GB2105997A - Block puzzle - Google Patents

Abstract

The puzzle may comprise a base 10, having an array of upstanding fingers 11, and a plurality of bricks 12, each having three mutually perpendicular through holes 13. The bricks have separately marked faces, eg colours, and are located on the fingers to form a cube having separate colours on each face. However, the puzzle may comprise eight bricks each marked with one of three markings or colours on two faces. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Logical toy The present invention provides a building toy that is also a logical toy and is based on stackable cubes coloured or otherwise marked on their faces.

Broadly stated the invention provides a logical puzzle comprising eight cubical bricks each marked on two of its faces with a first, a second and a third distinguishable mark and intended to be built into a 2x2x2 cube in which the bricks forming each visible face present a mark of the same kind, subject to the proviso that (a) there are two bricks whose upper and lower faces have the first marks and whose front, right side, rear and left side faces respectively have the second second third and third marks, and the second third second and third marks, (b) there are three bricks whose upper face bears the first mark and whose lower face bears the second mark, the front, right side, rear and left side faces respectively having the first second third and third marks, the firstthird second and third marks and the first third third and second marks, and (c) there are three bricks whose upper face bears the -first mark and whose lower face bears the third mark, the front, right side rear and left side faces respectively having the first second second and third marks, the first second third and second marks and the first third, second and second marks.

The indicia are conveniently colours such as red, yellow and green but they could be numbers or letters or other geometrical marks such as triangles, squares and hexagons, or human or animal figures.

The individual bricks may present plain faces or may have interengaging formations so that a partly assembled cube may be held together. Thus male and female connectors of the well-known "lego brick" (lego is a Registered Trade Mark) type could provide a releasable connection between the bricks, such connectors being located so as to leave space for the indicia.

In a further aspect the invention provides a combined stacking toy and logical puzzle comprising a base having a two dimensional array of upstanding stacking fingers to form a cube base and a multiplicity of building bricks having three orthogonal through-holes so that they may be stacked in different attitudes onto the fingers to form a cube, the several bricks each having differently coloured faces but being stackable on the fingers to define a cube each of whose faces has a single colour or mark differing from the colour or mark of each other face.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1 to 8 diagrammatically illustrate individual bricks and Figures 9 to 18 illustrate cubes built from the bricks.

Figure 19 shows a pair of bricks according to the invention on a base on which they may be stacked.

In Figures 1 to 8 of the drawings the six related faces of the eight cubical bricks that make up the puzzle are shown. The eight bricks may, of course, be built into a cube irrespective of their orientation.

But rules according to the invention define the way in which the three different colours of the available colour set are allocated to the six different faces of each brick. The six faces of each brick are coloured in pairs and will be referred to as the upper face, the lower face and the front, right side, rear and left side faces. Any colours that give rise to a user attractive puzzle may be employed, but red, yellow and green can typically be selected. In the drawings a red face is denoted by the letter R, a yellow face is denoted by the letter Y and a green face is denoted by the letter G. Each brick is shown so oriented that the top face is coloured red, there will be a further red face, two yellow faces and two green faces.In the figures the left hand view marked A represents the upper, front and right sides faces and the right hand view marked B represents the rear, left side and lower faces.

In Figures 1 and 2 the bricks have red lower faces and on the four side faces have respectively a pair of adjoining green faces and two pairs of alternate yellow and green faces as shown. Thus the Y-Y-G-G cyclo-permutation of colour is shown in Figure 1 and the Y-G-Y-G cyclo-permutation is shown in Figure 2.

In figures 3 to 5 the lower face of the brick is yellow, there is a red side face and a yellow side face, and the remaining side faces are green. In Figure 3 the cyclo-permutation of colours on the side faces is R-Y-G-G, in Figure 4 it is R-G-Y-G and in Figure 5 it is R-G-G-Y. Figures 6 to 8 show bricks marked with green on their lower faces so that one side face is red, another pair of side faces is yellow and the remaining pair of side faces is green. In Figure 6 the cyclo-permutation of side face colours is R-Y-Y-G, in Figure 7 it is R-Y-G-Y and in Figure 8 it is R-G-Y-Y.

there are therefore eight bricks having different cyclo-permutations of colour and each designated by reference numerals 1 to 8 in Figures 1 to 8. As described above, the six faces of the bricks are related and are equivalent to one another. If the reference face is taken to be a red face, the orientation of each brick may be changed freely. It is apparent therefore that the bricks 3 and 8 have the same colour configuration as do bricks 5 and 6 but are merely shown in different orientations.

As set out above, the puzzle of the invention consists, in one aspect, in eight bricks built into a cube which will have twice the length of a brick, each face four times the area of a brick and a volume equivalent to eight bricks. The theory of permutations and combinations tells us that there are 1260 ways of building the individual bricks into the cube with different brick dispositions. But this number of disposition is enormously increased by the different possible face orientations of the individual bricks.

Amongst the enormous number of cubes that can be made having differently coloured exteriors there are eighteen colour matched cubes in which the six faces may respectively be represented by any one of the three colours as described hereinafter.

Figures 9 to 18 illustrate the solution to the puzzle.

In Figure 9 the bricks are assembled into a colour- matched cube in which the top and bottom faces are red, and the side faces are Y-Y-G-G which is similar to Figure 1. Figures lotto 14 correspond to Figures 2, 3 or 8, 4, 5 or 6 and 7 respectively and comprise five solutions. There are therefore, in total, six solutions that have been found with two red faces, two yellow faces and two green faces. There are also two solutions illustrated in Figures 15 and 16 where there are three red faces of the cube, two yellow faces and the remaining face is green. In Figures 17 and 18 there are three red faces of the cube, two green faces and one yellow face.There are therefore four solutions possible in which there are three red faces - and, of course, there are similarly four three yellow face solutions and four three green face solutions amounting in all to twelve solutions. The sum of the possible solutions that has been found is therefore eighteen.

Figure 19 shows a base 10 having upstanding fingers 11 disposed in a two dimensional array and supporting bricks 12 each having three orthogonal through-holes. The bricks may be stacked on the fingers 11 to form a cube having each of its faces the same colour and each different from one another. In the drawing there is a 2 by 2 array of fingers to provide for stacking of bricks to form an 8 brick cube.

But in principle there can be provided a 3 by 3 array of fingers to provide for stacking of bricks to form a 27 brick cube of a 4 by 4 array of fingers to permit stacking of bricks to form a 64 element cube each coloured on its several faces with a single colour notwithstanding that the individual bricks have faces coloured with different colours.

The above described toy puzzle can be used as a colour matching logical puzzle and is interesting and attractive to both children and adults.

Claims (12)

1. A logical puzzle comprising eight cubical bricks each marked on two of its faces with a first, a second and a third distinguishable mark intended to be built into a 2x2x2 cube in which the bricks forming each visible face present a mark of the same kind, subject to the proviso that (a) there are two bricks whose upper and lower faces have the first marks and whose front, right side, rear and left side faces respectively have the second second third and third marks, and the second third second and third marks, (b) there are three bricks whose upper face bears the first mark and whose lower face bears the second mark, the front, right side, rear and left side faces respectively having the first second third and third marks, the first third second and third marks and the first third third and second marks, and (c) there are three bricks whose upper face bears the first mark and whose lower face bears the third mark, the front, right side rear and left side faces respectively having the first second second and third marks, the first second third and second marks and the first third, second and second marks.

2. A logical puzzle according to Claim 1 wherein the marks are in the form of colours applied to the several faces of the bricks.

3. A logical puzzle according to Claim 2 wherein the colours are red, yellow and green.

4. A set of eight cubical bricks to form a logical puzzle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

5. A pack comprising eight bricks assembled in the form of a 2x2x2 cube in which the bricks forming each visible face presents a mark of the same kind in association with directions to disassemble and rebuild the cube.

6. A pack according to Claim Swherein the bricks in the cube are as illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings and are assembled into a cube as illustrated in any one of Figures 9 to 18 of the accompanying drawings.

7. Atoycube ofthecolour-matching puzzle comprising eight unit cubes characterized in that each unit cube has six faces dyed with three different colours of red, yellow and green per each two faces in accordance with a rule that when its upper and lower faces are dyed with red, its four side faces on the front, the right, the rear and the left side can be respectively dyed with (1) yellow, yellow, green and green in order and (2) yellow, green, yellow and green in order, namely there are two cases as the cyclo-permutation of colours; when its upper face is dyed with red and its lower face is dyed with yellow, its four side faces can be respectively dyed with (3) red, yellow, green and green in order and (4) red, green, yellow and green in order and (5) red, green, green and yellow in order, namely there are three cases as the cyclo-permutation of colours; and when its upper face is dyed with red and its lower face is dyed with green, its four side faces can be respectively dyed with (6) red, yellow, yellow and green in order, (7) red, yellow, green and yellow in order and (8) red, green, yellow and yellow in order, namely there are three cases as the cyclo-permutation of colours.

8. Atoycubeofthecolour-matching puzzle claimed in Claim 7 wherein three different colours attached onto the six faces of each unit cube may be selected from all colours instead of red, yellow and green.

9. A combined stacking toy and logical puzzle comprising a base having a two dimensional array of upstanding stacking fingers to form a cube base and a multiplicity of building bricks having three orthogonal through-holes so that they may be stacked in different attitudes onto thefingers to form a cube, the several bricks each having differently coloured faces but being stackable on the fingers to define a cube each of whose faces has a single colour or mark differing from the colour or marks of each other face.

10. A combined stacking toy and logical puzzle wherein there are eight bricks and fingers in a 2x2 array.

11. A combined stacking toy and logical puzzle wherein there are 27 bricks and fingers in a 3 x 3 array.

12. A combined stacking toy and logical puzzle wherein there are 64 bricks and fingers in a 4x 4 array.