Apparatus useful as a toy, puzzle or as an educational device
AssigneesMark Randall Stolten, Elizabeth Mary Stolten, Frederick Brian Worrall
InventorMark Randall Stolten
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus useful as an educational device, puzzle or toy of a kind having magnetic interactions between an elongate support and pieces held, or to be held, with or without contact, about said support, wherein a plurality of said pieces collectively form, or can form, a first band of pieces about said support, and another plurality of said pieces form, or can form, a second band of pieces about the support, and wherein at least one piece of each said band has an indicia, said indicia of a piece in one band being able to be indexed to an indicia of a piece of the other band, and wherein at least one of the bands of pieces is able, or will be able, to be rotated about the elongate axis of the support.
Claims14
A puzzle, toy or educational apparatus, the apparatus being in the form of an assembly of components, or an assembliable kit, to define:
- (1) an elongate support,
- (2) a number of individual pieces collectively forming a completely circumferential band about, and adjacent, the elongate support and the circumferential band being rotatable as a whole about an axis of said elongate support, and
- (3) at least one other circumferential band disposed about said axis, wherein there is a magnetic interaction
- (A) between at least one individual piece and an adjacent individual piece of a same circumferential band,
- (B) between said elongate support and at least one individual piece of said circumferential band, or
- (C) between both (i) at least one individual piece and an adjacent individual piece of a same circumferential band, and (ii) between said elongate support and at least one individual piece of said circumferential band, and
- wherein rotation of said rotatable circumferential band allows alignment or disalignment at least substantially parallel to said axis, of indicia of said rotatable band with indicia of said other circumferential band;
- the circumferential bands, when rotated about the elongate support, providing feedback to a user by a feedback mechanism, the feedback during movement of said at least one circumferential band provides at least one or more of the following outcomes:
- a sense of moving beyond an indexed position, and
- a sense of indexing to a desired or correct position,
- the feedback mechanism being located on, (a) opposing surfaces of said circumferential bands, (b) the elongate support and the circumferential bands, or (c) both the opposing surfaces of said circumferential bands and the elongate support and the circumferential bands.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.