U.S. patent number 3,888,443 [Application Number 05/412,338] was granted by the patent office on 1975-06-10 for support stand for puzzle blocks or other items.
Invention is credited to Cameron D. Flanigen.
United States Patent |
3,888,443 |
Flanigen |
June 10, 1975 |
Support stand for puzzle blocks or other items
Abstract
A puzzle and game consisting of a plurality of plastic blocks
with colors, patterns, or other characteristics on different sides
stacked together in a cube or other parallelepiped with the colors
or other characteristics matched in a certain selected pattern so
that the cubes may be separated into individual blocks and then
replayed seeking to establish either the same pattern or a
different one. There is a large number of different possibilities
and patterns which may be made. In one form the three-dimensional
cube made of 27 blocks having a three-color pattern is supported in
a clear plastic stand tilted to present three support sides resting
on legs. The stand may be made from interlocking sheets of plastic
material. In another form the blocks are shipped in a sheet plastic
cube which comes apart into two three-sided sections one of which
has a notch in the apex in which the sharp apex of the other may
rest and provide a stand for the blocks resting on a table. The
device is an amusement puzzle and a conversation piece.
Inventors: |
Flanigen; Cameron D.
(Hapeville, GA) |
Family
ID: |
26919906 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/412,338 |
Filed: |
November 2, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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225788 |
Feb 14, 1972 |
3771795 |
Nov 13, 1973 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/315.1;
248/431 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F
9/1204 (20130101); A63F 2009/0035 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63F
9/06 (20060101); A63F 9/12 (20060101); A63F
9/00 (20060101); A47g 023/00 (); F16m 011/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;D6/55,176,140,184
;40/152 ;211/42,14,133,177 ;206/44R,72,73
;248/121,127,158,152,164,165,174,431 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
"Stand Magazine," Jan. 1909, Page 704..
|
Primary Examiner: Frazier; Roy D.
Assistant Examiner: Staab; Lawrence J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Henry; Patrick F.
Parent Case Text
This is a division of application Ser. No. 225,788 filed Feb. 14,
1972 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,795 issued Nov. 13, 1973.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a support stand: a three-sided, tilted support stand having
three flat surfaces comprising one-half of an open parallelepiped
supported in elevation, each surface being inclined with respect to
a vertical axis thereby being capable of supporting loose items
such as individual puzzle blocks arranged in a cube on the three
surfaces, said stand being constructed from and comprising three
flat attached sheets each having a tapered end and together
providing three support legs which intersect, said sheets being
supported along a respective edge of each sheet which edge extends
along and across one of the other sheets.
2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said support stand includes a removable cover having three sections
attached together and which when assembled with the three sides
form a parallelepiped separable into two sections.
3. The device in claim 1 wherein:
said three flat surfaces are transparent whereby the supported
objects thereon are visible therethrough.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Games, puzzles, toys and amusement devices. (Class 35, Subclass 72;
Class 46, Subclass 24- 25- 32; Class 35, Subclass 27; Class 273,
Subclass 153 and Class 160, Subclass 156) particularly blocks,
block games and puzzles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is known to include the following puzzle U.S. Pat.
Nos. Re. 25,031; 143,835; 146,875; 191,167; 3,222,072; 3,330,053;
3,546,792. None of these blocks, games or puzzles is the same as
the present one and therefore fails to challenge or to puzzle in
the same way.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A very challenging puzzle is presented in the form of individual
cubes or blocks having different colors on different sides and even
having the individual blocks colored differently from one another
so that they may be arranged in a parallelepiped and taken apart
and put back together again to challenge the person being amused.
The colors may be arranged so that only one of the colors on all
external surfaces is displayed and may be rearranged to show each
of the other colors. A very useful stand is made in the form of a
three-sided support of sheet plastic which may also be made as a
detachable package for holding the block before, during and after
shipment. One package is made of sheet plastic in the form of a
cube which detaches into two individual sections, one of which is
notched in the other which fits thereinto to provide a stand.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective assembly view of one form of the present
invention disassembled and ready to be taken apart to be put back
together.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled blocks of the present
invention.
FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the assembled device shown in
FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of a stand to hold
the assembled blocks shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the blocks showing different
colors on different sides.
FIG. 6 is a perspective assembly view of the shipping packet and
storage arrangement shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a stand made from the shipping
package shown in FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND MODIFICATION THEREOF
The puzzle block arrangement designated generally by reference
numeral 10 comprises a plurality of individual blocks or cubes 12
shown in FIG. 5, each one of which may be molded or otherwise
manufactured from wood, plastic, or plastic sheet having different
colors on some sides such as white on side 14, blue on side 16 and
red on side 18. The blocks are assembled into a large cube 10 shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the surfaces of the individual blocks 12 may
be arranged in many different patterns such as one color for all
faces of the large cube 10, different colors for each face or a
checkboard pattern on each face. For example, a 27 block cube
features three colors whereas a 64 white cube (4.times.4.times.4)
features four colors (6 block -- two colors) and 125 block -- five
colors, etc. The concept can be expanded to cover any six-sided
right angular cube composed of suitable cubicle or rectangular
sub-blocks and in any parallelepiped arrangement. In fact, any
solid geometric figure made of sub-blocks can be made where the
color patterns can be used to effect changing designs.
To hold the blocks in assembled relationship and to display same
there is a support and display stand shown in FIG. 1 designated
generally by reference numeral 30 and comprising three sections 32,
34 and 36 having triangular legs 38 and being assembled to provide
a tripod support presenting a three-sided tilted support made up of
the flat portions of the elements 32, 34 and 36. The three sides
comprise the bottom half of a cube and the optional top half is
designated generally by reference numeral 40 and comprises three
flat sheets 42, 44 and 46 made from transparent plastic the same as
the rest of the stand 30 glued or otherwise attached along marginal
edges and being sized to fit into place and match with the portions
of 32, 34 and 36 in the manner shown in FIG. 3.
An alternative base is shown in FIG. 4 and comprises a molded
plastic stand 50 having a circular base 52 and being glued or
molded to the apex 54 of a three-sided, one-half of a cube
designated generally by reference numeral 58 and being made from
three transparent plastic sheets 62, 64 glued or otherwise attached
along marginal edges 66 and supported in tilted relation in the
manner shown in FIG. 4 at the joint where the apex is located at
54. The assembly of blocks shown in FIG. 2 will rest in this tilted
support being displayed through the transparent plastic sides and
with the blocks 12 remaining in place.
A second form of stand and also shipping and storage container is
shown in FIG. 6 designated generally by reference numeral 70 and
comprises two one-half cube sections 72, 74 each made from clear
transparent plastic sheets and each comprising three sides 74, 76
and 78 on one side, 80, 82, 84 on the other side assembled to make
a composite cube plastic box shown in FIG. 6. The apex of section
74 is cut away to provide a notched opening 86 and is shown in FIG.
7 with section 74 inverted to place the three edges 88, 90, 92 as a
tripod base, the other section 72 has the apex 96 inserted in the
hole 86 to provide a tilted support from section 72 in similar
fashion to the previous embodiments.
______________________________________ 64 BLOCK CUBE COLORS
COMBINATIONS A B C D STD I ______________________________________ 3
3 0 0 0 2 3 2 1 0 1 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 3 1 2 0 1 0 3 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 0 2 1
0 3 0 3 0 0 2 3 0 2 1 1 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 3 0 0 3 0 2 2 3 1 0 1 0 2 3 0
1 1 0 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 1 1 4 6 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 1 3 0 1 0 2 1 2 1 4 6 2
1 1 2 4 6 2 1 0 3 1 0 2 0 3 1 1 0 2 0 2 2 2 2 2 0 1 3 1 0 1 3 2 0 1
0 1 3 1 1 2 3 1 3 0 2 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 2 2 1 4 6 1 2 1 2 4 6 1 2 0
3 1 0 1 1 3 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 4 6 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 2 3 1 0 0
3 3 0 0 2 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 3 1 1 0 0 2 2 2 2
2 0 2 1 3 1 0 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 TOTAL 64 64 27
BLOCK CUBE COLORS COMBINATIONS A B C STD I II III
______________________________________ 3 3 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 4 5 6
3 1 2 3 2 1 0 2 3 1 3 2 1 0 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 2 1 3 3 4 5 6 1 3 2 3 4 5
6 1 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 0 3 1 1 1 1 TOTAL 27 27 27 27
______________________________________ CODE A,B,C & D etc are
colors or characteristics STD is the standard symmetrical coding
I,II,&III etc. are alternative coding The nos. 1, etc. refer to
the quantity of blocks in each color combinatio
The above noted table illustrates color code patterns for the small
blocks which patterns provide the unique feature that the large
cube 10 may be assembled to display only the one color on all
external surfaces and the displayed color may be any one of three
colors for a 27-block cube, four colors for a 64-block cube, 15 for
a 725-block cube, etc. Many different color relationships may be
established by rearrangement of the different blocks. The challenge
is almost unlimited and the opportunities vary from very simple to
very complex thereby lending the invention and the puzzle to
various mentality and psychology of challenge.
While I have shown and described a particular form of the invention
together with variations of the base, this is by way of
illustration only since as indicated above there are other
arrangements which may be made and there are various alterations,
changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions, combinations,
additions, subtractions, revisions and departures which may be made
in the embodiment shown without departing from the scope of my
invention as defined by a proper interpretation of the appended
claims.
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