Patent Grant
10549210
The overall field of invention is interconnecting building blocks.
This invention relates generally to interconnecting building blocks that are connectible using only integral block features, and more specifically to a system of several types of interconnecting blocks that are adaptable and reconfigurable in order to allow flexible interconnection between multiple blocks.
Interconnecting blocks are well known in the toy industry. Lego and Mega Bloks provide two such examples of toy building blocks having integral features that provide for ready interconnection between blocks. A variety of interconnecting blocks are commercially available, and the majority of such blocks operate on the principal that a first block will have a projecting male feature, a second block will have a female feature, and the male feature of the first block will mate to the female feature of the second block to create a semi-permanent mechanical connection between the two. Generally, the mechanical connection will lock the blocks into relative positions with one another, and the blocks cannot be rearranged or re-oriented with respect to one-another without fully disconnecting the blocks and then reconnecting in the new desired configuration.
The basic form of this type of block generally provides male features on the top surface of a block and female features on the bottom surface of the block. The interconnection between male and female blocks is generally quantized, such that two given blocks are connectible in a finite number of configurations.
This general design concept has significant implications to the types of structures that can be constructed of these blocks. For example, if a regular rectangular vertical wall is built of basic Lego-type bricks, any bricks not at the periphery of the wall are fully locked into place and cannot be moved or removed without some degree of disassembly of the entire wall. Furthermore, a wall constructed in such a manner will not have interconnecting features on any faces other than the top and bottom faces. Therefore, it would not be possible to further interconnect additional blocks to the existing wall in any areas other than the top or bottom.
Specialized interconnecting blocks exist that have multiple faces with male or female interconnection features, but they are not the norm. Typically, significant planning is required to construct a desired structure out of interconnecting toy blocks because of the limited ways in which they can be connected and because of the difficulty of modifying a structure on an ad hoc basis.
In general, interconnecting building blocks are not reconfigurable, and a given block can only be connected to other blocks in the manners permitted by the existing permanent interconnection feature arrangement. If a given block is not suitable for a given situation or use, then a different, suitable block must be procured.
A need exists for an interconnecting block and interconnecting block system that will allow users to connect blocks in a much more flexible and unconstrained manner.
The disclosure presented herein relates to a universally interconnecting building block and related system. In some embodiments, the preceding and following embodiments and descriptions are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other aspects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description.
Certain terminology and derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left,” and “right” would refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as “inward” and “outward” would refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. References in the singular tense include the plural, and vice versa, unless otherwise noted.
Existing interconnecting building blocks are generally solid and generally rigid bodies. Each individual building block is manufactured with a given set of interconnection features, and a user is limited to connecting the blocks in manners that the manufactured designs permit. Additionally, the design of the interconnection features generally do not permit slidable mechanical connection between the blocks. If a user desires to modify the connection between the blocks, a user is generally required to disconnect the blocks, then reconnect in the new, desired connection.
The inventor of the present invention aimed to solve the problem of limited modes of interconnection between blocks. To solve this problem, the inventor created a building block that is reconfigurable to connect to a neighboring block by any two adjacent faces. To achieve this, the inventor created a system that allows a user to construct and reconfigure each individual face to provide either male or female connecting features, as well as configurable slidable connection between male and female parts. Said slidable connection allows two mating faces to be shifted or offset from one another in continuously varying amounts of offset.
The universal blocks are comprised of just three fundamental parts: 1) a slide block, 2) a slide face, and 3) flat connectors. These three parts allow users to construct infinitely configurable and infinitely interconnecting cubic blocks.
A basic cubic block is formed by combining six square faces, each face formed by a slide block and a slide face. The basic cubic block is referred to by the inventor as a “Byte.”
The system of universal blocks is further comprised of an additional family of blocks, “Bits”, which are half the size of a Byte in linear dimensions, and therefore one eighth of the volume of a Byte. Bits are flexibly interconnectable with both other Bits as well as Bytes. Bits, too, are reconfigurable, but because of Bits' smaller size, reconfiguration is limited to certain faces. Bits' smaller size further expand the flexibility of the system and provide users additional options easily construct large assemblies.
The Bit family of blocks is fundamentally cubic, while variations on the cubes provide differing combinations and orientations of male and female faces to accommodate interconnection as needed.
Finally, interconnection is highly flexible between the blocks, in that blocks may be aligned in multiple quantized positions in certain directions and slidably interconnected in other positions, which provides much higher degrees of flexibility in assembly design and construction.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.
The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, among others, are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components.
Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range having an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example, “at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term “at most” followed by a number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variable being defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “at most 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. When, in this specification, a range is given as “(a first number) to (a second number)” or “(a first number)−(a second number),” this means a range whose limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 mm means a range whose lower limit is 25 mm and upper limit is 100 mm.
Slide blocks incorporate a variety of interconnection features. The outer face incorporates a plurality of channels 108 that run parallel to the edges 104. These channels 108 function as a female interconnection feature for mating the block to the male features of slide faces or Bits. These channels can be further categorized as being either “horizontal” 120 or “vertical” 122.
The edges of the slide block each incorporate a pair of edge interconnection features 114, comprising of a male interconnection tab feature 110, and a female interconnection tab feature 112. A pair of edge interconnection features 114 on an edge 104 can be mated to an edge interconnection feature pair 114 on another slide block. The edges 104 of the slide blocks incorporate a miter feature 118. When a slide block is interconnected directly with one another using the edge interconnection features 114, the miter feature 118 and the orientation of the tabs cause the slide blocks to mate at a right angle.
The large center hole 106 incorporates a female slide face connection feature 116 on each edge of the hole 106. The female slide face connection features 116 accept a male slide face connection feature.
Each of the mating features are adapted to form semi-permanent connections between mated parts, such that parts may be assembled or mated together by hand, have some degree of mechanical strength once mated, and may be disassembled readily by hand. The strength of the mechanical attachment between parts is dependent on the precise shape and tolerances of the mated pairs, and mechanical strength may be modified accordingly.
In the shown embodiment, the slide block has two channels 108 running in each direction. In alternative embodiments, a slide block may have three or more channels running in each direction in order to allow a greater number of quantized offset configurations.
Slide face edges each have two pairs of interconnection features. A pair of male edge connectors 212 mate to the female feature 116 on the slide block hole 106. An additional pair of male edge stabilizing connectors 214 serve to align the slide face to be coplanar with the slide block. The stabilizing connectors 214 will mate with the female features 116 on the slide block, but their length is reduced such that the slide face can be flipped along the axis formed by male edge connectors 212 while installed within hole 106, and the stabilizing connectors 214 will merely serve to index the slide face into a position parallel to the slide block. The male edge connectors 212 are generally cylindrical, though a modified cylinder profile with flats 216 can reduce the force required to install a slide face in a slide block during assembly. The male edge connectors 212 may be connected to either pair of female features 116 on a given slide block, such that a slide block can be rotated within the plane of the slide block by 90 degrees in the hole 106. This permitted rotation provides that a slide face may be installed in a slide block in three general configurations: 1) with male features 208 oriented outward and parallel to horizontal channels 120, 2) with male features 208 oriented outward and parallel to vertical channels 122, and 3) with female features 210 oriented outward.
In the shown embodiment, the slide face has two male connection features 208 and four female interconnection features 210. In alternative embodiments, a slide block may have three or more connection features running in each direction in order to allow a greater number of quantized offset configurations.
While preferred and alternate embodiments have been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of these preferred and alternate embodiments. Instead, the scope of the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims. Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawings disclose any additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the claims below, the inventions are not dedicated to the public and Applicant hereby reserves the right to file one or more applications to claim such additional inventions.
The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.
All the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35. U.S.C. § 112 ¶6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of U.S.C. § 112 ¶6.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/613,724 filed Jan. 4, 2018. The content of the above application is incorporated by reference in its entirety. This disclosure, including written description and associated figures are identical in content to the referenced application.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4305221 | Chatani | Dec 1981 | A |
| 5000713 | Cheng | Mar 1991 | A |
| 6648714 | Kuo | Nov 2003 | B1 |
| 7517270 | Marzetta | Apr 2009 | B2 |
| 8366507 | Chen | Feb 2013 | B2 |
| 8850683 | Haughey | Oct 2014 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190201805 A1 | Jul 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62613724 | Jan 2018 | US |
