Puzzle cube

Abstract

A puzzle device includes a hub with six orthogonally related square sockets, six mutually spaced circular retainers having inner and outer faces lying in spherical planes spaced from and concentric with the hub and coupled to respective sockets by square shanks, seven triangular slide members slidably underlying and bridging adjacent retainers and having outwardly projecting triangular shanks, an interlocking member having three ribs each of which is anchored in one of the recesses in the retainer, and three tongues each of which releasably engages recesses formed in the slide member peripheries and face members connected to the triangular shanks and having outside faces forming a regular three dimensional figure when the slide, retainer and interlocking member are in interlocked condition. The face members may have many different shapes, for example square, triangular, flattened spherical quadrants and form respectively different configurations. The slide member supported face members are rotatable in groups of four about selected orthogonally related axes. In an alternative construction the face members deliniate a sphere with orthogonally related circular openings rotatably engaging groups of four outer center face members. Edge outer face members slidably engage the center members and corner outer face members slidably engage the other outer face members. The exposed faces of the face members may carry orientation determative indicia.