Patent Application
20230135788
The invention concerns a building toy which involves a basic element with connecting openings into which a connecting pin, designed for a connection of an element or a block with a neighboring element or a block, is inserted, whereby the basic element allows for connection of the elements or blocks in all three dimensions. Aside from the basic element, the building toy also contains multiple elements, derived elements and combined elements.
Building toys are important for the development of various capabilities of the children; they develop the creativity, spatial imagination, fine motor skills and other skills. The size of the basic blocks as well as difficulty of construction differs pursuant to the particular age of a user.
A system of the connection of the blocks by means of protrusions is known and commercially widespread, where on the one side of the block there are protrusions and on the opposite side of another block there are cavities into which the protrusions fall. Such solution, pursuant to DE2242046A1, is simple to use, but it only allows one to build the construction in a single direction — in the direction where the protrusions are oriented — which limits the possibilities of construction and creativity.
Document pursuant to publication EP0498368A2 discloses a building block with blind openings in the middle of each side, whereby pins with a square cross-section are inserted to the openings. This arrangement allows one to produce a rotationally fixed connection of the building blocks, but the possibilities of connection are limited since the pint can be only inserted between the blocks when the blocks are in distant position; the pin cannot be inserted between the sides of the block in an already adjacent position. Similar position of the connecting pins is also in a solution according to EP3135360A1 where the openings are not blind, but they have a stop for the position of the pin, which defines the maximum depth of its insertion. This deficiency is partially remedied by solutions such as EP0911070A2, GB773652A, US2018133614A1, where the building block has transitory openings for the connecting pins.
Publications US3854237A, US4182072A, US4547160, US3685201A, SK2088U, CZ46U disclose building elements, mainly in shape of a cube or a block, where the building element has transitory openings designed for the insertion of the connecting pin. The connecting pin is independent and runs through the openings in at least two neighboring elements. Similar principle is used in publication EP2656890A1 which discloses multiple building elements. The disadvantage of these solutions is that after the pin is inserted through the middle of the building element the openings from the other directions become blind, intransitory, which negates the advantage of a universal connective possibility.
Some technical solutions such as those pursuant to DE3142969A1, WO9221417A1, GB2108857A contain larger building blocks, such as multiple blocks or bricks derived from the basic shape which have some skew openings, but not all openings of a single block are mutually skew and the arrangement of the openings does not allow for any orientation of connection, or the neighboring blocks cannot be aligned, justified by their edges.
Such new technical solution is desired which will be constructionally simple, will allow to build a buildings toy into the spatial system in all three directions, whereby the surface of the building element should be without protrusions damaging the profile of the resulting piece. In this new technical solution, the building elements shall be connected by means of connecting pins in such a way that the connecting elements run freely through multiple building elements in any direction.
Abovementioned deficiencies are significantly remedied by a building toy which includes at least one building element and at least one independent connecting pin where the basic element has a body whose at least three neighboring outer sides (walls) are mutually perpendicular and in each such side (wall) there is at least one transitory connecting element led perpendicularly onto the wall of the side, whereby the connecting element is designed for an insertion of the connecting pin which is designed for a connection of the basic element with the neighboring element of the building toy, according to this invention, which essence lies in the fact that all connecting elements in the body are mutually spatially skew. The connecting openings are spatially skew in such a way that not only their axes are skew, but the whole profile of each connecting opening is independent and does not intersect with the profile of another connecting opening. The connecting openings are placed on each front surface in such a way that no connecting pin interferes with other openings or cannot form an obstacle to insertion of another pin from any direction. The cavity of each connecting opening reaches from one side (wall) of the basic element to the opposite side (wall); preferably it forms an uninterrupted, independent tunnel designed for guidance and presence of the connecting pin.
The skewness (or offset) of the connecting openings has a significant advantage in the fact that the connecting pins can run through the body of the basic element independently and from various dimensions without limiting each other. That means that the connecting pins, if they are inserted in a single basic element from all three directions, do not mutually collide. A criterion follows that the connecting openings in a body of a single basic element cannot all run through the centre of the body. If one of the connecting openings runs through the centre of the body, other connecting openings must run outside the centre of the body. The final feature which differs in comparison with the prior art is that all connecting openings of the basic element are skew so that not even on the basic elements (that is, the small block) a situation occurs that the connecting pin enters into the spatial collision with the connecting pin led in another direction. It is, however, preferable if the connecting openings on each mutually perpendicular side are placed symmetrically on such a side, so that the basic element can be used in various positions.
This conflict between the demands for spatial skewness of all connecting openings and the need for symmetrical arrangement of the connecting openings within each wall of a side can be preferably solved by an arrangement where on the first side (wall) of the basic element there is a first pair of the connecting openings with an identical diameter, both connecting elements of the first pair are mutually distant from each other at least at the distance of the diameter of the connecting opening, whereby axes of both connecting openings of the first pair lie in the first plane which is perpendicular to the first side (wall) and runs through the middle of the first side (wall). The distance of the connecting openings means the distance of the adjacent edges of the connecting openings, that is, it defines the size of the gap between theme, whereby in another direction a plane with further pair of the connecting openings can run through this gap. At the same time the middle of the connecting line of the connecting openings on the first side (wall) is in the middle of the first side (wall).
This distribution of the connecting openings produces a symmetricity of the placement of the pair against the middle of the side (wall), but at the same time the cavities of the connecting openings do not run through the middle of the body and leave a free space, whose width is at least the same as the diameter of the connecting openings, in the middle zone. Thanks to this a second pair of the connecting openings with the axes in the second plane, whereby these connecting openings have an identical arrangement as the first pair in the first side (wall); however, these second openings are rotated in such a way that the second plane is perpendicular onto the first plane and at the same time the second plane intersects the first plane in a line which is a symmetry axis of the first pair of the connecting openings.
In this mutual spatial relationship between the first and second pair of the connecting openings the cavities of all four connecting openings are skew and at the same time the connecting openings within a single pair are parallel and, at the same time, symmetrically placed within a single side (wall). The cavity of neither connecting opening runs through the centre of the body and the spatial rotation of the second pair against the first pair allows for the placement of the third pair of the connecting openings with axes in the third plane on the third side (wall) of the basic element, whereby in the third side (wall) these connecting openings have a same arrangement as is the case for the first and second pair on the first and second side (wall), but the connecting openings that form the third pair are rotated in the space in such a way that the third plane is perpendicular onto the first plane and, at the same time, onto the second plane and, at the same time, the third plane intersects the second plane in the line which is a symmetry axis of the second pair of the connecting openings. The first, second and third plane are mutually perpendicular and all intersect in the centre of the body. The position and distance of the connecting elements within a respective side (wall) is identical as is the case in the remaining two sides (walls) which allows one to use the basic element in any position and, at the same time, to use the cavities of all six connecting openings without their mutual intersection. Thanks to this the independently led connecting pins can run through these connecting openings and these can gradually run through multiple elements of the building toy.
The defined spatial relationship between three pairs of the connecting openings of the basic element offers a possibility of symmetric use of the basic element in any position and in any direction, whereby it excellently uses an inner space of the body of the basic element for the guidance of the six connecting openings which, even though they run through the whole body of the basic element, do not mutually intersect each other and therefore the inner surface of the connecting openings do not interfere with each other.
In the preferable arrangement the basic element has a body with an outer shape of a cube. In such case the basic element has six cavities which run in first, second and third mutually perpendicular plane, whereby each cavity runs from one side (wall) of the cube to the opposite side (wall) of the cube; all connecting openings are identical. It is preferable if the building toy contains multiple basic elements in shape of a cube.
The basic element can have dimensions in order of millimeters. The miniaturization of the basic element is limited by the minimal practical dimensions of the connecting pin in such a way that it can be worked with by bare fingers without tools. The dimension of the wall of the basic element in form of a brick can be from 10 to 50 mm, but it can be in order of decimeters, too, for example for the purposes of exterior construction.
With a certain simplification one can produce construction in any shape from the basic cube-shaped elements. The construction from the identical cubes or bricks is interesting from the point of view of the user pursuant to the widespread 3D sandbox games where a player moves freely in the virtual world composed of bricks. However, it is also preferable if the building toy includes multiple and/or derived and/or combined element, whereby these elements are always compatible with the basic element of the building toy.
The multiple elements is made by merging the two or more basic elements into a single body. For example, merging of two cube-shaped basic elements results in the multiple elements in a shape of a block whose one side is twice the side of the basic element. The merger of basic elements produces multiple elements in such a way that the connecting openings on the longer side are placed in the same raster as in the case of a basic element and all connecting elements are still transitory. The multiple elements can include various number of basic elements, usually two, three or even tens of these elements. The multiple elements can be a merger of multiple basic elements which are placed in varying angular or shape combination - for example, in shape of a letter L or U, and so on.
Derived element is formed from the basic or multiple elements in such a way that the body of the derived element is a section or a cut of the basic or multiple elements. The surfaces of the dissection or multiple surfaces of the dissection cut through the original body of the basic or multiple elements and the surface of the dissection can be defined by a plane or by a cylindrical surface or by a spatial curve, whereby it is preferable if at least one side of the original basic element or multiple elements remains solid and undivided, without the intersection with the surface of dissection. The position of the connecting openings in the derived element remains the same as it was before the “cutting” of the basic element or the multiple elements. The derived element can have a shape of a spire, wedge or pyramid, a shape of a narrowing block, and so on. The derived element can have a rounded cut out, an arc, and so on. It is preferable if at least parts of three mutually perpendicular walls forming a single corner are maintained within a derived element, which allows for a connection of the derived element in three directions.
The connecting pin has a diameter which corresponds to the diameter of the connecting openings with a certain gap so that the connecting pin can be inserted into the connecting opening manually without undue exertion. It is preferable if the connecting pin and the connecting opening has a mutually corresponding flexible click-in stops or some other, similarly mechanically functioning elements which ensure that the connecting pin will fall in in the correction position and will be kept (locked) in this position by a joint of the pre-determined firmness. The falling in of the click-in stop into a groove blocks the position of the connecting pin in the cavity of the connecting opening, whereby a force is needed to overcome this connection (joint), whereby the size of the force can be adjusted by the construction of the pair stop/groove, that is, mainly by means of selection of the dimensions and materials. The size of the de-blocking force needed for the release of the connecting pin will be set pursuant to the age of the users for whom the building toy is designed, or pursuant to the purpose of the building toy since the building toy pursuant to this invention can be used for building of more stable constructions, for example, for the purposes of presentation or exhibition, and so on.
The connecting pin has a length which is sufficient to connect at its ends at least two basic elements. It is preferable if the connecting pin has a length that is identical as is the dimension of the side of the basic cube-shaped element or if the connecting pin has a length that is a whole number multiple of the dimension of the side of the basic cube-shaped element.
In one realization the cavities of the connecting openings have circumferential grooves into which a flexible protrusion from the connecting pin falls. In another realization the circumferential groove can be placed on the connecting pin and flexible protrusions are place on the side of the connecting openings. A connecting pin can be produced from flexible plastics, from wood, and so on.
The end of the connecting pin can branch into two or three segments, whereby a gap is between these segments, so that flexible stops are produced on both ends of the connecting pin even when the diameter of the connecting pin is small. An outside oriented protrusion is on the segments, whereby this protrusion is designed for falling into circumferential groove of the connecting opening. When the protrusion runs through the cavity of the connecting opening outside of the circumferential groove, it is pressed by the surface of the cavity whereby the segments on both ends of the connecting pin are pressed together. The gap between the segments of the connecting pin should have a dimension corresponding at least to the diameter of the circumferential groove and the diameter of the cavity of the connecting opening. The tip of the segment can be rounded or sloped into a cone so that the insertion of the end of the connecting pin to the connecting opening is easy.
It is preferable if there are multiple circumferential grooves in the cavity of the connecting opening. In case of the basic cube-shaped element there are four evenly distanced circumferential grooves in the cavity of the connecting opening, whereby the circumferential grooves by the edge of the cavity are distanced from the edge in the ⅛ of the length of the cavity. That means that the first circumferential groove is in the ⅛ of the length of the cavity, the second is in ⅛ + ¼ of the length of the cavity, the third is in ⅛ + ¼ + ¼ of the length of the cavity, and the fourth is in the ⅛ + ¼ + ¼ + ¼ of the length of the cavity, that is in the ⅛ of the length of the cavity from the other side. In such position the circumferential grooves are placed symmetrically and the connecting pin with the length identical to the dimension of the side of the basic element has protrusions in the distance that is ⅛ from the edge. The connecting pin can hold two neighboring basic elements in such a way that it is inserted in varying depth of the cavity of the connecting element.
Aside from the basic length of the connecting pin the building toy can also include a multiple connecting pin or a shortened connecting pin with 3/4 or 1/2 of the length of the basic connecting pin. The shortened connecting pin that is half the length of the basic connecting pin can be used as a blinding connecting pin with flexible segments with protrusions only on one end. Such a blinding pin will be preferably used to blind the connecting opening from the view side or to connect shortened cavities of the derived elements where the cut plane shortened the length of the cavity of the connecting opening. A connecting opening at length of 3/4 of the length of the basic connecting pin can be used preferably in such cases. The connecting pins or blinding pins can have a front or a whole body produced in the color of the basic, derived and combined elements. In such case the pins will be visually hidden in the overall appearance of the finished construction. In another arrangement can these pins or at least their fronts produced in different — for example, contrastive — color than the color of the basic, derived and combined elements. The different color is then assessed when planning the overall visual effect of the finished construction.
A detailed realization of the connecting openings and the connecting pins will be chosen pursuant to the size of the constructional building elements and the used material. The building elements can be produced from the solid material such as wood, plastics or glass. The building elements, especially the larger ones, will be preferably produced from plastics in such a way that the material does not fill in the whole inside of the body of the building element. In case of large dimensions of the building elements, for example, in case of the exterior building toys, the building element can be produced from flat plates which have connecting openings and the cavities of the connecting openings delimited by pipes inserted inside the body of the building element.
Since after the insertion of the connecting pin to the cavity in the body of the building element the connecting pin does not protrude outside, it is preferable if the building toy includes a tool which has a spike for pushing the connecting pin out. The diameter of the spike is equal or less than the diameter of the connecting opening and the length of the spike is half or at least equal or larger than the elements used in the building toy. The connecting pin or multiple connecting pins are pushed out by pushing of the spike into the connecting opening. The spike can be connected with a handle for easier manipulation. It is also preferable if the tool has two spikes which are parallel and at such a distance from each other (pitch) as is the pair of connecting openings on the side of the basic element. With such an arrangement the connecting pins are pushed out in two lines by a single movement.
A tool has proved especially comfortable during assembly and subsequent disassembly which has two spikes on the side of a handle, whereby the length of the spikes is half the dimension of the side of the basic cube-shaped element and on the second side of the handle there are two spikes with the length that is equal to the dimension of the side of the basic cube-shaped element.
An advantage of the proposed invention is the simple creation of the spatial structures of different shapes with high solidity and firmness, whereby the construction is intuitive and the direction of the connection of the neighboring elements is free to choose. A significant advantage of the building toy according to this invention lies in the mutual position of the connecting elements, thanks to which the connecting pins can be inserted in all directions without the collision with the connecting elements from another direction. The surface of the construed work is smooth and without protrusions which in other building systems form a mean of connection. The smooth surface corresponds better to the desired visual of the construction.
The invention is further disclosed by means of
In this example according to
The pair of connecting openings on the individual walls 71, 72, 73 are placed in the middle (central) line of the respective wall 7, where this middle line is parallel with the edge of the cube and, at the same time, the pairs are rotated mutually between the walls 71, 72, 73 in such a way that the cavities of the connecting openings 2 in the central zone of the basic element 1 are mutually avoided without mutual interference. The cavities of all connecting elements 2 run continuously through whole body of the basic element from one side (wall) 7 to the opposite side (wall) 7.
The cavities of the connecting openings 2 have two circumferential grooves 12 which are in the distance of ⅛, ⅜, ⅝ and ⅞ of the length of the cavity, that is, dimension a.
A connecting pin 3 falls into the connecting openings 2, whereby the pin 3 in this example is produced from the flexible plastics and its length is the same as the dimension of the wall (side) 7 - a. The connecting pin 3 in this example has a circular outer cross-section corresponding to the circular cross-section of the connecting openings 2; the diameter of the connecting pin 3 is diminished as opposed to the diameter of the connecting openings 2 by the gap which ensures an easy insertion of the connecting pin 3 into the connecting opening 2. Both ends of the connecting pins 3 are ended by two segments which run from the full circular cross-section of the material in the center of the connecting pin 3. The gap between the segments and the flexibility of the used material allows for the pressing of the segments towards each other. The transversal cross-section of each segment is a cut out of the circle which is less than semi-circle. On all segments a protrusion 13 is produced in the distance of ⅛ from the dimension a from the edge, whereby the protrusion 13 is designed by its shape and size in such a way that it falls into the circumferential groove 12 in the cavities of the connecting openings 2. The gap between the two segments is on each end at least as large as the difference between the diameter of the connecting openings 2 and the diameter of the connecting pin 3 at the point of the protrusions 13 in the unpressed state. The gap thus allows for flexible pressing of the protrusions 13 to the diameter of the connecting opening 2 without damage. At the same time the size of the gap determines the maximum allowed deformation of the segment in such a way that the segment is not broken.
As depicted on the
The building toy allows one to construe various spatial structures; the surface of the finished structure is smooth without the connecting protrusions.
The basic element 1 in this example is produced from solid material, for example by injection molding in the mold with the sliders or by 3D printing. In this example the technology of the production of the solid material of the cube is chosen - taking into account the relatively small dimension a compared to the diameter of the connecting openings 2. In such case the thickness of the material in individual walls 71, 72, 73 of the body is relatively even.
In this example the basic element 1 with the geometry according to the previous example is hollow, whereby the cavities of the connecting openings are delimited by the pipes running from one side (wall) 7 to the opposite side (wall) 7. The body of the basic element 1 is welded by ultrasound from three components. Each component has two mutually perpendicular sides (walls) 7. From one side (wall) 7 run two pipes which form cavities of both connecting openings 2. The second side (wall) 7 has only two connecting openings 2 in the wall 7 which are designed for connection with two ends of the two pipes of the other component. The welding of three components produces a cube of the basic element 1, whereby the space between the pipes in the body is empty, matterless.
In this example the building toy has — aside from the components according to examples 1 and 2 — the multiple element 8, too, depicted on the
The details of the connecting openings 2 and connecting pins 3 are identical as in the previous examples.
The derived elements 9 according to
Derived elements 9 according to
A building toy according to this example and
The building toy in this example has, aside from the connecting pins 3 with the length a, a shortened pin 15 and blinding pin 14, too, as depicted on the
A tool 11 pursuant to
The industrial applicability is obvious. Pursuant to the invention it is possible to industrially and repeatedly produce and use building toys with at least one basic element and at least one connecting pin, preferably with multiple and/or derived and/or combined element and especially preferably with a tool for insertion and pushing out of the connecting pins.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUV 50018-2020 | Feb 2020 | SK | national |
This application is a national stage entry of PCT/IB2021/051572 filed Feb. 25, 2021, under the International Convention and claiming priority over Slovakia Pat. Application No. SK PUV 50018-2020 filed Feb. 27, 2020.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2021/051572 | 2/25/2021 | WO |
