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EP-4460378-B1 - PUZZLE BOARD AND A SET OF ACCOMPANYING PUZZLE PIECES AND BLOCKING PIECES

EP4460378B1EP 4460378 B1EP4460378 B1EP 4460378B1EP-4460378-B1

Inventors

  • LAMBRICHTS, Rein

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230106

Claims (12)

  1. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5), the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) comprising regular positions (2, 21, 27) forming a two-dimensional field, wherein it is intended as a puzzle to cover all positions (2, 21, 27) with the set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5), the puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) comprising a number of spheres (9), connected to each other in a mono-axial, biaxial-orthogonal or hexaxial pattern, wherein each position (2, 21, 27) is provided with a circular opening (3, 22, 28) in the puzzle board (1, 20, 26), wherein the spheres (9) correspond to the openings (3, 22, 28) in the puzzle board (1, 20, 26), wherein the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) has one or more blocking grooves (4, 23, 29), wherein the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) connect the openings (3, 22, 28) of multiple adjacent positions (2, 21, 27) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26), and wherein each blocking groove (4, 23, 29) comprises a blocking piece (5), movable through the blocking groove (4, 23, 29) and intended for blocking a position (2, 21, 27) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) in the blocking groove (4, 23, 29), and wherein the number and/or location of the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) on the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) is determined such that the puzzle always has at least one solution for each blocking arrangement, and wherein the blocking pieces (5) are not removable from the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  2. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to claim 1, characterized in, that the location of the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) on the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) is determined by an iterative process performed based on a defined set (7, 24, 30) of puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and defined dimensions of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  3. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) has one or more dead positions (6), which are not part of a blocking groove (4, 23, 29).
  4. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the diameter (13) of the circular openings (3, 22, 28) is smaller than the diameter (12) of the spheres (9) in the puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31).
  5. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the spheres (9) of mono-axial puzzle pieces (8a) are planed.
  6. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the blocking pieces (5) are suitable to be pushed in by a player into an opening (3, 22, 28) on a position (2, 21, 27) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  7. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the blocking pieces (5) are suitable to be pushed by a player into an opening (3, 22, 28) at a position (2, 21, 27) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) by means of an elastic deformation of the material from which the blocking piece (5) is constructed.
  8. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in, that a blocking piece (5) is composed of two discs (14) having a diameter (15) larger than the diameter (13) of the openings (3, 22, 28) in the puzzle board (1, 20, 26), connected at their centres by a cylinder having a diameter smaller than the width (16) of the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) wherein the cylinder widens (17) towards the top of the blocking piece (5) to a diameter equal to the diameter (13) of the openings (3, 22, 28) in the puzzle board (1, 20, 26), such that the blocking piece (5) is suitable for being pushed by a player into an opening (3, 22, 28) at a position (2, 21, 27) of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  9. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to claims 6, 7 or 8, characterized in, that the blocking pieces (5) can be pushed back out of the opening (3, 22, 28) by a player from the bottom of the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  10. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the width (16) of the blocking grooves (4, 23, 29) is smaller than the diameter (13) of the openings (3, 22, 28) in the puzzle board (1, 20, 26).
  11. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that the puzzle board (1, 20, 26) has a lid.
  12. Puzzle board (1, 20, 26) and a set (7, 24, 30) of accompanying puzzle pieces (8, 25, 31) and blocking pieces (5) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in, that a puzzle piece (8, 25, 31) consists of at least 2 and at most 5 spheres (9), preferably at least 3 and at most 4 spheres (9).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a new type of puzzle board and a set of accompanying puzzle pieces and blocking pieces. STATE OF THE ART Many games intended as puzzles with a puzzle board are well known and conceivable, where the possibility is desired to adjust the mutual orientation of the puzzle board and other puzzle board components prior to solving the puzzle to a different variant of the puzzle board and/or the initial arrangement of the puzzle board components. This can make the game or puzzle more varied, more complex or longer challenging for an experienced player. Often these are games designed as puzzles to cover all the positions of the puzzle board with the available set of puzzle pieces. US20110291360 describes a game board having a wavy relief structure formed of a series of rises and dips extending at regular distances from one another in at least two different directions and whereby one or several game pieces are further formed as sliding pieces with one block or with several blocks which are connected to one another and whereby the lower contact surface of every block has a sloping shape which is predominantly complementary to the shape of the dips of the game board. Known puzzles of this nature allow the player to adjust the initial arrangement of the puzzle board by already covering certain positions on the puzzle board with puzzle pieces prior to solving the puzzle according to an arrangement predetermined in an instruction manual or manual, where the available game modes and thus the possible solutions remain rather limited. Moreover, a player will always have to accurately recreate or reconstruct the set-up on the puzzle board prior to solving the puzzle, which can waste time and also fun. Moreover, the player will always have to keep the possible initial arrangements and therefore the instructions or manual to hand, and it is often impossible to solve the puzzle if it is lost. Also, if the puzzle board is set up incorrectly at the beginning (wrong initial arrangement), the game or puzzle may become unsolvable. US2011291360 discloses a puzzle board and puzzle pieces, wherein to play the game the player must remove a particular sliding piece from the game board by one or several players via one or several exits of the game board by strategically moving said and/or other sliding pieces. The present invention seeks to solve at least one of the above-mentioned problems or drawbacks. The object of the invention is to provide a puzzle board and a set of accompanying puzzle pieces which overcomes these drawbacks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a first aspect, the invention relates to a puzzle board and a set of accompanying puzzle pieces according to claim 1. The invention is advantageous because the movable blocking pieces in the puzzle board allow the placement of the free positions and thus the placement of the positions occupied by puzzle pieces to be adjusted, thus allowing the puzzle pieces to be placed in different ways on the puzzle board. The number and location of the blocking grooves guarantee the player a solution for every possible initial arrangement of the blocking pieces. Thus, the puzzle can be changed each time by the player himself without the player having to stick to a predetermined initial arrangement of the puzzle board pre-set in a manual or instructions. Thus, after each change in the position of the blocking pieces, the player must find a new way of positioning the puzzle pieces so that all free positions are covered. Preferred embodiments of the puzzle board with accompanying puzzle pieces are shown in claims 2 to 12. The invention is advantageous because the blocking pieces can never leave the puzzle board. This guarantees that a particular blocking piece will always remain in the blocking groove it belongs to. This ensures that the player can always find a solution independently of the initial arrangement and avoids the player placing a blocking piece in a position outside the predestined blocking groove, possibly resulting in an initial arrangement for which there is no solution. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a puzzle board without blocking pieces.Figure 2 shows a top view representation of a puzzle board according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a puzzle board according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a puzzle board according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a puzzle board according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a set of puzzle pieces according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 7 shows a schematic representation of a puzzle board without blocking pieces (A) and a set of adjacent positions of the puzzle board occupied by a set of accompanying puzzle pieces (B).Figure 8 shows a schematic representation of a puzzle