Larry D. Nichols
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Larry D. Nichols (born 1939) was an American puzzle designer. He grew up in
Xenia Xenia may refer to: People * Xenia (name), a feminine given name; includes a list of people with this name Places United States ''listed alphabetically by state'' * Xenia, Illinois, a village in Clay County ** Xenia Township, Clay County, Il ...
,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, and studied chemistry at
DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...
in
Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It is located near Interstate 70 approximately halfway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis in the west-central portion ...
, before moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Graduate School. He was best known for the invention of
mechanical puzzle A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...
s including 'The Nichols Cube Puzzle' (1972), patent US3655201.Pattern forming puzzle and method with pieces rotatable in groups US 3655201 A
/ref> He lived with Karen, his wife, in Arlington, Massachusetts since 1959.


The Nichols Cube Puzzle (Twizzle)

In 1957, 17 years before Dr. Rubik’s invention popularly known as the “ Rubik's Cube”, Dr. Nichols conceived of a twist cube puzzle with six colored faces. It was a 2×2×2 cube assembled from eight unit cubes with magnets on their inside faces, allowing the cubes to rotate in groups of four around three axes. The object of the puzzle was to mix the colors on the faces of the cube and then restore them. After making many preliminary models, in 1968 a working prototype was constructed, and on April 11, 1972, U.S. patent 3,655,201 was issued covering the Nichols' Cube. The patent focused on the 2×2×2 puzzle but mentioned the possibility of larger versions. Nichols' patents became the subject of a court hearing, between his employer, and the Ideal Toy Company.The Legal Puzzle of the Rubik’s Cube
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/ref> In 1985, a U.S. District Court ruled that Rubik’s Cube infringed the Nichols patent, but in 1986 the Court of Appeals ruled that only the smaller 2×2×2 Rubik’s Pocket Cube was guilty of infringement, and not the popular 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube.
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Analogues of the invention

* Manipulative toy William O Gustafson 1960 Patent US3081089: 'Manipulatable toy' by William O Gustafson 1960
/ref> * Rubik's Cube 1974 Patent US4378117: 'Spatial intelligent toy' by Erno Rubik 1974
/ref> * Frank Fox got a British patent for a spherical sliding puzzle in 1974 Patent GB1344259: 'Amusement device' by Frank Fox 1974
/ref> * Terutoshi Ishige received a Japanese patent for a 3x3x3 in 1976 WIRED: Rubik Applies for Patent on Magic Cube
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Career

Nichols received a degree in chemistry in 1958 from DePauw University, where he was a Rector Scholar, and went on to earn a doctorate at Harvard. As a Harvard student, he invented and produced games and puzzles. He became chief scientist for the Moleculon Research Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and invented one of its primary products, Poroplastic, in 1973. Poroplastic film has the mechanical properties of a typical plastic, but is able to hold large quantities of almost any liquid within tiny pores. Usage of Poroplastic materials centers on controlled drug delivery and environmental health and safety products.Role of Larry Nichols '58 in Inventing Famous Toy is Recalled
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Larry D. Living people Puzzle designers Toy inventors DePauw University alumni 1939 births Harvard University alumni Combination puzzles Mechanical puzzles