Patent Application
20110127717
The present invention relates to a manually operable puzzle device, particularly to a maze puzzle.
Maze puzzles have been known for many years in the toy industry, and hidden maze puzzles emerged at least as early as 1971. These puzzles range from the relatively simple to the extremely challenging.
However, there is a large community of keen puzzle enthusiasts around the world. which is always eager to be provided with new and different types of challenges to solve. The present invention fulfils this need.
Therefore, according to the present invention there is provided a puzzle device comprising one or more traps, wherein when one of the traps is activated by a user, a reset action is triggered to send the user back to the start of the puzzle.
Typically, the puzzle is a maze puzzle, more typically a hidden maze puzzle.
Once one of the traps has been sprung, the user is automatically removed from the maze and the only way for the user to continue with the puzzle is to return to the very beginning and start again. The feature of the one or more traps, which triggers the reset action of the puzzle is one which has never before been developed in such puzzles.
While it will be appreciated that the traps/reset action concept of the invention may be applicable to other types of puzzles, it will be explained further herein with reference to a hidden maze puzzle for convenience.
The puzzle of the invention typically comprises a substantially opaque outer housing to hide the maze therein from view. According to one embodiment of the invention, the outer housing may be made of a metal, such as high-grade anodised aluminium. Alternatively, according to a further embodiment of the invention, the housing may be made of a plastic material. The respective internal structures of the puzzles of the invention having the metal outer housing and the plastic outer housing are different to each other.
Exemplary plastics, which may be used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, acetal and Nylon. Acetal Rod has an ideal combination of high mechanical strength, hardness and toughness, giving it superb sliding properties, wear resistance and electrical insulation.
Within the outer housing section is a shaft section which is slidably and rotatably moveable within the outer housing section. On the shaft is etched an intricate maze which is traversable by a combination of a sense of touch, manual dexterity and intelligence. In the alternative, if desired, the maze could be etched on the inside surface of the outer housing.
In the embodiment wherein the outer housing is made of a metal, the shaft is also typically metallic, typically being made of e.g. brass and sometimes also being nickel-plated. The pin and spring are typically composed of stainless steel. In the embodiment wherein the outer housing is made of a plastic, the shaft is also typically made of a plastic material.
A series of similar puzzles has been developed by the inventor, each puzzle in the series exhibiting increasing levels of difficulty. Each puzzle in the series has a different coloured outer housing to distinguish them from each other.
As with all maze puzzles, the maze comprises a complex series of barriers and openings, together with a series of pathways leading the user through the maze. There are also a number of dead ends in the maze, as well as optionally one or more false finishes. Only a single exit is provided at the top of the maze.
A user negotiates his or her way through the maze using a spring-loaded pin, which is inserted through an opening in the outer housing and is brought into contact with the shaft. It is this pin which is guided by the user through the maze. By careful rotation of the shaft in the outer housing, together with a combination of pulling and pushing of the shaft as required, a user is able to guide the pin through the hidden maze.
The length of the pin is typically 8.5 mm, i.e. about 1 to about 1.5 mm longer than the thickness of the wall of the outer housing. This difference in size is important. When the shaft is within the outer housing and in contact with the pin, the pin is pushed back against the spring, which itself is engaged with a surface providing a biasing force, thus keeping the pin under a spring-loaded tension at all times the user is attempting to solve the puzzle and while the pin is in contact with the shaft. The height of the pathways through the maze relative to the shaft is designed so that the pin will always be under a degree of spring-loaded tension while it is in contact with them.
The pin is inserted through an opening in the outer housing at a point, which is typically about halfway along the housing. The opening is typically about 6 mm in diameter. Into this opening is inserted a pin housing, a pin and a spring. The head of the pin may be concealed in any suitable manner for aesthetic reasons, but is typically concealed by a section bearing the ReVoMaze trade name, which is incorporated into the outer surface of the outer housing.
It will be appreciated that the word ‘pin’ is used very broadly herein and is intended to cover any form of projection, which could engage the pathways and depressions within the maze.
However, what differentiates the puzzle of the invention from previous puzzles, however, is the cunning applied in the design of the mazes in the form of the unique trap/reset action feature. One or more ‘traps’ are built into the design of the maze. As many traps may be included in the maze as may be desired.
These traps are created by etching deeper depressions in the shaft in the design of the maze than those, which are created for the safe pathways through the maze. While the height of the pathways through the maze is such that the pin will always be under a degree of spring-loaded tension while it is in contact with them, the deeper depressions used for the traps are sufficiently deep that when the pin reaches them, the spring-loaded tension is released, allowing the pin to extend forward and into the depression. Once this occurs, the trap is sprung and the shaft is part released from the outer housing. Once this occurs, the only way the user can continue with trying to solve the puzzle is to reset the shaft back in the housing in its original position and start the puzzle again from the very beginning.
The shaft is prevented by the pin from being released from the housing when a trap is sprung. As the pin is 8.5 mm long, even when it is fully compressed on the spring, at least 1 mm of the pin always protrudes into the maze. The only time the pin comes out of the maze is at the end of the maze upon completion, which allows the shaft to be removed (in the puzzles with the metal outer housing).
A further feature of these puzzles is that the width of the pathways through the maze can vary from relatively wide to narrow. The narrower the pathway, the more difficult it is for a user to negotiate a safe path through the maze while avoiding the traps. Some of the pathways are as wide as the pin itself (i.e. 3 mm), while others are either ½ pin width (1.5 mm), ¼ pin width (0.75 mm) or ⅛ pin width (0.375 mm).
Once—but not before—the puzzle contained within the metal outer housing is (eventually) solved and the maze completed, the user is able to completely remove the shaft from the outer housing. By doing this he/she is able to remove a further pin member located within the shaft, and running substantially the length of the shaft, around which a certificate is wrapped with a unique code which can be used to prove that the puzzle has been solved. Submission of this code to the inventor via his website as proof of the solution may enable the successful user to then enter a prize competition against others who have also solved the puzzle.
Once the puzzle has been solved, the shaft can be re-inserted into the outer housing to reset the puzzle so it can be solved again. Keen enthusiasts can then try to solve the puzzle again to see how quickly they are able to solve it against the clock.
Upon solution of the embodiment of the puzzle comprising the metal outer housing, care should be taken when removing the shaft from the metal outer housing as the puzzle may contain one or more pieces, such as a pin, one or more springs or one or more slider mechanisms, which may be loose and which could fall out of the housing.
According to another aspect of the invention, the embodiment of the puzzle comprising the plastic outer housing and shaft does not allow the shaft to be completely removed from the outer housing upon completion of the puzzle. It is physically impossible to remove the shaft from the outer housing, even upon completion of the puzzle, without breaking the puzzle. This also means that it is not possible for any loose pieces to fall out of the puzzle.
This is achieved by the shaft section comprising a deep depression running around substantially its entire circumference. This depression is deep enough that when a user completes the puzzle and tries to remove the shaft from the outer housing, once the pin reaches the depression, the spring-loaded tension in the pin is released and the pin springs forward into the depression. The pin being in the depression acts as a biasing force or barrier to prevent the complete removal of the shaft from the housing. Therefore, upon completion of the maze, no loose parts are released from the puzzle.
Additionally, in the plastic outer housing embodiment of the present invention, there is no further pin member located within the shaft around which a certificate, which proves the puzzle has been solved is wrapped; rather, there is a small hole provided at a suitable point in the shaft which contains the rolled up certificate. The hole containing the certificate is positioned so that it can only be exposed upon completion of the puzzle and release of a sufficient portion of the shaft from the outer housing.
The outer housing section is typically substantially cylindrical in shape in both the metal and plastic housing embodiments to aid the rotation of the shaft within it, although other shapes, which allow for a similar degree of freedom of rotation would also be envisaged within the scope of the invention.
The embodiment where the outer housing and/or shaft are made of a plastic material obviously provides for a puzzle, which is not as heavy as the metal puzzle, as it weighs only about 200 g instead of about 600 g. This enables this version to be played with for longer without a user's hands becoming tired. It also makes them cheaper to produce and therefore also cheaper to subsequently sell to customers.
It is envisaged within the concept of the present invention to provide a series of similar puzzles offering increasing levels of difficulty and complexity.
Additionally, unlike puzzles such as the Rubik Cube, it is not possible to open up or take the puzzles of the invention apart in an effort to solve them without breaking them and rendering them useless for future use.
According to another aspect of the invention, the puzzle may comprise one or more moveable slider mechanisms. These slider mechanisms may be initially positioned in the maze to block openings in the maze, but the sliders may by moved by the user during the solving of the maze to expose the opening blocked by the slider and allow the user to guide the pin through. In order that these sliders do not fall out of the puzzle upon completion, they may be secured to the puzzle but in such a way that permits them to be moved laterally as required as part of the puzzle.
Alternative optional features of the maze puzzles may include one or more narrow bridges which constitute safe pathways across wider depressions in the maze designed to act as traps, or even a ball bearing being loose in the maze which can be moved into a specific position in the maze to enable the user to guide the pin over a barrier which would not be possible in the absence of the ball bearing being in the designated position.
According to a further aspect, any bridges in the puzzle may be moveable. This means that in order to safely navigate a path through the maze, the bridge must first be moved into the correct position. If it is not, the user is likely to spring a trap and be sent back to the beginning of the puzzle.
According to a further aspect, one or more gravity pins may be used in the maze to block the path of the pin through the maze unless the puzzle is turned upside down.
These features are unique in that the maze becomes ‘dynamic’, the path through the maze being affected by internal moving parts within the maze.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the puzzle may contain one or more false reset traps. These traps do necessitate the user returning to the beginning of the puzzle in the same way as the normal traps, but there is provided a secret path the user needs to find while resetting to aid his solving of the puzzle.
It is also envisaged that the present invention may be used in schools and educational establishments as part of a program to encourage pupils to engage in logical thinking and problem solving.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a puzzle as described hereinabove, comprising the pre-programming a puzzle design into a machine and providing one or more instruments capable of etching the design onto material comprising the puzzle.
The inner maze shaft of the present invention cannot be manufactured by moulding techniques, as the number of different segments of the inner maze shaft which would be required to be moulded would be too great and too difficult to make to accommodate the shapes provided by the complicated puzzles of the invention. In contrast, the plastic outer housing of the invention comprises one piece.
A further aspect of this invention is that both the plastic outer housings and inner maze shaft can be made on the same machines as the metal outer housings on the original ReVoMaze puzzles, and can be engineered to within 0.01 mm accuracy. Also, surprisingly, the plastic used does not exhibit any wearing upon prolonged use of the puzzle due to the type of material used.
The puzzle of the invention may typically be manufactured using a pre-programmed lathe. The design of the maze to be etched on the shaft is programmed into the lathe and the material for the shaft is held in a sliding head clamp allowing it to be moved laterally as required to etch the maze design thereon. The lathe is equipped with a plurality of blades of various different diameters thereon to create the intricate maze design on the shaft, which design includes pathways, barriers and openings of varying sizes and widths, as well as the other etchings which are added to the shaft for cosmetic reasons.
The puzzle is made using Sliding Head CNC lathes to manufacture to tight tolerances. Various drilling, cut-outs and shapes are created from round stock bar that is automatically fed into the machine. These are known as production machines.
The invention will now be described further by way of example with reference to the following examples and figures, which are intended to be illustrative only and in no way limiting upon the scope of the invention.
a and 3b shows a representation of show representations of a pin as it used in the invention and its insertion into its opening in the outer housing a in the puzzle according to the invention.
A cross-sectional view of the position of the spring-loaded pin 8 in the outer housing 2 is depicted in
a simply shows a representation of the pin 8 and the opening 12 it is inserted into, while
In
It is of course to be understood that the present invention is not intended to be restricted to the foregoing examples, which are described by way of example only.
