GB2128104A

GB2128104A - Educational aids games and playthings

Info

Publication number: GB2128104A
Application number: GB08326899A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Derrick Barnwell
Original assignee: STRATABORD Ltd
Current assignee: STRATABORD Ltd
Priority date: 1982-10-09
Filing date: 1983-10-07
Publication date: 1984-04-26
Also published as: GB8326899D0

Abstract

The invention relates to educational aids, games and playthings. With such items as conventional jigsaw puzzles, there is reliance on the presence of interlocking nodules and recesses and the cutting of the faces from a large sheet is relatively expensive. The nodules are easily damaged during repeated assembly and dismantling of the puzzle. It is known that so-called magnetic rubber can be utilised for itself holding effect on an appropriate board but such material applied to educational aids, games and playthings has not proved readily acceptable because of the cost of the board and the use of sheet foil or metal which can cause injury to the user. The object of the invention is to avoid the above disadvantages, which objective is met by a construction of educational aid, game or plaything comprising a number of pieces of magnetic rubber collectively capable of careful juxtaposition into abutting side-by-side relationship to form a coherent pattern on a support surface capable of holding the pieces in position by magnetic attraction, said support surface being formed as a non-metallic board having a coating formed from or including ferromagnetic particles.

Description

SPECIFICATION Educational aids, games and playthings This invention relates to educational aids, games and playthings.

It has long been recognised that particularly in the field of educational aids, and in the field of games and playthings the user must find the aid, game or plaything interesting in itself, before it is used to its fullest possible extent. It has equally long been recognised that conventional jigsaw puzzles have interested users of all age groups. Conventional jigsaw puzzles are however relient on the presence of interlocking nodules and recesses, which are relatively expensive to produce in terms of initial tooling for cutting the multiplicity of different shapes normally employed, and damage, particularly to protruding nodules can easily occur if the jigsaw is repeatedly assembled and dismantled.

In addition to the above, there has been the growing use in educational aids, games and playthings of so-called magnetic rubber, where items cut from magnetic rubber can be placed on a suitable support surface and held in place by magnetic attraction. Obviously, each piece can be repeatedly removed and replaced with little risk of damage.

Hitherto, such magnetic products have not proved readily acceptable because of the cost of the boards themselves, and because almost universally, the boards have incorporated metal sheet or metal foil with possible sharp edges which could cause injury to the user, even if the sheet or foil is overlaid by a suitable plastics, card or paper sheet attempting to guard against such danger.

The object of the present invention is to provide an educational aid, game or plaything, in a form embodying the advantages of a conventional jigsaw and embodying the advantages of magnetic rubber products, but avoiding the disadvantages in terms of both costs and usage of both concepts as known separately hitherto.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an educational aid, game or plaything comprises a number of pieces of magnetic rubber collectively capable of careful juxtaposition into abutting sideby-side relationship to form a coherent pattern on a support surface capable of holding the pieces in position by magnetic attraction, said support surface being formed as a non-metailic board having a coating formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a support surface comprises a nonmetallic board having a coating thereon formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles.

Preferably, the ferro-magnetic particles are formed from iron powder, with the iron powder mixed with a binding agent in the proportions 15% to 80% by volume iron powder and 85% to 20% by volume binding agent, and preferably 40% to 75% by volume iron powder and 60% to 25% by volume binding agent. The mixture may be applied to the nonmetallic board as a single coating by any suitable process, and when the powder content would be, e.g., 40% by volume or more, but may be applied as several overlaid coatings, and when the powder content can be lower, e.g., between 15% and 40% by volume. Thus, if the binder is an ink, it can be applied to the board by e.g., screen printing. The board itself could be of paper, but it is preferred that the board is reasonably rigid, and formed, for example, from paperboard, plastics or wood with its greater durability.

The surface coating can be left exposed to give the board an added dimension in the fields of educational aids, games and playthings by providing, at very low cost, a chalk board, but in its area of principle intended usage, it is preferred to overlay the surface coating with a plastics film to provide a smooth surface, or with a further ink coating, plain or patterned, to provide a more pleasing aesthetic effect.

The playing pieces can all be of a single shape and size, e.g., square, rectangular, triangular or rhombic or can be a mixture of such shapes and sizes. The playing pieces would equally be irregular in shape and size. In whatever form, the tooling to cut such pieces from a larger sheet, is considerably simpler and of much lower cost than tooling for cutting conventional jigsaws, and yet, with any particular picture, pattern or required subject matter preprinted on the larger sheet, the effect is much the same, the pieces can be separated and mixed, leaving the user to reassemble the picture or the like, but with pieces that can be extensively and repeatedly re-used without the risk of damage, on a board which by avoiding the use of metal sheet or foil, cannot cause harm to the user.

Dependent on the admix of the playing pieces, and on the printed matter, the invention provides a direct alternative to a conventional jigsaw in the games and playthings fields, of any required degree of complexity, with the added major advantage that the printed matter can be itself of educational value, e.g., maps, prose, or other educational information which would be learned by the user as the pieces are correctly assembled.

The collection of playing pieces can be so formed as to provide a magnetic lower surface and an upper surface of which appropriate printed matter is provided. It would however be equally possible to provide a collection of playing pieces each of which is double magnetic and can thus be applied to the board with either side uppermost, and when both sides of the collection of playing pieces can be provided with appropriate printed matter, to provide an educational aid, game or plaything which has double useage.

The invention therefore combines in unpredictable manner all the advantages of the prior art with the complete avoidance of the known disadvantages.

One example of one aspect of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a perspective view of an educational aid, game or plaything with parts broken away for clarity.

In the drawing, an educational aid, game or plaything comprises a non-metallic board 1 formed from a stiff cardboard. On the operative (upper) surface of the board there is provided a coating 2 formed from the mixture of an iron powder and an ink, which ink forms a binder, the coating being constituted by 40% by volume of iron powder and 60% by volume of ink. The coating is applied as a single coating by a screen printing technique.

The coating of iron powder and ink is itself overlaid by a surface coating 3 of a suitable ink and which in the particular example of construction illustrated, provides a printed patterned boarder 4 and a plain central area 5.

Applied to the board are a number of playing pieces 6, each of which is formed from so-called magnetic rubber and whereby the playing pieces can adhere to the board. The exposed surface of each playing piece forms part of a pattern or part of information and with the playing pieces collectively being capable of careful juxtaposition into abutting side-by-side relationship they form a coherent pattern on the support surface displaying the picture or the information involved.

As illustrated, the playing pieces are all of the same size and shape but it will be understood that the playing pieces can be of any other appropriate size and shape so long as collectively they can be placed on the board to form the coherent pattern required.

Thus, the playing pieces can initially be produced as a single large sheet of magnetic rubber on one surface of which there is provided a suitable coating and on which is printed or otherwise provided the whole of the coherent pattern or information. The sheet is then cut into the required playing pieces whether they be square as illustrated or rectangular, triangular, rhombic or any mixture of such shapes. It would be equally feasible to produce playing pieces that are irregular in shape and size. Even when irregular pieces are involved the cutting of the larger sheet is effected considerably more simply and at much lower cost than is the cutting of conventional jigsaw pieces.

It will be understood that the playing pieces can be double-sided in the sense of having a printed or otherwise provided pattern or other information on both sides.

It will readily be recognised that with the invention, any required degree of complexity can be arranged and whereby the invention can be used by different age groups and by groups of different intelligence, that complexity being determined by the size, number and shapes of the playing pieces themselves and by the information formed on one or both surfaces. It can bea direct counterpart to a conventional jigsaw and when an appropriate picture would be reconstituted or it can be educational in purpose by causing the user to reconstitute maps, prose, or any other educational information which would be learned by the user as the pieces are correctly assembled.

Claims

1. An educational aid, game or plaything com prising a number of pieces of magnetic rubber collectively capable of careful juxtaposition into abutting side-by-side relationship to form a coherent pattern on a support surface capable of holding the pieces in position by magnetic attraction, said support surface being formed as a non-metallic board having a coating formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles.

2. A support surface comprising a non-metallic board having a coating thereon formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles.

3. An educational aid, game or plaything as in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the ferro-magnetic particles are formed from iron powder.

4. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the iron powder is mixed with a binding agent in the proportions 15% to 80% by volume iron powder and 85% to 20% by volume binding agent.

5. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the iron powder is mixed with a binding agent in the proportions 40% to 75% by volume iron powder and 60% to 25% by volume binding agent.

6. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the coating is applied to the non-metallic board as a single coating and when the powder content of the coating is 40% by volume or more.

7. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the coating is formed by the application of several overlaid coatings and when the powder content is between 50% and 40% by volume.

8. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 4 to 7, wherein the binding agent is an ink.

9. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the board is of paper.

10. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the board has rigidity and is formed from a material selected from paper board, plastics or wood.

11. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the coating formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles is left exposed and when the board can serve additionally as a writing board.

12. An educational aid, game or plaything as in any of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the coating formed from or including ferro-magnetic particles is overlaid with a surface coating such as of plastics or ink, plain or patterned.

13. An educational aid, game or plaything as in Claim 1, and as in any of Claims 3 to 12 when appended thereto wherein the playing pieces are all of a single size and shape.

14. An educational aid, game or plaything as in Claim 1 and as in any of Claims 3 to 12 when appended thereto, wherein the playing pieces are a mixture of different size and shape.

15. An educational aid, game or plaything as in Claim 1 and as in any of Claims 3 to 14 when appended thereto, wherein a picture, pattern or required subject matter is provided on the collection of playing pieces on one or both sides.

16. An educational aid, game or plaything sub stantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.