a receiver 94
 operates to receive and decode the output coded signal and to generate
 appropriate messages to indicate whether or not the user of the receiver
 94 is close or far from a particular transmitter 70 corresponding to the
 unique code or signature identifying the particular transmitter 70.
 In operation, the receiver 94 receives the output coded signal at an
 antenna 96 and a super-regenerative receiver circuit including a tank
 circuit 98 and a transistor 99, which pass the received signal to a
 receiver processor 100, which may be a Realtek RX6 circuit. The receiver
 processor 100 decodes the received signal to generate a set of pulses on
 respective input lines 102 to a speech processor 104, which may be a model
 EM57000 speech processing chip. The receiver processor 100 may optionally
 amplify the set of pulses to be within a predetermined pulse amplitude for
 triggering detection upon the input lines 102 by the speech processor 104.
 The set of pulses on the input lines 102 identifies the transmitter 70
 according to the unique coded signature incorporated in the coded signal
 received therefrom. From the set of pulses, the speech processor 104 is
 capable of generating a corresponding audio message for output through a
 transducer 106, such as an audio speaker, to the user playing the
 disclosed hide and find game. In one embodiment, the input lines 102 are
 connected to pins labeled TG2, TG3, TG4, TG5, TG6, and TG7, with a pulse
 on a specific pin representing a specific transmitter. For example, six
 game elements 14 with transmitter circuits 70 may be identified with each
 of the labels TG2, TG3, TG4, TG5, TG6, and TG7, so a pulse on TG2
 indicates that a first game element has transmitted its respective
 signature signal and has been identified, while a pulse on TG7 indicates
 that a sixth game element has transmitted its respective signature signal
 and has been identified. The speech processor 104 then outputs voice-like
 audio messages to the user holding the receiver 94, such as "Item One is
 near" or "Item Six is detected".
 Different codes may also indicate different responses to be carried out by
 the receiver 94. For example, different codes may trigger different audio
 responses and/or sound effects.
 The receiver 94 also includes a mechanism for detecting whether or not the
 transmitter 70 and corresponding game element 14 is within a predetermined
 range, and thence for outputting a first message if the particular game
 element 14 is near the receiver 94, and for outputting a second message
 (or no message) if the particular game element 14 is far from the receiver
 94.
 As shown in FIG. 5, the signal from the transmitter 70 and received at the
 receiver 94 is applied to the receiver processor 100 and is also applied
 to a thresholding circuit for determining if the respective transmitter 70
 is within or outside of a predetermined range, such as four feet,
 according to the signal strength of the received signal. The thresholding
 circuit includes at least one amplifier, such as the transistors 108,
 which amplify the received signal to then be compared to a reference
 signal by a comparator 110.
 The comparator 110 outputs a detection signal having a first signal level
 if the transmitter 70 is within the predetermined range, yet outputs the
 detection signal have a second signal level if the transmitter 70 is
 outside of the predetermined range. For example, the first signal level
 may be a high or logic one value, while the second signal level may be a
 low or logic zero value. The threshold used by the comparator 110 may be
 set by, for example, the values of resistances at the inputs of the
 comparator 110. In another embodiment, a variable resistance may be used
 at one of the inputs of the comparator 110 to allow users to manually
 adjust the threshold of the detected signal strength, and thence to
 manually set the range in which a transmitting game element 14 is
 considered near the receiver 94.
 The detection signal from the comparator 110 may be amplified by the
 amplifier 112, to be applied via input line 114 to an input pin or port of
 the speech processor 104, such a pin labeled TG1. Depending on the value
 of the detection signal at TG1, the speech processor 104 outputs different
 audio messages through the speaker 106.
 For example, if a first game element is within the predetermined range, the
 receiver processor 100 causes a corresponding pulse to be generated and
 input to pin TG2, while the thresholding circuit causes a signal having
 the first signal level to be generated and input to pin TG1. In response,
 the speech processor 104 may generate a first audio message such as "Item
 One is near".
 In another example, a fourth game element may be outside the predetermined
 range, so the receiver processor 100 causes a corresponding pulse to be
 generated and input to pin TG5, while the thresholding circuit causes a
 signal having the second signal level to be generated and input to pin
 TG1. In response, the speech processor 104 may generate another audio
 message such as "Item Four is far, keep looking". Similarly, the audio
 messages may use the traditional phases "hot" and "cold" instead of "near"
 and "far".
 The speech processor 104 may generate an audio message for each signal
 detected through input lines 102 and pins TG2-TG7. In another embodiment,
 the speech processor 104 may generate audio messages only for such
 transmitters 70 for which a signal is detected. For example, if a first
 game element is transmitting but a second game element is not, a signal is
 generated and input only to the corresponding input line 102, such as pin
 TG2, and no signal is input to pin TG3. The speech processor 104 may then
 only report whether or not the first game element is near or far, but does
 not provide any report or audio message that the second game element is
 near or far.
 The receiver 94 may include an on-off switch 116 for providing power to the
 receiver 94 from a power source, such as a battery 118, and for preserving
 battery life when the receiver 94 is not in use.
 It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover
 all of generic and specific features of the invention herein described,
 and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of
 language, might be said to fall therebetween.