GB2135201A

GB2135201A - Board for a jigsaw puzzle

Info

Publication number: GB2135201A
Application number: GB08402212A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Nicholas Kaye
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-01-27
Filing date: 1984-01-27
Publication date: 1984-08-30
Also published as: GB8402212D0

Abstract

A support board for a jigsaw puzzle comprises a base 1 of which the surface 2 is to receive a jigsaw. The base has integral ribs 3 which form feet. The surface of the base receiving the jigsaw may have a strip of baize material 4 secured thereto over the whole area, or may be polished the latter being preferred. Secured to an end 5 of the base is a flexible plastics sheet 6 and this may be retained by a strip 7 attached by rivets 8 or adhesive passing through the strip 7, sheet 6 and through the end of the board 1. The plastics sheet 6 has a flexible magnetic rubber material 9 provided along the three free edges. This material 9 cooperates with a steel strip either inlaid into a recess in or directly on the top surface of the base and when the sheet is placed over the base it is securely held in position and thus traps the jigsaw pieces. Alternatively, interengaging barb/loop fabric fastener or cohesion between the polished surfaces of the sheet and base may be utilised to hold the sheet in position over the base. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Boards for supporting jigsaw puzzles This invention relates to a construction of board for supporting and holding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle during assembly.

It is an object of this invention to provide a board upon which a jigsaw may be assembled and wherein the separate pieces placed thereon can be retained in position when the board is not in use. The invention is principally concerned with a board wherein a part completed jigsaw puzzle may be put away without the need to maintain same horizontal and without the risk of any of the pieces becoming displaced or detached.

According to this invention, a board for supporting and holding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle comprises a base defining an area to receive a jigsaw puzzle and a cover which may be brought into face-to-face proximity with the base, a marginal edge portion of the base and the cover having cooperating securing means forming a closure between a peripheral edge of the board and an edge of the cover, which closure may be readily opened to allow the cover to be removed to expose the area to receive the puzzle.

Preferably the free marginal edge portions of the base have closure means. One side of the cover may be secured to a side of the base with a hinge connection or a spine to be folded back.

In a preferred embodiment the closure comprises a strip of magnetic material on one part and a strip of magnetisable material on the other part whereby the peripheral edges of the board and cover may be held together by mutual attraction between the parts. In another alternative arrangement the parts may be held together by inter-engagement between a fibrous material and a plastics material incorporating a plurality of barbs, such as the material known by the registered Trade Mark "Velcro".

In yet another embodiment closure may be effected by cohesion between a highly polished surface of the cover and a corresponding highly polished surface of the board.

The board may be highly polished around the perimeter whereby the cover edges will cohere thereto, or may be polished over the whole of the surface so that portions of the board not occupied by jigsaw pieces may cohere with the cover, thus preventing displacement of the pieces.

Preferably the cover is hingedly connected to the board along one side and where the cover is of a flexible plastics material the connection may be constituted by a clamp-like fastening device securing the cover to a side of the board. The cover may include a thin layer of foamed plastics material on the surface which comes into contact with the board to provide a support for the jigsaw so as to prevent pieces of same moving. The surface of the board may incorporate a baize or similar material on its surface to receive the jigsaw.

Two embodiments by way of example are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows a plan view of a first embodiment, Figure 2 is a side view, Figures 3and Figure 4 are detail views at A and B of Figure 2 respectively, Figure 5 shows a plan view of a second embodiment, Figure 6 is a section of CC of Figure 5, Figure 7 is a section of BB of Figure 5, and Figure 8 is a section on AA of Figure 5.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, a support board for a jigsaw puzzle comprises a base 1 of which the surface 2 is to receive a jigsaw. The base has integral ribs 3 which form feet. The surface of the base receiving the jigsaw may have a strip of baize material 4 secured thereto over the whole area or may be polished, the latter being preferred.

Secured to an end 5 of the base is a flexible plastics sheet 6 and this may be retained by a strip 7 attached by rivets 8 or adhesive passing through the strip 7, sheet 6 and through the end of the board 1. The plastics sheet 6 has a flexible magnetic rubber material 9 provided along the three free edges. This material 9 cooperates with a steel strip either inlaid into a recess in or directly on the top surface of the base and when the sheet is placed over the base it is securely held in position and thus traps the jigsaw pieces. In a modification either the base board or the flexible sheet may include a thin covering of foamed plastics material thereon or be highly polished to act as a base orto firmly hold the pieces in position against possible disturbance.If both the base and sheet are highly polished they will cohere at locations not occupied by jigsaw pieces, thus retaining same against lateral movement.

The edges of the base board may include cut-away portions 10 to enable it to be lifted from a table or the like.

Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, these show a generally similar construction with a base board 20 in this case of modular construction formed from a number of sections, which can be assembled and secured together. This enables the sixe of the board to be easily adjusted either in manufacture or by providing for the sections to be dismantled by a user, thus adapting the area to that of the jigsaw being constructed. In the arrangement shown the various sections are held together by screw fastenings 21 which pass through the board from the top surface into suitable mounting blocks 22 located underneath the board. The upper surface of the board may include a baize 23, but preferably is highly polished for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned, and this is laid within a shallow recess defined by a border around the perimeter of the board.This thus defines a slightly recessed area 24 for retaining the jigsaw. A flexible plastics cover 25 overlies the surface of the base board and this is secured at one side by means of a strip 26 and screw fastenings 27. The cover again includes a magnetic strip around the three free sides and this cooperates with a magnetisable material 28 which conveniently may be located within a channel 29 around the perimeter of the board.

Alternatively the recess may be provided, in effect, by the metal strip which stands proud of the board.

The use of magnetic strip material and magnetisable metal part, or the cohesive nature of polished surfaces, provides a particularly convenient securing means in so far as the whole edge of the cover sheet is reliably connected, thus avoiding any single piece passing through a gap which might otherwise exist with other means for securing the cover. The securing is furthermore achieved simply by the action of bringing the cover over the top of the jigsaw without operation of any catches or the like and the connection should not separate during normal storage and movement. In the embodiments shown the width of the magnetic strip is 14 mm as is the strip of magnetisable metal. An optional feature which may be included in the board is a suitable cavity enabling pieces of the jigsaw to be retained for convenience during assembly. In a modification the board is in section joined by one or more hinges to fold, to facilitate storage when not in use. The magnetic strip can be provided in discrete spaced locations rather than being continuous.

Claims

1. A board for supporting and holding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle comprising a base defining an area to receive a jigsaw puzzle and a cover which may be brought into face-to-face proximity with the base, a marginal edge portion of the base and the cover having cooperating securing means forming a closure between a peripheral edge of the board and an edge of the cover, which closure may be readily opened to allow the cover to be removed to expose the area to receive the puzzle.

2. A board according to Claim 1, wherein the free marginal edge portions of the cover and the corresponding edge portions of the base have closure means.

3. A base board according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein one side of the cover may be secured to a side of the base with a hinge connection or a spine enabling the cover to be hinged orfolded back.

4. A board according to any preceding Claim, wherein the closure comprises a strip of magnetic material on one part and a strip of magnetisable material on the other part whereby the peripheral edges of the board and cover may be held together by mutual attraction between the parts.

5. A board according to any preceding Claim 1 to 3, wherein the parts may be held together by inter-engagement between a fibrous material and a plastics material incorporating a plurality of barbs.

6. A board according to any preceding Claim 1 to 3, wherein the closure between the cover and board is effected by cohesion between a highly polished surface of the cover and a corresponding highly polished surface of the board.

7. A board according to Claim 6, wherein the board is highly polished around the perimeter whereby the cover edges will cohere thereto, or may be polished over the whole of the surface so that portions of the board not occupied by jigsaw pieces may cohere with the cover, thus preventing displace mentofthe pieces.

8. A board according to any preceding Claim, wherein the cover is hingedly connected to the board along one side and where the cover is of a flexible plastics material the connection may be constituted by a clamp-like fastening device securing the cover to a side of the board.

9. A board according to any preceding Claim, wherein the cover includes a thin layer of foamed plastics material on the surface which comes into contact with the board to provice a support for the jigsaw so as to prevent pieces of same moving.

10. A board according to any preceding Claim, wherein the base comprises a number of separate sections assembled to form the whole.

11. A board for the purpose herein set forth and substantially as herein described and illustrated in the drawings.