Jigsaw puzzles

Abstract

A jigsaw puzzle is made up from a plurality of pieces which can be assembled to form a picture. The pieces include a plurality of outer edge pieces which when assembled establish a perimeter of the puzzle and a plurality of interior pieces. The pieces are formed by cutting a support bearing the picture along a plurality of cutting lines extending in two approximately orthogonal directions within a plane defined by the support. This results in a puzzle in which each piece lies at an intersection of a row and a column and each edge of each piece contacts only one edge from a single other piece in the assembled puzzle. The pieces are locked together by means of a plurality of male and female interlocking elements, which are part of the edges of the different pieces. The puzzle of the invention is made more difficult because the cutting lines include a variable number of straight segments such that at least half of the interior pieces, and preferably all of these pieces, each have at least one straight edge. To ensure that the puzzle locks together, the straight segments are arranged in such a way that they do not define any closed polygonal line, i.e. any polygon within the perimeter of the puzzle nor any polygonal line joining two separate points on the perimeter of the puzzle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.