U.S. patent application number 11/879627 was filed with the patent office on 2009-01-22 for eight piece dissection puzzle.
Invention is credited to John H. Albers.
Application Number | 20090020947 11/879627 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40264209 |
Filed Date | 2009-01-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090020947 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Albers; John H. |
January 22, 2009 |
Eight piece dissection puzzle
Abstract
An eight-piece geometric puzzle includes five modified
rectangular tiles each having a 45.degree. interior angle, and
three triangular tiles. The tiles are of rigid flat construction so
as to be arrangeable on a flat surface edge to edge to form a
variety of recognizable two-dimensional figures including, but not
limited to, a rectangle, ship, cat head, cross, house, milk can,
duck, temple, space capsule, elongated rectangle, polygon, and
rocket.
Inventors: |
Albers; John H.; (Irvine,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PATENT LAW & VENTURE GROUP
2424 S.E. BRISTOL, SUITE 300
NEWPORT BEACH
CA
92660
US
|
Family ID: |
40264209 |
Appl. No.: |
11/879627 |
Filed: |
July 17, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/157R |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 9/10 20130101; A63F
2009/0695 20130101; A63F 2009/0697 20130101; A63F 9/06
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
273/157.R |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/10 20060101
A63F009/10 |
Claims
1. A geometric puzzle apparatus comprising: three planar isosceles
triangular tiles, each having three linear edges, two of the
triangular tiles being identical; and five planar truncated
rectangular tiles, each having four linear edges, two 90.degree.
interior angles and one 45.degree. interior angle; two of the
truncated rectangular tiles being identical; whereby said three
triangular tiles and five truncated rectangular tiles are
abuttingly arrangeable on a flat surface to form a plurality of
recognizable figures.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tiles are between 1/16th
and 1/8th of an inch in thickness.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tiles are of a rigid
material, said material being at least one of plastic, wood and
metal.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tiles have a planar frontal
surface spaced apart from a planar rear surface.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the linear edges are one of
flat, beveled, and curved.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the solid figures, recognizable
in outline, include at least: a rectangle, a ship, a cat's head, a
cross, a house, a milk can, a duck, a temple, a space capsule, and
a rocket ship.
7. (canceled)
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the truncated rectangular tiles
have two adjacent edges to forming a 45.degree. angle.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Present Disclosure
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to dissection puzzles, and
more particularly, to such a puzzle having eight pieces of only two
types, a triangle and a modified rectangle.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art Including Information
Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
[0004] Silvey, U.S. D413361 discloses an ornamental design for a
three-dimensional geometric puzzle.
[0005] Mehner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,605,94 discloses a puzzle comprising
a certain number of block of such shapes that they may be united at
their edges to produce a great variety of symmetrical figures,
which figures are changed by changing the relative arrangement of
said blocks to each other. In addition, a chart is provided
representing a variety of figures which may be formed by uniting
the blocks in the various relative positions to each other.
[0006] Jervis, U.S. Pat. No. 1,430,557 discloses a set of blocks
for the amusement and instruction of children, comprising one block
of trapezoidal outline, one block of triangular outline having two
sides each of which is approximately the same length as the side of
the first mentioned block, two smaller triangular blocks each of
which has a base approximately equal in length to the length of a
side of the first mentioned triangular block, and two rectangular
blocks at least one of which has a length approximately equal to
the length of the side of the first mentioned triangular block, and
a width of approximately half the same.
[0007] Joseph, U.S. Pat. No. 1,656,117 discloses a nine figure
puzzle comprising four isosceles triangles, three scalene triangles
and two trapezoids, which when placed edgewise, form a plurality of
figures including a rectangle and a star, the isosceles triangles
including a pair of similar dimensions and another pair of
dimensions, but of dissimilar dimensions from the first named
pair.
[0008] Way, U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,256 discloses a block puzzle
comprising a set of thirteen blocks constituting a regular pentagon
when assembled in juxtaposition, seven of said blocks comprising at
least three different types of polygons, each having at least two
equal sides and angles of 45.degree. and multiples thereof, the
length of at least one side on a plurality of said seven blocks
being equal to an even multiple of the length of at least one side
on a plurality of the remainder of said seven blocks, said seven
blocks forming an interior square having one side coincident with
one side of the pentagon, and six of said blocks having angles of
18.degree. and multiples thereof, two of said group of six blocks
constituting side blocks each having one side equal in length to
one side of said pentagon and each of said side blocks filling the
space adjacent to one side of said square between said side and the
adjacent side of said pentagon, and the remaining four of said
group of six blocks each having one right angle and fitting
together with one side of each in longitudinal alignment coincident
with the fourth side of said square forming a line equal in length
thereto and filing the space between said side of the square and
the two sides of said pentagon remote from the side thereof which
is coincident with the first named side of said square, two of said
four blocks forming an interior pentagon within said first named
pentagon and having two sides coincident with an apex of said first
named pentagon, said two sides being of equal length and of the
same length as two adjacent sides thereof and also of the same
length as contiguous sides of the other two blocks of said group,
and said first two of said four blocks each having one side of the
same length as a non-adjacent side of each of said two other blocks
of said group, each of said non-adjacent sides extending in the
same line as one of the sides of said square contiguously to the
inner side of one of said side blocks, whereby a large number of
arrangements may be made wherein groups of adjoining blocks have
contiguous sides of the same length.
[0009] Kanbar, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,200 discloses a Geometric game
assembly constituted by two sets of Geometric pieces capable of
creating a variety of geometric or representational figures. Also
included is a deck of cards, each having printed thereon a
Geometric puzzle figure and the solution thereto at a position at
which it is obscured in play. In play, a card is withdrawn from the
deck and its front face presented to the players who with their
respective sets of pieces then race to recreate the figure. The
player who is first to succeed is awarded the card. Cards in the
deck are played, the player who gains the greatest number being the
winner. Any number of cards may be played depending on how long the
players would like the game to last.
[0010] Calvert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,471 discloses a puzzle
comprising a set of triangular, quadrilateral, and pentagonal
tiles. Apical angles are in multiples of 36 degrees, and sides are
proportional to integral powers of the golden section. Regular
pentagons and other patterns are assembled from the tiles.
[0011] Di Gregorio, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,404 discloses an invention
concerned with the technical field of structures adapted to provide
entertainment of a didactic character, and in particular with a
block subdivided into suitable portions to compose
three-dimensional figures. The technical problem to be solved was
that of providing a simple structure whereby a very high number of
three-dimensional configurations could be obtained, the elements
which make up the game being in such mutual relationship as to
favor the attainment of such three-dimensional configurations. The
problem is solved by a didactic game defined by a cubic block
subdivided into portions which comprise two first prismatic bodies
defined by right prisms having isosceles right triangle bases and a
combined volume equal to one half that of said block, a
parallelepipedon-like inner body with square bases, and second
prismatic bodies defined by eight prisms with isosceles right
triangle bases and being separated into complementary bodies,
defining together with said inner body the form of said first
prismatic body, and auxiliary bodies which are identical to one
another and together define the form of a further first prismatic
body.
[0012] Uppstrom, U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,001 discloses building
elements with matching side surfaces for fitting together to form
constructions of varying shape, said building elements having the
same length and each having two opposite, equiform, flat, parallel
end surfaces and at least three flat, rectangular side surfaces
extending between said end surfaces to effect said matching of the
side surfaces, the cross-sectional surfaces of the building
elements each having a size which is a multiple of a triangular
area of the size, and the sides of the end surfaces having
proportional lengths selected from the group. The building elements
are non-congruent and are nine in number divided into a first group
of building elements with non-congruent cross-sectional
surfaces.
[0013] Lalvani, U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,382 discloses building
structures based on polygonal members with coplanar straight edges
and icosahedral symmetry. The building structures comprise a set of
ten elementary polygonal members, including four triangular members
and six parallelogram-shaped members, that are combined to form
tetrahedral, octahedral and half-octahedral or truncated
tetrahedral, cuboctahedral and truncated octahedral or rhombohedral
and parallelpiped building members that in turn fill a
three-dimensional space periodically or non-periodically. The
orientation of the building members is such that all edges are
parallel to the fifteen two-fold axes of rotation of icosahedral
symmetry.
[0014] Li, U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,436 discloses planar puzzles and a
game utilizing these puzzles exploiting simple geometric shapes for
the design of a plurality of initial configurations that make up
each of the puzzles. Each of the initial configurations may be
further subdivided into elementary piece-parts. For each puzzle, it
is possible to rearrange certain of the initial configurations to
form a new puzzle configuration having the identical shape of the
initial configurations by reassembling the piece-parts of each of
the configurations. By proceeding in a series of merger steps, it
is possible to rearrange all of the initial configurations into a
single merged configuration that also has the same shape as the
original configurations. The game aspect furnishes each player with
the opportunity to generate mergers from configurations under
control of the other players. The strategy is to generate as many
mergers as possible in the time allowed while blocking other
players from merger opportunities.
[0015] Kuo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,291 discloses a supplementary
teaching instrument based on mathematical basic theories and
principles as well as child psychology. The invention employs a
number of rectangular blocks of a prescribed shape which occupy a
predetermined area when assembled together, and a corresponding
area of triangular shaped blocks of various sizes and shapes. In
addition to creating artistic designs by different arrangements of
the blocks which may be of different colors, the rectangular blocks
can be used in the fashion of a domino game, and the dimensional
relationship between the triangular blocks and the rectangular
blocks teach the basic concepts of mathematics including addition,
subtraction, multiplication, fractions, areas, and the like.
[0016] Stokes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,387 discloses a set of
polyhedrons having shapes capable of fitting together, in one or
more ways, into a solid geometric shape such as a rectangular solid
or more specifically, a cube. The polyhedrons include five-sided
polyhedrons made up of a regular tetrahedron and an irregular
tetrahedron abutted together as one solid; alternately, the two
separate tetrahedra can be included in lieu of one or more of the
five-sided polyhedrons, for assembly in the puzzle. The set of
polyhedrons includes separate irregular tetrahedra and may include
a regular octahedron. Preferably each shape of polyhedron is in a
different color. In a preferred embodiment, the polyhedrons are all
solid throughout and are of the same density, and that density is
preferably the same density as water to enable the teaching of
certain relationships. The set of polyhedrons function not only as
a puzzle, for fitting into a transparent housing such as a cube,
but also for educational purposes in teaching geometry.
[0017] Chester, U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,430 discloses a Geometric
puzzle game assembly in which the game is played with a set of
geometric pieces formed of plastic material having magnetized
particles dispersed therein. Also provided is a ferromagnetic play
board on which the pieces are placed by a player and fitted to
create a Geometric figure whose shape depends on how the pieces are
fitted, the pieces being magnetically attracted to the board to
maintain their respective positions. The pieces are stored in a
tray having a side wall provided with an elongated slot to socket
the lower end of the play board to support the board at a tilted
upright position, thereby facilitating placement of the pieces on
the board as the player observes a Geometric puzzle to be solved
printed on the face of a playing card.
[0018] Aghevli, U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,729 discloses a mathematical
triangle kit designed to teach children and adults mathematical and
symmetry skills utilizing various sized patterned blocks. By
manipulating the patterned blocks the participant learns
mathematical skills, such as fractions, multiplication,
trigonometry, and geometry. Additionally, by manipulating the
patterned blocks the participant also learns geometric relations,
such as mirror images and other symmetry relationships amongst the
patterned blocks. In the preferred embodiment, the mathematical
triangle kit comprises three sets of various sized and colored
right triangles with 30.degree. and 60.degree. bases.
[0019] Silvey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,837 discloses a
three-dimensional geometric puzzle having a cube element, five
triangular prism elements and a parallelepiped element. Each one or
all of the elements of the puzzle are capable of being oriented
such that they have a thickness equal to the length of an edge of
the face of the cube element. The elements can also be juxtaposed
in a predetermined fashion to form various geometric solids, such
as a parallelepiped having a square face and a height equal to the
length of a side of an edge of the cube element.
[0020] The related art described above discloses the combining of a
plurality of differing geometric tiles, including blocks,
triangles, trapezoids, parallelograms, and rectangles, to form a
variety of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and
objects. However, the prior art fails to disclose a set of
dissection tiles consisting only of isosceles triangles and
modified rectangles. In addition, the prior art fails to disclose
such a geometric puzzle, capable of forming silhouettes of a wide
range of recognizable shapes and objects, with relatively few
pieces, thus accommodating users of varying skill levels, ranging
from small children to adults. The present disclosure distinguishes
over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as
described in the following summary.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0021] This disclosure teaches certain benefits in construction and
use which give rise to the objectives described below.
[0022] Dissection puzzles are an early form of geometric puzzle.
The earliest known descriptions of dissection puzzles are from the
time of Plato and involve the challenge of turning two equal
squares into one larger square using four pieces. Other ancient
dissection puzzles were used as graphic depictions of the
Pythagorean theorem. In the 10th century, Arabic mathematicians
used geometric dissections in their commentaries on Euclid's
Elements. In the 18th century, Chinese scholar Tai Chen described
an elegant dissection for approximating the value of .pi.. This
type of puzzle saw a major increase in general popularity in the
late 19th century when newspapers and magazines began running
dissection puzzles. Puzzle creators Sam Loyd in the United States
and Henry Dudeney in the United Kingdom were among the most
published. Since then, dissection puzzles have been used for
entertainment and math education, and creation of complex
dissection puzzles is considered an entertaining use of geometric
principles by mathematicians and math students.
[0023] Some types of dissection puzzle are intended to create a
large number of different geometric shapes. Tangram is a popular
dissection puzzle of this type. The seven pieces can be configured
into one of a few home shapes, such as the large square and
rectangle that the pieces are often stored in, to any number of
smaller squares, triangles, parallelograms, or esoteric shapes and
figures. Some geometric forms are easy to create, while others
present an extreme challenge. This variability has ensured the
puzzle's popularity. Other dissections are intended to move between
a pair of geometric shapes, such as a triangle to a square, or a
square to a five-pointed star. A dissection puzzle of this
description is the Haberdasher's Problem, proposed by Henry Dudeney
in 1907. This particular puzzle is a dissection of a triangle to a
square, with only three cuts. It is one of the simplest regular
polygon-to-square dissections known, and is now a classic
example.
[0024] Much of the prior art teaches such geometric puzzles which
use a great variety of tile shapes, including rectangles,
triangles, trapezoids, parallelograms, and polygons. The present
geometric puzzle is much simpler, using only triangular tiles and
modified rectangular tiles. In addition, the tiles are of
dimensions such that each angle is either 45.degree., 90.degree.,
or 135.degree.. Many of the edges of the tiles are of equal length
as well. Thus, each tile of the present geometric puzzle is of
relatively similar dimensions.
[0025] While there are prior art references which teach geometric
puzzles with relatively simple shapes, those particular references
also use anywhere from nine to thirteen tiles. The present puzzle
improves on this by using only eight tiles. It should be noted that
while there are prior art puzzles which use less than eight tiles,
those puzzles also use more complex shapes.
[0026] Therefore, the present invention discloses a geometric game
capable of just as many arrangements, if not more than prior art
puzzles, while using a relatively small number of simple triangular
and modified rectangular tiles. Thus, the present dissection puzzle
has simple tiles to accommodate the skill level of small children;
but at the same time, it is capable of forming complex arrangements
to challenge a puzzle master. The present invention is the result
of the discovery that the combination of isosceles triangle shapes
paired with rectangles modified by cutting one corner at a
45.degree. angle are uniquely qualified to be arranged to produce a
wide range of recognizable figures.
[0027] A primary objective inherent in the above described
apparatus and method of use is to provide advantages not taught by
the prior art.
[0028] Another objective is to provide a dissection puzzle that is
capable of forming a relatively large number of solid silhouettes
of recognizable shapes and objects with relatively few tiles.
[0029] A further objective is to provide a dissection puzzle
comprising only isosceles triangular and modified rectangular
tiles, but capable of challenging and amusing both children and
adults by being arrangeable to form a large number of recognizable
shapes.
[0030] A still further objective is to provide a dissection puzzle
comprising only three isosceles triangular and five modified
rectangular tiles, but capable of challenging and amusing both
children and adults by being arrangeable to form a large number of
recognizable shapes.
[0031] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by
way of example, the principles of the presently described apparatus
and method of its use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0032] Illustrated in the accompanying drawing(s) is at least one
of the best mode embodiments of the present invention In such
drawing(s):
[0033] FIG. 1 is a plan view of tiles comprising the presently
described apparatus, configured in a rectangular-like arrangement;
and
[0034] FIGS. 2-13 are further plan views of the tiles of FIG. 1
arranged to resemble: a cat head, cross, house, milk can, duck,
temple, space capsule, elongated rectangle, a first polygon, rocket
ship, and a symmetrical polygon, respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0035] The above described drawing figures illustrate the described
apparatus and its method of use in at least one of its preferred,
best mode embodiment, which is further defined in detail in the
following description. Those having ordinary skill in the art may
be able to make alterations and modifications to what is described
herein without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it
must be understood that what is illustrated is set forth only for
the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as a
limitation in the scope of the present apparatus and method of
use.
[0036] Described now in detail is a geometric puzzle apparatus 2
comprising eight planar solid geometric tiles. Each of the tiles is
a rigid puzzle piece that may be handled easily and moved about and
rotated on a flat surface. Each of the tiles has only linear edges.
As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 2 includes three triangles 10A,
10B, and 10C and, five modified rectangles 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and
20E.
[0037] In the preferred embodiment, the tiles are preferably made
of a rigid material such as plastic, wood, or metal, but other
rigid or even flexible materials may be used instead.
[0038] Preferably, each of the tiles is between 1/16'' and 1/8'' in
thickness, thus creating a planar frontal surface which is spaced
apart from a planar rear surface. The linear edges may be flat,
beveled, curved or of any other cross sectional shape, enabling the
tiles to abut in an edge-to-edge fashion.
[0039] In the preferred embodiment, illustrated in the figures, and
now referring to FIG. 1 in particular, each one of the triangles
10A, 10B, 10C is isosceles, each having interior angles of
45.degree., 45.degree. and 90.degree.. Triangles 10A and 10B are
identical in size with edges of 11/2'',11/2'', and 2'' in length,
while triangle 10C has edges 15/8'', 15/8'', and 21/4'' in
length.
[0040] Each one of the modified rectangles 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and
20E has four interior angles of 45.degree., 135.degree., 90.degree.
and 90.degree.. Modified rectangles 20A and 20B are identical with
edges 2 1/16'', 11/8'', 11/2'', and 1'' in length, while modified
rectangle 20C has edges 11/2'', 1'', 3/4'' and 3/4'' in length, and
modified rectangle 20D has edges 1 7/16'', 3/4'', 11/8'', and 5/8''
in length, and modified rectangle 20E has edges 31/4'', 1'', 1
7/16'', and 2 3/16'' in length.
[0041] It should be noted that the tile dimensions given herein are
arbitrary and may be scaled up or scaled down
[0042] Each of the tiles is abuttingly arrangeable on a flat
surface to form a plurality of solid figures recognizable in
outline. FIGS. 2-13 demonstrate some of the many possible solid
figure arrangements in which the tiles may be positioned. These
arrangements include, but are not limited to, a ship, a cat's head,
a cross, a house, a milk can, a duck, a temple, a space capsule, an
elongated rectangle, a rocket ship, and various polygons. In order
to form these figures, the tiles are positioned in any desired
fashion by rotating and/or flipping them over. In addition, not
every figure requires the use of all eight tiles; some figure
arrangements require less than eight, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9. It
should also be recognized that not all figures that are products of
the present set of tiles will be exactly the form that one might
expect, but some may be approximately a form that is recognizable
but not precisely what one might expect.
[0043] The enablements described in detail above are considered
novel over the prior art of record and are considered critical to
the operation of at least one aspect of the apparatus and its
method of use and to the achievement of the above described
objectives. The words used in this specification to describe the
instant embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of
their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special
definition in this specification: structure, material or acts
beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an
element can be understood in the context of this specification as
including more than one meaning, then its use must be understood as
being generic to all possible meanings supported by the
specification and by the word or words describing the element.
[0044] The definitions of the words or drawing elements described
herein are meant to include not only the combination of elements
which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure,
material or acts for performing substantially the same function in
substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result.
In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent
substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the
elements described and its various embodiments or that a single
element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim.
[0045] Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a
person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised,
are expressly contemplated as being equivalents within the scope
intended and its various embodiments. Therefore, obvious
substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the
art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
This disclosure is thus meant to be understood to include what is
specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually
equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and also what
incorporates the essential ideas.
[0046] The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in
conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here,
that each named inventor believes that the claimed subject matter
is what is intended to be patented.
* * * * *