CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application does not claim priority to any co-pending applications.
TECHNICAL FIELD
Embodiments generally relate to toys that utilize permanent magnets to removably and temporarily engage with each other.
BACKGROUND OF THE ART
Toys such as blocks and shapes have been combined with permanent magnets to create sets of blocks and shapes that can be removably assembled together into various forms. However, prior devices have been lacking in several areas. First, the security of the magnet itself has become increasingly important. Second, the colors for previous systems have been limited and do not appear very vibrant or bright. Third, prior devices have been limited to only one color for the entire piece. Fourth, the magnetic attraction forces have been weak, which limits the creativity of the user in making larger and more complex assemblies without collapsing.
SUMMARY OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
Exemplary embodiments provide a magnetic toy having various improved characteristics. An outer male and outer female housing may be used to sandwich a thin light-reflective element in between the housings while simultaneously securing a metal clip which contains a permanent magnet. The metal clip preferably contains a partial enclosure along with a gap and a flat plate extending from the partial enclosure. The flat plate preferably contains one or more apertures which accept a portion of a post which extends from an internal surface of the outer male housing. A corresponding female point in the outer female housing accepts a portion of the post as well in a snap fit, interference fit, or soldering application.
The magnet preferably has a rectangular cross-section and would generally be described as a rectangular bar or cuboid. A thin light-reflective element is also preferably sandwiched in between the outer housings so that light cannot penetrate from the male outer housing into the female outer housing, but instead is reflected back out of the same housing that the light originated from. Preferably, the thin element includes refractive and/or light scattering properties as well through a texture applied to the element.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of an exemplary embodiment will be obtained from a reading of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein identical reference characters refer to identical parts and in which:
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the magnetic toy.
FIG. 1B is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A and indicating the location of section line A-A.
FIG. 1C is a side plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A.
FIG. 2 is a section view taken from the section line A-A and indicating the location of Detail A.
FIG. 3 is a detailed section view showing Detail A of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view of one embodiment for the magnet.
FIG. 4B is a front projection view of the magnet embodiment shown in FIG. 4A.
FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a second embodiment for the magnet.
FIG. 5B is a front projection view of the magnet embodiment shown in FIG. 5A.
FIG. 6A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a metallic clip.
FIG. 6B is a front projection view of the metallic clip shown in FIG. 6A.
FIG. 6C is a side projection view of the metallic clip shown in FIG. 6A.
FIG. 7A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a thin light-reflective element.
FIG. 7B is a side projection view of the thin light-reflective element shown in FIG. 7A.
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an outer male housing.
FIG. 8B is a side projection view of the outer male housing shown in FIG. 8A.
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of an outer female housing.
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of two embodiments of the magnetic toy which have been magnetically engaged with one another, and indicating the location of section line B-B.
FIG. 11 is a section view taken along the section line B-B shown in FIG. 10 and indicating the location of Detail B.
FIG. 12A is a detailed section view of Detail B and showing a first embodiment of the magnet.
FIG. 12B is a detailed section view of Detail B and showing a second embodiment of the magnet.
FIG. 13A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the magnetic toy, where two magnetic toys have been magnetically engaged.
FIG. 13B is a side view of the magnetic toy embodiments shown in FIG. 13A.
FIG. 13C is a front projection view of the magnetic toy embodiments shown in FIG. 13A.
FIG. 14 is a detailed section view similar to FIGS. 12A and 12B, however there is an additional magnetic toy added to this figure to illustrate the unique features of the exemplary embodiments described herein.
FIG. 15 is an illustration of the magnets from FIG. 14 and their relative magnetic forces on one another.
FIG. 16 is a detailed section view similar to FIGS. 12A, 12B and 14, however there is an additional magnetic toy added to this figure to illustrate the unique features of the exemplary embodiments described herein.
FIG. 17 is an illustration of the magnets from FIG. 16 and their relative magnetic forces on one another.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the magnetic toy 100, which preferably comprises an outer male housing 99 in combination with an outer female housing 98. As shown, both housings 98/99 have an outer perimeter that align with each other when the two housings are fixed together. In this particular embodiment, the outer perimeter is rectangular. One or more metallic clips 50 are preferably positioned near each perimeter edge of the housings 98/99. Although one metallic clip 50 is shown for each edge in this embodiment, further embodiments could place multiple metallic clips 50 along each perimeter edge of the housings 98/99.
FIG. 1B is a top plan view of the magnetic toy 100 shown in FIG. 1A and indicating the location of section line A-A.
FIG. 1C is a side plan view of the magnetic toy 100 shown in FIG. 1A. A vertical centerline 500 is shown to illustrate that the toy 100 is generally symmetrical about the centerline 500. The outer male housing 99 is located on the right side of the centerline 500 while the outer female housing 98 is located on the left side of the centerline 500. The metallic clip 50 is also preferably symmetrical about the centerline 500.
FIG. 2 is a section view taken from the section line A-A and indicating the location of Detail A. The male outer housing 99 is attached to the female outer housing 98 while sandwiching several other components in between the two housings 99/98. One component sandwiched between the two housings 99/98 is a thin light-reflective element 10.
FIG. 3 is a detailed section view showing Detail A of FIG. 2. A post 97 preferably extends from the male outer housing 99 and through a portion of the metallic clip 50 to connect with a female attachment point 96. The interaction between the post 97 and the female attachment point 96 is generally the force that holds the housings 99/98 together. In a preferred embodiment, the post 97 would be soldered to the female attachment point 96 through a soldering process such as ultrasonic soldering or similar. In other embodiments, the female attachment point 96 would receive at least a portion of the post 97 in a snap-fit or interference fit between the two portions.
The magnet 20 is preferably secured within the metallic clip 50 but is permitted to rotate freely about its longitudinal axis. The magnet 20 is mostly enclosed within the clip 50 but preferably there is a gap 51 that faces away from the perimeter edge of the housings 99/98. The gap 51 also preferably faces the thin light-reflective element 10.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view of one embodiment for the magnet 20A. This preferred embodiment of the magnet 20A would be a rectangular rod or cuboid where a first vertex 19 is connected to an opposing vertex 18 to create a line which defines the opposite polarity of the magnet 20A. As shown, a diagonal connects between vertex 19 and vertex 18 where one side of the diagonal provides the north polarity while the opposite side of the diagonal provides the south polarity. The diagonal across the vertices 18/19 extends down the longitudinal axis 300 of the magnet 20A essentially dividing the magnet 20A into opposing halves—one half comprising the south pole and shaped generally as a triangular prism with the second half comprising the north pole and also shaped generally as a corresponding triangular prism.
FIG. 4B is a front projection view of the magnet embodiment shown in FIG. 4A.
FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a second embodiment for the magnet 20B. In this embodiment, the opposite polarities of the magnet 20B is created by a horizontal line connecting between two midpoints 16 and 17 where above the line is the north pole and below the line is the south pole. This horizontal line preferably extends down the longitudinal axis 300 of the magnet 20B, dividing the magnet 20B into two halves—one half comprising a north polarity portion which is also shaped generally as a rectangular bar or cuboid and a second half comprising the south polarity and also shaped generally as a rectangular bar or cuboid.
FIG. 5B is a front projection view of the magnet embodiment shown in FIG. 5A. For each embodiment of the magnet 20A/20B, an arrow is shown to indicate free rotation about the central axis 300, which the magnet 20A/20B is permitted to do within the partial enclosure 56 of the clip 50.
FIG. 6A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a metallic clip 50, which preferably includes a substantially flat plate 57 which extends from the partial enclosure 56 that has two openings 53 and 54 on the ends of the enclosure. One or more tabs 58 may partially extend over each of the openings 53 and 54 of the partial enclosure 56 in order to secure the magnet 20 longitudinally within the partial enclosure 56 while still permitting rotation about the magnet's longitudinal axis 300. One or more apertures 55 are also preferably placed on the flat plate 57 and sized to accept a portion of the post 97.
FIG. 6B is a front projection view of the metallic clip 50 shown in FIG. 6A. The partial enclosure 56 contains two longitudinal edges where the first edge connects to the flat plate 57 while the opposing edge contains the gap 51—which could be defined as the distance between the longitudinal edge of the partial enclosure 56 and the flat plate 57. A center point 400 provides the center of the opening 54, and the flat plate 57 is generally aligned with the center point 400 or in other words the flat plate 57 is generally horizontal and located at the same vertical height as the center point 400 of the opening 54. The tabs 58 are generally elongate and extend towards the center point 400 but preferably do not fully reach the center point 400 in the exemplary embodiments. The tabs 58 are shown with a generally triangular shape but other rectangular shapes can be used as well.
FIG. 6C is a side projection view of the metallic clip 50 shown in FIG. 6A.
FIG. 7A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a thin light-reflective element 10 which preferably shares the same perimeter edge geometry as the outer housings 98 and 99 and also shares a set of notches 8 which align with the notches 91 and 92 on the housings 98 and 99. The central portion of the thin light-reflective element 10 contains a void 5 where no material is present.
FIG. 7B is a side projection view of the thin light-reflective element 10 shown in FIG. 7A. The front and rear surfaces 6 of the element 10 are reflective and refractive to light so that it is reflected and scattered upon contacting either the front or rear surface 6. To accomplish this, the front and rear surfaces 6 may be highly reflective and also slightly textured. In some cases, this is accomplished by using a material for the element 10 that is naturally reflective and light scattering, such as a plastic that is textured. In other embodiments, the element 10 could be a piece of paper or cardboard that is coated with a reflective and light scattering material.
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an outer male housing 99. In this embodiment, a pair of posts 97 extend upwardly and away from the housing 99, where each pair of posts 97 are aligned with and adjacent to a notch 91. As noted above, any number of posts 97 may be used with any embodiment, including only a single post 97 in some embodiments.
FIG. 8B is a side projection view of the outer male housing 99 shown in FIG. 8A. Each post 97 is generally parallel to each other and extends in a direction that would be parallel to each of the other posts 97. The axis of each post 97 is generally parallel to the axis of each of the remaining posts 97.
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of an outer female housing 98. Here, there is a female attachment point 96 aligned with each of the posts 97 to either accept a portion of the post 97 in a snap fit or interference fit or to be soldered with the post 97. Again, there are notches 92 which align with the notches 91 in the male housing 99 as well as the notches 8 in the element 10. Both housings 98 and 99 are preferably comprised of a semi-transparent material so that light can enter the housing 98/99, reflect and scatter off the element 10, and then exit the housing 98/99 for visibility by an observer.
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of two embodiments of the magnetic toy 100 which have been magnetically engaged with one another, and indicating the location of section line B-B.
FIG. 11 is a section view taken along the section line B-B shown in FIG. 10 and indicating the location of Detail B.
FIG. 12A is a detailed section view of Detail B and showing a first embodiment of the magnet 20A. When the two magnetic toys 100 are magnetically engaged, the metallic clips 50 should preferably be touching one another, and once the toys 100 are brought within close proximity, the magnet 20A is permitted to rotate about its longitudinal axis 300 so that opposite poles can align with one another in order to create sufficient magnetic force to hold the two toys 100 together. Once fully aligned, preferably the north pole vertex 11 is aligned with the south pole vertex 12. Preferably, the north pole vertex 11 and south pole vertex 12 are as close to the perimeter edge wall of the clip 50 as possible. The gaps 51 in the clips 50 preferably face away from the perimeter surfaces of the clips 50 that touch one another. The thin element 10 is preferably positioned substantially parallel to the flat plate 57.
FIG. 12B is a detailed section view of Detail B and showing a second embodiment of the magnet 20B. Similarly, when the two magnetic toys 100 are magnetically engaged, the metallic clips 50 should preferably be touching one another, and once the toys 100 are brought within close proximity, the magnet 20B is permitted to rotate about its longitudinal axis 300 so that opposite poles can align with one another in order to create sufficient magnetic force to hold the two toys 100 together. Once fully aligned, preferably line connecting between two midpoints 16 and 17 becomes substantially vertical, where one side of the vertical line contains the north pole and the opposing side of the vertical line contains the south pole.
FIG. 13A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the magnetic toy 101, where two magnetic toys 101 have been magnetically engaged. Again, each magnetic toy 101 preferably comprises an outer male housing 99 in combination with an outer female housing 98. As shown, both housings 98/99 have an outer perimeter that align with each other when the two housings are fixed together. In this particular embodiment, the outer perimeter is triangular. One or more metallic clips 50 are preferably positioned near each perimeter edge of the housings 98/99. Although one metallic clip 50 is shown for each edge in this embodiment, further embodiments could place multiple metallic clips 50 along each perimeter edge of the housings 98/99.
FIG. 13B is a side view of the magnetic toy 101 embodiments shown in FIG. 13A. A vertical centerline 500 is shown to illustrate that the toy 101 is generally symmetrical about the centerline 500. The outer male housing 99 is located on the right side of the centerline 500 while the outer female housing 98 is located on the left side of the centerline 500. The metallic clip 50 is also preferably symmetrical about the centerline 500.
FIG. 13C is a front projection view of the magnetic toy embodiments 101 shown in FIG. 13A where two magnetic toys 101 have been magnetically engaged with one another. Similarly, the magnets 20A or 20B inside are permitted to rotate about their longitudinal axis 300 in order to determine the proper alignment for magnetic engagement. Again, it is preferably that the metallic clips 50 of adjacent pieces are touching one another, once the toys 101 are fully engaged.
FIG. 14 is a detailed section view similar to FIGS. 12A and 12B, however there is an additional magnetic toy 100/101 added to this figure to illustrate the unique features of the exemplary embodiments described herein. By orienting themselves as shown, each of the magnets 20A can have a substantially magnetic force against one another simultaneously. This allows three separate toys 100/101 to be combined together as shown. The left and right toys 100/101 can provide a solid base while the vertical toy 100/101 can begin to build a substantial vertical structure from this solid base. Thus, by positioning two base toys 100/101 flat against a surface like a table top or floor, the third toy 100/101 can extend vertically upward from these two base toys to create taller structures.
FIG. 15 is an illustration of the magnets 20A from FIG. 14 and their relative magnetic forces on one another. The north pole vertex 11 is attracted to the south pole vertex 12 as shown above. However, additionally on the right hand side of the figure, the upper face of the south pole could be described as the upper face of the south pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the south pole vertex 12 and the opposing vertex 19. The lower face of the north pole can be defined as the lower face of the north pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the north pole vertex 11 and the opposing vertex 18. As shown, the upper face of the south pole directly faces and is substantially parallel to the lower face of the north pole that sits above it, providing a substantial magnetic force between the two magnets.
On the left side of FIG. 15, the upper face of the north pole could be described as the upper face of the north pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the north pole vertex 11 and the opposing vertex 19. The lower face of the south pole can be defined as the lower face of the south pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the south pole vertex 12 and the opposing vertex 18. As shown, the upper face of the north pole directly faces and is substantially parallel to the lower face of the south pole that sits above it, providing a substantial magnetic force between all three magnets.
FIG. 16 is a detailed section view similar to FIGS. 12A, 12B and 14, however there is an additional magnetic toy 100/101 added to this figure to illustrate the unique features of the exemplary embodiments described herein.
FIG. 17 is an illustration of the magnets 20A from FIG. 16 and their relative magnetic forces on one another. In addition to the magnetic forces described above with three toys 100/101 in FIGS. 14 and 15, the additional magnetic toy 100/101 on the bottom of the figure creates another set of magnetic forces which holds all four toys 100/101 together. With respect to the additional toy 100/101 at the bottom of the figure, the upper face of the south pole could be described as the upper face of the south pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the south pole vertex 12 and the opposing vertex 19. The lower face of the north pole can be defined as the lower face of the north pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the north pole vertex 11 and the opposing vertex 18. As shown, the upper face of the south pole directly faces and is substantially parallel to the lower face of the north pole that sits above it, providing a substantial magnetic force between the two magnets.
Also with respect to the additional toy 100/101 at the bottom of the figure, the upper face of the north pole could be described as the upper face of the north pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the north pole vertex 11 and the opposing vertex 19. The lower face of the south pole can be defined as the lower face of the south pole triangular prism which is the line connecting between the south pole vertex 12 and the opposing vertex 18. As shown, the upper face of the north pole directly faces and is substantially parallel to and is substantially parallel to the lower face of the south pole that sits above it, providing a substantial magnetic force between all four magnets.
It should be noted that while the magnets 20A and 20B are shown generally with sharp rectangular edges, features such as rounds and curves can be added to the edges of the magnets 20A and 20B and this would be within the scope of the invention. It is common in tooling design to place small rounds on the edges of objects and these would be within the scope of each embodiment herein.
The housings 98/99 are preferably comprised of a semi-transparent material, preferably plastic. The metal clip 50 can be made from any magnetizable metal. It should be noted that while a rectangular perimeter and triangular perimeter are shown herein, other perimeter shapes can be used and would still be within the scope of the invention. Specifically perimeters having the shape of hexagons, parallelograms, pentagons, octagons, diamonds, squares, nonagons, decagons, or stars are specifically contemplated and could be used with any of the embodiments shown herein. Toys having a different perimeter shapes can also be combined, for example the triangular toy 101 can be combined with the rectangular toy 100 in any combination, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 16. In this way, toys having any of the different perimeter shapes as described herein can be combined together to create infinite possible combinations and 3D shapes that could be created by the user.
Having shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to affect the described invention and still be within the scope of the claimed invention. Additionally, many of the elements indicated above may be altered or replaced by different elements which will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims.
Patent Application
20220297021
