Abstract:
A stellated icosahedron puzzle has a plurality of assembled together parts forming in an assembled condition a stellated icosahedron, the assemblies including six mated together hollow octahedron assemblies and twelve hollow pyramid assemblies located on the hollow octahedron assemblies rotatable around each of the octahedron assembly via pivot shafts of the octahedron assemblies and stoppable every 180° of rotation, and the pyramid assemblies being independently attachable to and detachable from each of the pivot shafts.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a multi-piece games or puzzles, which can be assembled from a plurality of pieces. 
     Numerous games or puzzles are designed and manufactured, and are currently in use. One of them is disclosed, for example, in patent document SU 1347959 A1. 
     It is believed that existing games or puzzles of this type can be further improved. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new puzzle composed of a plurality of pieces, which is a further improvement of the existing puzzles. 
     In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated, in a puzzle which is assembled of several parts, comprising a plurality of assemblies forming together in an assembled condition a stellated icosahedron, said assemblies including six mated together hollow octahedron assemblies and twelve hollow pyramid assemblies located on said hollow octahedron assemblies and rotatable around each of said octahedron assemblies via pivot shafts of said octahedron assemblies and stoppable every 180° of rotation, said pyramid assemblies being independently attachable to and detachable from each of said pivot shafts. 
     Another feature of the present invention resides in that each of said octahedron assemblies is composed of two identical hollow semi-octahedron parts. 
     A further feature of the present invention is that each of said hollow semi-octahedron parts has two halves of said hollow pivot shaft, symmetrically located on two top surfaces of said octahedron part and half-way protruding outwardly of the latter. 
     Each of said half of said hollow pivot shaft in said octahedron assembly can form a full said pivot shaft and has a top domed end with elasticity—imparting gaps to accommodate insertion of a respective one of said pyramid assemblies to provide a robust and easy attachment of the latter. 
     Each of said top surfaces of said octahedron part can have bumps providing stepping of said pyramid assembly every 180° of its rotation. 
     Each of said octahedron parts can have inside surfaces provided with pins and symmetrically located pin holes engaging with one another and ensuring a press-fit engagement of two of said octahedron parts into one of said octahedron assemblies. 
     Each of said pyramid assemblies can include two identical hollow semi-pyramid parts each having a cut with a domed top formed for said pivot shaft, and also on an inner surface protruding pins and symmetrically located pin holes ensuring a press-fit engagement of two said pyramid parts to form one of said pyramid assemblies. 
     Each of said pyramid parts can have on outside surfaces recesses for locating label inserts which are attached by one of pressing or gluing into the recess. 
     The said labels can have different elements selected from the group consisting of colors, numbers, and indexes. 
     The pyramid parts can have on an outside bottom surface two symmetrical cutouts interacting with said bumps of said octahedron assembly for fixing rotation of said pyramid assembly every 180° of rotation. 
     The octahedron part can have two bottom outside surfaces provided with grip provisions and one middle bottom outside surface with central u-groove provision for easy and secure attachments and detachments of octahedron assemblies with each other. 
     Still a further feature of the present invention is that each of said pyramid parts can have on its apex hollow semi-spheres with symmetrically located in pins on one side and pin holes on another side, so that said semi-spheres together form full spheres serving as handles for easy and convenient pyramid attachments to and detachments from octahedron surfaces. 
     The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view showing a stellated icosahedron puzzle in a perspective view in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the octahedron part; 
         FIG. 3A  is an exploded perspective view of the octahedron assembly; 
         FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 3A ; 
         FIG. 3C  is a top view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 3B ; 
         FIG. 3D  is a front view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 3C ; 
         FIG. 3E  is a right side view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 3D ; 
         FIG. 3F  is a bottom view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 3D ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the pyramid part; 
         FIG. 5A  is an exploded perspective view of the pyramid assembly with label inserts; 
         FIG. 5B  is a perspective view of the pyramid assembly with label inserts on  FIG. 5A ; 
         FIG. 5C  is a front view of the pyramid assembly without label inserts; 
         FIG. 5D  is a right side view of the pyramid assembly without label inserts on  FIG. 5C ; 
         FIG. 5E  is a bottom view of the pyramid assembly without label inserts on  FIG. 5C ; 
         FIG. 6A  is a front view of label insert with one index; 
         FIG. 6B  is a front view of label insert with two indexes; 
         FIG. 6C  is a front view of label insert with three indexes; 
         FIG. 6D  is a front view of label insert with four indexes; 
         FIG. 6E  is a right side view of label insert with four indexes on  FIG. 6D ; 
         FIG. 7A  is an exploded perspective view of two octahedron assemblies coming together; 
         FIG. 7B  is a perspective view of two octahedron assemblies on  FIG. 7A  mated together; 
         FIG. 8A  is an exploded perspective view of three octahedron assemblies, two of them are mated together; 
         FIG. 8B  is a perspective view of three octahedron assemblies on  FIG. 8A  mated together; 
         FIG. 9A  is an exploded perspective view of four octahedron assemblies, three of them are mated together; 
         FIG. 9B  is a perspective view of four octahedron assemblies on  FIG. 9A  mated together; 
         FIG. 10A  is an exploded perspective view of five octahedron assemblies, four of them are mated together; 
         FIG. 10B  is a perspective view of five octahedron assemblies on  FIG. 10A  mated together; 
         FIG. 11A  is an exploded perspective view of six octahedron assemblies, five of them are mated together; 
         FIG. 11B  is a perspective view of six octahedron assemblies on  FIG. 11A  mated together; 
         FIG. 12A  is an exploded perspective view of six octahedron assemblies mated together and one pyramid assembly with label inserts coming to be inserted into octahedron pivot shaft; 
         FIG. 12B  is a perspective view of six octahedron assemblies and one pyramid assembly with label inserts on  FIG. 12B  mated together; 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of six octahedron assemblies and two pyramid assemblies with label inserts mated together; 
         FIG. 14  is an exploded perspective view of six mated together octahedron assemblies and pyramid assemblies with label inserts mated together; last pyramid assembly coming to be inserted into octahedron pivot shaft; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of assembled stellated icosahedron puzzle with two pyramid assemblies rotating around octahedron pivot shafts; 
         FIG. 16A  is an exploded perspective view of one core subassembly in which two pyramid assemblies coming to be inserted into two octahedron assembly pivot shafts; 
         FIG. 16B  is a perspective view of one core subassembly with two pyramid assemblies on  FIG. 16A  mated together with one octahedron assembly; 
         FIG. 17A  is an exploded perspective view of two core subassemblies on  FIG. 16B  coming to be mated together; 
         FIG. 17B  is a perspective view of two core subassemblies on  FIG. 17A  mated together; 
         FIG. 18A  is an exploded perspective view of three core subassemblies on  FIG. 16B  coming to be mated together; 
         FIG. 18B  is a perspective view of three core subassemblies on  FIG. 18A  mated together; 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of second set of three core subassemblies shown on  FIG. 18B  mated together; 
         FIG. 20  is an exploded perspective view of two sets of three and three core subassemblies shown on  FIG. 18B  and  FIG. 19  coming to be mated together; 
         FIG. 21  is an exploded perspective view showing a stellated icosahedron puzzle with not installed three front pyramid assemblies, one right side pyramid assembly coming to be mated with octahedron assembly and two pyramid assemblies without half pyramid mating parts on the top and top left side of octahedron pivot shafts; 
         FIG. 22A  is a top view of a stellated icosahedron puzzle on  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 22B  is a sectional front view of a stellated icosahedron puzzle on  FIG. 22A ; 
         FIG. 23  is a view showing a stellated icosahedron puzzle with sphere provisions on each pyramid assembly apex in a perspective view in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 24A  is a perspective front view of the octahedron part showing grip provisions; 
         FIG. 24B  is a perspective back view of the octahedron part showing grip and u-shaped groove provisions; 
         FIG. 24C  is a front view of the octahedron part on  FIG. 24A  showing grip provisions; 
         FIG. 24D  is a bottom view of the octahedron part on  FIG. 24C  showing grip and u-shaped groove provisions; 
         FIG. 24E  is a back view of the octahedron part on  FIG. 24C  showing grip and u-shaped groove provisions; 
         FIG. 25A  is an exploded perspective view of the octahedron assembly showing grip and u-shaped groove provisions; 
         FIG. 25B  is a perspective view of the octahedron assembly showing u-shaped groove provisions on  FIG. 25A ; 
         FIG. 25C  is a front view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 25B ; 
         FIG. 25D  is a right side view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 25C ; 
         FIG. 25E  is a bottom view of the octahedron assembly on  FIG. 25C ; 
         FIG. 26  is a perspective view of the pyramid part with semi sphere provision on the pyramid apex; 
         FIG. 27A  is an exploded perspective view of the pyramid assembly with sphere provisions on the pyramid apex; 
         FIG. 27B  is a perspective view of the pyramid assembly with sphere provisions on the pyramid apex; 
         FIG. 27C  is a top view of the pyramid assembly with sphere provisions on the pyramid apex shown on  FIG. 27B ; 
         FIG. 27D  is a left side view of the pyramid assembly with sphere provisions on the pyramid apex shown on  FIG. 27C ; 
         FIG. 27E  is a front view of the pyramid assembly with sphere provisions on the pyramid apex shown on  FIG. 27C ; 
         FIG. 27F  is a bottom view of the pyramid assembly shown on  FIG. 27E ; 
         FIG. 28A  is an exploded perspective view of two octahedron assemblies with grip and u-shaped groove provisions coming together; 
         FIG. 28B  is a perspective view of two octahedron assemblies with grip and u-shaped groove provisions on  FIG. 28A  mated together; 
         FIG. 29  is a front view of two octahedron assemblies with grip and u-shaped groove provisions on  FIG. 28B ; 
         FIG. 30  is a sectional view of two octahedron assemblies with grip and u-shaped groove provisions on  FIG. 29 ; 
         FIG. 31  is an exploded perspective view showing a stellated icosahedron puzzle, having grips and u-shaped groove provisions, with not installed front pyramid assemblies and front octahedron assembly, one left side and one top pyramid assemblies coming to be inserted into octahedron assemblies pivot shafts and one pyramid assembly without half pyramid mating part on the bottom left side of octahedron pivot shaft. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A stellated icosahedron puzzle in accordance with the present invention as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  21 ,  23  and  31  has six mated together hollow octahedron assemblies  1 , and twelve hollow pyramid assemblies  2 , locating on six hollow octahedron assemblies  1  with possibilities to be rotated around each of two octahedron assembly pivot shafts  3  with precise and firm position stops every 180 degree of rotation and to be independently attached from and detached to each pivot shaft  3 . 
     Each octahedron assembly  1  is formed by two identical hollow semi octahedron parts  4  shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 A,  3 B,  24 A,  25 A. 
     Each of hollow semi octahedron part  4 , shown on  FIGS. 2 ,  3 A- 3 F, has two halves of hollow pivot shaft  5 , symmetrically located on two top surfaces  6  of octahedron part  4  and half way protruding outside of octahedron part  4 . 
     Each half of hollow pivot shaft  5  forms in octahedron assembly full pivot shaft  3  shown on  FIGS. 3B-3F  and has top domed end  7  with small gaps  8 , designed to make hollow pivot shaft  3  elastic to allow insertion of the pyramid assembly  2  with possibility to provide robust and easy pyramid assemblies attachments from and detachments to the puzzle. 
     On the top surfaces  6  bumps  9  are located, shown on  FIGS. 2 ,  3 A- 3 D. Bumps  9  provide precise and firm position stops every 180 degree of pyramid assembly rotation after insertion it into pivot shaft  5  of octahedron assembly  1 . 
     Each octahedron part  4  has on inside hollow surfaces  10  protruded pins  11  and symmetrically located pin holes  12  as shown on  FIGS. 2 and 3A . Protruded pins  11  and pin holes  12  provide press fit engagement of two octahedron parts  4  to form and secure one octahedron assembly  1  as shown on  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  25 A and  25 B. 
     Each pyramid assembly  2  is formed by two identical hollow semi pyramid parts  13  shown on  FIGS. 4 ,  5 A,  FIGS. 5B ,  26  and  27 A. 
     Each hollow pyramid part  13  has cutout  14  with domed top  15  shown on  FIGS. 4 and 5A , formed for firm engagement with pivot shaft  5 . Each pyramid part  13  has, on inside hollow surfaces  16 , protruded pins  17  and symmetrically located pin holes  18  as shown on  FIGS. 4 and 5A . Protruded pins  17  and pin holes  18  provide press fit engagement of two pyramid parts  13  to form and secure one pyramid assembly  2  as shown on  FIGS. 5A ,  5 B,  27 A and  27 B. 
     Outside surfaces  19  of pyramid part  13  have small recesses  20  as shown on  FIGS. 5A-5D  for locating label inserts  21  shown on  FIGS. 5A and 5B . Label inserts  21  can be pressed or glued into recesses  20  as shown on  FIG. 5A . 
     Label inserts  21  can have different colors, or numbers, or letters, or indexes  22  as shown on  FIGS. 6A-6E . Indexes  22  are designed to identify similar by color or number, or letter surfaces on the pyramid assemblies  2 . For example, surfaces with one index are identical to the surface with the same color, number or letter. Surfaces with two indexes are identical to different surface with different, from index one, another color, number or letter. Indexes  22  can be protruded or recessed. Protruded or recessed indexes  22  can help visually impaired people to play puzzle or simply play puzzle in a dark environment, which extends puzzle possibilities. 
     Outside surface  23  which is base bottom surface of pyramid part  13  has two symmetrical revolved cutouts  24  shown on  FIGS. 4 ,  5 A and  5 E designed for interaction with bumps  9  on octahedron assemblies  1 . This provides necessary position fix every 180 degree of rotation of pyramid assembly  2  on pivot shaft  3  of octahedron assembly  1 . 
     On the bottom outside middle surface of the octahedron part  4  can be provided u-shaped groove formations  25 , shown on  FIGS. 24B ,  24 D,  24 E,  25 A- 25 C and  25 E. 
     On the bottom outside opposite surfaces of the octahedron part  4  can be provided grip formations  26  shown on  FIGS. 25C-25E . 
     These formations  25  and  26  can help to provide easy and secure attachment and detachment of all six octahedron assemblies  1  between themselves in puzzle assembly and help to keep octahedron assemblies  1  together much easier and more secure. Engagement is shown on  FIG. 30 . 
     For easy repeatable attachments and detachments of pyramid assemblies  2  each pyramid part  13  can have, on pyramid apex, hollow semi spheres  27  with symmetrically locating pins  17  on one side and pin holes  18  on another side with ensuring press-fit engagement, shown on  FIGS. 26 and 27A . In pyramid assembly  2  these semi spheres  27  form full spheres  28 , which serve as convenient handles, shown on  FIGS. 27B-27E  and  31 . 
     The inventive puzzle operates in the following manner. 
     Puzzle assembly process starts with mating together two octahedron assemblies  1 , shown on  FIGS. 7A and 7B . 
     Next step in assembly process is shown on  FIGS. 8A and 8B  where third octahedron assembly  1  is mating together with previously assembled two octahedron assemblies  1 . 
     Following similar steps with four, five and six octahedron assemblies  1  are shown on  FIGS. 9A-11B . Player keeps all pieces together in his hands. 
     Next step is to install pyramid assemblies  2 , shown on  FIGS. 12A and 12B . 
     Continuation of the same installation steps of all pyramid assemblies  2  into puzzle is shown on  FIGS. 13 and 14 . 
     The goal is not only to assemble puzzle into stellated icosahedron, but to locate all pyramid assemblies  2  with label inserts  21  with the same indexes  22  (or the same colors, numbers, letters) close to each other around entire puzzle. For this step, pyramid assemblies  2  can be rotated and reoriented as shown on  FIG. 15 , detached and reattached to the new position on octahedron assembly  1  as shown on  FIGS. 14 and 21 . 
     Another way how to assemble icosahedron puzzle is shown on  FIGS. 16A-20 . 
     Following this way, first step is to assemble together two pyramid assemblies  2  with one octahedron assembly  1  into core subassembly  29  as shown on  FIGS. 16A and 16B . 
     Second step is to assemble two core subassemblies  29  together as shown on  FIGS. 17A and 17B . 
     Third step is to assemble another core subassembly  29  with previously assembled two core subassemblies  29  into large subassembly  30  as shown on  FIGS. 18A and 18B . 
     First, second and third steps should be repeated one more time to create second large subassembly  30  shown on  FIG. 19 . 
     It should be admitted that player has to keep all assembled subassemblies in his hands before the final stellated icosahedron puzzle is completely assembled into one piece. 
     Finally, last step is to clamp together two large subassemblies  30  into stellated icosahedron puzzle as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  20  and  23 . 
     As mentioned before, for convenient and more secure assembly all parts into puzzle octahedron parts  4  can have u-shaped groove formations  25  and grip formations  26 ; pyramid parts  13  can have semi spheres  27 .