US555539A

US555539A - Puzzle

Info

Publication number: US555539A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1896-03-03
Anticipated expiration: 1913-03-03

Description

(No Model.) I

D. B. STEPHENS.

PUZZLE.

Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

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WITNESSES;- fel. $04721,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEXTER B. STEPHENS, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,539, dated March 3, 1896. Application filed October 2, 1895. erial No. 564,409. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DEXTER B. STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement-Puzzles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

The object of my invention is a new amusement-puzzle that is cheaply made and conveniently handled and operated, and that, because bringing into action the reasoning faculties in solution, is at once a source of great amusement and a means of strengthening the mental faculties. I accomplish this object by the device hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawings, to be read from the left-handed margin, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, side, and partially perspective view of the two parts A and B of my invention in relative positions, as when placed in the hands of the novice for solution. Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the part A in another position and separated from the part B. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the part B separated from the part A; and Fig. 4C is a' side elevational view of my puzzle, showing the side opposite to that shown at Fig. 1, with the parts A and B thereof in the relative positions as secured by its solution.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all views.

For facility in description I term the side on which the greater portions of the rings or loops appear, as in Fig. 1, the back side, and the opposite side, as in Fig. 4, the front side, the edges being termed the right or left edges, as the puzzle may be presented.

The solution of the puzzle consists in bringing the two parts A and B from the relative positions shown at Fig. 1 to the relative positions shown at Fig. 4 and returning them from the last to the first named positions. The method of this, after description of the two parts A and B that constitute my puzzle, will be explained.

The parts A and B are made of similar steel wire of equal gage and of such finish as may be desired.

The part A is in U form, the ends of the stems a and b terminating in the equal and similar partial rings or loops Z Z, such loops being circular and having at least two-thirds of their curves upon one side and the same side of a line representing a prolongation of the stems a and Z). The loops Z Z from their highest points downward to termination gradually deflect inward, or toward each other, the ends or points of termination of the wire being on the horizontal plane of the back sides of the wires and exhibitinga space between such terminals and the wires a hairs breadth less than the diameter of the wire, which is everywhere equal. The length of the stems a and b and the distance between the same, the size of the equal loops Z, Z and and Z, and the number or size of the wire used are each a matter of choice, provided that each is such as to permit the free action of the part B hereinafter to be described.

The part B is exactly similar to the part of the part A severed a little above the curved portion that unites the stems a and b, so that the stem 2 is a little shorterthan the stems a and b of the part A.

The mechanism of my puzzle being now understood, I shall next proceed to explain the method of solving the puzzle, there being only one way in which this can be done. The part A is seized upon the sides of the stems a and 6 between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand with the back side of the puzzle turned toward the operator, which posi tion of the part A is maintained throughout. The end of the stem e of the part B is then turned upward and passed through the loop Z of the part A and passed upward until the loops Z and Z are in contact. The loopZ is then drawn upward as nearly vertical as possible by the right hand until it links with the loop Z. The stem 8 of the part B is then drawn outward until it is at an angle with the stems of the part A pointing toward the body of the operator, who, then holding the stem 6 of the partB between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, moves the same from right to left, turning it upward and over away from his body in a crank-like motion until the openings in the loops Z and Z are coincident, when the loop 1 becomes freed from the loop l. The stem eof the part B is then passedbetween the loops Z l" of the part A, and the openings in the loops 1 and 7/ are brought into coincidence, linking said loops together. In doing this, as in forming the next link, the parts A and B, as much as may be, are kept at an angle with each other. The openings in loops Z and Z are next brought into similar coincidence, linking the same together. The stem 6 is then dropped between the stems to and b and turned to the position seen at Fig. 4c, and the puzzle is solved. The reverse of these several movements will return the parts to positions as shown at Fig. 1.

\Vhat I claim is The amusement-puzzle consisting, in combination, of the wire-made U-formed part A having at the ends of its stems a and Z) the similar and equal partial rings or loops Z Z, each having its greater portion on the same side of the vertical plane of the stems, and in such larger portions gradually deflecting from the highest point downward toward each other exhibiting at the terminals of the curvatures which are on the horizontal planes of the forward sides of the stems a and l), openings a hairs breadth less than the diameter of the wire; and of the part B in form representing a side of the part A severed a little above the uniting portion; all substantially as described and for the purpose expressed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DEXTER 1-3. STEPHENS. Vitnesses:

F. A. JEWELL, J. (t AUGUSTINE.