AU7075481A - Structural element - Google Patents

Description

Structural element

This invention relates to. a structural element with fastening means for assembling several such structural elements to different building structures. The structural elements according to this invention are primarily intended for children and to be used for pedagogical purposes, and they preferably may be included in a set of several such elements having varying geometric configuration, design, size, colour etc.

Structural elements with fastening means for detachably assembling several elements to different structures are known previously and are available in a great variety of different shapes. None of the known structural elements intended for use by children, however, offers the possibility of building on such a scale that one or more children can make use of the result of their playingly building as to be able to fireside or stay therein". This is a serious shortcoming, especially in view of the inherent desire of children to build by themselves a hut or the like.

The present invention, therefore, has the object to eliminate this shortcoming and to produce structural elements, which render such structures possible and thereby to satisfy at least some of the demands by children to play as well as to build creatively, which structural elements in a broader perspective should be of such nature, that the practical application of the elements and, thus, the basic idea, on which the elements . are based, can be utilized pedagogically in order to make use of and stimulate the creative thinking of children, to facilitate the learning of geometric configurations, such as for example rectangle,triangle, circle, square, parallel trapezoid etc., of colours and even of relative definitions as, for example, greater or smaller than", "equally large/small" etc., and in order to teach children to train their threedimensional thinking and their fine motoric. The structural elements, further, should permit their design of a relatively small as well as greater size and allow their assembly being carried out not only by a group of children, but also by one child alone.

This object is achieved in that each structural element according to the invention has been given the characterizing features defined in the attached claims, and according to the basic principles of the invention the present structural element is characterized in that it is a relatively rigid plate of a geometric configuration and of a material with a relatively low specific weight, which plate constitutes the body of the structural element and is provided at its periphery with carrying members hinged relative to the plate, at which members the fastening means of the element for assembling several elements detachably to each other are provided. The number of fastening means and the distance between the same preferably adapted to the geometric form of the elements and, thus, can vary from one element to the other.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the carrying members supporting the fastening means can be designed as flaps of a flexible material projecting from the plate, which flaps may be separate parts attached to the plate or be formed integral with a casing of a synthetic material, for example PVC-foil, polyethylene foil or the like, or of a non-synthetic material, for example fabric preferably impregnated and treated to be flame-proof, which casing tightly encloses the plate. By enclosing the body in a casing of weather-proof material, as for example PVC-foil, the structural element also can be used outdoors, even in such cases when the body proper is made of, for example, cardboard or corrugated cardboard, which owing to its low weight is a material proper per se for the body of the structural element. The same applies also to many plastic materials, for example Frigolite or foamed plastic. The structural element according to the present invention, although intended primarily for children and for use not only at home but also in schools for different education stages, nursery-schools, day and family nurseries, leisure-time homes etc. , is not restricted to just such utilization, but also can be used as screening element as well as for packing and other purposes not stated here in detail.

The present invention is described in gerater detail in the following, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig, 1 is a horizontal view of three structural elements according to the invention assembled to each other, Fig. 2 is a view along the line XI-II in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows on an enlarged scale an example of a structural element according to the invention by way of a perspective view and partially cut through,

Figs. 4 to 7 are sections of different embodiments of fastening means included in the structural elements for detachably assembling several elements to each other and simultaneously illustrates different possibilities of such assembling, Figs. 8 and 9 are a view from above and, respectively, a section along the line IX-IX in Fig. 8 of alternative embodiments of the fastening means and carrying members of the elements.

In Fig. 1 the reference numerals 1,2 and 3 designate three structural elements according to the invention assembled to each other. Each element has a number of fastening points 4. The elements 1 and 3 have square,and the elements 2 have triangular shape. According to the principles, on which the present invention is based, however, the elements may be given any other geometric configuration and should exist in all imaginable geometric forms and with respect to size and dimension be based on a basic unit, so that the elements fit each other and can be combined with each other irrespective of size. Examples thereof are shown also in Figs. 1 and 2, where the sides of the triangular element 2 as well as of the smaller square element 3 are shown to be of equal length, but only half as long as the sides of the square element designated by 1. More precisely, the distance between adjacent fastening points 4 of a structural element shall be a multiple of the aforesaid basic or base unit. The elements, thus, can vary in size, for example between 0,01 m ² and several m². Each structural element comprises a body 5 having the form of a plane or curved plate of relatively rigid material with a relatively low specific weight. As examples of such material can be mentioned cardboard, corrugated cardboard, cellular plastic, foamed plastic, other suitable plastic, Frigolite, veneer, particle and fibre board, plywood etc., but of these materials, for example, the corrugated cardboard and the light plastic materials are to be preferred due to their low weight in combination with relatively high rigidity.

Each structural element comprises, in addition to the body 5, at its periphery carrying members 6 for the fastening points 4 Said carrying members consist of a relatively soft, flexible material, which may be formed as separate flaps 7 (see element 3) or as flanges 8 extending about the body 5 of the respective element. Said flaps or flanges, as shown in Fig. 5, may be formed separately and attached directly to the body 5 , or they may constitute a portion of a casing 3 enclosing the body, which casing may be of an anorganic material, for example PVC-foil, polyethylene foil or the like, or of an organic material, for example fabric treated in a suitable manner. The casing 9 fits tightly about the body 5 and may be said to consist of one or two parts, which are jointed at the edges of the body to form said flaps or flanges projecting from the body. Said jointing can be effected by welding, in the case of the plastic material, and by sewing, in the case of the fabric material.

The casing can be applied about the body, but it also is possible within the scope of the principles, on which the invention is based,to mould the body in the casing 9 when the body consists, for example, of foamed plastic or another, so to speak, mouldable plastic material.

In Fig. 3 is shown by way of example a structural element, the body of which consists of two cardboard slabs 10,11 and of a casing 9 tightly enclosing said slabs and having flanges 8 extensing about the same. Said flanges carry fastening means 14 of the kind shown in greater detail in Fig. 7. The grooves 13 of the corrugated cardboard slabs 10,11 are offset through 90 relative to each other, so that the grooves of one slab extend perpendicularly in relation to the grooves of the other slab, whereby increased rigidity is obtained.

In the flaps 7 or flanges 8 of each structural element the fastening points 4 of the respective structural element are located, which points, thus, are supported hingedly in relation to the body 5 of the structural element. Each fastening point includes a fastening means, which should be double-acting, i.e. it can be connected to a similar fastening means and simultaneously be connected to another similar fastening means.

Some examples of such fastening means are shown in Figs. 4-7. In Fig. 4 the fastening means have the form of elastic or resilient sleeves 15, each provided with an external locking groove 16 and an internal locking collar 17, which is capable upon the pressing together of two sleeves 15 to snap into the external locking groove 16 of the other sleeve for detachably connecting the sleeves with each other. It is apparent from this, that each sleeve can be connected to two sleeves,and thereby it is possible to assemble more than two elements to each other in each connecting or junction point. In Fig. 4 two structural elements are shown assembled in parallel with each other. Owing to the fact that the flaps carrying the fastening means are hinged and flexible, several elements can be connected in one and the same junction point.

In Fig. 5 fastening means are shown in the form of conic sleeves 18, which fit into one another and are locked relative to each other by friction. Such frictional locking also exists at the fastening means shown in Fig. 5, which have the form of stepped cylindric sleeves 19. In order to strengthen the locking of the sleeves 19 relative to each other, a piece 20 of a round bar/hose or the like can be pressed in through the sleeves 19, and by using such a compressible connecting piece 20 the fastening means may also be round rings having an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the connecting piece. In Fig. 7 fastening means, in the form of bars 21 with H-shape cross-section are shown. Each of the four strips 22 of the bars have such a cross-sectional shape that they fit into grooves 23 between two such flanges and are locked by snapping action in such a groove 23. The fastening bars may have the extension shown in Fig. 3 and/or have a relatively short length and be arranged as the fastening points 4 with their mutual distance constituting a multiple of the base unit.

The fastening means shown and described may consist of any suitable material, for example plastic, rubber, metal or a combination of these materials.

The invention is not restricted to what is described above an to the fastening means shown in Figs. 4-7, but comprises also other types of intermittent and enclosing fastening means , which can be connected to. the flaps 7 or flanges 8. As examples of such means can be mentioned double-adhesive tape, teazle tape etc.

In Figs . 8 and 9 an embodiment is shown by fully drawn lines, where both the fastening means 14 and the flexible carrying member 6 acting as a link between the fastening means and the body 5 of the element are formed, for example extruded, of the same material integrally with each other and with a fork-shaped fastening portion 25, which with its legs 26 abutting each one side of the body 5 is connected with these by U-shaped staples 27 or in some way known per se. The fastening means 14 is shown to have H-shape, i.e. the shape shown in Fig. 7, but it also may have the shape of a double H as shown by dash-dotted lines 28 in Fig. 9. The carrying member 6 can be designed as two separate portions 29, each provided with a fastening means 14, for example in the form of a U, an H or double H, as shown by dash-dotted lines in Fig. 9. When the body consists of mouldable or extrusible material, for example plastic, the body, the carrying member 6 and the fastening means 14 may be manufactured, for example injection moulded, integrally of the same material. The present invention is not restricted to what is set forth above and shown in the drawings, but can be altered, modified and completed in many different ways within the scope of the invention idea defined in the attached claims. The elements, for example, may be provided with windows, doors and the like and also may be patterned in one way or another.

Claims (8)

Claims

1. A structural element with fastening means for detachably assembling several such elements of the same and/or varying geometric configuration, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that it comprises a plate (5) of a geometric form and of a material with a relatively low specific weight, which plate (5) constitutes the body of the element and is provided at its periphery with flexible carrying members (6), which carry the fastening means (14) of the element for the detachable assembling of several of such elements, and each of which is a joint between assembled elements , so that these elements can be arranged at any angle in relation to each other, which fastening means (14) are arranged so that the fastening means (14) of two structural elements can be connected to each other irrespective of whether the structural elements (1) are located to the side of or one above the other.

2. A structural element as defined in claim 1, c h a r a ce r i z e d i n that the carrying members (7,8) are intermittent or coherent flanges or flaps located at each of the edge sides of the body.

3. A structural element as defined in claim 2, c h a r a ce r i z e d i n that the flanges or flaps (7,8) are formed separately and attached to the body (5).

4. A structural element as defined in claim 2, c h a r a c e r i z e d i n that the flanges or flaps (7,8) are formed integral with a casing (2) tightly enclosing the body.

5. A structural element as defined in any one of the claims 2-4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the flanges or flaps (7,8) consist of plastic and/or fabric material.

6. A structural element as defined in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the fastening means are in the form of a U- or H-section (21), the legs of which constitute tongues (22), and the intermediate space between two legs constitutes grooves (23).

7. A structural element as defined in claim 1,2,5 or 6, c c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the fastening means (14) and carrying members (6) are formed integral of the same material with a fork-shaped fastening portion (25) attached to the body.

8. A structural element as defined in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the carrying member (6) is formed as two separate parts each carrying a fastening means (14).