This invention relates to element of block games applicable to build a portion of ball-like body, particularly to a set of elements suitable for creating a pre-determined portion of a hollow globe-like body or simulative celestial sphere.
Play and learning is the most interesting way for most people, especially, through play that much of children's early learning is achieved.
Learning geography, especially on a global scale and referring to a world atlas that involves positioning by longitude and latitude system, and involves the exercise of a great deal of spatial imagination, often in three dimensions. The ability to use this kind of imagination is usually crude in the very young and must be slowly nurtured and developed during the educational process. Moreover, in the early stages of the development of the necessary skills, different children utilize different learning modalities. Even the same child at different levels of development may use different learning modes.
To this end, educators have developed a number of visually or tactually stimulating models of geographical phenomena, such as relief maps and variations of the well known terrestrial globe. Many of these devices are suitable for a form of programmed teaching in which a terrestrial globe is built up piece by piece from a large number of separate parts in the form of a kit. An example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,102 issued to Forsyth, illustrated a globe-shaped body built from a skeletal framework to hold a number of blocks, the blocks together forming a spherical surface. Appropriate portions of geographical features, or portions of cues, are formed on the blocks. A number of means has shown in the patent for attaching the blocks to the framework and the segments to the body. Forsyth's patent has shown a series of embodiments to teach geography to student; however it has fall short of the ideal teaching of the relation of longitude and latitude of which is a basic information shown on most of the world atlas.
Others, such as Margolis in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,261 discloses a globe, comprising a hollow globe rotationally molded of polyvinyl chloride plastisol and iron powder having molded therein embossed lines of latitude and longitude and other information as desired. The rest of the geographic information of the globe is embodied in several layers of puzzle-like pieces of soft, flexible magnetized thermoplastic material. However, such globe can be assembled only by a person already familiar with terrestrial geography, and lacks for offering any assistance to the untutored student who is working or playing alone. Further, the means used to attach component parts to these globes have tended to be either unreliable or overly complicated for a young person whose hand/eye coordination is not fully developed.
In general, the prior globe body cannot be assembled as in form of a block game, and further, none of the prior globe structure is capable of providing the most interesting portion of which is selected by its owner.
Larger size globe is much helpful and capable of carrying a tremendous geographic information for helping people to learn geography thereby; however, any of the big size traditional globe structures is always very difficult to manufacture and deliver, that is the main cause of the selling price getting higher and may be unaffordable for an ordinary people or middle class family.
For instance, I ever found at http://www.globeshop.net, a web-site of Japanese Shop who is providing their biggest and highest class globe, having 81 cm in diameter, and weighted up to 68 kg, and quoted an amazing price, that is 1,659,000 yen.
Neither these, nor any other in the field of this invention, suggests their globe structure to be assembled as block game, and is selectable to provide the most interesting portion which can be determined by an owner.
The object of this invention is to provide a set of elements of block games for stacking up to create a pre-determined portion of a hollow globe-like body or a simulative celestial sphere.
In accordance with this invention, the element has a relatively larger outer face boundary and a relatively small inner face boundary both are defined by the interfaces therearound. The surface within the relatively larger outer face boundary or the relatively small inner face boundary, can further be processed by a known printing, engraving, embossing, gluing, laser carving, sand blasting, colored painting or chemical etching method, for creating a known or imaginary geographic information, star chart or picture thereon.
In an embodiment according to the present invention, the element have an interface defined along a longitude and latitude lines with a predetermined dividing (N°), therefore, when the element stacked up, the interface therebetween shall shown as the longitude and latitude lines of the globe-like body surface.
The surface within the relatively larger outer face boundary having a longitude edge (H1) and a latitude edge (L1s) at a latitude that equals to the predetermined dividing (N°) multiplied by a predetermined number (S), that can be determined by:
H1=(2πR)(N°)÷(360°); and
L1s=(2π)(R)(cosine(N°·S))(N°)÷(360°);
and The surface within the relatively smaller inner face boundary also having a longitude edge (H2) and a latitude edge (L2s) at a latitude that equals to the predetermined dividing (N°) multiplied by a predetermined number (S), that can be determined by:
H2=(2π)(R−T0)(N°)÷(360°); and
L2s=(2π)(R−T0)(cosine(N°·S))(N°)÷(360°).
In another embodiment according to this invention, the element having interfaces defining along with a set of regular pattern on the globe-like body, therefore each of the elements having a relatively larger outer face and relatively small inner face, and a plurality of geographic information or pictures is printed or attached thereon.
The element can either be a solid body or a shell-like body, and made from any of moldable materials, such as paraffin, candle, chocolate, styrofoam, paper pulp, concrete, acrylic, plastic, porcelain, clay; or any other cuttable material such as stone, crystal, glass, wooden, metal sheet, cloth, or paper, or any possible combination of the above materials, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. The scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, references should be had to the following detail description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In accordance with this invention, The predetermined longitude and latitude lines having a predetermined dividing (N°), the relatively larger outer face boundary having a longitude edge (H1) and a latitude edge (L1s) at a latitude that equals to the predetermined dividing (N°) multiplied by a predetermined number (S), that can be determined by:
H1=(2πR)(N°)÷(360°); and
L1s=(2π)(R)(cosine(N°·S))(N°)÷(360°);
and the relatively smaller inner face boundary also having a longitude edge (H2) and a latitude edge (L2s) at a latitude that equals to the predetermined dividing (N°) multiplied by a predetermined number (S), that can be determined by:
H2=(2π)(R−T0)(N°)÷(360°); and
L2s=(2π)(R−T0)(cosine(N°·S))(N°)÷(360°).
For instance, referring to
(H1)≠(2πR)(15°÷360°);
(H2)≠(2π)(R−T0)(15°÷360°); and
at the latitude 0°, set (S)=0, the latitude edge (L1s) shall be (L10), which can be determined by:
at the latitude 15°, set (S)=1, the latitude edge (L11) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 30°, set (S)=2, the latitude edge (L12) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 45°, set (S)=3, the latitude edge (L13) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 60°, set (S)=4, the latitude edge (L14) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 75°, set (S)=5, the latitude edge (L15) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 90°, set (S)=6, the latitude edge (L16) shall be determined by:
and, the latitude edge (L2s) of the relatively smaller inner face boundary can be determined by the following formulae:
at the latitude 0°, set (S)=0, the latitude edge (L2s) shall be (L20), and determined by:
at the latitude 15°, set (S)=1, the latitude edge (L21) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 30°, set (S)=2, the latitude edge (L22) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 45°, set (S)=3, the latitude edge (L23) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 60°, set (S)=4, the latitude edge (L24) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 75°, set (S)=5, the latitude edge (L25) shall be determined by:
at the latitude 90°, set (S)=6, the latitude edge (L26) shall be determined by:
According to the formulae, to create a portion of an 100 cm globe, needs only 48 sets of the elements (S1) ; the largest edge or the first latitude edge (L10), is only 13.09 cm.
Alternatively, when interfaces (13, 14, 15 and 16) are defining along with the longitude and latitude lines with a predetermined dividing 10°, the total would needs only 72 sets of the elements (10), and each set of the element (S1) would having 9 pieces of the element (10), wherein the largest edge of the element (10) would be 8.727 cm only. Thus, to compare with the traditional globe structure, this invention is much helpful to reduce the packing size and can lower the freight cost; and more interestingly allowing to play and learning geography knowledge in its block games.
The elements (10) of block games according to this invention, can be made from any of moldable materials; for instance, there are paraffin, candle, chocolate, Styrofoam, paper pulp, concrete, acrylic, plastic, porcelain, clay; or any other solid cuttable material such as stone, crystal, glass, wooden, metal, cloth, or paper, or any possible combination of the above materials, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.
Referring to
Further referring to
For adding a connective force in either longitude or latitude directions, the interfaces (13, 14, 15 and 16) can further have connectors selectively disposed thereon. For example, please refer to
For saving material and weight for the element (10), it can be made as a hollow body. Please refer to
For capable of presenting more information on the larger surface (11), a connector including but not limited to a magnetic portion (34) can be attached thereon, as shown in
For supporting the set of elements (S2) in accordance with this invention,
Another embodiment in accordance with this invention, having a set of interfaces (13, 14, 15, and 16) following a set regulative pattern on the globe-like body, that is defining a set of elements as shown in
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.