Patent Application
20150079870
The present invention relates to building blocks, and specifically to magnetic educational toy blocks.
Building blocks may be assembled in various configurations to form different geometric structures. Groups of building blocks may be used as an educational toy by children, or may be used by adults or children to explore various three-dimensional shapes.
Building blocks may be shaped as platonic solids. All-Shape building blocks may be modified to include a flange on each tetrahedron edge, where each flange and each tetrahedron vertex may include magnetic materials (e.g., magnets, ferromagnetic metals). All-Shape building blocks may be combined to form or give the appearance of various geometric structures, and the included magnetic materials may be used to retain the formed geometric structure shape.
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments which may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following description of example embodiments is, therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.
Various additional ornamental designs may be used on each side of the circular face 210, and may include a straight line on each side of the circumscribed triangle 220. The straight line may be a projection of the triangle edge, where two such lines at a triangle vertex form a one hundred and twenty degree angle. Various designs may include lines comprised of magnetic tape, where information may be encoded or transferred using the magnetic tape. For example, standard magnetic tape encoders and readers may be used to record or read information encoded on a magnetic tape stripe on an exterior surface. Various designs may include lines comprised of electrically conductive materials, such as copper. The circular face 210 may be constructed using a flexible material to allow the three portions of the circular face extending beyond the inscribed triangle to be folded toward the viewer to form flanges 232, 234, and 236. In another embodiment, the circular face 210 and flanges 232, 234, and 236 are constructed using a semi-flexible or inflexible material and connected at each triangle edge using a hinge, where the hinge may be constructed using a flexible material or a mechanical hinge. The flanges of four such circular faces may be connected to form an All-Shape building block, such as is shown in
The All-Shape building block may be transparent, may be translucent, may include a semi-transparent material comprised of a color, or may include a solid (e.g., opaque) material. The tetrahedral inner space 330 may include one or more gasses, such as noble gasses or gasses that are translucent or colored. The tetrahedral inner space 330 may include one or more fluids, such as a suspended particle fluid that transitions from a clouded appearance to a translucent appearance in the presence of an electrical voltage. Various levels of transparency or various shades of color may be used for the each side of the tetrahedral inner space 330 or for each of the All-Shape flanges 310, 312, 316, 318. The use of semi-transparent materials of various colors may allow the colors to be combined depending on orientation. For example, if the device is held so a blue face is superimposed on a yellow face, the object may appear green. Similarly, multiple All-Shape building blocks may be combined to yield various colors. Multiple All-Shape building blocks may be combined to form the appearance of various platonic solids, where the platonic solid appearance may depend on each All-Shape building block's specific periodicities of motion and wave positions in time as indicated by the direction of particular intersecting linear projections. For example, the vertices of four All-Shape building blocks using tetrahedral configurations may be combined to form a larger tetrahedron, where the larger tetrahedron maintains the one hundred and twenty degree angle at each of its vertices.
The All-Shape building block may alter its appearance based on the presence of electrical current. For example, using electrochemical materials, application of an electrical current may transition one or more surfaces of the All-Shape building block to translucent, clouded, or colored. A solid All-Shape building block may be used to conduct vibration, such as in acoustic or other applications. For example, induced mechanical vibration may be used in vibration therapy. The All-Shape building block may be constructed using a conductive material for various electrical applications. For example, one or more of the faces of the All-Shape building block may be comprised of silicon, where the silicon is arranged to function as a resistor, inductor, capacitor, microchip (e.g., integrated circuit), or other electrical component.
The combination of the four tetrahedron-shaped vacant spaces 512, 514, 516, 518 and six disc-shaped vacant spaces 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530 may be arranged to focus energy on a point within or external to the All-Shape building block. For example, the magnetic material may be arranged to create a positive magnetic polarity on two of the four faces of the All-Shape building block and a negative polarity on the other two faces. Similarly, when conductive material is used on or within the All-Shape building block, the magnetic material may be used to create a positive or negative polarity on a region of the All-Shape building block.
This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example embodiments described herein that do not constitute departures from the scope of the claims.
