Connecting Textile Patch Construction Toy

Abstract

A connecting textile patch construction toy where a plurality of textile patches lined with holes can be connected to each other by means of a plurality of bobbin-shaped connectors to create textile objects such as wearable garments. Objects created by the invention can be easily disassembled by the user in order to reassemble the patches into new objects over and over.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a construction toy, in particular a toy that includes flexible textile panels that connect by means of connectors at their edges to construct clothing or other textile objects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Children enjoy playing with construction toys since it in essence allows them to create their own toys that they can subsequently play with. When they lose interest in the toy they have created, they can disassemble their creation and create a new toy from the same pieces.

The present invention allows children to create not only their own toys, but their own clothes to wear. When they get tired of the garment they have created, they can take it apart and create a brand new garment. The garments created can be worn as regular clothes and stay together during normal activity levels of young active children.

PRIOR ART

US Pat No. US20150104993A1 and US9238180B2 to Samuel Kennedy discloses a construction toy made up of modular semi-rigid interlocking construction panels. While this toy allows the user to create three dimensional structures such as toy buildings and toy vehicles, the user is unable to create clothes that are practically wearable.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,864B1 to Dick Liou discloses a system of large inflatable interconnecting geometric blocks. This toy allows the user to create large play structures such as castles and spaceships; however, it is not able to create wearable clothing.

European Pat No. EP2089589A1 to Vincent Michalk et al. discloses a modular system for forming 3-dimensional structures such as play houses. This system is unable to produce wearable clothes.

South Korean Pat No. KR20120095618A to Choi Bo-Yoon discloses a system comprising large interlocking tiles in a variety of geometric shapes capable of producing play structures, but not wearable clothes.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,430A to James Swann discloses a geometric toy construction system comprising of flat polygonal interlocking pieces capable of forming solid 3-dimensional objects. This system, however, cannot form flexible wearable clothes.

World Pat No. WO2007091885A1 to Mieke Bouwina et al. discloses a system of flat polygons with flexible fixation elements to connect the tiles to create solid 3-dimensional objects. Wearable articles of clothing cannot be created with this system.

US Pat No. US20190358553A1 to David Murphy discloses a system of connectable plush figures capable of forming clusters of these plush figures. While these clusters of plush figures could be worn by a person, they do not resemble clothes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The connecting textile patch construction toy described herein comprises of a plurality of textile patches in a multitude of shapes having straight edges and a plurality of identical bobbin-shaped connectors. The edges on said shapes have holes spaced at a set distance. The distance between any two neighboring holes on any textile patch is always the same. All the holes have the same diameter.

Said bobbin-shaped connectors consist of a cylinder shaped center with a circular disc-shaped member on each end of said cylinder. The inner cylinders of said bobbin-shaped connectors have a diameter that fits inside the holes of the patches. The diameters of the top and bottom circular discs are larger than the diameter of the holes in the patches, however, said diameter is small enough that the discs can fit through the holes like buttons.

Said bobbin-shaped connectors connect holes in two or more of said patches together. Any number of said patches can be connected together in above described manner to form wearable garments or other objects usually made of textile. These garments can be worn as regular garments. These garments can be disassembled and reassembled into different garments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows textile patches of different shapes. “1a” depict the holes which are all identical in size and shape. “k” denotes the along-edge distance between the holes (1a) which is constant and equal on all patches.

FIG. 2 shows a bobbin-shaped connector. “2a” depicts the center member, in the current embodiment this member is cylinder shaped. “2b” depict the two disc-shaped top and bottom members.

FIG. 3 shows the method in which patches are connected by the bobbin-shaped connectors.

FIG. 4 shows patches connected together by bobbin-shaped connectors.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a garment constructed with the current invention worn by a child.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The components of the connecting textile patch construction toy are the patches (1), and the connectors (2).

The patches can be any shape and be made of any flexible material. The patches have holes (1a). The holes are all identical in size and are spaced at a constant distance (k) from each other along the edges of the patches.

The connectors (2) are made of a solid material and consist of a cylindrical inner core member (2a) and two cover surfaces (2b).

The the cover surfaces of the connectors (2b) act as buttons that hold the patches together to form objects. The buttons are in the present embodiment circular, but may be of other shapes.

As in the operation of other commonly used buttons, the longest path around a surface's (2b) trajectory of optimal passage (in the case of circular surface 2 diameters plus 2 thicknesses, in the case of for example a square 2 times a side plus 2 thicknesses) must be smaller than the circumference of the hole (1a) into which it is to be inserted, and the surface must have an area which is larger than the area of the hole.

The center members (2a) must have a circumference that is smaller than the circumference of the holes (1a). In the current embodiment the members (2a) are cylindrical and the holes (1a) are circular, and thus the diameters of the cylindrical members (2a) must be smaller than the diameter of the circular holes (1a).

OPERATION

The patches (1) are connected together with the connectors (2) via the holes (1a) to form objects such as clothes or other items commonly made of textile. To connect patches together one of the surfaces (2b) of a connector (2) is pushed through the holes (1a) of two or more patches. This operation is the same as when a regular button is used on a common garment.

To disassemble an object created in above manner the surfaces (2b) of connected connectors (2) is slid out of all holes (1a) through which they have been inserted during the formation of the object being disassembled.

Claims

1. A connecting textile patch construction toy comprising: (a) a plurality of flexible patches in different shapes having holes along the edges of said patches where said holes are spaced from each other at a distance that is equal and constant on all patches in said plurality of patches and the size and shape of each hole on each patch is the same and(b) a plurality of bobbin-shaped connectors made of a solid material and consisting of a cylindrical inner core member and two cover surfaces, where the cylindrical inner core member has a diameter such that it can fit inside the holes of the patches, where the size of the cover surfaces are small enough to force through the holes of the patches, and where the size of the cover surfaces are large enough not to allow the edges of the holes of the patches to slip over without force.

2. The patches of claim 1 being manufactured of textile, plastic, or any flexible material able to bend in all directions.

3. The holes of the patches of claim 1 having reinforced edges.

4. The patches of claim 1 having different materials in different areas of the patch.

5. The patches of claim 1 having openings that may be used as pockets.

6. The patches of claim 1 having attachment elements such as buttons, snap buttons, hook-and-loop surfaces for the attachment of objects.

7. The patches of claim 1 having graphic designs.

8. The patches of claim 1 being transparent or having transparent areas.

9. The cover surfaces of connectors of claim 1 being of any shape not limited to the circular shape in the current embodiment of the invention.

10. The cover surfaces of connectors of claim 1 having any surface topography not limited to the flat topography in the current embodiment.

11. The patches of claim 1 comprising of two layers joined along the edges with segments of edges remaining un-joined in order to the patch having the ability to be used as a pocket.

12. The two layered patches with un-joined edges of claim 11 having un-joined sections traversing holes in a manner that each of the two layers have a hole each, one on top of the other in a manner that a connector can be placed through one of the holes and at will through the other hole in such a way that it can be used as a pocket, closeable by means of using the outside facing surface of the connector as a button.