The present invention relates to construction elements (components) that can be used in toy construction sets and puzzles, for the development of the fine motor skills of young children.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,675,900 (to the applicant, Sokolov, issued Jun. 13, 2017), discloses a set of construction elements. The construction-set elements include a flat rectangular base and a connecting assembly. The connecting assembly is formed of four groups/types of protrusions, which can be provided on the base. The protrusions of the first group have a cruciform cross-section. The protrusions of the second group are tubular with a square-shaped cross-section. The protrusions of the third group are in the form of rectangular plates having barrier-walls along the short sides thereof, the barrier-walls being angled toward one another with the formation of a gap. In the fourth group, the protrusions are positioned at the corners of the base and are made in the form of L-shaped elements, the sides of which are perpendicular to the plane of the base.
The flat base has two sides; a rectangular form; and base edges having lengths in multiples of «a». An interlocking joint is created by positioning four types of protrusions on the base together as one unit. The first protrusion type has a cross-shaped cross-section. The second protrusion type is tubular with a cross-section in the form of square. The third protrusion type is in the form of a rectangular plate having ledges along short sides of the rectangular plate. The ledges angle towards each other with a gap formed between their ledge end parts. The fourth protrusion type is in the form of a corner, having shelves positioned perpendicular to each other and extending outwardly from the base, flush with the base ends. All the protrusion types can be positioned on the base in accordance with a coordinate grid of lines. The protrusions of the first protrusion type are positioned at points where the coordinate grid lines intersect; the protrusions of the second protrusion type are positioned at points where diagonals of the cells of the coordinate grid intersect; the protrusions of the third protrusion type are positioned in a middle area between neighboring protrusions of the first protrusion type, flush with the base ends; and the protrusions of the fourth protrusion type are positioned at corners of the base.
A construction element implemented according to a second embodiment includes only three of the four types of protrusions (the first, second and third protrusion types).
The complexity of such construction-set elements makes them difficult for young children to use them as the process of ossification of the hands and fingers has not been completed even by the beginning of schooling. Therefore small and precise movements of the fingers and hands can be difficult and tedious for young children, in particular when they are required to press their fingers on the edges of construction-set elements (for example, the edges, shelves of the corners of the some protrusions of the above-mentioned elements) to apply sufficient force to connect the elements.
The present invention provides a set of construction elements wherein minimal finger stress is required to assemble the elements, making it easier for young children to use.
The technical result includes widening functional possibilities of the construction-set elements due to the increased convenience of use, in particular, widening applicability of the construction-set for the children's age group in the direction of reducing the age of children who are comfortable with using such construction-set elements for developmental skills. Specifically, the construction-set elements help in the development of fine hand motor skills and the formation of fine movements of the hands and fingers in the conditions of decreasing fatigue of the muscles of the fingers and palms of children due to increased ease of use due to the transfer of the main pressure required to the fingertips of the child and any person using the construction-set elements from the edges of the construction-set elements on bridges between separate parts of the construction-set elements, that is especially important in the corrective children's fine motor skills. In addition, ease of use is provided by bridges that prevent the creation of “incorrect” connections of the construction-set elements with each other. In the case of “incorrect” connection, the construction-set elements are displaced relative to each other in the wrong way, which prevents further joining of construction-set elements to create a single structure.
The technical result of the first embodiment of the construction-set element is achieved in that there are bridges in the base and connecting unit of the construction-set elements.
The base is flat (two-sided) and has a rectangular form, with sides made in multiples of «a», which can have a preliminary defined value. An interlocking joint is created by positioning protrusions on the base, which form four groups of protrusions. All protrusions are positioned on the base in accordance with an imaginary orthogonal coordinate grid of mutually perpendicular lines parallel to edges of the base (base edges) where the distance between neighboring grid lines is equal to «2a». The distance between base edges (ends) and neighboring grid lines is equal to «0, 5a». The protrusions on the base are fulfilled with the base together as one unit.
The first group of protrusions is positioned on at least one side of the base with a cross-shaped cross-section and with a distance between opposite ends of the cross equal to «a». Crosshairs of the protrusions' foundations coincide with the crosshairs of the grid lines. The height of the protrusions in the first group is greater than «0.5a» but no greater than «a».
The second group of protrusions has protrusions positioned on at least one side of the base, they are tubular, and have cross-sections in the form of a square having a side length in the channel of the tubular protrusion equal to «a». The protrusions are arranged so that the sides of the square inner section of the tubular protrusion are parallel to the lines of the imaginary grid, and the intersection point of the diagonals of the square inner section of the protrusion coincides with the intersection point of the diagonals of the grid cell in which this protrusion is located. The height of the protrusions in the second group is equal to «0.5a».
In the third group of protrusions, the protrusions are positioned between end parts of neighboring protrusions of the first type and are in the form of rectangular plates, positioned with their midline on the ends of the base, flush with these ends, and have ledges with a width equal to «a» along the short sides protruding not more than «0.5a» from the base ends. That is, the long sides of the plates are parallel to the base and the short sides are perpendicular to the base, and the line of connection of each plate with the edge of the base goes along the line connecting centers of its short sides, which have lengths equal to «a». The ledges are angled towards each other with a gap formed between their end parts no greater than «a».
Protrusions in the fourth group of protrusions are made in the form of corners, having shelves positioned perpendicular to the base planes on its adjacent ends and flush with these ends. The shelves have a length equal to «a» and a width no greater than «0.5a». These protrusions are positioned on the base corners.
The nearest edges of the neighboring protrusions of the third group are interconnected by bridges. Bridges are provided to the protrusions of the fourth group as well, which connect the sides of rectangular plates perpendicular to the base and connect the shelves of the corners of these protrusions (which are the sides of the rectangular plates perpendicular to the base and protruding out beyond the base) with neighboring ledges (5) of the protrusions of the third group.
The technical result of the second construction-set element embodiment is achieved due to the construction-set element including a base and in that the interlocking joint has bridges. The base is made flat and has a rectangular form, with at least one side equal to «a», which can have a preliminary defined value, and the other sides having a length equal to a multiple of «a». The interlocking joint is created by positioning protrusions on the base forming three groups of protrusions. Protrusions on the base are fulfilled with the base together as one unit.
The first group of protrusions is positioned on at least one side of the base and has cross-shaped cross-sections with a distance between opposite ends of the cross equal to «a». The height of the protrusions in the first group is greater than «0.5a» but no greater than «a».
The second group of protrusions has protrusions made in the form of rectangular plates, positioned with their midline on the ends of the base, flush with these ends, and have ledges with a width equal to «a» along the short sides, protruding not more than «0.5a» from the base ends. The ledges are angled towards each other with a gap formed between their end parts no greater than «a».
Protrusions in the third group of protrusions are made in the form of corners, having shelves positioned perpendicular to the base planes on their adjacent ends and flush with these ends. Shelves have a length equal to «a» and a width no greater than «0.5a».
All protrusions are positioned on the base in accordance with the coordinate grid of mutually perpendicular lines parallel to base edges. The distance between neighboring lines of the coordinate grid is equal to «2a». The distance between the base edges and neighboring lines on the coordinate grid is «0.5a».
Protrusions of the first group are positioned at points where the grid lines intersect. Protrusions of the second group are positioned in the middle between the neighboring protrusions of the first group that are positioned flush with the ends of the base. Protrusions of the third group are positioned in the corners of the base.
The nearest edges of neighboring protrusions of the second group are interconnected by bridges, as well as bridges of the third group that connect the sides of rectangular plates perpendicular to the base and the ledges of the protrusions of the second group, which are adjacent to them. The bridges can be of different shapes and widths.
Now described is a construction element with bridges according to the first embodiment (see for example the lower construction-set element in the
[The construction-set element implemented according to the first embodiment (
The first group of protrusions 2 is positioned on at least one side of the base 1. The height of the protrusions 2 (see
Protrusions 2, 3, 4, 6 are positioned on the base 1 in accordance with the coordinate grid 7 (see
In order to achieve the technical result, the protrusions of the third group 4 are provided with bridges 9 connecting the nearest ledges 5 of the neighboring protrusions 4 to each other. The protrusions of the fourth group 6, which connect the shelves of the corners of these protrusions and neighboring ledges 5 of the protrusions of the third group 4, are also provided with bridges 9. These bridges 9 can have a width that coincides with the width of the ledges 5 or even somewhat narrower. In addition, the bridges 9 can be made flat, convex or concave.
A construction-set element according to the second embodiment (
Construction-set elements according to the second embodiment include a flat base 1 having a rectangular form, with at least one side having a dimension equal to «a», which can have a preliminary defined value, the other side having a dimension equal to a multiple of «a»; and an interlocking joint, created by positioning protrusions on the base 1, which form three groups of protrusions. The first group of protrusions 2, according to the second embodiment, is similar to protrusions 2 according to the first embodiment. The first group of protrusions 2 is positioned on at least one side of the base 1. The height of the protrusions 2 is greater than «0.5a» but no greater than «a». The protrusions 2 are made with cross-shaped cross-sections with a distance between opposite cross ends equal to «a». In the second group according to the second embodiment, protrusions 4 are similar to protrusions 4 of the third group according to the first embodiment and in the form of rectangular plates, positioned with their long midline on the ends of the base 1, and have ledges 5 along short sides, flush with base ends. Ledges 5 with a width length equal to «a» (see
To achieve the claimed technical result, the protrusions of the second group 4 include bridges 9 connecting the nearest ledges 5 of the neighboring protrusions 4 to each other, and the protrusions of the third group 6 include bridges 9 connecting the shelves of the corners of their protrusions 6 and the neighboring ledges 5 of the protrusions of the second group 4. These bridges 9 can have a width that coincides with the width of the ledges 5 or can even be somewhat narrower. In addition, the bridges 9 can be made flat, convex or concave.
As can be seen in
In addition,
Protrusions of interlocking joints, for a more precise positioning of construction elements during connection with each other, can be implemented with bevels, rounded off, sloped, and so forth. The base 1 can also be made with various openings to conserve material.
Positioning of interlocking joints on base 1 is illustrated in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2017133658 | Sep 2017 | RU | national |