Puzzle, puzzle piece and method for making puzzle

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide a jigsaw puzzle in which pieces are kept at a certain size or smaller and can interlock with other pieces, even if rotated, and to enhance a game-playing property and an interlocking property at the time of assembling such a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle piece 1 can interlock with other pieces 1 by interlocking portions each composed of at least one pair of projections 10 and recesses 11 and provided on a corresponding one of four sides of a rectangle. The respective sides are shaped to be point symmetrical with respect to a center 12 of the rectangle, and the piece can interlock with other pieces regardless of its orientation. Curvatures of a cutting die are maximized by slight inclinations of the respective pieces. By assigning a short-distance visible mark 20 to 22 , which makes the orientation of the piece discriminable, to the top surface of each piece, a game-playing method can be provided which is different from assembling of conventional jigsaw puzzles.

1 . A jigsaw puzzle piece capable of interlocking with other pieces by interlocking portions each composed of at least one pair of projections and recesses and provided on a corresponding one of four sides of a square, wherein:
 the respective sides are formed to be point symmetrical with respect to a center of the square; and   the pieces can interlock with other pieces in four upward, downward, leftward and rightward directions, whereas the respective sides of the piece are shaped such that projection-adjacent-side-portions adjacent to the projections are displaced inwardly of the square and recess-adjacent-side-portions adjacent to the recesses are displaced outwardly of the square with respect to a virtual reference line composed of sides of a square, the projections and the recesses are moved on the virtual reference line by distances corresponding to respective displacements, thereby preventing unevenness on sides of adjacent pieces when the pieces interlock with other pieces, and a maximum width of enlarged portions of the projections is set larger than a minimum width of constricted portions of the recesses to prevent detachment of interlocked projections and recesses.   
     
     
         2 . A jigsaw puzzle piece capable of interlocking with other pieces by including interlocking portions each composed of a projection and a recess and provided on a corresponding one of four sides of a square, wherein:
 display is made due to a difference between two or more reflectances, glazes or surface roughnesses.   
     
     
         3 . A tray used to array a plurality of pieces according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 an outer edge coincides with the size of a jigsaw puzzle in a completed state;   a frame body is prepared along four sides to prevent detachment of the pieces; and   row and column indicators are provided to indicate vertical and horizontal positions of the respective pieces.   
     
     
         4 . A tray used to array a plurality of pieces according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 an outer edge coincides with the size of a jigsaw puzzle in a completed state;   a frame body is prepared along four sides to prevent detachment of the pieces; and   row and column indicators are provided to indicate vertical and horizontal positions of the respective pieces.