Innovision Research & Technology Plc

Marc Adrian Borrett

Andrew David White

David Bernard Mapleston

Glen Pitt-Pladdy

Andrew W White

An electrical device such as a portable communications device, domestic or personal care appliance has a main body adapted to couple to an accessory which may be in the form of a tool attachable to the main body or a housing portion. The accessory carries a passive data storage device having a memory () storing control data for controlling an operation or affecting a function of the device. The passive data storage device is arranged to derive a power supply from the main body when a first coupler carried by the main body is placed in proximity to a second coupler carried by the accessory (). Where the electrical device is a portable communications device, then the accessory may be, for example, a fascia. The coupling between the first and second couplers may be inductive or capacitive.

Electrical devices

A game module has a signal generator for generating a signal for supply to a playing piece when the playing piece is electrically coupled to the games module. The playing piece has a memory for storing data and is arranged to derive a power supply from the signal supplied by the game module by coupling to a user so as to complete an electrical path via the user back to the game module and to communicate data with the game module when power is thereby derived by the power deriving means from the signal provided by the game module.

Game apparatus for supplying power to playing elements

Data communication apparatus comprises a master unit ( ) and at least one physically separate, passive slave unit ( ). The master unit ( ) has a first part ( ) of an inductive communication system, and a processor ( ) connected to the first part of the inductive communication system. The slave unit has a second part ( ) of the inductive communication system, a data store ( ), and a modulator ( ) responsive to data from the data store and connected to the second part ( ) of the inductive communication system. The first and second parts of the inductive communication system ( ) are constructed so that when the slave unit ( ) is brought into proximity with the master unit ( ), power is inductively coupled from the master unit to the slave unit via the inductive communication system. The modulator ( ) in the slave unit ( ) is thereby activated to cause data from the store ( ) to be inductively communicated from the slave unit ( ) to the master unit ( ) via the inductive communication system. The processor ( ) is responsive to the data supplied to the master unit ( ).

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Wokingham, United Kingdom

Marc Adrian Borrett