Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F9/00—Games not otherwise provided for
  • A63F9/06—Patience; Other games for self-amusement
  • A63F9/10—Two-dimensional jig-saw puzzles

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of patience games known as puzzles, a term usually used to designate a set of pieces which, correctly assembled, reconstitute an image, previously fixed on a support, the whole then being cut out.
• This image which represents any subject, is generally the reproduction of a painting, a drawing, or a photograph.
• the present invention essentially relates to puzzles cut out by a set of lines in two directions belonging to the plane of the puzzle and approximately orthogonal, and the pieces of which are arranged in such a way that each piece occupies a defined position at the intersection of a row and a column, each of its four sides can therefore only be in direct contact with one side of a single other part. Any piece of the puzzle can therefore only be adjacent to four other pieces at most.
• the cutting lines have a slightly irregular character, which recalls the cutting style of hand-made puzzles, but a perfectly regular cutting of the pieces is also possible.
• the present invention relates to puzzles whose pieces are not simply juxtaposed, but are connected by a set of male and female elements, two by two complementary, belonging to the sides of these different pieces, and ensuring the solidarity of each part of the puzzle with the whole in the plane of the puzzle, without any other means being necessary for this purpose, the assembly and disassembly of these parts being then possible only in a direction not belonging to the puzzle map.
• two adjacent parts are connected by a male element belonging to one side of one of the parts and a female element belonging to one side of the other part, these complementary elements, generally of rounded shape, ensuring solidarity of these two pieces.
• two adjacent parts are connected by several male elements and several female elements, two by two complementary.
• US Pat. No. 5,022,655 has proposed including in the cutting of the puzzle one or more rectangles, or more generally one or more polygons, so as to add pieces having a right side on either side of the borders of these rectangles, or of these polygons, as well as new corner pieces having two straight sides.
• This solution effectively results in making the assembly of the puzzle significantly more difficult, the pieces constituting the border of the puzzle no longer being distinguished, by their shape, from these interior pieces.
• the main objective of the present invention is to make the assembly of the puzzle actually more difficult and, thereby, more interesting, while preserving the essential characteristics of a puzzle, as defined above. To this end, it offers an innovative solution, more efficient and more satisfactory than those proposed to date.
• the cutting lines of the puzzle comprise straight segments, of variable number and length, and such that the interior pieces of the puzzle each have, for all of these interior pieces or, failing this, for a part only of these, representing however more than half of them, at least one right side, these straight segments being arranged in such a way that they do not form, inside the perimeter of the puzzle, any closed polygonal line , that is to say no polygon, nor any polygonal line connecting two distinct points of the perimeter of the puzzle.
• all of the interior pieces of the puzzle have, either, for part of them, one and only one right side, or, for the rest of these pieces, two adjacent straight sides forming an angle.
• all of the interior pieces of the puzzle each have one and only one right side.
• certain sides of the outer pieces of the puzzle, other than those forming the perimeter of the puzzle are straight.
• the only pieces of the puzzle having at least one right side are interior pieces.
• the arrangement of the straight segments has a regular character, resulting from the repetition of one or more patterns.
• a first result of the present invention is to make it really more difficult to assemble a puzzle and less efficient, even inoperative, the method usually followed, consisting in starting by assembling the border of the puzzle, a generally simple step which makes it possible to delimit the contours of the puzzle, and continue the assembly by progressing inward. In some cases, the construction of the border of the puzzle may only come late, and even last, in the assembly process.
• the invention shows that it is possible to make a puzzle comprising a large proportion, and as large as desirable, of interior pieces each having at least one straight side relative to the total number of interior pieces.
• This proportion can thus represent the totality of these parts, the presence of traditional interior parts without right side being in no way necessary.
• This situation where all of the interior pieces of the puzzle each have at least one right side, represents the most satisfactory embodiment of the invention, in that it allows the desired result to be fully achieved, which is to make actually making the puzzle more difficult.
• the invention also makes it possible to produce a puzzle where certain sides of the external pieces, other than those forming the perimeter of the puzzle, are straight, which can represent an additional difficulty. Finally, the invention makes it possible to produce a puzzle whose only pieces having at least one right side are located not on the edge, but inside the puzzle, which constitutes a particularly unusual situation.
• Another important result of the present invention is to preserve, whatever the embodiment chosen, the essential characteristics of a puzzle, as defined above, in particular, the solidarity of each part of the puzzle with the whole in the plane of the puzzle, the assembly and disassembly of the parts then being possible only in a direction not belonging to the plane of the puzzle.
• the arrangement of the straight segments, which belong to the cutting lines of the puzzle is such that these segments do not form, inside the perimeter of the puzzle, any closed polygonal line, that is to say - say no polygon, no polygonal line connecting two distinct points of the perimeter of the puzzle.
• each part of the puzzle is integral with the whole in the plane of the puzzle, by means, as has been specified, of a set of male and female elements, two by two complementary, belonging to sides of the different pieces, each piece being thus connected to at least one other piece of the puzzle.
• This is achieved without the need to use any other means, such as, for example, double joining pieces.
• each piece of the puzzle occupies a defined position at the intersection of a line and a column, each of its four sides can thus be directly in contact with only one side of a single other piece, which excludes, in particular, double joining pieces.
• a final result of the present invention is to propose an original cutting style allowing the creation of new and varied models, and thus contributing to the renewal of the art of the puzzle.
• the number of straight segments, which belong to the cutting lines of the puzzle is variable, and the arrangement of these straight segments is free, provided however of forming no closed polygonal line or connecting two distinct points of the perimeter of the puzzle .
• These segments are of variable length, those of rather small length ensuring better cohesion of the puzzle structure. They can be isolated or linked, thus forming angles and thus broken lines.
• the arrangement of the different straight segments has, in its most general form, an irregular character. This arrangement, where there is no reference to the arrangement of the different pieces, makes it possible to create a particularly difficult puzzle to assemble.
• the arrangement of the different straight segments may, on the contrary, be regular, resulting from the repetition of one or more patterns.
• the structure of the puzzle is then relatively balanced and homogeneous, which can be an advantage.
• Such an arrangement can also be considered as an additional decorative element, insofar as the cutting lines are visible.
• the straight segments, in whole or in part, can also be highlighted, either directly, these segments being underlined by a line forming an integral part of the image, or indirectly, these segments making it possible to delimit the contours of parts of the different color image.
• FIG. 7 present examples which illustrate the possibilities of implementing the invention according to its various embodiments.
• Each figure represents, for practical reasons, a puzzle comprising a reduced number of pieces, that is to say 80 pieces. Naturally, each of these figures could easily be adapted to make a larger puzzle.
• the perimeter and the cutting lines of the puzzle have been represented, and the straight segments belonging to these cutting lines have been highlighted by a thicker line, just like the perimeter of the puzzle.
• Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a puzzle according to the invention.
• the puzzle (1) is cut by a set of lines (3) which include straight segments (6).
• the outer pieces (4) which constitute the border of the puzzle and form its perimeter (2), of rectangular shape, have either a single right side, or, for those located at the corners, two adjacent straight sides.
• the interior parts (5) also have, for each of them, either a single right side, or two adjacent straight sides.
• the straight segments (6) have a variable length. Some of these segments are isolated, the others are interconnected and form angles and broken lines. The arrangement of the different segments has no apparent regularity.
• Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of a puzzle according to the invention.
• the arrangement of the straight segments (6) here has a regular character, resulting from the repetition of the same pattern, itself symmetrical, once in the left half of the puzzle, once in the right half.
• Figures 3, 4, and 5 show other exemplary embodiments of a puzzle according to the invention.
• the interior parts (5) each have a single right side, and the straight segments (6) are isolated from each other.
• these straight segments have a variable length, and their arrangement has no apparent regularity.
• FIG. 1 shows a regular character, resulting from the repetition of the same pattern, itself symmetrical, once in the left half of the puzzle, once in the right half.
• Figures 3, 4, and 5 show other exemplary embodiments of a puzzle according to the invention.
• the interior parts (5) each have a single right side, and the straight segments (6) are isolated from each other.
• these straight segments have a variable length, and their arrangement has no apparent regularity.
• these straight segments all have the same length, equal to twice that of one side of a part, and are arranged alternately horizontally and vertically, in a simple repeating pattern, the assembly thus having a character regular and homogeneous.
• these straight segments all have the same length, the smallest possible, equal to that of one side of a piece, with the exception of a single segment of double length placed in the center of the puzzle, and the arrangement of these segments also has a regular and homogeneous character.
• FIG. 6 presents an exemplary embodiment of a puzzle according to a more general form of the invention.
• the outer pieces (4) here have either a single right side, or two opposite straight sides, or two adjacent straight sides, these latter pieces not only being located at the corners of the puzzle.
• the interior parts (5) also have, for the most part, either a single straight side, or two opposite straight sides, or two adjacent straight sides. In this example, some of these interior parts, in small numbers, have no right side.
• Such a puzzle could also have included a few pieces, interior or exterior, having three straight sides, this situation obviously constituting a borderline case, each piece being necessarily connected by at least one of its sides to another piece of the puzzle.
• FIG. 7 presents a last example of embodiment of a puzzle according to the invention. This figure is similar to Figure 1, but the perimeter (2) of the puzzle is here irregular in shape and the outer pieces (4) have no right side. Such a situation, where the only parts having at least one right side are interior parts, is particularly unusual.
• the implementation of the present invention does not require any modification of the industrial process of production of puzzles and does not present any specific difficulty, whatever the manufacturing technique chosen. It only requires the production of a cutting model in accordance with the characteristics of the invention and, in the case of conventional manufacture, the use of a suitable cutting form.
• the present invention in its various embodiments, is applicable to puzzles of any kind having at least the required characteristics, whatever the dimensions of the puzzle, the number and size of its pieces, the material of manufacture used (cardboard , wood, plastic, or any suitable material) and the thickness of that material. It applies to puzzles whose perimeter is rectangular, or any other shape. It applies to puzzles comprising all different parts, or comprising parts of strictly identical size and shape. It applies to two-sided puzzles, the image being able to be identical or different on the two faces of the puzzle, as well as to puzzles made up of several layers, opaque or partly transparent, cut in an identical or different manner. It applies to puzzles which represent a totally flat or slightly raised image, and to puzzles comprising certain hollowed-out interior parts.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9469810

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (4)

• 1994
  • 1994-12-14 FR FR9415073A patent/FR2728177A1/fr active Granted
• 1995
  • 1995-12-13 EP EP95942257A patent/EP0797470B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-12-13 WO PCT/FR1995/001659 patent/WO1996018443A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1995-12-13 JP JP8518374A patent/JPH10511017A/ja active Pending
  • 1995-12-13 DE DE69511721T patent/DE69511721T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (4)

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