Method Of Making An Earth Puzzle

Abstract

An earth puzzle including sphere formed of magnetizable material and a plurality of puzzle pieces which may be placed on the sphere to form a world globe. The puzzle pieces are retained on the sphere by permanent magnets attached to the underside of the puzzle pieces. In making the aforementioned structure, the sphere is first fabricated from magnetizable material. A second sphere is molded on the first sphere after which a representation of the world is painted or otherwise placed on the second sphere. The second sphere is then cut into puzzle pieces and removed from the first sphere. Permanent magnets are then suitably attached to the underside of the puzzle pieces which may then be placed on the first sphere to form a world globe with the permanent magnets retaining the pieces on the first sphere.

Description

This invention relates to a method of making a puzzle of the type wherein pieces are assembled to form a world globe.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel method for making a puzzle of the type which contains pieces which may be assembled together to form a world globe.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method of making such a puzzle having novel means for securing its pieces in assembled relationship.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of making such a puzzle whose pieces may be quickly and easily disassembled.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a method of relatively economically manufacturing such a puzzle, with the puzzle having an attractive appearance and the ability to withstand repeated use over long periods.

The above and other objects are achieved in one embodiment, by a first sphere made from magnetizable material such as sheet iron or plastic having iron or other magnetizable particles therein. A plurality of puzzle pieces are provided in various shapes which when properly assembled on the sphere will form a world globe. The puzzle are maintained on the first sphere by permanent magnets secured to the underside of the puzzle pieces to be attracted to the magnetizable material of the sphere.

Further according to the invention, a method of making the aforementioned puzzle structure includes forming the first sphere from any suitable magnetizable material or from plastic or other material containing magnetizable particles. The second sphere, preferably made from plastic, is molded on the first sphere after which a representation of the world is painted or otherwise placed on the second sphere. The second sphere is then cut into various pieces to separate the pieces from the first sphere and to thereby form puzzle pieces some of which may be cut at random and others may be cut in the form of a continent or other subdivisions of the world as may be desired. Permanent magnets are then attached to the underside of each of the puzzle pieces to enable the puzzle pieces to be subsequently assembled on the first sphere to form a world globe.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sphere employed in making the puzzle of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second sphere formed on the sphere shown in FIG. 1 during a further step in making the puzzle of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating a representation of the world painted on the outer sphere during a further step in the method of making the puzzle;

FIG. 5 is an exploded, perspective view illustrating puzzle pieces which are cut from the outer sphere; and

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a puzzle piece with a permanent magnet attached to its underside.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a sphere 10 mounted on a suitable stand or base 12; the sphere 10 being formed from any suitable magnetizable material such as sheet iron but preferably from molded plastic containing magnetizable iron or other particles.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 there is illustrated a further step in forming the puzzle of the present invention wherein a second sphere 12 is formed by molding over the first sphere; the second sphere preferably being formed from plastic material.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a representation of the world is painted or otherwise formed on the outer sphere 14. In the next step as illustrated in FIG. 5, outer sphere 14 is cut to form puzzle pieces 16 which are removed from inner sphere 10. Pieces 16 may be cut in random shapes or partly in random shapes and partly to form continents or other subdivisions of the world.

After puzzle pieces 16 are formed and removed from the inner sphere, permanent magnets 18 are suitably attached, such as by bonding or any other suitable method, to the undersides of pieces 16 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Puzzle pieces 16 may then be reassembled on inner sphere 10 to form a world globe. When it is desired to disassemble puzzle pieces 16 from sphere 10, pieces 16 may be easily removed by merely pulling them from sphere 10. In this latter regard, the magnets are chosen so that they will have sufficient strength to properly maintain the puzzle pieces 16 on sphere 10 in selected position while at the same time permitting the puzzle pieces to be moved over sphere 10 during assembly and to be easily removed during disassembly of the entire puzzle.

Although in the embodiment illustrated, a permanent magnet material is placed on the puzzle pieces, in an alternative embodiment, the permanent magnet material may be formed or incorporated into the inner sphere 10 and the puzzle pieces may be formed of magnetizable material. In the shown embodiment, the surface 9 of the permanent magnets which are to engage the inner sphere 10, may be formed with a curvature to conform to the inner sphere.

Claims

I claim:

1. A method of forming an earth puzzle comprising the steps of providing a sphere including magnetizable material, molding a second sphere on said first sphere, placing a representation of the world on said second sphere, cutting said second sphere into pieces and removing them from said first sphere to form puzzle pieces, and placing permanent magnet material on the undersides of said pieces to allow them to be reassembled and held on the first sphere to form a world globe.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the first sphere is formed from plastic containing magnetizable particles and wherein said second sphere is molded from plastic.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein certain puzzle pieces are cut at random while others are cut to form continents of the world.

4. A method of forming an earth puzzle comprising the steps of forming a first sphere with permanent magnet material incorporated therein, forming a second sphere over said first sphere from magnetizable material, placing a representation of the world on said second sphere, cutting said second sphere into various pieces and removing them from said first sphere to form puzzle pieces which may be reassembled and held by magnetism on the first sphere to from a world globe.