US3545122A

US3545122A - Cube and parallelepiped half blocks forming modular elements connectable in various ways

Info

Publication number: US3545122A
Application number: US608529A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard A Onanian
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-01-11
Filing date: 1967-01-11
Publication date: 1970-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 1987-12-08

Description

R. A. ONANIAN Dec. 8,1970

CUBE AND PARALLELIPIPED HALF BLOCKS FORMING MODULAR ELEMENTS CONNECTABLE IN VARIOUS WAYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1967 FIG 6.

:10 O O O'OI:

- ILIIQIIQIIQH INVENTOR. RICHARD A. OMAN/AN ATTORNEY Dec. 8,1970 I R. A. ONANIAN 3,5

CUBE AND PARALLELIPIPED HALF BLOCKS FORMING MODULAR ELEMENTS CONNECTABLE IN VARIOUS WAYS 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Jan. 11, 1967 INVENTOR. RICHARD A. OVA/WAN ATTORNEY United States Patent CUBE AND PARALLELEPIPED HALF BLOCKS FORMING MODULAR ELEMENTS CON- NECTABLE IN VARIOUS WAYS Richard A. Onanian, 105 Wildwood Ave., Arlington, Mass. 02174 Filed Jan. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 608,529 Int. Cl. A63h 33/08 US. CI. 46-25 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A construction toy set including whole blocks which are cubic shaped, rectangular parallelepiped shaped and right prism shaped which couple together. Each whole block is made by joining two half blocks which have pins and holes that fit together and are arranged so that different kinds of half blocks can be joined together to provide additional variety of block shape and form.

The present invention 'relates to construction toy sets and more particularly to a construction toy set comprised of a plurality of blocks of different shape which connect together and which may be used as toys or in the construction of models.

Toy construction sets known in prior art include a variety of blocks of different shape and size which are equipped to be connected together to form a structure. I have described such a construction set in my US. Pat. No. 2,885,822, May 12, 1959, US. Pat. No. 3,195,266, July 20, 1965, and US. Pat. No. 3,205,611, Sept. 14, 1965. These patents describe cubic, rectangular parallelepiped and right prism shaped whole blocks which are uniquely designed so that they can be joined together to construct devices for use, demonstration or amusement. In US. Pat. No. 3,195,266 for example, I have described a variety of such blocks and various equipments and devices for joining the blocks together. Generally, the blocks described in these patents include outside surfaces having recessed and raised faces and bores in the recessed faces to accommodate coupling pins which connect blocks together bringing the raised face of one block contiguous with the raised face of the block connected to it. The raised faces on each block are so disposed and shaped that blocks, can be joined together even without the coupling pin by virtue of an interlock between the raised portions of one block and the raised portions of the other block. The raised portions on the blocks are also spaced to accommodate and receive a tool inserted along the recessed face of the block between raised faces for removing coupling pins so as to disconnect two blocks which are joined by coupling pins.

The present invention contemplates an improved toy construction set of the type described in the above mentioned patents and includes substantially the same type and shape of whole blocks described in those patents. In the present invention, each block is formed of two half blocks which are joined together at faces equipped with coupling means in the form of small pins and holes which match so that when joined together the two half blocks form a whole block. The pins and holes are so arranged that a plurality of different kinds of half blocks can be joined together to construct devices and models of greater variety than possible heretofore. Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a construction set of the type described in the above mentioned US. patents which affords a greater variety of connections between blocks and affords a greater variety of combination block forms and sizes than heretofore possible.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a construction set with which to construct models. or toys which closely resemble actual construction.

It is another object to provide such a construction set which can be scaled to any desirable ratio and has a high degree of rigidity and sufficient strength to Withstand dynamic use.

It is another object to provide such a construction set which can be readily assembled or disassembled with the fingers or with the aid of a very simple tool and which can be assembled or disassembled many times without any substantial deterioration of the parts.

It is another object to provide such a construction set wherein all parts share uniform modular dimensions so that unit modularity is maintained when the parts are assembled.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specific description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in which.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are side and plan views of a cubic half block;

FIG. 3 shows an assembly of a number of cubic half blocks;

FIG. 4 illustrates a typical pin and hole connection by which half blocks are joined together at equipped faces;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are plan, side and front views of a rectangular parallelepiped half block showing various features and showing one arrangement of pins and holes by which half blocks are connected at equipped faces;

FIG. 8 is a similar plan view of a rectangular parallelepiped half block showing another (symmetrical) arrangement of pins and holes in the half 'block by which half blocks are joined together;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are side and front views illustrating three rectangular parallelepiped half blocks joined together, two by way of the pins and holes and the third by way of interlocking raised surface projections;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are side and front views of two rectangular parallelepiped half blocks joined together at equipped faces in transverse relationsihp;

FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 are plan, front and side views of a triangular right prism half block;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are front and plan views of a triangular right prism whole block;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are plan and front views of a right pentagonal prism half block;

FIG. 20 is an isometric view of a pentagonal right prism whole block;

FIGS. 21 and 22 are plan and front views of a hexagonal half block showing a rectangular parallelepiped half block connected thereto; and

FIGS. 23 and 24 are front and plan views of a cubic half block equipped with a modular unit projection which accommodates an axle or a coupling pin.

Referring now to the drawings, a detailed description will be given to explain in further detail the features and advantages of various embodiments of the invention. The numerous FIGS. 1 to 24 show various types of half blocks and whole blocks and the various ways the blocks can be joined together. These figures illustrate the principal ways for joining the blocks and some of the many combinations possible. Other combinations will become apparent as the details are revealed. The blocks described herein are preferably made of a resiliently displaceable material so that they can be joined together with forces administered by the fingers and when joined together will grip one another firmly. Thus, elaborate structures of substantial rigidity can be constructed. Various plastics presently available are suitably resilient and displaceable and can be obtained in various colors. The half blocks can be formed completely of such plastic by a single injection molding step and then used for construction as half blocks in the various ways described herein. Or the half blocks of like kind can be cemented together and used only as whole blocks as described in the above mentioned US. patents.

The great variety of different ways the blocks can be joined together arises from the uniformity of dimensioning of the blocks. In addition, the uniformity of dimensioning provides unitary modularity so that assemblies of half and whole blocks measure integral multiples of a modular unit and can be joined in a variety of ways. More particularly, the dimension-s of all edges on both raised and recessed surfaces, the dimensions of holes, the separation between the raised and recessed surfaces and the spacing of pins and holes on equipped faces of the half blocks are all multiples of a fundamental dimension unit. This fundamental dimension unit will be referred to herein as X and a modular unit will be referred to herein as 8X.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate side and plan views of a cubic half block which has four flat mutually orthogonal recessed half faces 1, 2, 3 and 4 and one orthogonal recessed whole face denoted 5. These faces 1 to 5 define the recessed faces of the block. The raised faces of the block are formed by projections 6 to 9 at each corner of the whole recessed face 5. The projections 6 to 9 cover each corner where the whole and half recessed faces join so that a typical projection such as 7 provides three orthogonal square raised surfaces, one parallel with half surface 1, one parallel with half surface 2 and one parallel with whole surface 5.

The remaining face of the half block shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and denoted 11 is equipped with holes and pins arranged at the corners of a square and projecting transverse to the surface 11. This face or surface of the half block is referred to herein as the equipped face or surface, because it is equipped with the holes and pins which are located in registry with holes and pins in another half block of identical shape and size so that the holes and pins of one half block can be inserted in the holes and pins of another to join the half blocks together forming a whole block. For this purpose, the

pins

12 and 13 and the

holes

14 and 15 are included in. the surface 11 of the half block in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 4 shows a pin of one block inserted in a hole of another. The pins may be slightly enlarged at the end and the holes tapered wider toward the bottom to resist separation of the blocks once they are joined by the pins and holes.

The preferred dimensions of various parts of the half blocks in FIGS. 1 and 2 in terms of the unit X are shown. The more important of these dimensions it should be noted are the following:

the raised surfaces are squares dimensioned 2X on edge;

the whole surface 5 is a square dimension 6X on edge;

the half surfaces are rectangles dimensioned 3X on one edge and 6X on the other;

the inside dimension between projections is 4X;

the outside dimension from projection to projection is 8X which is the modular unit.

In addition to the above features, each of the half faces 1 to 4 and the whole face 5 of the cubic half block shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is equipped with a bore which connects to a central cavity 16 in the center of the half block. In the case of whole surface 5, this bore .17 is circular of radius about X. The half surfaces 1 to 4 have bores 18 to 21, respectively, which are circles of radius about X so that when two half blocks are joined together the half surfaces form whole surfaces with surfaces of the adjoining block and also provide circular bores in the whole surfaces thus formed. These bores in the middle of each of the whole surfaces of the whole cubic block accommodate coupling pins such as shown in FIG. 23 and shown also in the above mentioned US. Pat. 3,195,266, whereby whole blocks are joined together.

The raised surfaces formed by the projections 6 to 9 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are dimensioned n t rms of the unit X so that half blocks and whole blocks can be joined together at these surfaces by interlocking projections, without the use of the coupling pins and without the use of the holes and pins in the equipped face 11. This feature is demonstrated in FIGS. '3, 9 and 10.

It is apparent how two half cubic blocks such as the one shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are joined together to form a whole cubic block. The half blocks can also be joined by pins and holes in a staggered relationship as shown in FIG. 3. This permits a number of half cubic blocks to be joined at their equipped faces to form a larger construction piece. For example, cubic half blocks 22 to 25 can be joined as shown to form a rigid construction assembly and unit modularity is maintained so that this staggered assembly can be coupled with other half or whole blocks at the equipped faces or by using coupling pins or interlocking projections. Another half cubic block 26 is shown interlocked with half blocks 22 and 24 by virtue of the snug fit of the projections 22' and 24' of the half blocks 22 and 24 between the projections 26' and 26" of the half block 26. This type of interlock connection is also shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are plan, side and front views of a rectangular parallelepiped half block which is more or less a continuation of the modular construction of the cubic half block. The rectangular parallelepiped block is preferably of a length which is an integral multiple of the modular unit dimension 8X sothat cubic blocks can be connected side by side along any edge of the rectangular block. The rectangular parallelepiped half block shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is three modular units long, however, it should be clearly understood that it may be two units long, four units long or any integral number of modular units in length. The rectangular whole block is preferably one modular unit square in cross section taken transverse to the length and so from the end it looks like a cubic block.

The rectangular half block shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 includes projections 31 to 34 at the outside corners and additional projections 35 to 38 along the long edges between the outside corners. These additional projections each provide two rectangular raised surfaces which measure 2X by 4X, whereas the corner projections 31 to 34 are dimensioned exactly as the corner projections on the cubic half block. The recessed faces of the rectangular half block are each equipped with circular or half circular bores just as the recessed faces in the cubic block, so that when two rectangular half blocks are joined together at their equipped faces with pins and holes in registry to form a whole rectangular block, there are provided in each of the long recessed faces of the rectangular whole block five circular bores such as 40 to 44 each of radius about X and which connect with the internal cavity 45. In addition, the end recessed surfaces of the rectangular whole block each has a circular bore at the center of the same radius. Thus, unit modularity is maintained between the whole cubic and rectangular blocks.

The arrangement of pins and holes in the equipped face 46 of the rectangular half block shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is identical to the arrangement in the cubic half block shown in FIG. 2 with regard to each set of two pins and two holes along the length of the rectangular block. That is to say, the

pins

47 and 48 and holes 49 and 50 define a square of the same dimension as the square defined by the pins and holes in the cubic half block. Also, the

pins

51 and 52 and holes 53 and 54 define a square of the same dimension as the square defined by the pins and holes in the cubic half bolck and so forth. However, the

pins

47 and 52 with holes 50 and 53 do not define such a square and to this extent complete modularity is not maintained by the rectangular half block shown in these figures. Such complete modularity is maintained when the holes and pins in the equipped face of the rectangular half block are arranged as illustrated in FIG. 8.

The rectangular half block in FIG. 8 includes half circle bores 55 of radius somewhat less than X to permit a smaller central cavity 56 in the half block and allow a greater surface area for the equipped surface 57 which contains the pins 58 and holes 59. When this greater equipped surface area is provided, there is more room for spacing the pins and holes and they can be spaced to maintain complete modularity so that the distance between each adjacent pin and hole is uniform (for example 4X) throughout. It should be noted that the radius of the circular bores need not be a modular dimension because the size of these openings relates only to the size of the coupling pins which may be set arbitrarily. The spacing of the centers of these openings is 4X and is critical to the maintenance of modularity particularly with regard to modular connection employing the coupling pins.

FIGS. 9 and are side and front views showing two rectangular parallelepiped half blocks 61 and 62 connected in staggered relationship with a third rectangular half block 63 connected transverse to block 62 and secured there by virtue of interlocking projections 64 (along the length of block 62) and 65 and 66 (along the length of block 63). Thus, FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a technique for joining rectangular half blocks at their equipped faces in staggered relationship and for joining rectangular blocks in transverse relationship by interlocking projections.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are front and side views illustrating how two rectangular half blocks 67 and 68 are joined at their equipped surfaces in transverse relationship. Clearly, if the spacing of holes and pins in the rectangular half block are as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, then the two rectangular half blocks 67 and 68 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 can be joined transversely by crossing one of the blocks at only three different positions. If, however, the arrangement of holes and pins in the rectangular half block is as described above with reference to FIG. 8, then crossing can be at any of five different positions along one of the rectangular half blocks. Thus, the completely symmetrical arrangement of pins and holes shown in FIG. 8 is of some advantage to add greater versatility in the manner with which the rectangular half blocks can be connected at their equipped faces in transverse relationship.

FIGS. 13 to illustrate a triangular right prism half block, the triangle in this case being a 45 degree isosceles triangle. FIGS. 16 and 17 show the triangle right prism whole block formed by two of the half blocks. Modularity in dimension is maintained with respect to the faces of the triangular right prism half block so that cubic or rectangular half or whole blocks can be connected by way of the pins and holes on the equipped faces or by way of the coupling pins or interlocking projections to any of the faces of the triangular right prism half block.

The triangular right prism half block includes three recessed half faces 71 to 73 which intersect the plane of face 74 to define a 45 degree isosceles right triangle. Surfaces 71 and 73 are perpendicular and the plane of surface 72 intersects the planes of each of these at a 45 angle. Each of the surface 71 and 73 are dimensioned 7X by 3X, surface 72 is 8X by 3X and the surface 74 is actually five sided, having three sides each of modular unit dimension 8X.

A projection 75 extends from the corner formed by the intersection of

surfaces

71, 73 and 74. This projection defines three raised square surfaces each dimensioned 2X on edge. Other projections 76 to 79 do not project from corners, but from edges formed at the intersection between surface 74 and the other surfaces and each of these projections define two raised square surfaces, each also dimensioned 2X on edge. Thus, each of the recessed surfaces 71, 72 and 73 with associated projections provide a modular match with recessed and raised surfaces of the cubic half block or the rectangular half block described above. The recessed surfaces 71 to 73 also. include a half circle bore connecting to a central cavity 81 and these bores 82 to 84, combine with others when two triangular half blocks 85 and 86 are joined at their equipped faces to form a triangular whole block to provide the circular bore such as 82 shown in FIG. 16 which accommodates coupling pins.

The arrangement of pins and holes in the equipped face 87 of the triangular half block shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 is such that a cubic or rectangular half block can be connected by way of pins and holes to the triangular half block and extend from any of the faces 71 to 73 of the triangular half block. For this purpose, the pins 88 and 89 and the holes 90 to 92 are provided. For example, the dimension 4X is maintained between pin 88 and hole 90, between pin 89 and hole 91 and between pin 88 and hole 92 so that the cubic or rectangular half block with pins and holes spaced as in FIG. 8 can be connected as mentioned.

The triangular face 74 of the assembled triangular whole block, as shown in FIG. 17, may be equipped with a bore 94 which connects with the central cavity 81 and accommodates a coupling pin so that this face of the triangular block can be connected to another block.

FIGS. 18 and 19 are plan and front views of a pentagonal right prism half block. The pentagonal right prism whole block is shown in isometric view in FIG. 20 and offers five modular unit faces which match the modular unit faces on the cubic, the rectangular or the triangular whole block. The two pentagonal half blocks 101 and 102 which form the pentagonal whole block shown in FIG. 20 are each identical and constructed as illustrated in FIGS. 18 and 19.

The five sides 103 to 107 of the pentagonal half block each offer a recessed face, such as face 108, which measure 3X by 6X. Projections 109 to 113 extend from the corners defined by these faces and the pentagonal face 114 of the half block. These projections define the square surfaces which measure 2X on edge. Thus, the pentagonal half blocks when joined form a pentagonal whole block which offers five modular unit faces each of which accommodates joining to other blocks by coupling pins or by interlocking projections.

The bores such as 115 in each of the faces of the pentagonal whole block are provided by the half bores such as 115 in each of the half faces which combine with the adjoining pentagonal half block to form the bores con necting to the internal cavity 118 within the half blocks. The pentagonal faces such as 114 are also equipped with a bore 119 connected with the internal cavity so that they also accommodate coupling pins, and so these pentagonal faces of the pentagonal block can connect with other blocks.

Pairs of pins and holes such as pin 121 and hole 122 in the equipped face 123 of the pentagonal half block are spaced so that other half blocks suchas square or rectangular half blocks can connect by way of the pins and holes to the pentagonal half block.

Turning next to FIGS. 21 and 22 there is shown plan and front views of a hexagonal right prism half block which offers six half faces 131 to 136. Each of these forms a half modular unit and when two such hexagonal half blocks are joined together at their equipped faces with all pins and holes connected, the resulting hexagonal whole block offers six modular unit faces which match the cubic, rectangular, triangular or pentagonal whole block faces and accommodate coupling the hexagonal block to the other blocks by way of interlocking projections or with coupling pins. The bores in the hexagonal block to accommodate the coupling pins are formed by half bores such as 137 in each of the faces and a multitude 138 of such bores, for example seven in number, may be included in the hexagonal face 139 of the half block.

The equipped face 140 of the hexagonal half block carries pairs of holes and pins, one pair for each face. A typical pair is pin 141 and hole 142 which are spaced so that a rectangular half block such as 143 (shown in phantom lines) can be connected by Way of pins and holes and extends from one of the faces of the hexagonal half block as shown. Quite clearly other half blocks which may be cubic, pentagonal, triangular, etc., can be coupled in this manner by way of the pins and holes.

The hexagonal half block shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 when joined with another hexagonal half block to form a hexagonal whole block offers six modular unit size faces and, as already mentioned, the modular unit size is square and 8X on edge. It is generally preferred to maintain an integral number of modular units (8X) in the overall dimensions of all blocks where practicable. The half block shown in FIG. 21 does not measure an integral number of modular units across opposite faces; it measures between one and two modular units (between 8X and 16X). The integral modular size can be maintained by making the dimension D=16X in which case each of the faces 131 to 136 will be slightly larger than modular size in their outside dimensions. However, the critical dimension of 4X between the projections (such as 144 and 149 on each face 131 to 136 can be maintained. Thus, a choice must be made whether modular unit size is to be maintained for each of the faces of the hexagonal whole blocks or across the hexagonal whole block from one of the heX- agonal faces to the opposite hexagonal face.

FIGS 23 and 24 are front and plan views of a cubic half block 151 with a modular size extension 152 extending from one of the half faces thereof and which accommodates additional coupling means including a pin or axle 153. The pin or axle 153 is connected through a bore 154 and expand into a cavity 155 just as the coupling pins in the blocks described in the above mentioned US. Patent 3,195,266. The extension 152 is modular in dimension insofar as it is 8X wide and 8X long as shown in the figure and it is half a modular unit in height (4X) just as the half cubic block 151. The projection 152 may be used as a stationary bearing for carrying a rotating axle such as 153, the axle diameter being of the same size as the bore in the projection.

This completes description of a number of embodiments of the present invention which provide a variety of construction blocks each formed by a pair of half blocks so joined that the half blocks can be connected in modular fashion employing three different independent types of connections which are compatible insofar as they do not conflict and all maintain modularity in connection. By these structures the various objects of the invention are achieved and while the embodiments described herein are given in considerable detail and are the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be employed without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimedis:

1. In a construction set,

a plurality of cube and rectangular parallelepiped half blocks each having one face equipped with coupling means including a plurality of pins and holes, said cube half block pins and holes being located at corners of equal squares with pins at diagonally opposite corners and holes at diagonally opposite corners of each square so that two identical cube half blocks fasten together with said equipped faces contiguous and all pins of each cube half block fitting into holes of the other cube half block to form a cube whole block, so that two identical rectangular parallelepiped half blocks fasten together with equipped faces contiguous and all pins of each fitting into holes in the other to form a whole rectangular parallelepiped block,

each of said cube and rectangular parallelepiped whole blocks having a plurality of faces of integral modular size and form relative to the face of one of said cube blocks as the modular unit,

the arrangement of pins and holes in said cube half blocks and in said rectangular parallelepiped half blocks being such that more than one of said cube half blocks can be simultaneously fastened to a rectangular parallelepiped half block at their equipped faces to engage all the pins and holes on the equipped face of the rectangular parallelepiped half block and so that two rectangular parallelepiped half blocks can be fastened together at their equipped faces crossing each other. 2. A construction set as in claim 1 and further including other regular right prism shaped whole blocks, each formed of two identical half blocks attached at faces equipped with pins and holes, the arrangement of pins and holes in each of said other regular right prism half blocks being such that said cube half blocks can be fastened to a regular right prism half block at their equipped faces to engage the pins and holes on the equipped face of the regular right prism half block.

3. A construction set as in claim 2 and in which, said pins and holes on all half blocks are the same size and so spaced that two or more of said half blocks of mixed kinds can be fastened together at said equipped faces.

4. A construction set as in claim 1 and in which, said pins and holes on identical half blocks are the same size and so spaced that said identical half blocks can be fastened together with less than all of said equipped faces contiguous.

5. A construction set as in claim 4 and in which, said contiguous equipped faces can be fastened together with their longest dimensions perpendicular.

6. A construction set as in claim 4 and in which, said equipped faces can be fastened together in staggered positions.

7. In a construction set a plurality of cube and rectangular parallelepiped half blocks each having one face equipped with coupling means including a plurality of pins and holes, said cube half block pins and holes being so arranged that two identical cube half blocks fasten together with said equipped faces contiguous and all pins of each cube half block fitting into holes of the other cube half block to form a cube whole block and so that two identical rectangular parallelepiped half blocks fasten together with equipped faces contiguous and all pins of each fitting into holes in the other to form a whole rectangular parallelepiped block,

the arrangement of pins and holes in said cube half blocks and in said rectangular parallelepiped half blocks being such that more than one of said cube half blocks can be simultaneously fastened to a rectangular parallelepiped half block at their equipped faces to engage all the pins and hole on the equipped face of the rectangular parallelepiped half block and in which,

said faces of integral modular size are each formed by first and second outwardly facing surfaces,

the second surface being defined by portions of each block that are spaced apart by and that extend outwardly from said first surface so that said second surfaces are spaced outwardly from said first to accommodate additional coupling means, one of said additional coupling means detachably interconnect ing at least two of said blocks and extending between and bearing against said first surface of one of said two,

each of said first surfaces extending out to at least one edge of its associated block between said outwardly extending portions of said associated block,

the additional means having flange means recessed adjacent the first surface of at least one of said two blocks to receive a tool inserted along said one first surface between said outwardly extending portions of said last mentioned block and the additional coupling means having pins extending 10 from the flange means and removably held in bores in faces of unit modular size are square having edge dithe two blocks. mensions twice said dimension between said projections. 8. A construction set as in claim 7 and in which, said second surfaces defined by said spaced apart por- References Cited tions form projections including projections from 5 UNITED STATES N S the corners of each of said modular sized faces, the dimensions of said projections being such that modular faces of different blocks can fasten together by interlocking the projections of one with the projec- FOREIGN PATENTS tions of other. 10 229,861 8/1960 Australia 46-25 9. A construction set as in clalm 8 and 1n WhlCh, said 923,907 4/1963, Great Britain second surfaces defined by said corner projections are 941,040 11/1963 Great Britain square having edge dimensions one half the dimensions between adjacent ones of all said projections.

10. A construction set as in claim 9 and in which, said 15 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner