This is my floppy 1x2x3 puzzle. I designed the puzzle in cad and had it printed in wsf at shapeways. It turns very well (I'm just happy it turns at all). This puzzle also has the ability to shape shift in many interesting ways. There were a few minor cosmetic errors that are not noticeable to the untrained eye but those will be corrected in the final version I will upload on shapeways tonight. The only thing I didn't like about the puzzle is that I had to glue the screw to the nut to prevent it from unscrewing (I'm pretty sure others have had the same problem). Other than that I thought that the puzzle was of great quality compared to what I originally expected and I will be ordering more of my other designs soon.

Shapeways link: http://www.shapeways.com/model/119976/t ... 1x2x3.html

Sorry for the low quality of the pics, I couldn't find the cord for my good camera.















PS: There wont be a video for a while because my video camera is not working.

SWEEEET!!! In your face Chinese KO's ^^ Just like them: fully fully functionnal

Greg

Floppy cube missing a side? I like it!

Not quite, it is a 1x2x3 that allows 90 degree turns on the long side thus allowing it to change shape.

Okay, I see it now! Looks killer!

If you let me "borrow" it, I can make a video of it...

Wow! Looks awesome! Could another way of making an identical looking puzzle is to take a Super Floppy Cube, and taking of a side?

Yes, but all of the parts would turn differently than they do on this one.

I meant what I bolded.

By what's bolded, I could glue 6 cubies together and meet your description.

Nope. Just four. Remember the centre needs to be able to rotate, otherwise it would be a pretty trivial puzzle. And besides, it's more fun if it's correctly proportioned.

Can you sticker the other mini rotating centers? that would be much more fun ^^

You could but it would be very difficult.

Also, the puzzle will be up on shapeways in just a few minutes.

The puzzle is now for sale!

http://www.shapeways.com/model/119976/t ... 1x2x3.html\


PS: If you buy one please post here that you did so 1. I can thank you and 2. I can keep a tally of who bought one.

it should actually be called a super 1x2x3. Not a floppy 1x2x3

Shapeways will do that for you in an Excel document that you can download. you should find it in your shop I think.

Wow, I didn't know that you could do that. Oh and, I will be ordering v2 of this design (only small changes) soon.


Btw, why are all of my designs getting 1 star ratings?

sorry for the double post, but I wanted to ask a question. I recently showed this puzzle to a very good friend of mine who is a patent lawyer. He loved the puzzle and wanted to help me write up a patent on this design and then try to have it mass produced by a toy company (Where's mefferts when you need them ). The reason I am saying this is that I want to know if anyone has calimed this design/built the puzzle. I want to know so that I don't get in trouble like I did with my 2x2x8 design. If anyone has built or designed a puzzle like this just tell me and I will not persue the patent and if he/she wants I will stop selling the puzzle on my shapeways page.

A patent may be too expensive for the number of people who would actually buy it. I recommend just leaving it on Shapeways.

You can't get a patent on it because you already publicized it. Besides that, the patent would have a big chance of being invalidated due to prior art.

Really, why would it be invalidated due to prior art? (In the patent I would be talking about the changes made to the origional 1x2x3 mech that allow it to change shape (It's like how uwe meffert patented the 1x2x9))


About the publicizing thing I only have one word, Drat.

Jerry Slocum has made an investigation on this some time ago. Jerry has the world's largest puzzle collection. He has made fundamental historical research on puzzles, including Tangram, 14-15 and Rubik's. Patents are one source for his research. Jerry has checked puzzle patents for inventors. Then he checked those inventors for other patent. As it happens, most puzzle patent inventors have exactly ONE puzzle patent on their name. He also found the reason. The pattern is as follows:
1) Young guy invents puzzle
2) Young guy ask patent lawyer for advice
3) Patent lawyer says "patent is good idea"
4) Young guy pays a lot of money to the patent lawyer to get his patent
5) Young guy never earns any serious money on the puzzle
6) Young guy, having become wiser, doesn't make the same mistake twice
If you do not believe me, then go to the international patent database and search for Panagiotes Verdes.

Instructive, isn't it?

Tom is right for Europe and most countries in the world who have "first-to-publish" legislation. The exceptions are USA and China. USA has "first-to-invent" legislation that allows the inventor to patent his work within a year after his own first publication of his work. As for China ... let's not go there.

Oskar

This friend of mine is technically not a patent lawyer (Anymore at least). Currently he is a patent writer who holds more than 40 patents. About the "trust" thing, I trust this man greatly and I know he wouldn't try to dupe me. Anyway, he is not charging me he is only giving me input on how I should write the patent (He should know ). Also, I live in the us so the publicizing thing will not be a problem.


PS: Thanks for the info.

I'm not sure that you're the first to invent this. TomZ posted a design here that looks like it could be the same as yours. It might not be the same though.

Alex

Yes, his design and mine are very similar. Probably the only difference in mine is the shape of the stickers and differences in the screw hole. This is why I asked if anyone had designed it before I persued the patent (It was only an idea anyway I wouldn't have filed it for a long time (If I ever got around to it)). If tomz wants I will remove the puzzle from my shapeways page.

No, I don't have any problems with it.

I wonder though: what prevents the stickers from peeling when the pieces rotate over them?

I recessed the faces about .3mm wich is just enough to prevent them from scraping off (It also serves as a great guide during stickering). Something else I noticed about this design, is that those little pieces that allow the puzzle to shapeshift can turn on their own. When they do this, the puzzle can lock up (This only happens once a while and is very easy to correct). I have made it easier to avoid this in the latest version where there are larger fillets on those pieces (This is probably a problem on all super cuboids). Other than that, the puzzle is very high quality. The pieces require no sanding, they just fit together out of the box.

One idea I had, was to take this concept (Allowing 90 degree turns on the long axis of rotation) and adapt it to another side.

Yes, I foresaw the rotating pieces and because of that I never prototyped it. I think it can be solved with some elaborate locking mechanism... It would be interesting to make but pretty difficult.

The rotating pieces are not that big of and issue (I would say that it is not an issue at all because it almost never happens (maybe twice in three days of playing with it alot)). It is also very simple to correct with your fingernail. Using a locking mechanism is not practical in my eyes because it would block the other pieces as you scramble the puzzle. One more question, the tolerance I used on this puzzle is ~.2mm. Is this too much? I am asking this because it turns verry easily. Is this to be expected with lower order puzzles printed in wsf?

Sorry for the bump, but I wanted to ask a question. Since this design has not proved to be a seller (I haven't sold any yet, I think it is because the price is too high) I would like to offer this design as a combo pack to save money. What I would like to do is offer this design with the hollow 1x2x3 (new), 1x2x3, plus 1x2x3, 1x2x5 and the 1x2x7 for around $275-300 (This is more than a $100 discount). Even though I haven't prototyped some of these designs I am absolutely sure that they would work (Also, shapeways refunds all your money if something dosen't work (I am only saying this so no one will have doubts)). I will only put this up for sale if I can get at least 5 serious buyers. If this offer proves successful I will do it with some of my other designs as well (Quartet, master quartet and the elite quartet ( ) for a 25-30% discount).


PS: The 1x2x7 uses the top feet that olz designed. If olz does not want me selling these just tell me.

You should hollow out the pieces..

They are hollowed out to about 1.5mm (Also, my markup is only about 20-30 dollars for SIX puzzles so I am not making much money on this. I only want to sell a few puzzles (Remember the thing I said about wanting to recoup the $200 I spent on sw)). The $300 price was just an estimation After final changes it would probably be about $250. I don't think this is a very large amount for six puzzles although I would like to hear from other people about what they think. I will probably hollow out the smaller puzzles to 1mm (That will come with a 15-20 dollar price drop). All I wanted to really know is if anyone would be interested.

Since when did Shapeways say that they will refund your money if one of your puzzle designs doesn't work?

"What happens if a customer is unsatisfied?
Shapeways will deal with all customer service. If a customer has comments on the design we will inform you, so you can adapt the design.
If a customer returns the product, gets a refund or doesn't pay the order, Shapeways and the shopkeeper will share the burden. This means that Shapeways will bear the costs of production and you won't earn your mark up fee. We will process this automatically."

From this, I'm assuming you can return your model.

Seeing how Oskar uses 0.7 mm and Tomz uses 0.8 mm, 1.5 mm seems overkill.

I always thought oscar used 2mm. I don't think I will ever go less than 1mm (I ordered the 1x1 in the picture above in .8mm thick and it was so thin I could bend it just by pushing on it lightly. The floppy 1x2x3 above has 1.5mm walls and I like how sturdy it is). If everyone thinks it is safe I will hollow all of the parts to 1mm but no thinner. If I do this though the price might come down by about 70-80 dollars.

Alright, I have calculated the total price for this offer. After hollowing out all the puzzles to 1mm the total price for this offer would be about $200-220. If I can get 5 serious buyers I will put the offer up on saturday. Post below or pm me with comments and suggestions.


PS: Video coming soon (I know it won't be good quality or be very long, but at least you get to see how it turns).