PUZZLE DEVICE WITH ILLUMINATION AND AUDIBLE SOUNDS

Abstract

A puzzle device with illumination and audible sounds is provided. The device comprises a housing; a body shaped to securely fit over the housing and comprising a plurality of spaced recesses on a top surface, a circuit having a plurality of conducting members formed on upward faces of the recesses, a battery power source, an on/off switch, and a light member and/or audible sound producing member forming a loop together with the power source and the switch; and a plurality of puzzle pieces, each of the puzzle pieces having a shape conformed to that of the respective recess of the body and comprising a contact on the bottom; whereby correct arrangement of the puzzle pieces in the conformed recesses will cause the contacts of the puzzle pieces to contact the conducting members of the recesses to close the circuit so as to activate the audible sound producing member to makes a sound and/or the light member to illuminate.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to puzzle devices and more particularly to such a puzzle device for children capable of illuminating and/or producing audible sounds when either a correct mating of a puzzle piece and a recess is made or the puzzle pieces are arranged correctly to form a complete picture.

2. Related Art

Puzzles (e.g., jigsaw puzzles) are well known in the art which serve to provide an intellectually challenging test of a user's skill in being able to arrange puzzle pieces to a complete picture. However, so far as the present inventor is aware, some types of prior art puzzle devices are capable of either illuminating or producing audible sounds only. In other words, one type of prior art puzzle devices may be designed to illuminate only while playing and another type of prior art puzzle devices may be designed to produce audible sounds only while playing. Hence, a need has arisen for an improved puzzle device capable of both illuminating and producing audible sounds when either a correct mating of a puzzle piece and a recess is made or the puzzle pieces are arranged correctly to form a complete picture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a puzzle device comprising a housing; a body shaped to securely fit over the housing and comprising a plurality of spaced recesses on a top surface, a circuit having a plurality of conducting members formed on upward faces of the recesses, a battery power source, an on/off switch, and a light member and/or audible sound producing member forming a loop together with the power source and the switch; and a plurality of puzzle pieces, each of the puzzle pieces having a shape conformed to that of the respective recess of the body and comprising a contact on the bottom; whereby correct arrangement of the puzzle pieces in the conformed recesses will cause the contacts of the puzzle pieces to contact the conducting members of the recesses to close the circuit so as to activate the audible sound producing member to makes a sound and/or the light member to illuminate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a puzzle device comprising: a housing; a rectangular body shaped to securely fit over the housing and comprising a recessed platform portion on a top surface, a battery power source, an on/off switch, and a audible sound producing member and/or light member forming a loop together with the power source and the switch; and a plurality of puzzle pieces each having a contact at a predetermined position; whereby correct arrangement of the puzzle pieces will cause the contacts to form a complete circuit so as to activate the audible sound producing member to makes a sound and/or the light member to illuminate.

In one aspect of the present invention every of the puzzle pieces includes a portion of a picture on its outward face with the complete picture formed thereon while the puzzle pieces are arranged correctly.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram for a puzzle device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment of the puzzle device according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled puzzle device in FIG. 2 with illumination and audible sounds being depicted schematically;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a second preferred embodiment of the puzzle device according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled puzzle device in FIG. 4 with a complete picture being formed by correctly arranging puzzle pieces; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 with the puzzle pieces being arranged upside down for schematically depicting illumination and sound effect of the puzzle device when a complete circuit is formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 a puzzle device in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The puzzle device comprises a shallow, rectangular housing 1 including a peripheral stepped flange 11 and a plurality of tabs 12 spaced along an inner edge of the flange 11; and a rectangular body 2. The bottom of the body 2 is dimensioned and shaped to fit tightly with the flange 11 and the tubs 12 so that the body 2 and the housing 1 can be firmly secured together.

The body 2 further comprises on its top surface a plurality of spaced recesses 21 each having a unique shape (e.g., circle, triangle, trapezoid or the like), a circuit 23 including a plurality of conducting members 22 formed on upward faces of the recesses 21, a plurality of resistors 24, such as LEDs or buzzers, a power source (e.g., button battery) 25 provided at a predetermined position, and an on/off switch 26. The resistors 24, power source 25 and switch 26 arranged in the body 2 form a loop with the circuit 23, as shown in FIG. 1.

The puzzle device further comprises a plurality of puzzle pieces 3 each having a shape conformed to that of the respective recess 21. Each puzzle piece 3 has a unique indicia 32, such as numbers, characters, symbols and the like, on its outward face and a contact 31 on the bottom.

In assembly, referring to FIG. 3, the body 2 is combined with the housing 1 by matching the bottom of the body 2 to the flange 11 and tabs 12 on the housing 1. LEDs (light emitting diode) 24b (as a portion of the resistors 24) are provided on the circuit 23 and preferably disposed along bottom edge of the body 2, an audible sound producing means, such as a buzzer 24a (as a portion of the resistors 24), are provided at one side of the body 2 and electrically connected to the circuit 23.

Also referring to FIG. 3, the puzzle device in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the invention operates as follows. When every of the puzzle pieces 3 is arranged correctly in the respective conformed recess 21, the contacts 31 at the bottom of the puzzle pieces 3 contact the conducting members 22 on the recesses 21 so that a complete circuit 23 is formed. At the same time, the buzzer 24a makes a buzzing sound and the LEDs 24b illuminate or flash. It is contemplated by the present invention that young children will be very interested in playing the puzzle device according to the present invention since the invention is designed to provide an attractive device with illumination and audible sounds, so as to help young children to learn numbers or characters with fun.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 in conjunction with FIG. 1, a puzzle device in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are detailed below. A housing 1′ having a predesigned shape is combined with a body 2′ comprising a recessed platform portion 21′ formed on its top surface. The platform portion 21′ is shaped to contain a plurality of puzzle pieces 3′. Each of the puzzle pieces 3′ includes a portion of a picture 33′ on its outward face and a contact 31′ at a predetermined position. The contacts 31′ form a complete circuit 32′ when the puzzle pieces 3′ is arranged correctly. The body 2′ further comprises a resistor 22′, such as a buzzer or a LED, a power source (e.g., button battery) 23′ and a switch 24′ at one side. The resistor 22′, power source 23′ and switch 24′ form a loop with the circuit 32′.

Referring to FIG. 5, the puzzle device in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the invention operates as follows. When the puzzle pieces 3′ are arranged correctly in the platform portion 21′ of the body 2′ with the complete picture 33′ forming on the puzzle pieces 3′, the complete circuit 32′ is formed by the connection of the contacts 33′. At the same time, the resistor 22′ (e.g., a buzzer or LEDs) makes a buzzing sound and/or illuminate.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A puzzle device comprising a housing; a body shaped to securely fit over the housing and comprising a plurality of spaced recesses on a top surface, a circuit having a plurality of conducting members formed on upward faces of the recesses, a battery power source, an on/off switch, and a light member and/or audible sound producing member forming a loop together with the power source and the switch; and a plurality of puzzle pieces, each of the puzzle pieces having a shape conformed to that of the respective recess of the body and comprising a contact on the bottom; whereby correct arrangement of the puzzle pieces in the conformed recesses will cause the contacts of the puzzle pieces to contact the conducting members of the recesses to close the circuit so as to activate the audible sound producing member to makes a sound and/or the light member to illuminate.

2. A puzzle device comprising: a housing; a rectangular body shaped to securely fit over the housing and comprising a recessed platform portion on a top surface, a battery power source, an on/off switch, and a audible sound producing member and/or light member forming a loop together with the power source and the switch; and a plurality of puzzle pieces each having a contact at a predetermined position; whereby correct arrangement of the puzzle pieces will cause the contacts to connect to each other to form a complete circuit so as to activate the audible sound producing member to makes a sound and/or the light member to illuminate.

3. The puzzle device of claim 2, wherein each of the puzzle pieces includes a portion of a picture on its outward face with the complete picture forming thereon while the puzzle pieces are arranged correctly.