EP0295992A1 - Puzzle - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject 1g of the puzzle is a combination of a text 3g combined with a juxtaposed and/or superposed drawing 2g, acting as an assembly guide for the positioning of at least one part of the movable elements making up the puzzle, at least in the direction of the subject perpendicular to the lines of the text. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a game of patience, commonly called a puzzle, composed of a plurality of mobile elements of complementary contours which must be assembled by juxtaposition to form a predetermined subject.

The puzzles so far proposed are intended to reproduce an ornamental subject, a complete representation of which is generally provided to the player to guide him in the correct assembly of the elements of the puzzle. These subjects do not include text strictly speaking, at most a signature, a copyright or digital reference, a title.

It seems interesting to extend the subject of puzzles to texts by constituting a main object. However, a puzzle whose subject is composed entirely of a text would present a considerable difficulty for the assembly of its elements, due to the monotony of appearance of the lines of text and the repetition of certain words, especially articles and conjunctions, in the absence of a model. But providing the player with a model of the text to reproduce would remove almost all the interest from a game that would otherwise be devoid of any aesthetic appeal. In addition, the usual cutouts of the puzzle elements hitherto marketed, of bypassed shapes, do not lend themselves well to the cutting of a text with parallel lines, and to the reading of the text reconstituted by assembly of the elements, as a result of deformations, or even wear and tear of printing at the edge of the elements.

The object of the invention is in particular to produce puzzles avoiding such drawbacks, it also allows inexpensive manufacture and the production of puzzles constituting educational games.

The subject of the invention is a puzzle characterized by what the numerous mobile elements which it comprises form, after correct assembly, a subject comprising a text, combined with a juxtaposed and / or superimposed drawing, serving as a guide for the positioning of at least part of the elements, at least in the meaning of the subject perpendicular to the lines of the text.

Such a puzzle may also include a representation of the subject's drawing, without text, serving as a model for the assembly of the elements.

The elements of such a puzzle are advantageously constituted by elongated sections whose long sides are parallel to the lines of the text and the short sides are curved, or rectilinear, perpendicular or inclined with respect to the long sides, or in broken lines, of shape complementary to the short sides of the adjacent elements or to the limits of the subject during assembly.

The drawing may cover the whole subject or be limited to at least one partial vertical area of the subject and appears at least partially only on the elements to be assembled to constitute this zone, the other elements being devoid of drawing.

According to a practical embodiment, the elements comprising part of the text, with or without part of the drawing, have a width, between parallel sides, corresponding to at least one space between two midline spaces.

The text can be surrounded by the drawing and the elements at the side border of the text include both part of the text and the drawing.

The drawing can be constituted, at least partially, by at least one illuminated letter of each line of text, extending at least partially over two adjacent elements.

Also, the drawing can be constituted at least in part, by at least partial coloring of each element, of different color for each row, or group of rows, of elements perpendicular to the lines of the text.

Each element of the puzzle can be bordered by a colored border distinctive of its vertical location in the assembly.

The elements of the puzzle can be economically constituted by sections of ribbon, paper, cardboard, or plastic, preferably of various lengths adapted to the words of the text.

According to a cheap embodiment, the elements are removed by the user before assembly, in sheets on which they are printed and delimited in dispersed order, and possibly partially precut.

Such elements can advantageously be self-adhesive and, preferably, repositionable, in order to facilitate their handling by the player.

According to a variant, the elements are printed on each side, and the support is transparent, the assembled elements thus forming two subjects with ornate text visible respectively on the front and through the back of the support.

The drawing can be an illustration of the subject's text. It can for example represent a plant, an animal, a machine, a landscape, a geographic map, a monument, an individual, described by the associated text.

For educational purposes, it is advantageous that at least part of its elements relate to parts of the text of specific selected character, in particular grammatical, syntactic, phonetic, lexicological, semantic, stylistic, poetic, these elements being identified, by category, by a colored or graphic distinctive mark.

Understanding the invention may be facilitated by examining and describing the accompanying drawings which illustrate some examples of embodiments of the invention among its many variants and adaptations accessible to those skilled in the art.

• La figure 1 est une vue schématique d'un premier sujet 1a réalisé par assemblage des éléments juxtaposés d'un puzzle suivant l'invention. Les limites jointives des éléments n'ont pas été représentées dans un but de simplification. Le dessin 2a couvre la totalité du texte 3a.
• La figure 2 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 1, d'un deuxième sujet 1b où le dessin 2b entoure seulement le texte 3b.
• La figure 3 est une vue, analogue aux précédentes, d'un troisième sujet 1c où le dessin 2c est limité à une zone verticale, à gauche du texte 3c.
• La figure 4 est une vue, analogue à celle de la figure 3, d'un quatrième sujet 1d, où le dessin 2d est limité à une zone verticale, à droite du texte 3d.
• La figure 5 est une vue, analogue à celle des fi­gures 3 et 4, d'un cinquième sujet 1e, où le dessin 2e est limité à une zone verticale, dans la partie médiane du texte 3e.
• La figure 6 est une vue schématique d'un modèle 1f servant de guide d'assemblage des éléments du puzzle pour la construction du sujet 1e, de la figure 5, et n'en comportant que la représentation du dessin 2e, sans le texte 3e.
• La figure 7 est une vue schématique d'un sixième sujet 1g, où le dessin 2g est limité à des bandes parallè­les striant obliquement le texte 3g. Les limites jointives des éléments assemblés sont indiquées.
• La figure 8 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 7, d'un septième sujet 1h, où le dessin 2h est constitué par une bordure colorée de chaque élément, dis­tinctive de sa situation horizontale dans le sujet.
• La figure 9, est une vue schématique d'une feuille sur laquelle sont imprimés, en désordre, des éléments 4i de puzzle, à détacher avant assemblage.
• La figure 10 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 9, d'une variante dans laquelle les éléments 4j de puzzle sont imprimés en ligne à la suite les uns des autres mais dans un ordre différent de celui du texte à former par un assemblage correct.

In these drawings, the corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, possibly assigned an alphabetical index with or without a sign, and the respective scales and dimensions have not been observed for clarity.

• Figure 1 is a schematic view of a first subject 1 is made by assembling the elements juxtaposed in a puzzle according to the invention. The contiguous boundaries of the elements have not been shown for the purpose of simplification. Drawing 2a covers the entire text 3a.
• Figure 2 is a view similar to that of Figure 1, of a second subject 1 b where the drawing 2 b surrounds only the text 3 b .
• FIG. 3 is a view, similar to the preceding ones, of a third subject 1 c where the drawing 2 c is limited to a vertical zone, to the left of the text 3 c .
• Figure 4 is a view, similar to that of Figure 3, of a fourth subject 1 d , where the drawing 2 d is limited to a vertical area, to the right of the text 3 d .
• FIG. 5 is a view, similar to that of FIGS. 3 and 4, of a fifth subject 1 e , where the drawing 2 e is limited to a vertical zone, in the middle part of the text 3 e .
• Figure 6 is a schematic view of a model 1 f serving as a guide for assembling the elements of the puzzle for the construction of the subject 1 e , of Figure 5, and comprising only the representation of the drawing 2 e , without text 3 e .
• Figure 7 is a schematic view of a sixth subject 1 g , where the drawing 2 g is limited to parallel bands obliquely striating the text 3 g . The contiguous limits of the assembled elements are indicated.
• Figure 8 is a view similar to that of Figure 7, of a seventh subject 1 h , where the drawing 2 h is constituted by a colored border of each element, distinctive of its horizontal position in the subject.
• Figure 9 is a schematic view of a sheet on which are printed, out of order, puzzle elements 4 i , to be detached before assembly.
• FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 9, of a variant in which the 4 j puzzle elements are printed in line one after the other but in a different order from that of the text to be formed by a correct assembly.

Drawing 2 has been shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 to 6 by a sinuous line and by hatching in FIG. 7, but it can of course represent any abstract decoration or not. In FIG. 8, the drawing has only been shown diagrammatically by a framing, partial or not, of accentuated tint for the elements 4 h situated to the left of the subject, of light tint for the elements 4 h ′ from the center of the subject, and of tint little accentuated for the 4h ˝ elements located to the right of the subject. Of course the shades can differ from one category to another of elements, in color or in intensity.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the drawing also includes illuminated letters 2 c ′ and 2 d ′ respectively, advantageously but not necessarily overlapping two superimposed elements.

The elements of the puzzle may each include a part of the drawing and fragments of two or more superimposed lines, like the element 4 g in FIG. 7, or of a single line of text like the elements 4 g ′, or not of text at all, like the 4 g ˝ elements in Figure 7, or no drawing at all like the 4 g ‴ elements.

The lateral junctions of the strip sections constituting the elements of the puzzle may have a rectilinear cut, perpendicular to the long sides, like the element 4 h in FIG. 8, or inclined (element 4 g , FIG. 7), or sinuosidal (element 4 h ‴, figure 8), or in a broken line (element 4 g˝˝ , figure 7). The cuts can be similar to each end of the section (element 4g in figure 7) or different (element 4g in 7 figure 7).

It is easy to imagine other variants within the framework of the invention according to the more or less preeminent purpose of fun, or curiosity, or educational, depending on the drawing, ornamental or functional, and the text, literary, descriptive, or poetic. The invention is particularly well suited to subjects consisting of reproductions of illuminated and ornamented historical documents.

According to a variant, the elements of the puzzle are formed, at least in part, by a magnetic, or magnetizable, material and are applied for their assembly on a magnetic, or magnetizable, support, according to the known technique of magnetic boards.

Claims (8)

1. Puzzle game, characterized in that it comprises movable elements (4) constituted by elongated sections whose long sides are parallel to the lines of a text of several lines (3), forming part of the subject to be reconstructed by assembly of the elements, the short sides of the elements being curved (4h′˝), or rectilinear, perpendicular (4h) or inclined (4g) relative to the long sides, or in a broken line (4g˝˝), of complementary shape short sides of the adjacent elements or of the subject's limits during assembly, the elements (4) comprising part of the text, having a width, between parallel sides, corresponding to at least one space between two midline spaces, the elements (4d) being of various lengths adapted to the words of the text. 2. Puzzle game according to claim 1, characterized in that the elements (4i, 4j) consist of sections of paper tape, cardboard, or plastic, to be fixed on a support, taken by the user before assembly, in sheets on which they are printed and delimited in dispersed order, and possibly partially precut. 3. Puzzle game according to claim 2, characterized in that the elements are self-adhesive, preferably repositionable. 4. Puzzle game according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the elements are printed on each side, and the support is transparent, the assembled elements thus forming two subjects with ornate text visible respectively on the front and through the back of the support. 5. Puzzle game according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the numerous mobile elements which it comprises form, after correct assembly, a subject (1) comprising a text (3) combined with a drawing ( 2), juxtaposed and / or superimposed, serving as a guide for the positioning of at least part of the elements (4), at less in the direction of the subject perpendicular to the lines of the text, the movable elements being made up of elongated sections whose long sides are parallel to the lines of the text and delimited at each end by a complementary cutting of the adjacent sections, or of the frame of the subject, serving guide to the positioning of the movable elements in the direction of the subject parallel to the lines of the text, the drawing (2c) being able in particular to be limited to at least one partial vertical zone of the subject or surrounding the text, and to appear at least partially only on the elements (4) to be assembled to constitute this zone, the other elements being devoid of drawing. 6. Puzzle game according to claim 5, characterized in that it also comprises a support illustrated by a representation of the drawing (2e) of the subject (1f), without text, serving as a model and guide for assembling the elements. 7. Puzzle game according to one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that some of its elements have at least partially a different color coloring for each row, or group of rows, of elements (4h) perpendicular to the lines of text. 8. Puzzle game according to claim 7, characterized in that each element (4h) is bordered by a colored border distinctive of its vertical location in the assembly.

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