Knockdown block toy

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6186860
  • Patent Number
    6,186,860
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, December 2, 1999
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 13, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Ricci; John A.
    Agents
    • Dougherty & Troxell
Abstract
A knockdown block toy including a soft extensible outer envelope body and a predetermined number of component blocks contained in the outer envelope body. The outer envelope body softly encloses the component blocks therein, whereby when the knockdown block assembly is squeezed and compressed or pushed by external force, the component blocks are displaced within the outer envelope body relative to each other and re-assembled and stacked to form various patterns of assemblies as desired.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a knockdown block toy, and more particularly to a knockdown block toy including a soft extensible plastic outer envelope body and a predetermined number of component blocks contained in the outer envelope body. The outer envelope body softly encloses the component blocks therein, whereby when the knockdown block assembly is squeezed and compressed or pushed by external force, the component blocks are displaced within the outer envelope body relative to each other and re-assembled and stacked to form various patterns of assemblies as desired and provide novel and funny entertaining effect.





FIG. 1

shows a conventional knockdown cubic block toy. Such toy is composed of multiple cubic blocks


11


assembled with a movable cross-shaped frame to form a solid assembly which can be repeatedly rotated in multiple directions. The cubic blocks


11


of the assembly


1


are printed with or overlaid with several colors or different pictures. When playing the cubic block toy, the respective cubic blocks


11


of the assembly are rotated in accordance with the colors or the pictures to together form a predetermined aspect. Such procedure is intellectual and funny. However, due to the limitation of the fixed pattern of the cross-shaped frame, the cubic blocks


11


cannot be disassembled to form other solid configurations. Therefore, once assembled, the cubic blocks


11


have a fixed aspect and cannot be changed in pattern. Therefore, such a cubic block toy is monotonous and can hardly provide a novel entertaining effect.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a knockdown block toy, and more particularly to a knockdown block toy including a soft extensible plastic outer envelope body and a predetermined number of component blocks contained in the outer envelope body. The component blocks are softly enclosed within the outer envelope body and stacked on each other. When the knockdown block assembly is squeezed and compressed or pushed by hand, the component blocks are displaced within the outer envelope body relative to each other and re-assembled and stacked to form various patterns of assemblies as desired.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above knockdown block toy in which the outer envelope body is equipped with a fitting section for a key ring or a chain to hang or hook thereon, permitting a user to carry keys with the toy as a decoration.











The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a conventional knockdown cubic block toy;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the knockdown block toy of the present invention; and





FIG. 3

shows the playing of the knockdown block toy of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to FIG.


2


. The knockdown block toy of the present invention includes an outer envelope body


2


made of soft extensible plastic layer. A predetermined number of component blocks


3


are contained in the interior


21


of the outer envelope body


2


. The component blocks


3


are softly enclosed by the outer envelope body


2


and assembled in a stacked pattern. The outer envelope body


2


is extensible so that when the assembly is stretched or compressed by an external force, the entire body can be deformed to form various stacked patterns of assemblies as desired. The respective component blocks


3


are only limited within the outer envelope body


2


without other limitation in movement so that they can more freely be re-assembled in a versatile manner than the conventional knockdown cubic block toy. In addition, the outer envelope body


2


can be equipped with a fitting section


22


for a key ring


4


or a chain to hang or hook thereon, permitting a user to carry keys with the toy as a decoration.




Moreover, in order to enhance the movability of the component blocks


3


within the outer envelope body


2


relative to each other, a lubricant (such as water, oil or other liquid lubricant) can be filled into the outer envelope body


2


so as to help in re-assembling of the component blocks.




According to the above arrangement, when the knockdown block assembly of the present invention is pushed and compressed, the assembly can be stretched and deformed to form various stacked patterns of assemblies so as to create novel entertaining effect.




The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A knockdown block toy comprising:a) a plurality of interfitting blocks arrangeable in a plurality of different patterns; and, b) an envelope body of soft, extensible material completely surrounding the plurality of interfitting blocks so as to hold the blocks in one of the plurality of patterns, whereby deformation of the envelope body enables the plurality of blocks to be rearranged in a different desired pattern.
  • 2. The knockdown block toy of claim 1 further comprising a keyring attached to the envelope body.
  • 3. The knockdown block toy of claim 1 further comprising a liquid filling the envelope body.
  • 4. The knockdown block toy of claim 3 wherein the liquid comprises water.
  • 5. The knockdown block toy of claim 3 wherein the liquid comprises oil.
  • 6. The knockdown block toy of claim 3 wherein the liquid comprises a lubricant.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Number Name Date Kind
4036503 Golick Jul 1977
4488725 Clark Dec 1984
4685665 Carlisle Aug 1987
5090700 Toukomies Feb 1992
5116052 Pop May 1992
5145473 Henry Sep 1992
5310183 Glikmann May 1994
5451055 Lo Sep 1995
5577723 DiResta et al. Nov 1996
5839992 Phillips Nov 1998
5845904 Hawkins Dec 1998
5857673 Ablonczy et al. Jan 1999
5890999 Kildani Apr 1999
5891000 Phillips Apr 1999
5924692 Rosenberg Jul 1999