EP1916023A1 - Elements de construction avec tête de connexion - Google Patents

Elements de construction avec tête de connexion Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1916023A1
EP1916023A1 EP06122732A EP06122732A EP1916023A1 EP 1916023 A1 EP1916023 A1 EP 1916023A1 EP 06122732 A EP06122732 A EP 06122732A EP 06122732 A EP06122732 A EP 06122732A EP 1916023 A1 EP1916023 A1 EP 1916023A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
assembly
assembly element
elements
axis
elongated member
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP06122732A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Oswald Kuijken
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.)
Jugmans Martin
Original Assignee
Jugmans Martin
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 Jugmans Martin filed Critical Jugmans Martin
Priority to EP06122732A priority Critical patent/EP1916023A1/fr
Priority to PCT/EP2007/061265 priority patent/WO2008049799A1/fr
Publication of EP1916023A1 publication Critical patent/EP1916023A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current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
    • A63H33/082—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 dovetails

Definitions

  • the invention concerns interlocking assembly elements that can be used for various purposes, for example gardening, building, construction, decorative purposes, toys and so on.
  • Lego® type bricks allow the construction of solid toys or building.
  • US 4,550,539 describes star-shaped mating interlocking panels allowing the assembly of ducts.
  • None of the prior art does suggest elongated elements prolonged with keys ends for building structures that keep their stability whatsoever the scale, from toys to semi-permanent or even permanent building elements.
  • the object of the invention is precisely to provide elements that can be used to erect structures adaptable for toys as well as for plant-aids or building.
  • the subject of the invention is an assembly element characterized in that it comprises an elongated member extending along an axis bearing, at at least one of its end, a connecting head, said head comprising a fork made out of two branches, the axis of each of the two branches making an angle of about 30° with respect to the axis of the fork, which corresponds with the axis of the elongated member, a first branch bearing at its free end a dovetail tenon, the proximal face of the first branch forming, together with the second branch, a dovetail mortise whose dimensions correspond to the dimensions of the dovetail tenon, so as to allow a sliding assembly of the connecting heads of two assembly elements.
  • the dovetail tenon and mortise have the form of isosceles trapeziums whose base angle is 60°.
  • the medium axis of the tenon placed on the first branch makes an angle ⁇ of 60+(n x 30°) with the axis of the fork, the value of n being [0, 1, 2]
  • the dovetail mortise is preferably closed by an isosceles trapezium whose dimensions are similar to the dimensions of the dovetail tenon, so as to ensure the absence of voids at the junction of several assembly elements. Accordingly, if the value of angle ⁇ is 60, when assembled, six converging assembly elements evocate a David star.
  • the head and the elongated member advantageously extend in a plane, the elongated member comprising planar faces extending normal to this plane.
  • the elongated member has a hexagonal cross-section, two sides of the hexagon extending normal to the plane having a length corresponding to the width of the mouth of a head's mortise and being separated by a distance also corresponding to the width of the mouth of a head's mortise.
  • the elongated member of a first element comprises at least one part of cross-section allowing its connection with a connecting head of a second assembly element extending in another plane.
  • this elongated member of a first element comprises at least one segment of square cross-section, a side of this square having a length corresponding to the width of the mouth of a head's mortise, allowing the insertion of a connecting head of a second assembly element extending in another plane, normal to the plane of the first element.
  • the elongated member comprises diverging strips for binding items to these elements. This will be useful e.g. for gardening assemblies.
  • Another subject of the invention is a first auxiliary assembly element to be used in conjunction with assembly elements as described above, which comprises, placed parallel to each other, two dovetail tenons allowing two reverted assembly elements to be connected lengthwise.
  • the dovetail tenons of this auxiliary assembly element are advantageously borne by two segments, placed sidewise, whose hexagonal cross-section corresponds to the hexagonal cross-section of the connected elongated members.
  • Another subject of the invention is a second auxiliary assembly element to be used in conjunction with assembly elements and first auxiliary assembly elements as described above.
  • This second auxiliary assembly element has the shape of a head of an assembly element and serves to complete the locking of a plurality of converging assembly elements, the medium axis of the tenon placed on the first branch making an angle ⁇ of 60+ (n x 30 °) with the axis of the fork, the value of n being [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6].
  • the connecting head preferably comprises at least one locking device maintaining in place the connecting heads of two assembled elements.
  • Fig.1 displays a first embodiment of the assembly element 1 of the invention. It comprises essentially an elongated member or shaft 2 bearing at both ends similar but inverted connecting heads 4. At its halfway point each shaft 2 has two crosswise strips 6 which extend at 60° angles to each other and with respect to the main shaft 2.
  • equilateral triangle As can be seen at Fig. 2, three elements 1 can be joined together by the heads 4 to form an equilateral triangle. If such a triangle is repeated and extended, equilateral hexagons and derivatives appear (see Fig 5), forming a lattice composed of multiple copies of one single element 1 and whose dimensions can be extended at will.
  • the dimensions (cross-section and length) of the assembly element are chosen so that, e.g. gardeners can obtain a quasi invisible support system which will keep even the most difficult plant clusters correctly in place.
  • the stems are horizontally grouped in small packages at any desired height. Thus they keep each other upright. Sticks and string are not needed, only a few minutes of adjusting guarantee a year-long perfect result, irrespective of length, shape or nature of the plant clusters that need safeguarding.
  • the strips 6 serve here as an added safeguard to keep the plant stems in place.
  • the fork 8 is made out of two branches, 10 and 12, the axis of each of the two branches 10 and 12 making an angle of about 30° with respect to the axis of the fork 8, which corresponds with the axis of the elongated member 2.
  • the first branch 10 bears at its free end a dovetail tenon 14.
  • the medium axis of the tenon 14 placed on this first branch 10 makes an angle ⁇ of 60° with the axis of the fork 8.
  • This first branch 10 further bears a false tenon 16 disposed symmetrical with the tenon 14.
  • Fig 5 displays a more detailed view of a connection knot 19 of several connecting heads 6 of already described assembly elements.
  • David Star illustrates the fact that assembly elements of the invention can be used to form e.g. elegant wooden separation wall, in ceilings, but also assembly toys.
  • assembly elements of the invention also allows to obtain 3-D structures (see Fig 8).
  • a mortise 18 can also accommodate a section of an elongated member 2 of another assembly element (see also Fig.3b).
  • the « normal » section of the elongated member as represented in this embodiment has the form of an irregular hexagon (commonly known as 'diamond').
  • the elongated member (or shaft 2) of a first element 1 shown at Fig. 3a bears at a given place along its length an insertion section 20 of reduced (square) width (see Fig 3 c).
  • this square section has a length corresponding to (or smaller than) the width of the mouth of a mortise 18 of a second assembly element, so that the shaft 2 of this first element can be inserted into this mortise; a relative translation of the two assembly elements locks the shaft 2 into the mortise 18, that can be slid up to the required place along the shaft 2(as shown at Fig 4).
  • interlocking means 22, 24 As examples of interlocking means, one may cite plastic pins and recesses, nylon inserts, resilient means and so on.
  • Fig.9 shows a first auxiliary assembly element 25 allowing two assembly elements to be connected lengthwise.
  • This first auxiliary assembly element comprises two dovetail tenons 114 placed parallel to each other so that they can be combined with the connecting heads 4 of two assembly element 1 as described above.
  • the dovetail tenons 114 of this auxiliary assembly element are borne by two segments 26 whose cross-section corresponds to the cross-section of the elongated members 2.
  • Assembly elements according to the invention can be used as toys. As building block toys, they provide an opportunity for responsible activity. It allows the young user to make acquaintance with less common attributes of space. In contrast to most construction toys it is not based on a Cartesian space with three axes. Here, a flat assembly has three axes and the step to creating a third dimension can happen in six directions. The design of the assembly elements within a flat assembly gives a pleasing overall woven effect.
  • Assemblies made out of assembly elements according to the invention are however not limited to gardening, bowers, separation walls ornamented with openwork or toys: they can also be used for construction elements and carpentry.
  • Fig 10, 11, 12, 13 display examples of embodiments of moulded connections heads 104 associated with metal shafts 2 of various sections.
  • Assembly elements according to the invention are further not limited to 60° assemblies. By varying the position of the tenon 14 on the first branch 10, it is possible to obtain connections of elements 1 according to various angles.
  • Corresponding assemblies knots (119, 219, 319, ...) are shown at Fig 17, 18, 19, 20 (with possible angles between the shafts of 60, 90, 120°).
  • connection keys (28, 128, 228, etc.) of various forms can be inserted in a knot (119, 219, 319, ).
  • a connection key (28, 128, 228, etc.) has roughly the same shape as a connecting head 4, but without supporting shaft 2. Examples of connection keys (28, 128, 228, etc.) are shown at Fig 21 (a, b, c, d, e, f, g).
  • connection heads 104, 204, 304 and connection keys are displayed at Fig 22(a, b, c, d, e).

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  • Toys (AREA)
EP06122732A 2006-10-23 2006-10-23 Elements de construction avec tête de connexion Withdrawn EP1916023A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP06122732A EP1916023A1 (fr) 2006-10-23 2006-10-23 Elements de construction avec tête de connexion
PCT/EP2007/061265 WO2008049799A1 (fr) 2006-10-23 2007-10-22 Éléments d'assemblage avec des têtes de connexion

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP06122732A EP1916023A1 (fr) 2006-10-23 2006-10-23 Elements de construction avec tête de connexion

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1916023A1 true EP1916023A1 (fr) 2008-04-30

Family

ID=37891767

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP06122732A Withdrawn EP1916023A1 (fr) 2006-10-23 2006-10-23 Elements de construction avec tête de connexion

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1916023A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2008049799A1 (fr)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5183409A (en) * 1991-04-15 1993-02-02 Eric Clever Hermaphroditic multiple contact connector
WO1997045183A1 (fr) * 1996-05-31 1997-12-04 Eric Clever Systeme de construction de type ni male ni femelle
US5888114A (en) * 1996-02-16 1999-03-30 Aesop, Inc. Modular storage system, components, accessories, and applications to structural systems and toy construction sets and the like
US6325694B1 (en) * 1996-05-31 2001-12-04 Eric Clever Flexible joint construction toy
DE202006008907U1 (de) * 2006-06-02 2006-08-10 Zitzer, Vladimir Modulares System

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5183409A (en) * 1991-04-15 1993-02-02 Eric Clever Hermaphroditic multiple contact connector
US5888114A (en) * 1996-02-16 1999-03-30 Aesop, Inc. Modular storage system, components, accessories, and applications to structural systems and toy construction sets and the like
WO1997045183A1 (fr) * 1996-05-31 1997-12-04 Eric Clever Systeme de construction de type ni male ni femelle
US6325694B1 (en) * 1996-05-31 2001-12-04 Eric Clever Flexible joint construction toy
DE202006008907U1 (de) * 2006-06-02 2006-08-10 Zitzer, Vladimir Modulares System

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2008049799A1 (fr) 2008-05-02

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