Method of creating a 3D assembly puzzle

Abstract

The invention relates to methods for creating three-dimensional puzzles that require disassembling an initial volumetric figure into individual components and then reassembling the individual components into the initial volumetric figure. The technical result is the creation of three-dimensional puzzles that have arbitrary volumetric figures as initial ones, the degree of complexity of assembly of which can vary widely from the simplest to the most complex. The component parts of the puzzles according to the claimed method are formed by cutting the initial puzzle figure with two groups of secant surfaces rotated in space relative to each other by 90 degrees, wherein the secant surfaces used to obtain the component parts are constructed based on guide lines with contours of a special shape. A description of the construction of contours of a special shape for forming secant surfaces is given in the claimed method.

Claims

1. A method for creating a three-dimensional prefabricated hand puzzle representing a volumetric figure of arbitrary shape consisting of parts that, when assembled, form the original volumetric figure of the puzzle, characterized in that the component parts of the puzzle are formed by cutting the original volumetric figure of the puzzle with two groups of secant surfaces, wherein each group of secant surfaces contains one or more secant surfaces, and the direction of the contour lines of the secant surfaces both within one group of surfaces and between surfaces belonging to different groups coincides, wherein the angle between the generating lines of the secant surfaces belonging to different groups is 90 degrees, and the secant surfaces belonging to one group must have contour lines as guides that do not intersect with other contour lines of the surfaces of this group, and must have the same direction as other contour lines of the surfaces of this group, where the direction of the contour line is determined as the direction between the start and end points of the contour line, wherein the contour lines of each secant surface serving as guides in constructing the secant surfaces, are constructed in the form of a chain of one or more basic contour elements, defined in paragraph 2 of this claim, connected by smooth lines (without breaks), while the number of basic contour elements included in the composition of different contour lines of different cutting surfaces may be different and the parameters of different basic contour elements may differ from each other.

2. A method for constructing a basic contour element, characterized in that it consists of constructing a line from two curves and connecting them in such a way that one of the curves has the form of two zigzags like a capital letter S, the other is a symmetrical reflection relative to the vertical line at some distance along the horizontal of the first curve and thus having the form of a mirror image relative to the vertical axis of the capital letter S and a smooth (without kinks) connection of the upper vertices of these two curves by a line that has a downward bend, towards the unconnected vertices, wherein the parameters of the right and left curves (in the form of the letter S and its reflection)the radii of rounding, the lengths of various sections, the orientation angles of the linescan differ from each other for the same basic contour element, that is, the basic contour elements can consist of asymmetrical left and right curves.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0036] The claimed method for producing three-dimensional assembly puzzles is based on the principle of obtaining the component parts of the puzzle by cutting the original volumetric puzzle figure into separate parts with several cutting surfaces.

[0037] In this case, the essential factors determining the original properties of the puzzle according to the claimed method are: [0038] 1) the shape of the contours of the curves that define the type of cutting surfaces; [0039] 2) the number of cutting surfaces; [0040] 3) combining cutting surfaces into groups, orientation of the groups of cutting surfaces relative to each other and orientation of the groups of cutting surfaces relative to the original volumetric figure;

[0041] The formation of these factors according to the claimed method is described below.

1. Construction of the Shape of Secant Surfaces

[0042] The shape of each secant surface is defined by: [0043] 1) constructing a guide curve contour on the plane (FIG. 2); [0044] 2) forming a surface by moving a generatrixa straight line perpendicular to the plane in which the constructed guide curve lies, along this guide curve (FIG. 3).

[0045] Below in this section, the stages of constructing guide curves and secant surfaces are described.

1.1. Construction of a Guide Curve on a Plane

[0046] The contour of each guide curve used in constructing cutting surfaces is formed by arranging in a certain order on the plane a chain of one or more so-called basic contour elements.

1.1.1. Description of the Basic Contour Element

[0047] Basic contour elementa curve that serves as a component in constructing guide curves and has a number of distinctive graphic features.

[0048] Construction of one basic contour element on a plane can be represented as a sequence of the following steps. [0049] 1) We draw a curve with two zigzags, resembling a capital letter S in shape (FIG. 4.); [0050] 2) We depict horizontally next to the curve constructed in step a), a similar second curve with two zigzags, only in the form of a symmetrical display of the first figure relative to the vertical axis. The horizontal distance between the two figures can vary within the range from a fraction to several values of the width of these curves (FIG. 5); [0051] 3) The parameters of the constructed left and right curvesthe radii of rounding, the lengths of individual sections, the angles of line rotationcan be set randomly for each curve during the construction process and independently of the values for the other half of the curve, that is, the overall figure of the basic contour element can be asymmetrical relative to the vertical axis between the left and right curves; [0052] 4) The upper vertices of the constructed curves are connected by a smooth curve with a downward bend (FIG. 6). It is important that the connection of the smooth curve is performed for the vertices of the upper zigzags with an outward bend, and the connection is not performed for the vertices associated with inward bends, i.e. the lower zigzags; [0053] 5) The final figure of the basic contour element obtained in this way can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical and look, for example, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0054] The direction of the basic contour element is considered to be the direction of the straight line passing through the two extreme points of the contour (the initial and final vertex) of this element (FIG. 7).

[0055] The parameters for constructing basic contour elements from one instance of a contour element to another may either be repeated or different (for example, set randomly), while the mandatory features characterizing any basic contour element remain the presence of two lines in the contourzigzags with two waves in the form of the letter S and its image symmetrical relative to the vertical axis, whose upper vertices are connected by a smooth curve that bends downwards. The direction on the plane and in space of contour elements may be different.

1.1.2. Constructing Guide Curves

[0056] Each guide curve is a set of one or more basic contour elements, united into one continuous line and arranged on a plane along one direction.

[0057] The general direction of the curve is determined by a straight line drawn through its start and end points.

[0058] In this case, the configuration and sizes of individual basic contour elements included in one guide curve can be either the same or different.

[0059] An example of a guide curve containing three identical basic contour elements is shown in FIG. 8, with the contour of the middle contour element rotated 180 degrees relative to the horizontal line.

[0060] An example of a guide curve containing three basic contour elements with different configuration parameters is shown in FIG. 9.

1.1.3. Construction of Secant Surfaces Based on Guide Curves

[0061] Secant surfaces constructed on the basis of guide curves are formed by moving the generatrixa straight line perpendicular to the plane in which the guide curve lies, along the contour of this guide curve (FIG. 10).

2. Number and Orientation of Cutting Surfaces Relative to Each Other.

[0062] 2.1. The cutting surfaces used to cut the original three-dimensional puzzle figure into individual pieces are combined into two groups. The number of cutting surfaces in each group may be equal to one or more and may not coincide with the number of cutting surfaces in the other group. [0063] 2.2. For surfaces belonging to the same group, the guiding curves lie in the same plane, have the same directions, and these curves are spaced from each other so that the curves themselves and the surfaces formed by them do not intersect with other curves and surfaces of this group (FIG. 11, 12). [0064] 2.3. Two groups of surfaces are oriented relative to each other in such a way that the guide curves of both groups have the same direction, and the planes of the guide curves are rotated relative to each other by 90 degrees (FIG. 13).

3. The Orientation of the Secant Surfaces Relative to the Original Three-Dimensional Puzzle Figure.

[0065] The orientation of the cutting surfaces relative to the original volumetric puzzle figure is not regulated by general principles and is determined by the specific geometry of a particular puzzle figure and the required user properties of the puzzle.

[0066] An example of the orientation of the cutting surfaces relative to the original volumetric figurea parallelepipedis shown in FIG. 14. Here, the orientation of the cutting planes is done in such a way that the planes with the guide curves of two groups of cutting surfaces are parallel to the corresponding faces of the parallelepiped.

[0067] The result of cutting the original figurea parallelepipedby the cutting surfaces is shown in FIG. 15. The appearance of individual parts obtained as a result of cutting is shown in FIG. 16.

[0068] An example of the orientation of the cutting surfaces relative to the original figurea sphereis shown in FIG. 17.

[0069] Features of assembled puzzles obtained by the claimed method

[0070] Due to the above-described method of obtaining parts of assembled puzzles, volumetric puzzles made according to the claimed method have the following properties: [0071] 1) as the initial volumetric figure of the puzzle, you can choose almost any three-dimensional body, both typical primitives (parallelepiped, sphere, cylinder, etc.), and any other arbitrary shape; [0072] 2) due to the above-described method of obtaining the parts of the assembled puzzles, each part of the puzzle has the appearance of a unique branch with a unique shape, which is of independent interest from an artistic and aesthetic point of view; [0073] 3) by varying the number of cutting surfaces, changing the parameters of the basic contour elements and guide curves used in constructing cutting surfaces, it is possible to change the degree of complexity of assembling puzzles within wide limits, from the simplest to an unlimitedly high level, which allows for the maximum expansion of the age range of the potential consumer audience.

[0074] These factors lead to a significant increase in interest in puzzles of this type in general, in the processes of their disassembly and assembly, and to the expansion of their consumer audience.