EP0506707B1 - Building block - Google Patents

Building block Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0506707B1
EP0506707B1 EP91900290A EP91900290A EP0506707B1 EP 0506707 B1 EP0506707 B1 EP 0506707B1 EP 91900290 A EP91900290 A EP 91900290A EP 91900290 A EP91900290 A EP 91900290A EP 0506707 B1 EP0506707 B1 EP 0506707B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
block
hinge means
building block
male
face
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP91900290A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0506707A1 (en
Inventor
Robert John 37 Gibraltar Lane Stone
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nottingham Group Ltd
Original Assignee
EJ Arnold and Son Ltd
Nottingham Group Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by EJ Arnold and Son Ltd, Nottingham Group Ltd filed Critical EJ Arnold and Son Ltd
Publication of EP0506707A1 publication Critical patent/EP0506707A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0506707B1 publication Critical patent/EP0506707B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H33/00—Other toys
    • A63H33/04—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts
    • A63H33/06—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements
    • A63H33/08—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements provided with complementary holes, grooves, or protuberances, e.g. dovetails
    • A63H33/086—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements provided with complementary holes, grooves, or protuberances, e.g. dovetails with primary projections fitting by friction in complementary spaces between secondary projections, e.g. sidewalls
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H33/00—Other toys
    • A63H33/04—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts
    • A63H33/06—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements

Definitions

  • This invention relates to building blocks. More particularly but not exclusively, it relates to an educational toy to teach different aspects of mathematics to children of all ages.
  • a multi-faced building block adapted for assembly to produce a plurality of shapes by connecting a number of said building blocks, said block including male hinge means at a first edge of a face of said block and female hinge means at a second edge of said face opposite and parallel with said first edge, whereby two said blocks can be joined hingedly by connecting the male hinge means of one block to the female hinge means of the other block, and characterised in that the arrangement of the male hinge means and the female hinge means relative to said face of the block permits the block to be joined fixedly in face to face relation to a second said block having a substantially identical arrangement of male and female hinge means, by connecting both the male and female hinge means of one block to the female and male hinge means, respectively, of the other block.
  • a building block according to the pre-characterising part of this invention is known from GB-A-2160114. Reference is also made to FR-A-2149982 which shows a further design of building block toy.
  • the building block of the present invention may be in the shape of a triangular prism, preferably an isosceles triangular prism and, more preferably a right-angled isosceles triangular prism.
  • the prism preferably has square faces lying between the short sides of the triangular faces.
  • the male and female hinge means may be located on the edges of the face which joins the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle faces, whereby two substantially identical building blocks can be joined fixedly to form a cube.
  • the male and female hinge means may be located on the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse.
  • the hinge axis lie parallel to the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse.
  • the building block may have a female face connection means on one face defining one of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle, and a male face connection means on the other face defining the other of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle.
  • the male hinge means may comprise a pair of oppositely extending protrusions and the female hinge means may comprise a pair of oppositely extending recesses adapted to be engaged by the protrusions with a snap fit.
  • the protrusions may extend towards one another and the recesses may open away from one another.
  • a building block 10 of plastics material is shaped generally in the form of a right-angled triangular prism.
  • the building block has a pair of essentially square faces 11, 12 and a rectangular face 13 defining the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle.
  • the building block has two end faces 14, 15 which are, in their general shape, right-angled isosceles triangles.
  • the block 10 is provided with male hinge means 20 at one edge defining the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangular faces 14, 15 and female hinge means 21 at the other edge defining the hypotenuse of the triangular faces 14, 15.
  • the male hinge means 20 consist of a pair of nibs 22 between which extends a space 23, conical protrusions 24 extending from the nibs 22 towards one another.
  • the female hinge means 21 consist of a rib 25 having conical recesses 26 in end faces thereof.
  • the shape of the blocks and positioning of the male and female hinge means 20, 21 is such that two such blocks 10 can be joined together by engagement of the male and female hinge means of one block with respective female and male hinge means of the second block to form a cube, as shown in Figure 6.
  • the respective rectangular faces 13 face towards one another, the faces 13 being very slightly recessed to ensure that there is no balking when the male and female hinge means are moved into engagement.
  • the block 10 is provided with face connection means, there being a socket 30 provided in the square face 11 and a spigot 31 extending from the square face 12 the spigot of one block 10 is engageable with the socket 30 of another block 10 with a snap fit, the engagement profiles of the spigot 31 and socket 30 being shown in more detail in Figure 5.
  • the spigot 31 is essentially cylindrical but with an annular engagement rim 32 near its free end.
  • the socket 30 has an inwardly extending annular engagement rib 33 such that the annular rim 32 of the spigot 31 engages the annular rib 33 of the socket 30 with a snap fit.
  • both the annular rim 32 and annular rib 33 have chamfered profiles to allow ease of entry of the spigot into the socket and, furthermore, to allow relative ease of disengagement of the spigot from the socket since the blocks are designed to be engaged and disengaged relatively easily, but still allow sufficient strength of engagement to form a stable connection.
  • a cube is formed having two planar faces, two faces having a spigot 31 extending therefrom and two faces including sockets 30.
  • the Figure 6 cube formed from two blocks 10 allows the blocks 10 to form part of a structure with existing cubes available under our Trade Mark MULTILINK, which cube have in their faces sockets with the same profile as the sockets 30 of the blocks 10 and spigots with the same profile as the spigots 31 of the blocks 10.
  • the blocks 10 provide substantially increased flexibility and adaptability to the MULTILINK cubes in that the blocks 10 can be face-to-face connected with the existing cubes and, with two blocks 10 connected together at one hinge, a hinge connection is provided but alternatively with both hinge connections made, a cube is formed. It will be appreciated that a large variety of structures is thus possible.

Abstract

A building block (10) is in the shape of a right-angled isosceles triangular prism. The block has male hinge elements (22, 24) on one edge and female hinge elements (25, 26) on another edge such that two blocks (10) can not only be hingedly attached but also joined at both respective hinge element carrying edges to form a cube. Male (31) and female (30) face connection elements are provided to allow face to face connection.

Description

  • This invention relates to building blocks. More particularly but not exclusively, it relates to an educational toy to teach different aspects of mathematics to children of all ages.
  • According to the present invention, there is provided a multi-faced building block adapted for assembly to produce a plurality of shapes by connecting a number of said building blocks, said block including male hinge means at a first edge of a face of said block and female hinge means at a second edge of said face opposite and parallel with said first edge, whereby two said blocks can be joined hingedly by connecting the male hinge means of one block to the female hinge means of the other block, and characterised in that the arrangement of the male hinge means and the female hinge means relative to said face of the block permits the block to be joined fixedly in face to face relation to a second said block having a substantially identical arrangement of male and female hinge means, by connecting both the male and female hinge means of one block to the female and male hinge means, respectively, of the other block.
  • A building block according to the pre-characterising part of this invention is known from GB-A-2160114. Reference is also made to FR-A-2149982 which shows a further design of building block toy.
  • The building block of the present invention may be in the shape of a triangular prism, preferably an isosceles triangular prism and, more preferably a right-angled isosceles triangular prism. The prism preferably has square faces lying between the short sides of the triangular faces.
  • The male and female hinge means may be located on the edges of the face which joins the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle faces, whereby two substantially identical building blocks can be joined fixedly to form a cube.
  • The male and female hinge means may be located on the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse. Preferably, the hinge axis lie parallel to the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse.
  • The building block may have a female face connection means on one face defining one of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle, and a male face connection means on the other face defining the other of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle.
  • The male hinge means may comprise a pair of oppositely extending protrusions and the female hinge means may comprise a pair of oppositely extending recesses adapted to be engaged by the protrusions with a snap fit. The protrusions may extend towards one another and the recesses may open away from one another.
  • By way of example, one embodiment of a block according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
    • Figure 1 is a side view of a building block;
    • Figure 2 is an underneath view of the block of Figure 1;
    • Figure 3 is a face view of the block;
    • Figure 4 is a sectional view along the lines A-A in Figure 3;
    • Figure 5 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of a detail of a snap joint; and
    • Figure 6 is a sectional view illustrating a pair of blocks joined together by engagement of two pairs of hinge means.
  • A building block 10 of plastics material, although it will be appreciated that other materials could be used, is shaped generally in the form of a right-angled triangular prism. The building block has a pair of essentially square faces 11, 12 and a rectangular face 13 defining the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle. The building block has two end faces 14, 15 which are, in their general shape, right-angled isosceles triangles.
  • The block 10 is provided with male hinge means 20 at one edge defining the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangular faces 14, 15 and female hinge means 21 at the other edge defining the hypotenuse of the triangular faces 14, 15. The male hinge means 20 consist of a pair of nibs 22 between which extends a space 23, conical protrusions 24 extending from the nibs 22 towards one another.
  • The female hinge means 21 consist of a rib 25 having conical recesses 26 in end faces thereof.
  • When the male hinge means 20 of one block and the female hinge means 21 of a second block are to be engaged together, the rib 25 of the second block is pushed into the space 23 of the first block and the conical protrusions 24 of the one block are engaged in the conical recesses 26 in the second block. In this way, a hinge connection is provided between the two blocks.
  • Additionally, the shape of the blocks and positioning of the male and female hinge means 20, 21 is such that two such blocks 10 can be joined together by engagement of the male and female hinge means of one block with respective female and male hinge means of the second block to form a cube, as shown in Figure 6. In the Figure 6 arrangement, the respective rectangular faces 13 face towards one another, the faces 13 being very slightly recessed to ensure that there is no balking when the male and female hinge means are moved into engagement.
  • In addition to the hinge means, the block 10 is provided with face connection means, there being a socket 30 provided in the square face 11 and a spigot 31 extending from the square face 12 the spigot of one block 10 is engageable with the socket 30 of another block 10 with a snap fit, the engagement profiles of the spigot 31 and socket 30 being shown in more detail in Figure 5. In Figure 5, it can be seen that the spigot 31 is essentially cylindrical but with an annular engagement rim 32 near its free end. The socket 30 has an inwardly extending annular engagement rib 33 such that the annular rim 32 of the spigot 31 engages the annular rib 33 of the socket 30 with a snap fit. As is shown clearly in Figure 5, both the annular rim 32 and annular rib 33 have chamfered profiles to allow ease of entry of the spigot into the socket and, furthermore, to allow relative ease of disengagement of the spigot from the socket since the blocks are designed to be engaged and disengaged relatively easily, but still allow sufficient strength of engagement to form a stable connection.
  • When two blocks are formed together in the Figure 6 arrangement, a cube is formed having two planar faces, two faces having a spigot 31 extending therefrom and two faces including sockets 30. The Figure 6 cube formed from two blocks 10 allows the blocks 10 to form part of a structure with existing cubes available under our Trade Mark MULTILINK, which cube have in their faces sockets with the same profile as the sockets 30 of the blocks 10 and spigots with the same profile as the spigots 31 of the blocks 10. In this way, the blocks 10 provide substantially increased flexibility and adaptability to the MULTILINK cubes in that the blocks 10 can be face-to-face connected with the existing cubes and, with two blocks 10 connected together at one hinge, a hinge connection is provided but alternatively with both hinge connections made, a cube is formed. It will be appreciated that a large variety of structures is thus possible.
  • It will be appreciated that the foregoing description is by way of example only and that modifications and alterations may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

  1. A multi-faced building block (10) adapted for assembly to produce a plurality of shapes by connecting a number of said building blocks, said block including male hinge means (20, 24) at a first edge of a face (13) of said block and female hinge means (21, 26) at a second edge of said face opposite and parallel with said first edge, whereby two said blocks can be joined hingedly by connecting the male hinge means (20, 24) of one block to the female hinge means (21, 26) of the other block, and characterised in that the arrangement of the male hinge means (20, 24) and the female hinge means (21, 26) relative to said face (13) of the block permits the block to be joined fixedly in face to face relation to a second said block having a substantially identical arrangement of male and female hinge means, by connecting both the male and female hinge means of one block to the female and male hinge means, respectively, of the other block.
  2. A building block as claimed in claim 1, wherein said building block (10) is in the shape of a triangular prism.
  3. A building block as claimed in claim 2, wherein said triangular prism is an isosceles triangular prism.
  4. A building block as claimed in claim 3, wherein said isosceles triangular prism is a right-angled isosceles triangular prism.
  5. A building block as claimed in claim 4, wherein said prism has square faces (11, 12) lying between the short sides of the triangular faces.
  6. A building block according to claim 5, wherein the male (20, 24) and female (21, 26) hinge means are located on the edges of the face (13) which joins the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle faces, whereby two substantially identical building blocks can be joined fixedly to form a cube.
  7. A building block according to claim 6, wherein the male (20, 24) and female (21, 26) hinge means are located on the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse.
  8. A building block according to claim 7, wherein the hinge axes lie parallel to the edges which define the ends of the hypotenuse.
  9. A building block according to claim 3, wherein said building block has a female face connection means (30) on one face defining one of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle, and a male face connection means (31) on the other face defining the other of the equal sides of the isosceles triangle.
  10. A building block according to claim 1, wherein the male hinge means comprises a pair of oppositely extending protrusions (24).
  11. A building block as claimed in claim 10, wherein said female hinge means comprises a pair of oppositely extending recesses (26) adapted to be engaged by said protrusions (24) with a snap fit.
  12. A building block as claimed in claim 11, wherein said protrusions (24) extend towards one another and the recesses (26) open away from one another.
EP91900290A 1989-12-18 1990-12-18 Building block Expired - Lifetime EP0506707B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB898928504A GB8928504D0 (en) 1989-12-18 1989-12-18 Building block
GB8928504 1989-12-18
PCT/GB1990/001971 WO1991008811A1 (en) 1989-12-18 1990-12-18 Building block

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0506707A1 EP0506707A1 (en) 1992-10-07
EP0506707B1 true EP0506707B1 (en) 1995-03-08

Family

ID=10668095

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP91900290A Expired - Lifetime EP0506707B1 (en) 1989-12-18 1990-12-18 Building block

Country Status (9)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0506707B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH0732820B2 (en)
AT (1) ATE119424T1 (en)
AU (1) AU641201B2 (en)
CA (1) CA2070999C (en)
DE (1) DE69017714T2 (en)
ES (1) ES2069271T3 (en)
GB (1) GB8928504D0 (en)
WO (1) WO1991008811A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19823689C2 (en) * 1998-05-27 2000-07-20 Axel Mehnert Dismountable toy building block made of cellulose-containing material
FR2834649B1 (en) * 2002-01-11 2004-03-19 Ange Prados ARTICULATED MODULE

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3662486A (en) * 1970-02-04 1972-05-16 Edward J Freedman Polyhedral amusement and educational device
BE787313A (en) * 1971-08-09 1973-02-08 Dart Ind Inc CONSTRUCTION SET BASED ON HOLLOW BLOCKS
CA1222869A (en) * 1983-03-30 1987-06-16 284215 Alberta Limited Connectable polygonal construction modules
US4606732A (en) * 1984-06-15 1986-08-19 Ronald Lyman Interlocking toy building blocks with interconnecting, releasable hinges
AU5342886A (en) * 1985-03-18 1986-09-25 Stahl, R. Three-dimensional interlocking cube

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69017714T2 (en) 1995-09-07
ATE119424T1 (en) 1995-03-15
JPH05501215A (en) 1993-03-11
GB8928504D0 (en) 1990-02-21
ES2069271T3 (en) 1995-05-01
WO1991008811A1 (en) 1991-06-27
AU641201B2 (en) 1993-09-16
DE69017714D1 (en) 1995-04-13
CA2070999A1 (en) 1991-06-19
EP0506707A1 (en) 1992-10-07
CA2070999C (en) 1995-05-09
JPH0732820B2 (en) 1995-04-12
AU6897491A (en) 1991-07-18

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