Larry D. Nichols (December 27, 1939 â July 20, 2022) was an American puzzle designer. He grew up in Xenia, Ohio, and studied chemistry at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, before moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Graduate School. He was best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including 'The Nichols Cube Puzzle' (1972), patent US3655201. He lived with Karen, his wife, in Arlington, Massachusetts since 1959.
NIchols died on July 20, 2022, at the age of 82.
In 1957, 17 years before Dr. Rubik's invention popularly known as the âÂÂRubik's CubeâÂÂ, Dr. Nichols conceived of a twist cube puzzle with six colored faces. It was a 2ÃÂ2ÃÂ2 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 2ÃÂ2ÃÂ2 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. 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 2ÃÂ2ÃÂ2 Rubik's Pocket Cube was guilty of infringement, and not the popular 3ÃÂ3ÃÂ3 Rubik's Cube.
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.
Arthur S. Obermayer was the founder-owner of Moleculon Research Corporation where Nichols was Chief Scientist. Obermayer encouraged and helped to patent the Nichols Cube.