EP0494211A1

EP0494211A1 - Magnetic puzzle

Info

Publication number: EP0494211A1
Application number: EP19900914495
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sandra L. Butt
Original assignee: Magnaplay Inc
Current assignee: Magnaplay Inc
Priority date: 1989-09-29
Filing date: 1990-10-01
Publication date: 1992-07-15
Also published as: WO1991004774A1; AU6448090A

Abstract

L'invention se rapporte à un puzzle éducatif composé d'une pluralité de pièces (30, 31, 32) s'engageant les unes dans les autres. Chacune des pièces évoque par son contour un objet identifiable différent, tel qu'un animal. Une fois assemblées, les pièces évoquent par leur contour un autre objet identifiable, tel que l'arche de Noé. Dans une variante, les pièces (43) du puzzle portent chacune un numéro et la grandeur de chaque pièce est proportionnelle au numéro qu'elles portent. A chacune des pièces numérotées (43) correspond une pièce (42) représentant un certain nombre d'objets, qui correspond au numéro figurant sur la pièce numérotée et dans laquelle peut s'engager la pièce numérotée. Les pièces du puzzle peuvent également être empilées les unes sur les autres pour former deux couches supplémentaires de pièces.The invention relates to an educational puzzle composed of a plurality of pieces (30, 31, 32) engaging with each other. Each of the pieces evokes by its outline a different identifiable object, such as an animal. Once assembled, the pieces evoke by their outline another identifiable object, such as Noah's ark. In a variant, the pieces (43) of the puzzle each bear a number and the size of each piece is proportional to the number they bear. Each of the numbered pieces (43) corresponds to a piece (42) representing a certain number of objects, which corresponds to the number appearing on the numbered piece and in which the numbered piece can engage. The puzzle pieces can also be stacked on top of each other to form two additional layers of pieces.

Description

MAGNETIC PUZZLE

INTRODUCTION

This invention relates to a magnetic puzzle and, more particularly, to a magnetic puzzle used directed towards educational purposes for children.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are, of course, many different types of puzzles available for purchase. Such puzzles include pictorial puzzles where the various pieces fit together to form a picture.

Such puzzles have pieces, however, that do not adhere to the surface on which they are used. They are, therefore, ordinarily used on a flat horizontal surface and, if the surface or pieces are inadvertently jarred, the pieces will come apart. Such puzzles are normally not played by children to any great extent since they are usually complicated and have small pieces and do not lend themselves to the lack of manual dexterity inherent in young children.

Magnetism and magnets offer a fascination to children and, when used with puzzles, they allow the child to partially assemble the puzzle without the puzzle becoming disassembled if the surface or pieces are accidentally jarred.

Such puzzles, however, are rarely if ever used for spelling and arithmetic functions. There is a puzzle used which has a series of letters with magnetic backing. The letters are each individually movable and may be assembled to form a word which is provided to the youngster. However, there is rarely an indication given to the youngster as to what subject matter the word covers. Further, they are not puzzles in the sense of interlocking pieces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided a puzzle comprising a first set of pieces, each having a magnetic side and a graphics side and being operable to be attached to a metallic surface by said magnetic side and said pieces being mutually interengagable for assembly into an assembled form for forming a graphic representation; and a second set of pieces, each carrying a graphic representation of a complete object and having a magnetic side and a graphics side and being operable to be attached by its magnetic side on top of the first set of pieces in said assembled form.

Also according to the invention, there is provided a puzzle, comprising a plurality of interengagable pieces; each of said pieces in outline resembling a different identifiable object; and said pieces when assembled having a non-rectangular outline resembling a further identifiable object.

Further according to the invention, there is provided a puzzle having pieces operable to form a pictorial, a plurality of said pieces each bearing a respective number, each of said plurality of pieces differing in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of said numbers of a first series of said pieces give a number on a further piece, said first series of pieces will substantially fit the shape of said further piece. According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a puzzle having a plurality of pieces operable to, form a pictorial, said plurality of pieces forming a first and second series, said first series each having a different number of objects thereon and said second series each having a number thereon which corresponds to the number of objects on each of the said first series, a piece of said first series having objects thereon fitting a piece of said second series with a number thereon corresponding to the number of objects.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a puzzle having a plurality of pieces operable to form a pictorial, said plurality of pieces forming a first and second series, said first series each having a different number of objects thereon and said second series each having a number thereon which corresponds to the number of objects on each of the said first series, a piece of said first series having objects thereon fitting a piece of said second series with a number thereon corresponding to the number of objects, the pieces of said second series of pieces differing in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of said numbers of a plurality of the second series of pieces give a number on a further piece of the second series, the plurality of pieces of the second series will substantially fit the shape of said further piece of the second series.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with the use of drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic isometric view of one embodiment of the puzzle according to the invention in its assembled form;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic isometric view of the puzzle of Figure 1 but illustrating a few of the pieces which can be attached to the assembled puzzle in a first layer;

Figure 3A is a diagrammatic isometric view of the puzzle of Figures 1 and 2 but illustrating two of the pieces which can be attached to the assembled puzzle to form a first and second layer;

Figure 3B is a sectional view of the assembled puzzle of Figure 3A and taken along the section IIIB-IIIB;

Figure 4A is a diagrammatic isometric view of several of the assembled puzzles of Figure 1 and further illustrating the mating pictorials of the assembled puzzles when they are put side by side;

Figure 4B is a diagrammatic isometric view of a refrigerator illustrating several of the mated puzzles of Figure 4A on a door;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic isometric view of a further embodiment of a puzzle according to the invention;

Figure 6A is a diagrammatic isometric view of yet a further embodiment of a puzzle according to the invention;

Figure 6B is a diagrammatic isometric view of the puzzle of Figure 6A but illustrating the educational aspect of arithmetic; Figure 6C is a view of the puzzle of Figures 6A and 6B but illustrating a further arithmetic aspect of the puzzle according to the invention;

Figure 6D is a diagrammatic isometric view of the ten stacked pieces of Figure 6A; and

Figure 6E is a view of ten stacked pieces of Figure 6D taken along VIE-VIE of Figure 6D;

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, a puzzle according to the invention is generally illustrated at 10 in Figure 1. It comprises a plurality of individual pieces 11 which fit together to form a pictorial 12 (Figure 4A) as is known in the art.

Each of the pieces 11 has a magnetic side 13 made from a thin flexible magnet material and a graphics side 14, the magnetic side 13 being attached to a metallic surface 20 such as a refrigerator door 21 (Figure 4B) .

Reference is now made to Figure 2 wherein a further number of "second layer" pieces 22 are illustrated. These second layer pieces 22 are of the same thickness as the "first layer" pieces 11 and may be mounted on the first layer pieces 11 as shown, the flexible magnetic material of the second layer pieces 22 retaining the pieces on the first layer pieces 11.

With reference now to Figures 3A and 3B, a further "third layer" iece 23 is attached to the second layer piece 22 and also to the first layer piece 11. Thus, it will be seen that a child may place a second layer piece 22 on the pictorial of the assembled puzzle 10 where the child feels the piece 22 would look appropriate and, as well, place a third layer piece 23 partially on a second layer piece 22 and a first layer piece 11. This process can continue until the thickness of the stacked pieces is such that the magnetic attraction is no longer sufficient to keep the stacked pieces together.

A further attribute of the puzzle 10 according to the invention is illustrated in Figure 4A. In this figure, it will be seen that a number of individual puzzles 10, each having a plurality of pieces 11, may be mated together such that the pictorial 12 on one puzzle 10 matches up with the pictorial 24 when the puzzles 10 are placed side to side. Likewise, further puzzles 10 may also be added, enlarging the size of the overall pictorial created when the various puzzles are placed together.

In operation, the child will have at his disposal a plurality of pieces 11, each being of the same thickness and having a graphics side 14 and a flexible magnetic side 13. He will further have at his disposal a series of second and third layer pieces 22, 23.

The child may commence to assemble the pieces 11 to form the puzzle 10 on the metallic surface 20 of the refrigerator door 21 but, clearly, any metallic surface 20 would suffice. The child will assemble the first layer of pieces 11 to form the puzzle 10 and, thereafter, mount the second layer of pieces 22 to the puzzle 10 where it is desired to mount them. A third layer of pieces 23 may then be mounted to the second layer of pieces 22 as viewed in Figures 3A and 3B in order to form a three dimensional pictorial which is satisfying to the child. The process may continue and the child may add more pieces to form more layers. The child may also move to assemble more than one puzzle 10 and, if so, he may desire to place the puzzles side by side as illustrated in Figure 4A, in which case the several puzzles will form a larger pictorial that matches the pictorials on each of the individual puzzles when they are placed side by side.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 5. In this embodiment, the pictorial 12 on a metallic surface is shown. The pictorial 12 is a "Noah's Ark" which illustrates a number of animals, birds, reptiles and the like in a boat or ark. Each of the animals, etc. shown in the pictorial is overlaid by a single piece and the individual pieces 30, 31, 32 resemble the respective shape of the animal as, for example, a snake, an elephant and a giraffe which are shown. Each piece 30, 31, 32 also carries the first letter of the animal which it resembles such as the letter "s" for snake, the letter "e" for elephant and the letter "g" for giraffe. When in assembled condition, the puzzle has an outline which resembles a Noah's Ark.

In operation, the child can remove and replace the individual pieces 30, 31, 32 by shape. He will also come to identify the letter on the individual piece with the name of the animal which the piece resembles.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 6. Referring initially to Figure 6A, a puzzle generally illustrated at 40 comprises a first series of pieces 42 and a second series of pieces 43. The first series of pieces 42 each has a different number of objects illustrated thereon, from one to ten. These illustrations are not shown in the drawings. In the present example the puzzle 40 represents a train. The first four pieces from left to right represent the locomotive, and each of the subsequent pieces represent a coach. The objects on the first series of pieces 42, are either persons, animals or objects, being the "passengers" of the train. The second series of pieces 43 are each provided with a number from 1 to 10 thereon, corresponding with the number of objects on its corresponding piece of the first series of pieces 42 and with which it is engagable. The pieces 42, 43 each have a flexible magnetic side 41 opposite to its pictorial side and can be used with a metallic surface as described.

As shown, the pieces 42, 43 have a width which is proportional the number represented by a particular piece. This will allow the placement of two or more pieces over another piece such that the area of the other piece will be conterminously covered by the area of the two or more pieces. With reference to Figure 6B, for example, it will be seen that the three pieces 43, 44, 45 numbered "1", "2" and "3", respectively, will cover the piece 50 numbered "7". Likewise, the two pieces numbered "1" and "2" will conterminously cover the piece numbered "3" and so on. Also, it will be noted that the pieces 43, 44, 45 numbered "1", "2", and "3" respectively, will fit on to the piece 46 (Figure 6A) which has seven objects thereon so that the child can observe the number corresponding to the objects. It will also be noted that the numbers 47 may be overlaid or fitted into the numbers 48 on the pieces 43.

Referring to Figures 6C, 6D and 6E, a ruler 51 can be provided on which the numbered playing pieces can be measured so that some estimate of the width of each piece can be obtained by the child and which also illustrates the rules of addition and substraction. As seen from Figure 6C, each division in the ruler 51 corresponds to the width of the piece 43 numbered "1". Thus, when the pieces 50, 45, 44, 43 are placed together, they will add up to 14 on the ruler 51. The child, therefore, experiences the addition result when pieces of different values and, therefore, different sizes, are placed together. As seen in Figures 6D and 6E, the various pieces may be "stacked" so as to form a neat pile of pieces having symmetry when the pieces are positioned in proper order thereby allowing the child to visually see the different sizes of the pieces, reflecting the different numbers.

It is contemplated that, rather than letters being used on the pieces of the Figure 5 embodiment, names may be used. Likewise, other identifications for the pieces could be made such as fruit, cars and the like but the same inventive principals would apply. Thus, when the pieces representing fruit are assembled together, they form a completed puzzle which has an outline which resembles a fruit basket, for example. The pieces 42, 43 may also be three dimensional instead of two dimensional.

It is further contemplated that the Figure 5 and 6 embodiments could be used by a child without the need for magnetism and the metallic surface. Indeed, while the magnetic aspects of these two embodiments are conveniently used, the educational aspects would remain the same regardless of whether the pieces were magnetic.

Many further modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art and the specific embodiments illustrated are given by way of example only and should not considered as limiting the scope of the invention as defined in accordance with the accompanying claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A puzzle comprising a first set of pieces, each having a magnetic side and a graphics side and being operable to be attached to a metallic surface by said magnetic side and said pieces being mutually interengagable for assembly into an assembled form for forming a graphic representation; and a second set of pieces, each carrying a graphic representation of a complete object and having a magnetic side and a graphics side and being operable to be attached by its magnetic side on top of the first set of pieces in said assembled form.

2. A puzzle according to claim 1, including a plurality of said first sets of pieces, the pieces of each of said first sets being interengagable for assembly into an assembled form for forming a particular graphic representation, wherein said sets, in assembled form, are attachable adjacent each other to a magnetic surface for forming a graphic representation combining said particular graphic representations of said first sets of pieces.

3. A puzzle according to claim l or claim 2, wherein said second set of pieces is further operable to be attached one on top of another.

4. A puzzle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the graphic representation comprises a first pictorial-representation and each of said second set of pieces represents, on its graphic side, a second pictorial representation which is compatible with said first pictorial representation.

5. A puzzle, comprising:

a plurality of interengagable pieces;

each of said pieces in outline resembling a different identifiable object; and

said pieces when assembled having a non- rectangular outline resembling a further identifiable object.

6. A puzzle according to claim 5, which also includes a board demarcated into areas corresponding to said pieces for receiving the pieces of the puzzle in assembled condition thereon.

7. A puzzle according to claim 6, wherein said demarcated areas each comprises a pictorial representation of the identifiable object represented by the corresponding piece.

8. A puzzle according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein each of the identifiable objects represented by the pieces has a common name and each piece carries a single letter identical to the first letter of the common name of the identifiable object represented by the piece.

9. A puzzle according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein each of said pieces resembles an animal in outline and the pieces when assembled resembles a boat in the form of an ark.

10. A puzzle having pieces operable to form a pictorial, a plurality of said pieces each bearing a respective number, each of said plurality of pieces differing in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of said numbers of a first series of said pieces give a number on a further piece, said first series of pieces will substantially fit the shape of said further piece.

11. A puzzle according to claim 10, wherein said pieces have a first side that is a flexible magnet and said pictorial is formed by attaching said pieces to a metallic material.

12. A puzzle according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein each of said pieces is measurable to determine the predetermined amount.

13. A puzzle according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein at least some of said plurality of pieces can be attached to others of said plurality of pieces in an overlay type arrangement wherein said predetermined amount can be visually inspected.

14. A puzzle having a plurality of pieces operable to form a pictorial, said plurality of pieces forming a first and second series, said first series each having a different number of objects thereon and said second series each having a number thereon which corresponds to the number of objects on each of the said first series, a piece of said first series having objects thereon fitting a piece of said second series with a number thereon corresponding to the number of objects.

15. A puzzle having a plurality of pieces operable to form a pictorial, said plurality of pieces forming a first and second series, said first series each having a different number of objects thereon and said second series each having a number thereon which corresponds to the number of objects on each of the said first series, a piece of said first series having objects thereon fitting a piece of said second series with a number thereon corresponding to the number of objects, the pieces of said second series of pieces differing in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of said numbers of a plurality of the second series of pieces give a number on a further piece of the second series, the plurality of pieces of the second series will substantially fit the shape of said further piece of the second series.

16. A puzzle according to claim 15, wherein the pieces of said first series of pieces differ in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of the number of objects of a plurality of the first series of pieces correspond with the number of objects on a further piece of the first series, the plurality of pieces of the first series will substantially fit the shape of said further piece of the first series.

17. A puzzle according to claim 16, wherein the pieces of said first and second series of pieces differ in size by a predetermined amount, such that when the addition of the number of objects of a plurality of the first series of pieces correspond with the number on a piece of the second series, the plurality of pieces of the first series will substantially fit the shape of said piece of the second series and vice versa.