GB2349117A - Interlocking jigsaw puzzle tile for painting or colouring - Google Patents

Abstract

A kit (fig 2) includes a number of interlockable surface elements shaped as jigsaw tiles 20 (10-18, fig 1) and painting or colouring materials 24. The tiles are left corner pieces 12, right corner pieces 14, male edge pieces 18, female edge pieces 16 and main pieces 10. The colouring materials 24 can be water-based paints to provide a durable finish which can be removed by washing in water. The kit can also include a sealing spray fixative 26, paint brushes 22, a planning pad 30 and fixing blocks 28 for attaching the tiles to a floor or wall.

Description

Interlocking Colourinq Surface & Kits This invention relates to an interlocking surface for receiving paint or other colouring materials and to kits incorporating such surfaces. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to such surfaces made up of large"jig-saw"type interlocking elements.

It is widely recognised that it is important for young children to engage in artistic and creative play, and the National Curriculum requires schools to provide suitable such activities. Although there is a wide range of artistic activity available to children to develop their ability to create and reproduce artistic scenes the size and form of the work is often limited to that determined by conventional artists'materials.

I have developed a product which allows the user to create a large colouring area made up of interlocking elements. This allows the user to build up a large colouring surface, for example on the floor or wall of a classroom.

Accordingly, in one aspect, this invention provides a kit comprising a plurality of interlockable surface elements and a plurality of paints or other colouring materials.

Preferably, the interlockable surface elements are substantially coplanar.

The surfaces of the interlockable elements are preferably blank when supplied so that they are suitable for users to apply the paint or other colouring materials to shade or create a design on the surfaces.

The plurality of interlockable surface elements are preferably shaped as"jig-saw"elements and preferably the jig-saw elements conform to a few standard shapes, for example left-and right-corner pieces, male and female edge pieces, and a main piece. Having a few standard shapes means that the tools or patterns used to cut out the pieces can be low in number. Such an arrangement of pieces means that any rectilinear shape can be constructed. Preferably the pieces have a similar size (excluding the interlocking male and female portions). In a preferred arrangement the main portions are substantially square with a dimension of approximately 4 inches (14.3 cm).

In one preferred arrangement, the main component has cut out (female) portions in two opposed sides and protruding (male) portions on the other two opposed sides.

The corner pieces may include two plain sides at substantially 90 degrees with a cutaway region and a protruding male region in the other two sides. This means that left and right corner pieces are effectively mirror images of each other and so a corner piece cut from the same pattern can be used as either a left or right corner piece.

The female edge piece may comprise one plain side with the two adjacent sides having cutaway regions and the fourth side having a male region, with the male piece having a plain side, a cutaway region opposite the plain side and two projecting male portions adjacent the other two sides.

A user of the kit is thus able to select portions to create a surface of interlockable elements having substantially any desired rectilinear shape. Such a shape can include internal and external corners for use, for example, in fitting the surface around windows on a wall or furniture on a floor.

Preferably, said colouring material is water based and dries on the surface of the elements to provide a finish which is reasonably durable but which can be removed by washing in water or another reasonably safe solvent.

The kit preferably also includes fixing means which enable the interlocking surface elements to be fixed to an underlying substrate such as a floor or a wall. The kit may also include a sealing liquid or spray which may be applied on top of the colouring material to make the work permanent.

Furthermore, the kit may include sheets of drawing material with the outline of a made up"jig-saw"on it.

The invention also extends to the interlocking elements per se.

Whilst the invention has been defined above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and, by way of example only, an embodiment thereof will now be described in detail by way of example only, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of the"jig-saw"pieces, and Figure 2 is a schematic view of a kit in accordance with this invention.

Referring to the drawings, the product consists of blank jig-saw pieces 10,12,14,16. The main pieces 10 are about 4 inches square with a surface that will take waterbased colour paint. The paint will cover well but can be washed off when placed in water. One shape of piece only makes up the puzzle, apart from the corner and edge regions, so for example 100 or 1000 identical pieces can be joined together to make the layout. To complete the shape the builder will need edge pieces 12,14 and corners 14,16.

Four different shaped pieces are provided, two edge pieces 12,14, and a corner piece 14,16.

Using the different pieces'L'shaped layouts as well as square and rectangular layouts can be created and to any size. The size is restricted only by the number of pieces the builder has. The pieces will be available in packs and any number can be purchased. Puzzles the size of classroom floors can be made.

In use the builder paints their own image so a group can paint a collective scene or one person can create a jigsaw mural starting at one end and adding pieces as the scene grows. The activity requirements of the National Curriculum can be fully met by this product. An assembled jig-saw can be taken apart and put back together easily, to allow it to be stored between sessions or classes, and putting it back together is enjoyable and beneficial. Big pictures can be painted in sections and big projects may be worked on piecemeal. It would also be possible to swap puzzles through the post.

The following are typical play ideas: (i) Paint an aerial view of the road between the school and a local village. The puzzle could be 3 feet deep by as long as the room.

(ii) Paint the progress of a housing estate as it is constructed. Paint in the roads as they are put in and add the houses as they are built. The shape of the puzzle can adapt to suit the shape of the development. The size of the puzzle will depend upon the scale chosen.

(iii) Paint the High Street from the air with all the road junctions, road markings, bus stops and parking places, or paint it shop by shop looking directly at the frontages. A class can focus on the differences in shop fronts and window displays. Parts of the jig-saw can be washed off and repainted when a shop changes ownership or a window display changes or roadwork is carried out. Several strip puzzles can be created with different classes or groups working on different roads in the immediate area.

(iv) Sports Day. Paint a race from start to finish. Start with the runners stretched out along the track with the winners crossing the finishing line and the rest of the runners out behind. Paint the cheering crowd and the flags waving. Paint the sky and the clouds and the dog that wants to join in. A strip of 3 feet by 12 feet should cover the biggest race.

(v) Paint a local factory's production line from one end through to the completed product. Paint all the people who work there and all the features of the workplace.

(vi) Paint the shelves of the school library. Show all the children choosing books and queuing up to have their books stamped by the librarian. Show the children coming in through the doors and leaving with their books.

(vii) Paint a local hedgerow. The bushes and the wild flowers may be shown, together with the cows looking over the fence and the lambs in the next field. The cars on the road and the bus stops may also be included, and space at the bottom of the puzzle may be left to write on all the names of the plants and flowers.

(viii) Paint a bus queue with different people waiting for a bus.

(ix) Paint the local famous buildings side by side in a long row with the titles and the year they were built underneath.

(x) Paint a queue of cars and lorries stretching for miles held up by roadwork. The different models of motor cars may be painted so that people will recognise them.

(xi) Paint a battle scene with knights in armour. All the different types of soldiers and their colours may be reproduced.

(xii) Paint the Bayeux Tapestry figure by figure and section by section from one end to the other. Other examples would include Egyptian wall paints and sculptural friezes from classical buildings.

(xiii) Paint all the children in the class standing side by side. Paint their clothes in the right colours and get the whole group in with the leader.

(xiv) Paint the Information Super Highway or any imaginative subject to do with the future, for example a moonscape or a journey through the stars.

In its basic form, the product may comprise for example 50 pieces with or without water-based colouring material, to provide about a square metre of painting surface.

In addition, packs of edge pieces may be sold, as well as packs of corner pieces.

To assist planning and magnification of images, the kit may comprise a planning pad which is a sketch pad where the leaves are overprinted with a faint image of the jig-saw pattern, enabling a layout to be sketched. This can make painting large pictures easier and it will also show how many pieces need to be used to complete the project.

To allow attachment to a wall or floor, packs of double sided adhesive patches may also be provided that are made to affix each jig-saw piece to a clean and dry surface. This would normally be a permanent fixing and should only be used when the puzzle is to become a mural.

To make a completed image more permanent, a sealing spray used to seal the surface and make the picture waterproof may be provided in a can or similar container.

Figure 2 shows a typical kit made up of a stack 20 of main pieces 10, a number of brushes 22, paint pots 24, a spray sealer 26, a block 28 of fixing pads, and a planning pad 30 with a faint outline of the jig-saw shapes.

Claims (19)

1. Claims 1. A kit comprising a plurality of interlockable surface elements, and a plurality of paints or other colouring materials.
2. 2. A kit according to Claim 1, wherein the plurality of interlockable surface elements are substantially coplanar.
3. 3. A kit according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of interlockable surface elements are shaped as"jig-saw" elements.
4. 4. A kit according to Claim 3, wherein the jig-saw elements include one or more of the following: a corner piece, a male edge piece, a female edge piece, and a main piece.
5. 5. A kit according to Claim 4, wherein the corner piece and main piece have a similar size.
6. 6. A kit according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein the main piece is substantially square.
7. 7. A kit according to Claim 6, wherein the main piece has dimensions of approximately 14 cms.
8. 8. A kit according to any one of Claims 4 to 7, wherein the main piece has a cut-out (female) portion in two opposed sides and protruding (male) portions on the other two opposed sides.
9. 9. A kit according to any one of Claims 4 to 8, wherein the corner piece includes two plain sides at substantially 90 degrees, with a cut-away region and a protruding male region on the other two sides.
10. 10. A kit according to any one of Claims 4 to 9, wherein the female edge piece comprises one plain side with the two adjacent sides having female regions and the fourth side having a male region, with the male edge piece having a plain side, a cut-away region opposite the plain side and two projecting male portions adjacent the other two sides.
11. 11. A kit according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the colouring material is water-based and dries on the surface of the elements to provide a finish which is reasonably durable but which can be removed by washing in water or another reasonably safe solvent.
12. 12. A kit according to any one of the preceding Claims, further including fixing means which enable the interlocking surface elements to be fixed to an underlying substrate such as a floor or a wall.
13. 13. A kit according to any one of the preceding Claims, further including a sealing liquid or spray which may be applied on top of the colouring materials to make the colouring materials applied permanent.
14. 14. A kit according to any one of the preceding Claims, further including sheets of drawing material with the outline of a made-up jig-saw on it.
15. 15. A plurality of interlockable surface elements suitable for having paints or other colouring materials applied.
16. 16. A plurality of interlockable surface elements according to Claim 15, wherein the elements are substantially coplanar.
17. 17. A plurality of interlockable surface elements according to Claim 15 or 16, wherein the elements are shaped as jig-saw elements.
18. 18. A plurality of interlockable surface elements according to Claim 17, wherein the jig-saw elements include one or more of the following: a corner piece, a male edge piece, a female edge piece and a main piece.
19. 19. A kit substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.