In the accompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale:
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers designate like parts in the several Figures, and initially to
The first surface piece 12 has at least one bar-like member 14 that establishes a boundary for assembling a puzzle on the top surface 13 and/or also supports puzzle pieces 15 in convenient view of the puzzle builder to be assembled in a puzzle on the puzzle building platform 10. The bar-like member 14, further described below, is cooperative with and mountable in a relatively fixed orientation on the substantially flat top surface 13. The bar-like member 14 is placed above the plane formed by the substantially flat top surface 13. The bar-like member 14 establishes an edge or stop surface above the plane of the substantially flat top surface beyond which the puzzle pieces are prevented from extending beyond once placed.
Using multiple bar-like members 14, the puzzle builder can pre-establish, define, or bound one or more outside edges or dimensions of a selected puzzle intended to be assembled on the puzzle building platform 10. In other words, the puzzle builder can arrange the bar-like member(s) 14 to establish a boundary or bound an area on the substantially flat top surface that resembles the actual puzzle dimensions.
A drawer 16 provides an easy and convenient place for storing the puzzle pieces 18. The drawer 16 may be slid in or out of the first surface piece 12 by any conventional drawer mounting apparatus such as, for example, a track, slide, etc., and also may have a handle 20, knob or another manipulating device. Puzzle pieces 18 may be stored easily and conveniently within the drawer 16. The puzzle pieces 18 may be temporarily stored, such as when the puzzle builder is in the process of building a puzzle, or stored for an extended period of time, such as when the puzzle building platform is not in use.
In one embodiment, the surface piece may be a twelve-inch square hollow box having a two-inch height. A one-inch deep drawer may slide in and out of the hollow area created by the hollow box. It will be appreciated, however, that the surface piece and drawer may have different dimensions to accommodate different size puzzles or to meet the puzzle builder's needs.
The substantially flat top surface 13 may have a plurality of evenly spaced peg holes 24, which may be preformed in the surface, e.g. pegboard, or formed in another manner, such as, for example, with a drill. In one embodiment, the peg holes 24 are spaced to correspond to the spaces between the peg-like members on the bottom surface of the bar-like member 14, as described below. The substantially flat top surface 13 may be constructed from the same material as the first surface piece or may be constructed by or coated with a relatively non-slip material, such as, for example rubber, such that the puzzle pieces are not slid easily on the top surface. Such a surface or coating may be useful if the puzzle building platform is used in an bumpy or rough environment, such as, for example, when traveling in a car, boat or airplane, etc.
Referring to
A bar-like member 14 is depicted in greater detail in
Once the puzzle pieces 15 are displayed on the bar-like member 14, the puzzle builder may select a puzzle piece 15 for assembly into the puzzle or may remove some or all of the displayed puzzle pieces and replace them with different puzzle pieces as desired, for example, if one or more of the displayed puzzle pieces cannot yet be placed within the puzzle or to provide a greater variety of puzzle pieces for display.
The bottom surface of the bar-like member 14 has at least one peg or peg-like member 36 that is insertable into at least one peg hole 24 in the substantially flat top surface 13. In one embodiment, multiple peg-like members 36 are spaced evenly along the bottom surface of the bar-like member 14 in a manner that corresponds to the spacing of the peg holes 24 in the substantially flat top surface 13. The multiple peg-like members 36 cooperate with, i.e., are insertable into, the peg holes 24 in the substantially flat top surface 13 so that the bar-like member can be mounted in a relatively fixed orientation. Once the peg-like members 36 are inserted into the peg holes 24, the bar-like member 14 can be placed to establish a boundary for building a jigsaw puzzle, and multiple bar-like members can be arranged to bound in several directions an area for assembling a puzzle.
In one embodiment the bar-like member 14 is twelve-inches in length and one-inch in depth, however, it will be appreciated that the length of the bar-like member 14 may be varied to display more or less puzzle pieces, large or small puzzle pieces, or to establish the boundary of a larger or smaller jigsaw puzzle, etc. It will also be appreciated that the bottom surface of the bar-like member may be slightly sloped such that the border pieces of the puzzle may be wedged between the space created by the sloped bottom surface and the substantially flat top surface thereby holding the puzzle pieces in a relatively fixed position.
Another embodiment of the puzzle building platform is depicted in
A bar-like member 14 may be mounted on the elongate surface 40 in a relatively fixed orientation. A plurality of bar-like members 14 may be mounted to and cooperatively engaged to the elongate surface 40 to bound in several directions an area at which the pieces of a puzzle may be assembled, as described with respect to
As shown in
The elongate surface 50 also may be constructed as shown in
The elongate surface 50 also may be constructed from three surface pieces 52, 54, 56, as depicted in
It will be appreciated that the pins 59 of the first surface piece 52 may be inserted into the notches 60 in the second surface piece 54 to form an elongate surface similar to the elongate surface 40 depicted in
One or more bar-like members 14 may be disposed on the top of the large composite surface 70 to establish a boundary or bound in several directions an area 76 which a jigsaw puzzle may be built. Although the bar-like members 14 depicted in
It also will be appreciated that the elongate or composite surface pieces may have one or more drawers. The drawers may on the any of the sides of the surface pieces, including those hidden from view in the figures. It also is possible that some or all of the surface pieces may not have a drawer, for example so that the surface piece can accommodate the connecting support described above with respect to
The surfaces pieces described above may be any number of different sizes or shapes, including, for example, a circle, rectangle, square, triangle etc., to accommodate any of a number of different sized and shaped puzzles.
In using the puzzle building platform described herein, a puzzle builder may assemble a puzzle on a substantially flat surface of a puzzle building support, such as, for example, the puzzle building support described with respect to
The puzzle builder also may use the bar-like member to temporarily display puzzle pieces such that the puzzle builder can select pieces for assembly into the puzzle. The puzzle builder also may use the bar-like member as a tray to support or display puzzle pieces temporarily and in convenient view for selection and assembly into the puzzle. The puzzle builder may support the puzzle pieces with the bar-like member by placing the pieces so that one edge of the puzzle piece is supported by a ridge located at the bottom of the bar-like member and the back of the puzzle piece is supported by a slanted or sloped face of the bar-like member. The puzzle builder may rotate or exchange the puzzle pieces displayed on the bar-like member after assembling a piece into the puzzle or if the builder wants to view additional or different puzzle pieces.
The puzzle builder also may use a drawer, which is positionable within the puzzle building support, to store puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces can be stored temporarily, such as form when the puzzle building support is being used to support a puzzle, or more permanently, such as when the puzzle building support is not being used.
In order to accommodate larger puzzles, the puzzle builder may combine multiple puzzle building supports to create an elongate surface or a large composite surface on which a puzzle may be assembled. The puzzle builder may cooperatively engage an additional puzzle building support to the first puzzle building support to form an elongate surface on which a puzzle may be assembled. The additional puzzle building support may be substantially identical to the first puzzle building support and may be cooperatively engaged to the first puzzle building support by an conventional mechanism, such as, for example, hooks, slots, notches, pins, and the like, or any combination thereof.
The puzzle builder also may cooperatively engage several individual puzzle building supports to one another to form a large composite surface. Alternatively, the puzzle builder may cooperatively engage an additional or several additional elongate surfaces to create the composite surface. It will also be appreciated that the puzzle builder may cooperatively engage several surface pieces or elongate surfaces to form large composite surfaces of varying sizes, such as, for example, 2×2, 3×3, or 2×3 arrays, etc., upon which larger jigsaw puzzles. Further it will be appreciated that the individual puzzle building supports or elongate puzzle surfaces can be cooperatively engaged or attached to one another as described above to create the large composite surface.
Once the puzzle is assembled, the builder can spread glue, sealant, or any other conventional adhesive across the top surface of the puzzle to fix the puzzled pieces in a relatively permanent manner. The puzzle builder then may mount and/or framing the puzzle for display. The puzzle building platform, as described herein, may provide a surface for the user to apply glue or sealant to the assembled puzzle and also may reduce the risk that glue or sealant will permanently damage any other surfaces, for example, a table or other surface on which a puzzle may be assembled or upon which the puzzle building platform may be supported. Any overspray or splashing from the adhesive or sealant likely will land on the surface pieces rather than a table or other surface, thereby preventing the table or other surface from being damaged.
Alternatively, the puzzle builder may desire to move the puzzle to a different location to apply the adhesive or to mount and frame the assembled puzzle, such as, for example, to a work room or workshop, or the builder may wish to lift the puzzle to place paper or some other protective material underneath the puzzle to protect the table or other surface from being damaged by the adhesive or sealant. The builder may easily and conveniently lift and/or move the assembled puzzle by lifting the puzzle building platform or the surface pieces on which the puzzle is fully or partially assembled. The builder may then transport the puzzle building platform or surface pieces to a new location, or place a protective material beneath the puzzle building platform or surface pieces while keeping the assembled puzzle in tact. The puzzle building platform therefore allows the builder to lift or move the assembled or partially assembled puzzle without sliding or grabbing the assembled puzzle pieces, which reduces the chance that the builder will have to rebuild portions of the puzzle in order to move the puzzle.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it is understood that the invention is not limited correspondingly in scope, but includes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the spirit and terms of the claims appended hereto.