Patent Application
20130175757
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to puzzles and games. More specifically, the present invention discloses a puzzle with shaped puzzle pieces that attach to a puzzle base to provide an effective geography education tool and entertaining game platform.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The study of geography is a fundamental of education. However, it can be difficult for students to grasp physical relationships or features of various countries and continents with the current educational tools.
Traditionally, students study geography using a flat two-dimensional map. The conventional flat two-dimensional map is typically a printed piece of paper containing outlines of various countries.
When used as a learning tool, students must solely rely on memorization in order to learn the various countries on the map. However, it is difficult for students to learn relationships between countries, country locations, and shapes of countries as the countries printed on the map are fixed.
A number of flat maps can be bound in a book to form an atlas. However, the conventional atlas has the same disadvantages as a single flat map.
A conventional globe is another traditional tool to learn geography. Outlines of countries of the world are printed on a paper which is then adhered to a round cardboard ball. While students can obtain a better sense of country location than with a map, the printed map of the globe is fixed and the student has difficulty learning country shape.
Furthermore, the conventional map and globe fail to provide an entertaining means of learning geography locations and facts.
Therefore, there is need for an improved means of effectively providing and learning geographical information in an entertaining and informative manner.
To achieve these and other advantages and in order to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional methods in accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a geography puzzle and game platform with shaped puzzle pieces that attach to a base to provide an effective geography education tool and entertaining gaming system.
The geography puzzle and game platform of the present invention comprises a puzzle base and a plurality of puzzle pieces. Each of the puzzle pieces is attachable to the puzzle base. For example, the puzzle base comprises metal and each puzzle piece comprises a magnet. Users place the magnetic puzzle piece onto the metallic puzzle base and magnetism holds the puzzle piece to the puzzle base.
Alternatively, the puzzle pieces comprise a plastic material with a metallic layer and the puzzle base comprises a magnet or a plurality of magnets disposed on the interior or exterior of the puzzle base.
Also, in order to improve the effectiveness of learning, the puzzle pieces are formed in the shape of a land mass. For example, the puzzle piece is in the shape of a country, state, continent, province, region, etc. Some areas such as, for example, water, oceans, and seas are formed in the puzzle base during production of the puzzle base.
Additionally, the puzzle pieces are contoured to show mountains, mountain ranges, and terrain contours. This allows students to learn additional information.
The puzzle pieces of the geography puzzle and game platform further comprise data or information about the land mass or water mass such as country information, continent information, state information, province information, region information, territory information, etc. This further increases the amount of information the student can learn when using the geography puzzle and game platform.
When the data or information is provided on the outer side of the puzzle piece the student can easily reference the information. When the data or information is provided on the inner side of the puzzle piece the data is visible or is hidden and the student can challenge their memorization of the information.
The puzzle base further comprises markings or indicators such as longitudinal and latitudinal indicators, land mass location or outline, or water mass location or outline. These markings provide a visual prompting for the student and make the puzzle easier for beginning students or allow the student to learn additional longitudinal and latitudinal information.
To further expand learning, the geography puzzle and game platform further comprises a plurality of game pieces that are attachable to the plurality of puzzle pieces or to the puzzle base. The puzzle pieces and the game pieces comprise a unique piece identification that allows the puzzle base to identify the puzzle piece and game piece.
A display and speaker provide visual and audio feedback to the user.
In addition to providing puzzles, the present invention provides a gaming platform so the puzzle pieces and the game pieces can be utilized by users to play entertaining educational games with the geography puzzle and gaming platform. The game pieces are utilized on top of the puzzle pieces, on top of the base plastic layer, or on top of a pathway formed in the plastic base in order for users to play different games.
These and other objectives of the present invention will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Refer to
The geography puzzle and game platform 100 of the present invention comprises a puzzle base 150. The puzzle base 150 comprises a rigid or semi-rigid base for the geography puzzle and game platform 100 and allows puzzle pieces to attach magnetically to the puzzle base 150.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In an embodiment of the present invention the plastic layer 130 further comprises data or information about the land mass or water mass such as country information, continent information, state information, province information, region information, territory information, land mass information, water mass information, mountain information, country flag, sports team information, advertising, population, logo, latitudinal information, longitudinal information, global positioning satellite information, or elevation information, or a combination of country information, continent information, state information, province information, region information, territory information, land mass information, water mass information, mountain information, country flag, sports team information, population, logo, latitudinal information, longitudinal information, global positioning satellite information, and elevation information.
In the embodiment of the present invention the puzzle base 150 further comprises markings that indicate longitude and latitude. In this embodiment the longitudinal and latitudinal indicators provide a reference for the user. Additionally, in embodiments where longitudinal and latitudinal information is provided on the puzzle piece, the user can more easily locate the proper position for the puzzle piece.
In another embodiment of the present invention the puzzle base 150 further comprises markings that indicate land mass or water mass. For example, outlines of oceans or continents are provided so users can easily match the shape of the puzzle piece to the markings to find the correct position and orientation for the puzzle piece.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The base metal layer 110 is attached to the plastic base 120 or the base metal layer 110 is molded into the plastic base 120. The base metal layer 110 allows puzzle pieces comprising magnets to magnetically attach to the puzzle base 150. The plastic base 120 and the base metal layer 110 provide a rigid or semi-rigid foundation for the puzzle base 150.
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle base 150 further comprises colored plastic material, screen printing, or transfer printing.
The base plastic layer 130 comprises a plastic material or film. The base plastic layer 130 provides a covering for the metal layer 110.
In an embodiment of the present invention the base plastic layer 130 further comprises colors, drawings, or graphics. For example, the base plastic layer 130 comprises different colors or drawings to indicate divisions between puzzle piece locations.
In an embodiment of the present invention the base plastic layer 130 extends to the inner edges of the plastic base 120.
In an embodiment of the present invention the base plastic layer 130 extends to the outer edges of the plastic base 120.
Refer to
The embodiment illustrated in
Refer to Figure to 2C, which is a cross-sectional drawing illustrating a geography puzzle and game platform according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the embodiment illustrated in
The puzzle piece 210 comprises a magnet to allow the puzzle piece 210 to magnetically attach to the base metal layer 110.
Refer to Figure to 2D, which is a cross-sectional drawing illustrating a geography puzzle and game platform according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the embodiment illustrated in
The puzzle piece 210 comprises a metal material to allow the puzzle piece 210 to magnetically attach to the base magnetic layer 140.
Refer to
Since the shape of the puzzle pieces 210 relate to the shape of the land mass or water mass, the user learns the geographical shape as well as the position/location of the land or water mass. This is an advantage of the present invention.
In some embodiments of the present invention the puzzle pieces 210 of the geography puzzle and game platform further comprise data 299 or information about the land mass or water mass such as country information, continent information, state information, province information, region information, territory information, land mass information, water mass information, mountain information, country flag, sports team information, advertising, population, logo, latitudinal information, longitudinal information, global positioning satellite information, or elevation information, or a combination of country information, continent information, state information, province information, region information, territory information, land mass information, water mass information, mountain information, country flag, sports team information, population, logo, latitudinal information, longitudinal information, global positioning satellite information, and elevation information. This further increases the amount of information the student can learn when using the puzzle.
For example, the data 299 of the puzzle piece 210 illustrated in
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle piece 210 comprises a piece magnetic layer 215 and a piece printed layer 220. The piece printed layer 220 is, for example, printed directly on the piece magnetic layer 215 or printed on a separate layer and adhered to the piece magnetic layer 215.
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle piece 210 further comprises contours 211 to represent terrains, mountains, mountain ranges, or elevations. This allows the user to further learn information about terrains and elevations. The user can easily see and understand mountain formations of various countries. This is another advantage of the present invention.
In an embodiment of the present invention the contours 211 are integrated into the puzzle piece 210.
In another embodiment of the present invention the contours 211 are formed in a piece separate from the basic puzzle piece and the contoured piece attaches to the basic puzzle piece. This provides an increased difficulty level for the student as they need to understand country location as well as terrain location.
Since some land masses, such as islands, are quite small it is not feasible to form the puzzle piece 210 in a separate piece. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention the land mass is combined with a water mass or a portion of a water mass to form the puzzle piece 210. For example, an island or a plurality of islands is/are combined with an ocean puzzle piece.
In an embodiment the small land mass is included with a portion of a water mass. However, the land mass shape is retained by forming the portion of the water mass in the shape of the small land mass.
In an embodiment of the present invention a plurality of small land masses are formed in one puzzle piece.
In an embodiment of the present invention a small land mass is combined with a larger land mass in one puzzle piece.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The plastic puzzle piece 210 further comprises a printed layer 220. In this embodiment the printed layer 220 is disposed on the front surface of the piece plastic layer 212. The printed layer 220 of the plastic puzzle piece 210 is clearly visible on the front surface of the piece plastic layer 212 and provides additional information or features for the plastic puzzle piece 210. The piece printed layer 220 comprises, for example, colors, outlines, geographical markers, place names, etc.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
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In the embodiment illustrated in
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In the embodiment illustrated in
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In the embodiment illustrated in
The piece magnetic layer 215 is disposed on the back surface of the piece plastic layer 212. The printed layer 220 is disposed on the front surface of the piece plastic layer 212.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
Embedding or molding the piece magnet 215 into the piece plastic layer 212 prevents the piece magnet 215 from being easily separated from the piece plastic layer 212.
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle piece 210 comprises a piece magnetic layer 215, a piece plastic layer 212, a printed layer 220, and a puzzle piece identification 298.
The piece magnetic layer 215 is disposed on the back surface of the piece plastic layer 212. The printed layer 220 is disposed on the front surface of the piece plastic layer 212. The puzzle piece identification 298 is disposed on the back surface of the piece magnetic layer 215.
The puzzle piece identification 298 is a unique identifier for each puzzle piece 210. Reading the puzzle piece identification 298 allows the geography puzzle and game platform to identify which puzzle piece 210 is being used or placed on the puzzle base.
The puzzle piece identification 208 comprises, for example, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, bar code, quick response code, or other identifier capable of uniquely representing a specific puzzle piece 210.
In an embodiment of the present invention each puzzle piece 210 comprises a plurality of puzzle piece identification 298. A plurality of puzzle piece identification 298 allows the geography puzzle and game platform to determine the orientation of the puzzle piece 210. For example, to determine if the puzzle piece 210 was placed upside down or at an angle.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The puzzle piece identification 298 is a unique identifier for each puzzle piece 210. When the puzzle piece 210 is placed on the base plastic layer 130 of the puzzle base, the sensor 160 reads the puzzle piece identification 298 or reads data in the puzzle piece identification 298 and allows the geography puzzle and game platform to identify which puzzle piece 210 is being used or placed on the puzzle base.
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle base 150 comprises a plurality of sensors 160.
As described above, when a puzzle piece is placed on the puzzle base 150, the sensor 160 reads the puzzle piece identification of the puzzle piece and allows the geography puzzle and game platform to identify which puzzle piece is being used and if it the puzzle piece was placed in the correct position or location.
For example, if the user places the puzzle piece 210 of the State of Washington in the location of Kansas, the sensor in the Kansas location reads the puzzle piece identification and the puzzle determines that the puzzle piece 210 is Washington and that the user has placed the puzzle piece 210 in the incorrect location.
In this embodiment the puzzle base 150 further comprises electronic circuitry such as, for example, memory, firmware, and controller to interface with the sensors to determine the identification of the puzzle piece 210 and whether or not the puzzle piece 210 has been placed in the correct location.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The LED 170 provides visual feedback to indicate if the user has placed the correct puzzle piece in the correct location. For example, one color of LED 170 indicates “Correct” and one color of LED 170 indicates “Incorrect”.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The display comprises, for example, a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or a touchscreen display. The display 175 provides information such as, for example, instructions, questions, information, feedback, hints, visual effects, pictures, game play, gaming instructions, game turn information, game turn instructions, score, points, player information, etc.
In embodiments of the present invention wherein the display 175 comprises a touchscreen display, the user interacts with the display while playing a game or completing a puzzle by touching the screen to make selections, choices, game selections, turn selections, or menu option selections.
The puzzle base 150 further comprises an interface connector 176 for allowing a user to connect the puzzle base 150 to an electronic device such as, for example, a computer. Once connected, the data and information stored in the puzzle base 150 is updated or uploaded via the internet. For example, new puzzles are added, high scores are uploaded, firmware is updated, new games are added, etc. to allow the geography puzzle and game platform of the present invention to be flexibly updated and upgraded.
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention a plurality of game pieces 300 are provided. The game pieces 300 are placed on puzzle pieces or the puzzle base 150 for playing a game. Each player selects a game piece 300 or a plurality of game pieces 300 that are to be under the player's control during the game.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The game piece identification 320 is similar to the puzzle piece identification and allows the puzzle base to determine the unique identity of a game piece 300 and to distinguish between game pieces 300.
While playing a game the user moves the game piece 300 around or across the puzzle base and the sensors in the puzzle base sense the location and identity of the game piece 300 and the puzzle base maintains game play data.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
When a player places the game piece 300 on top of the base plastic layer or the plastic base the game piece magnet 330 magnetically attaches to the puzzle base.
When a player places the game piece 300 on top of a puzzle piece the game piece magnet 330 magnetically attaches to the puzzle piece.
Refer to
In the embodiment illustrated in
The function of the game piece body 310, the game piece identification 320, and the game piece magnet 330 are as describe in regard to
Refer to
In addition to providing puzzles, the present invention provides a gaming platform so the puzzle pieces and the game pieces can be utilized by users to play entertaining educational games with the geography puzzle and gaming platform. The game pieces are utilized on top of the puzzle pieces, on top of the base plastic layer, or on top of a pathway formed in the plastic base in order for users to play different games.
In the embodiment illustrated in
The outer pathway 120B further comprises a handle pathway 120E acting as a fast-track for allowing players to advance or retreat quickly along the outer pathway 120B or acting as a penalty area where players are sent as a penalty. For example, if a player lands on the handle pathway 120E the player is allowed to advance forward or move backward around the outer pathway 120B and the handle pathway 120E only counts as one sectioned space or does not count as a sectioned space. Or for example, if a player lands on a specific space on the puzzle base that is designated as a penalty space the player is sent to the handle pathway 120E to penalize the player.
In an embodiment of the present invention cards or tiles are provided to be placed on the sectioned spaces of the pathways. Before beginning the game, a player shuffles the cards and then the cards are placed on each of the sectioned spaces. This allows for every game to be different every time it is played. This is an advantage of the present invention. The cards or tiles comprise information such as, for example, city name, country name, street name, province name, game instructions, game commands, bonus, move forward, move backward, change pathway, or lose a turn.
In an embodiment of the present invention the sectioned spaces of the inner pathway 120A and the outer pathway 120B increase and decrease in height like a staircase around the pathways. This allows the player to move between the inner pathway 120A and the outer pathway 120B during game play. For example, if a player is at an intersection or on a certain stair on the pathway the player rolls the dice to determine whether they move to the inner pathway 120A, the outer pathway 120B, up stairs, or down stairs. For example, an odd number causes the player to go to the inner pathway 120A or up the stairs and an even number causes the player to go to the outer pathway 120B or down the stairs.
In an embodiment of the present invention the inner pathway 120A further comprises an inner corner 120C and the outer pathway 120B further comprises an outer corner 120D.
In an embodiment of the present invention icons or objects are provided to be placed on the inner corner 120C and the outer corner 120D. The objects comprise icons or objects that match with the game theme or the geographical location. For example, the icons or objects comprise casino games, carousel, Ferris wheel, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, a bridge, an airport, a freeway, a port, or other distinguishing landmark.
In an embodiment of the present invention players are given opportunities to play mini-games within the main game being played. For example, the game is related to Las Vegas, Nev. and mini-games comprise casino games where the player can obtain more points or value. Or for example, the game is related to the Olympics or to a location where the Olympics are being held, players can perform athletic maneuvers to gain points or value.
In an embodiment of the present invention areas on the puzzle base where there is a water mass such as, for example, a lake, an ocean, or a sea are formed in or on the puzzle base during production. This provides the user with a starting point in which to begin solving the geography puzzle and also provides a reference for the user while solving the geography puzzle.
For example, the water mass indicating the Pacific Ocean is formed in the surface of the puzzle base during production. Additionally, indicators for other water masses such as the Atlantic Ocean are also formed in the puzzle base during production. For example, water mass locations are colored, indented, protruding, or outlined so that the locations of the water masses are easily visible and fixed.
Areas of the puzzle base indicating land masses are where the appropriate puzzle pieces are to be positioned.
In an embodiment of the present invention the land masses comprise indications of the respective land mass. For example, name, outline, etc. are provided to help the user.
In an embodiment of the present invention no indicators or indications are provided to indicate the position or location of the land masses. This makes solving the puzzle more challenging.
In an embodiment of the present invention the geography puzzle and game platform further comprises separate flag pieces representing the flags of individual countries. After the puzzle piece is positioned the user places the appropriate flag piece on/in the puzzle piece.
In an embodiment of the present invention the geography puzzle and game platform further comprises separate informational pieces. The informational pieces allow the geography puzzle and game platform to be personalized. The informational pieces comprise information such as, for example, sports team, advertising, company logo, etc. For example, a multinational corporation could provide informational pieces for indicating branch office locations.
The geography puzzle and game platform of the present invention provides flexibility in learning. For example, basic puzzle pieces such as continents can be used by beginner students and more advanced puzzle pieces such as countries can be used by advanced students.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the invention and its equivalent.
