The present invention relates to a toy block comprising a side-wall with an inner surface and an outer surface intended for abutment against a surface of a corresponding toy block said sidewall comprising a through hole for receipt of a catch portion of a connecting element and a recess in said outer surface adjacent the through hole, and said toy block comprising a catch for engaging and holding the catch portion of a connecting element. The present invention further relates to a toy block connecting element for interconnecting such toy blocks. The present invention further relates to a toy block element for producing such a toy block.
A toy block of the abovementioned type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,464. The known toy block is hollow and has a wall with a circular opening, a flange recessed within said opening, a central aperture and at least two holes adjacent to and in connection with said aperture. Each of the at least two holes further comprise semi-cylindrical resilient supports supporting two semicircular shaped knobs integrally connected with said flange for the purpose of interconnecting two toy blocks. Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,464 discloses a switch lock for interconnecting said toy blocks by engagement with said retaining knob means. The switch lock comprises a rigid disc and two shafts attached to opposite sides of said disc. Each shaft comprises a head portion adapted to fit in said aperture and said holes of said opening in said toy block wall to be retained by said knobs. By engagement with said knob retaining means the head portion of said switch lock serves both the purpose of holding the blocks connected and prevent mutual rotation of block and connection element.
The prior known toy block is disadvantageous primarily in that the switch lock and the knob retaining means provide an unsatisfactory prevention of mutual rotation between block and connecting element during the engaging action.
Hence, the object of the present invention is to satisfactorily prevent mutual rotation between a toy block and a connection element for such a toy block when the connecting element is inserted in the toy block.
Another object of the invention is to provide a toy block element for producing such an improved toy block, which toy block element may be moulded in one piece and using one mould, hence being manufacturable in a simple and less costly process.
According to a first aspect of the invention these objects are achieved by a toy block of the abovementioned type, wherein said catch is situated in the interior of the toy block in a distance from said inner surface, and in that at least one of said recess and said through hole is non-circular. In a preferred embodiment said distance from said inner surface to said catch is at least 1 mm.
Thereby a toy block is provided in which prevention of mutual rotation between block and connecting element is provided by the non-circular recess and/or hole, and in which the catch portion serves to hold the blocks connected, hence separating these two actions spatially. Such a construction provides a considerable improvement of the prevention of mutual rotation between block and connecting element.
According to a second aspect of the invention the objects of the invention are achieved by a toy block connecting element for interconnecting toy blocks, comprising a central flat portion with two opposite surfaces and a circumference, a catch portion for engagement with a catch of the toy block rising from at least one of said surfaces, wherein at least one of the cross section of catch portion and the circumference of the flat portion is non-circular and wherein said catch portion comprises at least one catch leg, said catch leg comprising at least one engagement means on an outer section of the catch leg opposite said central flat portion.
Thereby a toy block connecting element is provided in which the at least one of the flat portion and the catch portion being non-circular upon insertion in a toy block may engage with that of the recess or through hole respectively likewise being noncircular of a toy block to lock the toy block connecting element with the toy block such that prevention of mutual rotation is considerably improved.
According to a third aspect of the invention the objects of the invention are achieved by a toy block element for producing a toy block according to the invention, wherein the toy block element comprises a circumferential wall comprising an outer surface, an inner surface and an open edge adapted to be joined with an open edge of a corresponding toy block element, said circumferential wall being cylindrical adjacent the open edge having a generator direction, said wall comprising adjacent its open edge in its outer surface at least one recess, said recess comprising a bottom, and a through hole in said bottom, said hole opening into the open edge, at least one of said recess and said through hole being non-semicircular, said toy block element further comprising at least one first leg portion extending parallel to the generator direction to a level in a vicinity of a level of the open edge to provide at least part of a catch of a toy block.
Thereby a toy block element is provided for producing a toy block according to the first aspect of the invention and as described above in a particularly simple and advantageous manner by joining the open edge of the toy block element with a corresponding toy block element such that the recesses of the respective toy block elements join to form a recess of the produced toy block, while the respective first leg portions form a catch of the toy block, hence providing the abovementioned advantages.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment the first leg element is resilient and flexible in a direction perpendicular to said generator direction, thereby providing a coupling between catch and catch portion and thereby block and connecting element making it easier, particularly for a child, to insert and remove said connecting element in and from said toy block.
According to a preferred embodiment the toy block element according to the invention further comprises at least one second leg portion extending parallel to the generator direction to a level in a vicinity of a peripheral point of the through hole opposite said open edge to provide part of a catch of a toy block. Thereby an improved and more stable hold of a connecting element according to the invention upon inserting such a connecting element in a through hole of a toy block produced by the use of such toy block elements is provided.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment at least one of said first leg portion and said second leg portion comprises a transversal portion extending over at least part of the distance between the inner surface of the circumferential wall and the respective leg portion. Thereby a further improved hold of a connecting element according to the invention, particularly in a transverse direction of said connecting element, upon inserting such a connecting element in a through hole of a toy block produced by the use of such toy block elements is provided.
According to a preferred embodiment the at least one of said recess and said through hole being non-semicircular is shaped substantially as a halved cross. Thereby a non-semicircular recess, or through hole, is provided which may be constructed such that it is symmetric about a centre axis, whereby all toy block elements having identically shaped circumferential walls may be moulded using one and the same mould, thus providing a particularly cost effective toy block element.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment the at least one of said recess and said through hole being non-semicircular comprises a first and a second leg parts extending substantially in parallel with said open edge and separated by a third leg part extending substantially perpendicular to said open edge. Thereby a particularly simple embodiment of the abovementioned halved cross shape is provided.
According to a further particularly preferred embodiment of a toy block element according to the invention the toy block element comprises a base wall being merged in at least one of a curve and an angle with the circumferential wall opposite said open edge, wherein said base wall comprises at least one non-circular recess, said recess comprising a bottom and a through hole in said bottom, at least one of said recess and said through hole being non-circular, at least one third leg portion rising from the base wall adjacent said through hole into an interior of the toy block to provide at least part of a catch of a toy block. Thereby a toy block element is provided by which toy blocks produced by the use of such elements as a consequence of the additional wall provided may assume a wider range of geometrical shapes and may by the use of toy block connecting elements be combined in a wider range of possibilities as compared to a toy block produced by the use of toy block elements with no such base wall, the prior mentioned advantages regarding the hold and rotation of a toy block connecting element also being maintained as regards a catch of the base wall.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment said third leg portion is resilient and flexible in a direction perpendicular to said generator direction, thereby providing a coupling between catch and catch portion and thereby block and connecting element making it easier, particularly for a child, to insert and remove said connecting element in and from said toy block.
According to a preferred embodiment the base wall further comprises at least one fourth leg portion rising from the base wall adjacent said through hole to provide part of a catch of a toy block. Thereby an improved hold of a connecting element according to the invention upon inserting such a connecting element in a through hole of a base wall of a toy block produced by the use of such toy block elements is provided.
According to a preferred embodiment the fourth leg portion further comprises a transversal portion. Thereby a further improved hold of a connecting element according to the invention, particularly in a trans-verse direction of said connecting element, upon inserting such a connecting element in a through hole of a base wall of a toy block produced by the use of such toy block elements is provided.
According to a preferred embodiment of a toy block element according to the invention the said first, second, third and/or fourth leg portion further comprises at least one adjacent element adapted to support the first, second, third and/or fourth leg portion, whereby a toy block having further improved catch regarding stability and durability may be provided using such toy block elements.
According to a preferred embodiment at least a part of said circumferential wall and/or of said base wall is curved, thereby expanding the possible range of shapes of block elements considerably.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment the toy block element is moulded in one piece. Thereby the toy block may be produced using a particularly simple and cost efficient production process.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention a toy block comprising two toy block elements according to the invention is provided, said toy block elements being joined together by their respective open edges. The joining together of said toy block elements is preferably accomplished by welding, preferably ultrasonic sealing. Hereby a toy block with the desired advantages and a particularly simple and efficient sealing may be achieved by the use of a particularly simple sealing process.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention a toy building set comprising a plurality of toy blocks according to the invention, said toy blocks having one or more different outer shapes, and a plurality of toy block connecting elements according to the invention is provided.
The invention will now be described in further detail based on a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, and with reference to the drawings. In the drawings,
a and 2b shows a side and a top view respectively of an embodiment of a toy block connecting element according to the invention,
a and 3b shows a side and a top view respectively of a second embodiment of a toy block connecting element according to the invention,
a and 4b shows a side and a top view respectively of a third embodiment of a toy block connecting element according to the invention,
a and 5b shows a side and a top view respectively of a fourth embodiment of a toy block connecting element according to the invention,
With reference to
With reference to
In further embodiments of a toy block connecting element according to the invention the catch legs 30 may be resilient or rigid, and fewer or more catch legs 30 may be provided i.a. depending on the shape of the central portion 9 and/or the shape of the catch of the toy block. For instance a central intermediate portion rising from the central flat portion 9 and extending between at least two of the catch legs 30 may be provided joining two or more of the catch legs 30. In a not shown embodiment the presence of such a central intermediate portion may result in a catch portion having a cross sectional shape of for instance a plus or a circle. Furthermore, as shown on the figs., the tip 34 of each of the outer catch leg sections 30b of each catch leg 30 is preferably rounded such as to prevent sharp ends, that may inflict damage upon blocks and/or users when connecting toy blocks 1. Of crucial importance is solely the configuration of the outwards facing surface sections corresponding to 31, 32 of
Shown in
When inserting such a toy block connecting element according to the embodiment shown in
Notwithstanding the above it may, however, when building structures by connecting toy blocks according to the invention be desirable to be able to rotate one of two toy blocks 1 held together by a connecting element 6 relative to the other block without compromising the engagement holding the blocks together. To achieve this the central flat portion 9 of a connecting element according to the invention may, in another embodiment shown in
Referring now to
In the embodiment shown both the through hole 4a and the recess 5a are shaped substantially as a halved cross. In a particularly preferred embodiment of such a halved cross, that is shown in detail in the side view of
Referring again to
The toy block element 11 further comprises at least one first leg portion 19. The first leg portion 19 extends in a direction parallel to a generator direction denoted on
The toy block element 11 may further comprise at least one second leg portion 20. The second leg portion 20 extends in a direction parallel to the generator direction 16 to a level in a vicinity of peripheral point of the through hole 4a opposite the open edge 15 and is situated inside the circumferential wall 12 at a distance from the inner surface 14, the distance preferably being between 3 mm and 10 mm. The second leg portion 20 thus provides part of a catch of a toy block 1 according to the invention. The second leg portion 20 is preferably of a rigid structure. The second leg portion 20 may furthermore comprise a transverse portion 20a extending over at least part of the distance between inner surface 14 and second leg portion 20. In the embodiment shown the transverse portion 20a covers the entire said distance, thus connecting the second leg portion 20 and the inner surface 14. At the inner surface 14 the transverse portion 20a is preferably shaped such as to be substantially flush with the adjacent section of the circumference of the through hole 4a, substantially without covering any of the open area of the through hole 4a.
The transverse portions 19a, 20a extend in the generator direction 16 and may furthermore serve to support the catch portion 7 of a connecting element 6 upon insertion such that the outward facing surface 33 and surface sections 31, 32 of a catch leg 30 may slide along a surface of a transverse portion 19a or 20a, thus facilitating the insertion (and later removal) of a connecting element 6 in a toy block 1. In this embodiment the transverse portions 19a, 20a extend to a level flush with the level to which the corresponding leg portion 19, 20 respectively extends. The thickness of the transverse portions 19a and in particular 20a should preferably be sufficient to serve their supportive purpose, but is otherwise of lesser importance.
In the embodiment shown both the first 19 and the second 20 leg portion furthermore extend in a plane parallel to the circumferential wall 12 such that they meet each other. This provides for a simple and particularly durable structure of the catch. The presence of transverse portions 19a and 20a would improve durability of the catch of the toy block even further.
In other embodiments the first 19 and/or the second 20 leg portion may comprise one or more further adjacent elements (not shown) to further support and stabilize the leg portions 19, 20.
In the embodiment shown a complete catch of a toy block assembled of two toy block elements 11 would thus comprise two first leg portions 19 and two second leg portions 20. However it is in principle possible in the simplest form to omit (or indeed substitute them for further first leg portions 19) the second leg portions 20, thus letting the catch comprise two leg portions 19 only.
In the embodiment shown the toy block element 11 further comprises a base wall 21. The base wall 21 is shown as merged in a right angle with the circumferential wall 12, but may also in other embodiments be merged in another angle or in a curve with the circumferential wall 12, thus increasing the number of possible shapes of toy block elements according to the invention even further. In a further embodiment it is even possible to omit the base wall 21, thus providing for toy block elements being shaped as for instance a halved circular or elliptical sphere.
In the embodiment shown, and as further illustrated in
Furthermore two fourth leg portions 23 are shown to and may extend from the base wall 21 and into the interior of the toy block element, the fourth leg portions 23 also being situated adjacent said through hole 4. In the embodiment shown the fourth leg portions 23 and the third leg portions 22 are identically shaped. The fourth leg portions 23 are preferably rigid in structure and provide part of a catch of a toy block according to the invention.
On the figures the one recess 5 in the base wall 21 is shown situated in a central position on the base wall 21. However any desired position may in principle be used, and furthermore more than one recess 5 with related hole 4 and catch may be provided in the base wall 21.
In the embodiment shown a complete catch of a base wall 21 of a toy block element 11 would thus comprise two third leg portions 22 and two fourth leg portions 23. However it is in principle possible in the simplest form to omit (or indeed substitute them for further third leg portions 22) the fourth leg portions 23, thus letting the catch comprise two leg portions 22 only.
Considering the embodiment of a connecting element 6 shown in
A toy block element according to the invention may be produced entirely in the same relatively hard and durable plastic material by injection moulding. A preferred such material is ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). To produce a toy block element constructed according to the invention in principle only one mould is needed for each shape of toy block element, and only one moulding step is required to form each element.
A toy block connecting element according to the invention may be produced of the same plastic material as the toy block elements and likewise by injection moulding. Preferably, however, the toy block connecting elements are made of polycarbonate.
As mentioned previously one or more of the catch portion of the connecting element and the first and third leg portions of the catch of the toy block (and in principle, but less preferred, also the second and fourth leg portions of the catch) may be made resilient and flexible. Such flexibility and resilience is preferably achieved by constructing the mould used to provide the elements in question with suitable structural dimensions, for instance by making them sufficiently thin to be resilient. However another but less preferred possibility is to use a more resilient plastic material for moulding the elements resilient and flexible elements. To produce a toy block according to the invention two toy block elements according to the invention are joined by bringing their respective open edges 15 to abut against each other and subsequently seal the open edges 15 to each other by for instance welding, preferably ultrasonic sealing. Alternatively the joining may be accomplished by the use of an adhesive agent, a frictional coupling or by providing each two toy block elements with corresponding locking elements at their respective open edges 15.
When each two toy block elements are provided with corresponding locking elements, an alternative way of coupling connection elements and toy blocks together is to join the toy block elements together around one or more toy block connecting elements by placing the connecting elements in one of the toy block elements as the toy block connecting element 6 is placed in the toy block element 11 in
To aid in the process of bringing the respective open edges to abut correctly along the whole circumference of the circumferential wall 12 a plurality of plate shaped projections 35 may furthermore be provided along the open edge 15 of a toy block element 11. An example of such projections 35 is shown in
Depending on the shape of the toy block elements a wide range of differently shaped toy blocks according to the invention may be achieved. Examples of different shapes of toy blocks are shown in
It should be noted that the above description of preferred embodiments is merely an example, and that the skilled person would know that numerous variations are possible without departing from the scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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PA 2008 00485 | Apr 2008 | DK | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DK2009/050067 | 3/24/2009 | WO | 00 | 10/12/2010 |