Patent Application
20080214087
This invention concerns construction kits by which models of buildings and other structures, especially model sports stadiums can be constructed.
Construction kits are described in French Patent Specification 2405830, GB Patent Specifications 371,038 and 2,108,857, Gebrauchmuster 87 10893.3 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,599.
Improved construction kits are described in my copending UK Patent Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2. These kits employ blocks having openings in some or all of their faces and may be shaped as rectilinear or solid trapezoidal blocks, and include pegs for joining the blocks together.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved parts for such construction kits.
According to one aspect of the present invention in a kit of parts comprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining them together there is provided a hinge for hingedly joining at least two blocks together comprising a rectangular plastics plate divided into two parts by a strip hinge formed by a linear region of reduced thickness extending across the plate, whereby one part can be pivoted through at least 90° relative to the other by bending about the line of the strip hinge and wherein each half includes at least one peg protruding therefrom.
Preferably the two pegs extend from the same face of the plate when the two parts of the latter are coplanar.
Each peg is dimensioned so as to be a push fit in any of the openings in the apertured blocks so that where each part has one peg, by pushing one of the pegs into an opening in one block and the other peg into an opening in another block, the two blocks will be joined by the strip hinge section of the two part plate, and can be hinged relative to each other to the extent permitted by the hinge.
Normally the hinging will be such that one block can be hinged from a position in which it lies parallel and substantially in contact with the other block, to a position in which it makes an acute angle to the other block.
If blocks are to be spaced apart the hinge joint can be used for this purpose by hinging the one block relative to the other until the two parts of the plate are back to back and in contact, so that the pegs now protrude in axial alignment in opposite directions on either side of the folded plate. The latter will now space apart the opposed faces of the two blocks fitted to the two pegs.
According to a preferred feature of this first aspect of the invention, plates of different size and having any number of protruding pegs may be provided. Thus in the simplest case the two parts are of similar size and shape and each has one protruding peg.
Typically but not essentially the number of pegs will be proportional to the size of each part.
The invention envisages arrangements in which one part is N times the size of the other and has N times as many pegs.
Where two or more pegs are provided on a part of the hinge, the spacing of the pegs preferably corresponds to the spacing of the openings in the blocks.
A part having two protruding pegs can be fitted to two openings in one block or to one opening in each of two blocks, arranged end to end or side by side.
Typically hinges are constructed so as to have two similar sized plates which extend away from the hinge line by a distance commensurate with the width dimension of one of the construction kit blocks and which extend parallel to the line of the hinge by a fraction or whole number multiple (including 1) of the length of the blocks and have a number of protruding pegs commensurate with the block length dimensions they relate to.
Thus in the case of a hinge having 16 pegs protruding from each part, each of the 16 bpegs being equally spaced apart in a straight line parallel to the hinge line, four 4-hole blocks arranged end to end can be fitted to each part of the hinge.
Individual pegs may be employed to join these blocks together end to end if desired, and/or to join other blocks to the blocks attached to the hinge.
According to another aspect of the present invention where blocks are to be spaced apart in the same way as bricks are spaced by mortar joints, each of the individual pegs may be formed with a flange typically midway along its length, the thickness of the flange determining the spacing between opposed faces of two blocks joined by inserting one end of the peg into an opening in one block and the other end of the peg into an opening in the other block.
The flange may be any shape such as circular or square or rectangular, and if mortar joints are to be replicated rectangular or square shaped flanges are preferred, the size of each rectangle or square corresponding to one of the faces of a block.
The flanges may be separately manufactured from the pegs and be push fitted or otherwise joined to the pegs.
In a preferred arrangement each flange may be apertured and the pegs are formed with a surface indentation or groove midway (or thereabouts) along their length, the size of the aperture being such, and the material from which the flange and/or peg is formed, or the design of the peg being such, that the latter can be forced through the aperture in the flange until the indentation or groove is reached at which point the flange will snap into the indented or grooved region of the peg and will tend to remain at that position.
The aperture in the flange may correspond in shape to the cross sectional shape of the peg or may be in the form of a slot so that relative movement is possible between the peg and the flange. This may be of advantage in the case of rectangular flanges since it will allow the peg to be inserted into any one of a number of openings in a rectangular block face and for the rectangular flange to be positioned as desired relative to the block.
The flange can serve another purpose and according to another aspect of the invention each peg is formed with a radial protrusion which may be a flange around some or all of the perimeter of the peg cross section, for the purpose of limiting the depth to which the peg can be inserted into an opening in a block.
This feature is of advantage when the openings in the blocks extend from one face to the other, since it is important that approximately one half the length of each peg is available to protrude into each of two abutting blocks.
The protrusion will of course space apart the blocks and if that is not required according to another aspect of the present invention the face of each block may be recessed around the entrance to each opening in the block, to accommodate at least one half the thickness of any peg protrusion. In this way cavities are formed between abutting faces of two blocks which will accommodate the protrusions and allow the block faces to touch.
According to a further aspect of the invention each individual peg is cylindrical and the cylindrical wall is cutaway along the length of the peg to form a small gap at one point around the circumference of the peg, which extends from one end of the peg to the other.
By making the peg from resiliently deformable material and constructing it so that the outside diameter of the cylindrical form of the peg is oversize relative to the openings in the blocks the act of pushing the peg into an opening in a block will cause the gap in the cylindrical wall to close up and reduce the overall dimensions of the peg cross section, so that it can slide into the block. The resilience of the peg material will tend to hold the peg firmly in place in the opening, since all the time it is in the block, the cylindrical cross section has been reduced and the peg will be trying to recover its uncompressed size.
The pegs may be formed for example from resilient plastics material or from springy sheet steel.
The ends of the pegs may be chamfered to facilitate their insertion into the blocks.
According to another aspect of the present invention a hinge assembly of two apertured blocks of a construction kit as aforesaid may be formed if one end of one of two blocks is rebated on opposite side faces to form a reduced width end and one end of the other block is cutaway to form a bifurcated end so as to present two parallel spaced apart flanges between which the rebated reduced width end of the other block can slide, and wherein the rebated end includes a through bore and the two flanges of the co-operating end of the other block are formed with axially aligned openings which when the two blocks are fitted together can be aligned with the through bore, the diameter of the holes in at least one of the flanges being such that a peg as aforesaid can be pushed fitted therethrough and be gripped by the or each flange so as not to fall out, and the diameter of the through bore in the rebated end section is selected so that the other block is either free to rotate about the peg, or grips the peg so that if one block is rotated relative to the other about the peg axis, the two blocks will remain in the relative angular position into which they have been moved.
The peg may be just long enough to accommodate the width of the bifurcated block end so as not to protrude or can be longer so that it can be push fitted into an opening in another adjoining block or other blocks.
The adjoining block or blocks may be conventional blocks, or may be pairs of hinged blocks, similar to the first.
According to another aspect of the present invention a kit of parts for a construction kit such as described and claimed in my co-pending UK Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2 may include blocks whose cross section is a right angled triangle and one of the two faces defining the right angle of the cross section is dimensioned so as to correspond to the end face of a rectilinear block, and at least the two faces defining the right angle are provided with openings into which pegs can be push fitted for joining a solid triangular cross section block to another block.
Preferably the length of such a triangular block measured perpendicular to the triangular cross section is equal to the width of one of the rectilinear blocks making up the kit of parts, or is equal to a whole number multiple of that width, or is equal to length dimension of a rectilinear block if that differs from a whole number multiple of the width of the block.
Where the triangular block length is N times the width of a rectilinear block, the faces subtending the right angle are preferably formed with N equally spaced apart openings the spacing of which is commensurate with that of the spacing of openings in the faces of the rectilinear blocks.
By pegging one triangular block to the end of a rectilinear block, the shape of the combination becomes a solid trapezium.
The inclination of the sloping end face of the solid trapezoidal shape so formed is determined by the angles of the two remaining corners of the solid triangular section block, and can be 45° or 30° or 60°, or any other acute angle, relative to the length dimension of the rectilinear block.
As has been described in my co-pending UK Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2 solid trapezoidal blocks (whether made up of two blocks as herein proposed or of unitary construction) allow solid terraced corner structures to be constructed such as are required if a model stadium is to be constructed from blocks.
It has also been proposed to fit stepped cladding panels over the terraced structures made of blocks such as aforesaid, to resemble seating, and for some of the cladding panels to taper from top to bottom to define generally triangular pieces which can be fitted side by side over the differently angled faces of the terraced blocks defining a terraced stadium corner as well as parallel sided pieces of stepped cladding for similarly fitting over the straight terraces defining the sides and ends of a model stadium.
According to another aspect of the present invention it is proposed that a model stadium may be constructed using blocks joined by pegs to each other and to a flat base-plate, in which the sides, ends and corners of the model stadium are not constructed as solid terraced structures but as upright columns of blocks pegged to each other and to the base-plate and spaced apart and optionally joined by horizontally positioned blocks likewise joined by pegs to blocks forming the columns, to form a skeleton structure, in combination with panels of stepped cladding resembling the terraces surrounding the central area of the stadium, where the cladding includes a plurality of spaced apart pegs protruding from its rear face by which the cladding can be secured to the blocks making up the columns by push fitting the protruding pegs into openings in the blocks, the cladding serving the dual purpose of giving structural support to the columns of blocks, and covering the skeleton structure so that the sides, corners and ends of the model appear as solid continuous terraces.
Preferably the columns are themselves stepped like a staircase with the step size equating to the step size of the cladding.
The pegs joining the stepped blocks may extend horizontally and vertically between blocks.
Preferably the pegs are cylindrical and have a central bore as herein described.
Preferably the pegs protruding from the rear and undersides of the cladding panels do so along the rear of the lowermost riser and the underside of the uppermost tread defined by each cladding panel.
Preferably the treads of the cladding are formed with lines of spaced apart openings having the same spacing (pitch) as the openings in the blocks making up the skeleton staircase columns.
Preferably the holes in the cladding treads are all of the same diameter which is commensurate with the diameter of the central bores of the cylindrical pegs.
Where cylindrical pegs have to be fitted into the openings in the lines of blocks which will underlie the treads of the stepped cladding, the central openings in the pegs will align with the holes in the treads of the cladding. Seats or other items to be fitted to the terraces may be provided with pins having a cross section which is a push fit onto the holes in the cladding. The pins will also be a push fit in the central bores of any pegs in the blocks below the treads.
In this way seats and other items can be secured in place by pushing their pins down through the holes in the cladding and where pegs are located in blocks below these holes, into the centres of the pegs therebelow.
The overall shape of each panel of stepped cladding may be rectangular, square, triangular or trapezoidal, and can be dimensioned so as to fit from top to bottom of a given skeleton staircase block structure height or over only part way from top to bottom of the skeleton staircase structures.
Each panel of cladding may be coloured and different cladding panels may be coloured differently from others so that coloured patterns can be created as the panels are fitted to the skeleton staircase structure.
Whether the cladding is all the same colour or differently coloured, the seats may be differently coloured so that differently coloured patterns can be formed by selecting appropriately coloured seats for different positions around the model structure.
Where individual seats are to be fitted around corner regions of the terraces of stepped cladding the seats may be shaped so as to be narrower at their front edges than their backs.
As described in my co-pending Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2 the seats may be individual items, each separately securable in a hole in a cladding panel.
Alternatively the seats may be formed in groups preferably in lines of N seats in which the seats are joined together laterally. In this way the number of pins required to secure the seats in position can be reduced since each group only requires two or three pins along its underside to secure for example 4 or 8 or more joined up seats.
The lines of seats may be straight or may be curved or angled to allow them to be fitted to corner regions of the terraces formed by the stepped cladding.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit of parts for a construction kit comprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining the blocks together, from which, in particular, a model stadium can be constructed with terraces around a central area, wherein the kit of parts is made up of just four different types of block together with panels of stepped cladding which are adapted by protruding pegs to be fitted to a skeleton structure made up of the blocks, wherein the four different types of block comprise four-element and two-element solid rectilinear blocks, two-element solid regular trapezoidal corner blocks, and infill corner blocks each of which is mostly a solid rectilinear shape which includes a small solid or triangular section at one end and whose overall length is not greater than that of the two-element regular trapezoidal corner block, where an element is considered to be a cube containing one opening centrally of each of its faces and an N-element rectilinear block can be though of as being made up of N elements arranged end to end.
Preferably the infill corner blocks are dimensioned so that two joined end to end with their sloping end faces in contact, will fit between the end faces of spaced apart rectilinear blocks at the upper outer ends of two skeleton staircase columns in each of which the bottom step may be made up of a single two-element solid regular trapezoidal corner block as aforesaid and the columns are positioned so that the inclined end faces of the two lowermost blocks abut, and in which each staircase column contains 10 steps above the bottom step, the first four of which are built using two-element rectilinear blocks and the remaining six of which are built using four-element rectilinear blocks, to make up the staircase.
Preferably the edge of each infill block defining the acute angled corner of the trapezoidal extension is chamfered, so that when two such blocks are fitted with their sloping faces in contact, there is no sharp corner between the two blocks, and when fitted singly between blocks at the upper outer ends of two skeleton staircase columns the outer chamfered face of the infill block is generally co-planar with the outer face of the rectilinear block to which it abuts and has the same rectilinear dimensions as that of the end face of the rectilinear block.
When using such staircase columns of blocks to define a 90° corner of a model stadium it will be found that the upper end of each of the first and last corner-defining staircases can be secured to the end face of the uppermost rectilinear block in the immediately adjoining staircase column defining one end of a side-run or end-run of the stadium terraces by using one infill corner block, and the chamfered corner thereof allows the infill block to fit correctly, and not protrude outwardly beyond the adjoining block at the top of the adjoining side or end column.
Likewise it will be found that if the lower end of each of the staircase columns of a corner-defining array is constructed using a two-element solid regular trapezoidal shaped corner block as aforesaid, the lower ends can all be joined using pegs between abutting inclined faces.
In a preferred arrangement a 90° corner can be defined by three such staircase columns if the inclined end faces of the three lowermost blocks each subtend a 15° angle to the length dimension of each such block, in which event the first and last of the inclined end faces of these three lowermost blocks subtend a right-angle and can be fitted directly to the end faces of the rectilinear blocks at the bottom of the adjoining staircase beginning a side or end run of terraces.
The uppermost block of each staircase column is preferably supported by a vertical column of blocks below it the lowermost block of which may be pegged to a flat base-board as may also the lowermost block at the bottom of the staircase column, so as to define with the base-board a right angled triangle of which the staircase is the hypotenuse.
A roof may be cantilevered over the terraces by building up the vertical wall above the uppermost blocks defining the staircase columns for example by pegging blocks to the uppermost line of blocks around the stadium and if desired between the columns where the latter are spaced apart, and pegging blocks to the uppermost line of blocks of the built up wall so as to extend horizontally over the terraces. The overhang may be increased by pegging other blocks end to end to the horizontal blocks. In a preferred arrangement other blocks may be pegged to the side faces at the ends of the horizontally extending line of blocks and joined by pegs end to end with other blocks to form a triangle of lines of blocks. Typically a 3,4,5 triangulation is defined with 4 blocks extending end to end horizontally, 3 end to end vertically, and 5 end to end blocks defining the hypotenuse. Cladding panels, which may be clear or coloured and may be surface embossed to resemble roofing, and which may be generally flat or may be shaped or curved, may be provided with openings which register with holes in the blocks making the triangle so that they can be pegged to the blocks making up the triangle, or may include integral peg-like protrusions for pegging to the hypotenuses and possibly also to the verticals of the triangulations.
The different aspects of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:—
A hinge is shown in
Two blocks 22, 24 shown in dotted outline in
The modified hinges in
The pegs in
In each case the peg may be solid and if so may have an axially parallel diametrical cut, or may be formed with a central through bore (shown dotted by way of example at 42, 44 in
Loose pegs are used to join blocks together, and a preferred form of peg construction is shown in
By forming the peg from resilient material such as certain plastics, or from spring steel, the cylinder can be radially compressed to the extent permitted by the gap, so that if a hole into which it is to be pushed is slightly smaller in diameter than the uncompressed external diameter of the peg, the latter will be compressed as it is pushed into a hole, and will grip more firmly the wall of the hole, when inserted.
In
Holes 76, 78 in the side cheeks align with a hole 80 in the tongue 74 when the latter is inserted between the two side cheeks of block 60 and a cylindrical peg or pin 82 is fitted through the aligned holes 76, 78, 80 to form a hinge pin.
If the ends of the side cheeks and tongue are semicircular as shown at 84 and 86 in
Also shown in
If the base of the slot is modified to the contoured shape denoted by one or both of the dotted lines 94, 96 in
Through bores are shown in the two blocks for receiving pegs such as shown in
A solid trapezoidal corner block 116 is shown in
A solid regular trapezoidal corner block 128 is shown in
The two corner blocks 116 and 128 of
The remaining
The junction of two corner blocks 116A, 116B arranged as shown in
More importantly the extent of the chamfer is preferably selected so that the area of the inclined face 124A of the chamfered end of block 116C is the same as the area of the square end 145 of a rectilinear block such as 144 of
The advantage of this chamfering is best seen in
Pegs are employed to join the ends of the blocks 128 to each other and to the square ends of rectilinear blocks 144A, 144B, only part of each of which is shown in
The skeleton structure can be made self supporting for example by upright columns of blocks below the uppermost blocks in each of the staircase columns such as 158, 160 etc. This is best seen at 168 in
The block at the foot of the staircase which is either a double sided corner block such as 128A, B or C (around the corner) or is a rectilinear block such as 144A or 144B (if along a side or end of the model stadium), can be pegged to the base-plate 172 in a similar way by means of a shorter peg shown dotted by 174 in
Each step after the bottom step in each staircase column is made up of two blocks making up a pair one on top of the other, the lower one of each pair being pegged to the rear face of either the lowermost block or the upper block of the preceding step, and the upper one of each pair being pegged to the upper face of the lower one of the pair and to the front face of the lower one of the pair forming the next step up, until the last step is reached which forms the upper end of a vertical column of blocks such as 168. In consequence some of the vertically aligned holes in the blocks will be occupied by a cylindrical peg of the type shown in
As shown in
The pegs such as 182, 184 are used to peg the panel to the top and bottom blocks in a staircase column such as shown in
In
This is best seen in
For clarity panels 178A and 180B have been shown shaded in
As will be evident from
The sides and ends of the stadium may be formed by a plurality of staircase columns of similar sized rectilinear blocks, arranged similarly to those in the corner staircase columns so that in cross section they will resemble the cross section view of
Each peg such as 176 is cylindrical and therefore includes a central through bore 177 (see
Miniature seats 194 (see
Each seat comprises an upright back 196, and horizontal seat portion 198, a pedestal 200 and a pin 202 which protrudes centrally of and below the pedestal. The pin 202 is circular in cross section and has a diameter such that it is a push fit in the holes such as 190 in the cladding panels 178, 180.
The pins 202 will extend into the holes 192 and where these are occupied by cylindrical pegs such as 176, the pin 202 will extend into the through bore 177 of the peg.
If the pins 202 are also a push fit into pegs 176 the fitting of the seats to the cladding panels will, where a peg 176 extends below the hole 190, further clamp the panel to the blocks making up the staircase column.
By comparing
A modified peg is shown in
The modified pegs 162, 170, 172 are the same as the modified peg shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0405157.9 | Mar 2004 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2005/000760 | 3/2/2005 | WO | 00 | 4/15/2008 |
