Patent Application
20130328265
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to puzzles and games. More specifically, the present invention discloses a flooring system incorporating puzzles and games with shaped puzzle and game pieces that fit together to form a flooring while providing effective educational tools and entertaining games.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditional flooring includes carpeting, wood, and ceramic or stone tiles.
The conventional carpet includes a woven fabric that is cut to size, stretched and glued over a concrete or stapled over a wooden floor.
While carpet can be comfortable to walk on particularly in cold climates, carpet is easily soiled and appears dirty and unsightly. Once the carpet is dirty the entire carpet must be cleaned. Even if only a small portion of the carpet is dirty, if only one area of the carpet is cleaned the color of the carpet will be uneven.
Also, the carpet is difficult and time consuming to clean. In order to clean a carpet special appliances are required. To vacuum a carpet a vacuum cleaner is required and to clean a carpet a carpet shampooer is needed. Both appliances can be purchased but they are relatively expensive. It also takes time for a shampooed carpet to dry and during the drying time the carpet cannot be walked on. This is an additional inconvenience encountered with the conventional carpet.
Furthermore, carpets are expensive to replace as it requires a professional to remove the old carpet, clean and prepare the base surface, and then cut, stretch, and install the new carpet.
The conventional wood flooring includes strips of wood with grooves and tongues that fit together to form the wood flooring.
While wood flooring enhances a well decorated room, the wood flooring is expensive.
Also, a disadvantage of wood flooring is that the wood is easily scratched or damaged and expensive to replace.
Furthermore, it is time consuming and tiresome to frequently wax or polish wood flooring in order to keep the wood looking presentable.
The conventional ceramic or stone tile is relatively easy to clean by mopping. However, after cleaning the tile needs to be waxed or polished in order to shine.
Also, the tiles break or crack easily and need to be frequently replaced.
Additionally, the grouting between the tiles is easily stained, discolored, and chips away and separates from tiles. As a result, the grouting must be routinely replaced by a professional.
Therefore, there is need for an improved flooring system that in addition to providing an efficient flooring surface also provides effective learning puzzles and entertaining games.
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 flooring system incorporating puzzles and games with shaped puzzle and game pieces that fit together to form a flooring while providing effective educational tools and entertaining games.
The puzzle and game flooring of the present invention comprises a plurality of interlocking flooring tiles that connect together to form the basic flooring surface of a room. Each of the flooring tiles comprises either a puzzle outline or a puzzle frame outline. The puzzle outline forms the outer edges of a puzzle and indicates the subject of the puzzle. A plurality of puzzle pieces is arranged inside the puzzle outline of the flooring tile in order to solve the puzzle. When the puzzle frame outline is provided in the flooring tile, a puzzle frame is inserted into the puzzle frame outline and the puzzle pieces are arranged inside the puzzle frame.
The puzzles can be taken apart and the puzzles can be solved again and again. The solved puzzles can also remain in the flooring tiles to add to the flooring surface and increase the aesthetic appeal of the flooring.
Some puzzles comprise puzzle pieces that fit together to form a game board in the floor tile. For example, the puzzle pieces comprise white and black squares that fit together to form a chess board. After the puzzle has been solved and the chess board is complete, game pieces are placed on top of the game board and a game of chess can be played.
Some puzzles comprise puzzle pieces that fit together to form a map or a country. 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 pieces during production.
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 puzzle and game flooring 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 puzzle and game flooring.
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 not visible or is hidden and the student can challenge their memorization of the information.
The flooring tiles further comprise 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.
Additionally, users can write or draw on top of the flooring tiles or puzzle pieces with water-soluble pens and easily erase their markings.
To further expand learning, the puzzle and game flooring further comprises a plurality of game pieces that are used with the plurality of puzzle pieces and/or the tile.
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 puzzle and game flooring. The game pieces are utilized on top of the puzzle pieces and/or on top of the flooring tiles in order for users to play different games.
A plurality of tiles is provided to allow multiple puzzles to be solved or games to be played with the puzzle and game flooring.
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.
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In an embodiment of the present invention the tile 200 and/or the puzzle pieces 300 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, 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 an embodiment of the present invention the tile 200 and/or the puzzle pieces 300 further comprise 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 tile 200 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 300 to the markings to find the correct position and orientation for the puzzle piece 300.
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In this embodiment the puzzle frame 310 is placed inside the puzzle frame outline 213 and on top of the tile base 212. The puzzle pieces are placed and arranged inside the puzzle frame 310.
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The tile printing layer 230 comprises a printing such as, for example screen printing or transfer printing.
In an embodiment of the present invention the tile printing layer 230 further comprises colors, drawings, or graphics. For example, the tile printing layer 230 comprises different colors, text, or drawings to indicate puzzle subject, to detail puzzle information or data about the puzzle, or indicate divisions between puzzle piece locations.
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In this embodiment of the present invention the tile clear layer 240 comprises a transparent material or coating. Since the tile clear layer 240 is transparent, the details of the tile printing layer 230 are visible from the front side of the tile 200. Positioning the tile printing layer 230 behind the tile clear layer 240 provides protection from scratches or damages for the tile printing layer 230 as the tile printing layer 230 is not exposed to the environment or direct contact.
The tile clear layer 240 also allows easier cleaning of the top surface of the tile 200.
Additionally, the tile clear layer 240 allows users to write or draw on the tile 200. For example, spelling words, performing mathematical exercises, drawing pictures, etc. can be undertaken by marking on the tile clear layer 240 of the tile 200. The markings are easily erased or removed after use.
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The piece printing layer 330 comprises a printing such as, for example screen printing or transfer printing.
In an embodiment of the present invention the piece printing layer 330 further comprises colors, drawings, or graphics. For example, the piece printing layer 330 comprises different colors, text, or drawings to indicate puzzle piece 300 name or to detail puzzle piece 300 information or data about the puzzle piece 300.
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In this embodiment of the present invention the piece clear layer 340 comprises a transparent material or coating. Since the piece clear layer 340 is transparent, the details of the piece printing layer 330 are visible from the front side of the puzzle piece 300. Positioning the piece printing layer 330 behind the piece clear layer 340 provides protection from scratches or damages for the piece printing layer 330 as the piece printing layer 330 is not exposed to the environment or direct contact.
The piece clear layer 340 also allows easier cleaning of the top surface of the puzzle piece 300.
Additionally, the piece clear layer 340 allows users to write or draw on the puzzle piece 300. For example, spelling words, performing mathematical exercises, drawing pictures, etc. can be undertaken by marking on the piece clear layer 340 of the puzzle piece 300. The markings are easily erased or removed after use.
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The piece rear printing layer 335 is similar to the piece printing layer 330, however, since the piece rear printing layer 335 is disposed on the back of the piece foam layer 320 the printing of the piece rear printing layer 335 is not visible when the puzzle piece 300 is placed down. This allows the user to be challenged in their memorization of the information contained on the piece rear printing layer 335.
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Since the shape of the puzzle pieces 300 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 300 of the puzzle and game flooring further comprise data 399 or information about the land mass or water mass such as, for example, 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 399 of the puzzle piece 300 illustrated in
In some embodiments of the present invention the data 399 is provided on the piece printing layer.
In some embodiments of the present invention the data 399 is provided on the rear piece printing layer.
In some embodiments of the present invention the data 399 is provided on the piece printing layer and the rear piece printing layer.
Refer to
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle piece 300 further comprises contours 311 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 311 are integrated into the puzzle piece 300.
In another embodiment of the present invention the contours 311 are formed in a piece separate from the basic puzzle piece 300 and the contoured piece 311 attaches to the piece foam layer 320, the piece printing layer, or the piece clear layer of the puzzle piece 300. 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 300 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 300. 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 an embodiment of the present invention a plurality of game pieces 400 are provided. The game pieces 400 are placed on puzzle pieces 300 or the tile 200 for playing a game. Each player selects a game piece 400 or a plurality of game pieces 400 that are to be under the player's control during the game.
In addition to providing puzzles, the present invention provides a gaming platform so the puzzle pieces and the game pieces 400 can be utilized by users to play entertaining educational games with the puzzle and gaming flooring 100. The game pieces 400 are utilized on top of the puzzle pieces 300 and/or on top of the tile 200 in order for users to play different games.
For example, the puzzle comprises a land mass and after the puzzle is solved the game pieces are used to play a game involving the land mass. Or for example, the puzzle is a game board and after the game board puzzle is put together the game pieces 400 are used to play a game on the game board puzzle.
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For example, one puzzle 390 comprises a country puzzle and one puzzle comprises a chess game board puzzle. After the country puzzle has been solved it can be referenced for country information or data and after the chess game board puzzle has been put together a game of chess can be played on the puzzle pieces.
Additionally, after puzzles have been solved they can remain in place and constitute a part of the flooring of the room.
In an embodiment of the present invention the puzzle and game flooring comprises an automobile floor mat. For example, the tile provides the basic structure of the floor mat and the puzzle comprises a puzzle of the automobile maker's logo. After the logo puzzle has been solved the tile is placed on the floor of the automobile as a floor mat.
In an embodiment of the present invention the tile or the puzzle pieces, or the tile and the puzzle pieces comprise a biodegradable material so that the flooring can be easily and safely disposed of.
The puzzle and game flooring 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.
