EP2193830A1

EP2193830A1 - Kit for a building toy

Info

Publication number: EP2193830A1
Application number: EP09176188A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Costantino Ursella
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-11-17
Filing date: 2009-11-17
Publication date: 2010-06-09
Also published as: ITVE20080083A1

Abstract

The interlocking pieces have a square, rectangular, triangular and circular form; the square piece has a central hole and four engaging points, one on each side; the rectangular piece has a central hole and six engaging points; the triangular piece has a central hole and three engaging points; the circular piece has a central hole and eight or more engaging points on the circumference.

The interlocking pieces, when joined together, are able to form various objects and/or toys of varying shapes and sizes.

Description

The present invention relates to parts for constructing real or imaginary objects.
In particular, the present invention relates to parts which can be assembled together and combined with each other so as to construct existing or imaginary forms.
From the prior art various types of parts which can be assembled together are known, such as those which commercially known by the name of "LEGO". LEGO is a registered trademark of the Lego Group. Such construction systems involve the use of interlocking bricks and can be used to form a vast range of real or imaginary objects in a manner which more or less corresponds to the desired form.
These construction systems, although very popular, are, however, not without drawbacks. For example, because of the particular form of the bricks, they cannot be used to construct circular forms. In fact, this form is usually not provided for in the set of assembly parts.
From the prior art other types of construction system are known where pieces made of wood, cardboard or polymer material are used.
Said pieces have a substantially flat form and have at least one incision with a width substantially the same as the thickness of the piece.
The pieces have substantially the basic form of the particular object to be reproduced.
Widely known for example are the pieces used for constructing the basic skeleton of a dinosaur where, for example, the "rib" piece has substantially the form of a rib.
Likewise this type of assembly piece, although very popular, is nevertheless not without drawbacks.
In fact these pieces, which, because of their intrinsic nature, can be combined directly and exclusively to form a single final object, do not allow the construction of other objects.
The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome, at least partly, the drawbacks of the prior art.
A first task is to provide pieces and/or parts for constructing real or imaginary objects.
The object is achieved by a construction game kit in accordance with Claim 1.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description, provided by way of a non-limiting example of a preferred embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1a shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 1b shows a cross-sectional view of the piece according to Figure 1a along the cross-sectional plane I-I of Fig. 1a;
Fig. 2a shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 2b shows a cross-sectional view of the piece according to Figure 2a along the cross-sectional plane II-II of Fig. 2a;
Fig. 3 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 4 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 5 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 6 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 7 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 8 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 9 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 10a shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 10b shows a cross-sectional view of the piece according to Figure 10a along the cross-sectional plane X-X of Fig. 10a;
Fig. 11 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 12 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 13a shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 13b shows a cross-sectional view of the piece according to Figure 13a along the cross-sectional plane XIII-XIII of Fig. 13a;
Fig. 14 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 15 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 16 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 17 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 18 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 19 shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 20a shows an assembly piece according to the invention;
Fig. 20b shows a cross-sectional view of the piece according to Figure 20a along the cross-sectional plane XX-XX of Fig. 20a;
Fig. 21 shows a first example of embodiment of a construction according to the invention;
Fig. 22 shows a second example of embodiment of a construction according to the invention.

The present invention relates to a construction toy kit comprising a plurality of assembly pieces 12. Each of the pieces 12 has a substantially surface-like extension and has at least one engaging hole 14. Furthermore said pieces 12 have at least one incision 16 along a side section 18.
The incision 16 of a first piece 12 is suitable for engagement with the incision 16 of a second piece 12 when the edge section 18 of the second piece 12 is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the surface of extension of the first piece 12 in the vicinity of the incision 16.
The kit is characterized in that it comprises a joining pin or peg 20 which is designed to be engaged with each of said engaging holes 14 in said pieces 12 when the pin 20 is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the surface of extension of the piece 12 in the vicinity of the engaging hole 14.
The pieces 12 have, in the vicinity of the at least one incision 16, the same thickness, and the width of the at least one incision is substantially the same as said thickness.
With reference to the accompanying figures the pieces according to the invention may have a polygonal form, for example:

a rectangular form indicated by the reference number 32 and shown in Figures 1a, 1b, 3-9, 10a, 10b and 11;
a square form indicated by the reference number 30 and shown in Figures 1a, 1b, 9, 10a, 10b and 11; and
a triangular form indicated by the reference number 34 and shown in Figures 16-19.

Moreover they may have a circular or elliptical form indicated by the reference number 36 and shown in Figures 12-14.
According to one possible embodiment of the present invention, the pieces 12 extend substantially in the manner of a flat surface.
In accordance with an alternative embodiment, the joining pin 20 comprises longitudinal incisions 22, as shown in Figure 20a and 20b. These incisions 22 have the function of facilitating engagement between the joining pin 20 and hole 14, although this is performed by means of interference.
The pieces 12 and the joining pin 20 may be made of a material chosen from the group comprising: wood, cardboard, metal and polymer material.
One possible embodiment of the construction parts will now be described in detail.
The interlocking pieces have a square, rectangular, triangular and circular form; the square piece has dimensions of 30x30, a central hole and four lateral incisions (engaging points), one on each side; the rectangular piece has dimensions of 30x60, a central hole and six lateral incisions (engaging points); the triangular piece has dimensions of 30x60, a central hole and three lateral incisions (engaging points); the circular piece has a diameter of 40 mm, a central hole, plus eight incisions (engaging points) on the circumference.
The larger-size pieces may have several holes.
The sizes of the pieces and those of the incisions are precisely predefined, as are also their distances and dimensions.
In particular the sizes of the square piece are as follows: 30x30, 60x60 mm and 90x90, 120x120 mm; those of the rectangular piece: 30x60 mm, 90x30 mm, 120x30 mm, 150x30 mm, 180x30 mm and larger sizes; those of the triangular piece: 50 mm per side (50x50x50), 80 mm per side (80x80x80), 100 mm per side (100x100x100) and 130 mm per side (130x130x130); those of the circular piece: diameter 40 mm, diameter 60 mm, diameter 80 mm and diameter 100 mm.
The distance between the engaging points is always 30 mm in all the pieces, except in the circular pieces where it is 40 mm (for a piece with a diameter of 40 mm), 60 mm (for a diameter of 60 mm), 80 mm (for a diameter of 80 mm) and 100 mm (for a diameter of 100 mm).
By joining together and interlocking the pieces it is possible to form an indefinite number of objects and/or toys of varying shapes and sizes.
The pieces may be made of wood, light metal alloys, PVC or non-toxic and fire-proof substitute materials.
The invention is designed for children from the age of two upwards and is intended to stimulate their creativity and imagination while playing games.
The objects and the toys, once formed, may be kept and therefore used, in turn, as objects and toys per se or else disassembled and reassembled so as to create new objects.
Moreover, it is possible to add to the pieces also pegs of varying sizes, with longitudinal incisions similar to ribs, these being able to be engaged inside the holes present in the pieces.
The accompanying Figures 1a, 1b, 9, 10a, 10b and 11 show the square shaped engaging system.
The accompanying Figures 1a, 1b, 3-9, 10a, 10b and 11 show the rectangular shaped engaging system.
The accompanying Figure 12 shows the circular shaped engaging system.
The accompanying Figure 16 shows the triangular shaped engaging system.
The accompanying Figure 20 shows the pegs which may be combined with the pieces.
According to the present state of the art toys which can assembled already exist, but they form predetermined objects (for example a house) or various objects by arranging on top of each other and fitting together parts of various sizes (e.g. bricks).
The limitation (and the object) of the games of the first type is that the result cannot be varied; while with the games of the second type it is not possible at all (or only with great difficulty) to form objects with a rhombus-like, circular, prismatic or pentagonal/hexagonal form.
The innovation consists in the fact that, owing to the various geometric forms of the pieces, the central hole and the lateral incisions, it is possible, by fitting said pieces together, to form toys, objects and structures of any shape and size.
Moreover, a further innovation consists in the thin nature of the pieces which can therefore be used to form open "rooms" inside which it is possible to place and remove easily further objects (e.g. a house with furniture).
According to one possible embodiment of the present invention, the kit may also comprise pieces 12 without an engaging hole 14, as shown in Figures 2a, 2b and 15.
With regard to the embodiments described above, the person skilled in the art may, in order to satisfy specific requirements, make modifications to and/or replace parts described with equivalent parts, without thereby departing from the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

Construction toy kit comprising a plurality of assembly pieces (12), each of said pieces (12):
having a substantially surface-like extension;

having at least one engaging hole (14); and

having at least one incision (16) along an edge section (18), the at least one incision (16) of a first piece (12) being able to be engaged with the incision (16) of a second piece (12) when the edge section (18) of the second piece (12) is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the surface of extension of the first piece (12) in the vicinity of the incision (16),
the kit being characterized in that it also comprises at least one joining pin (20) designed to be engaged inside each of said engaging holes (14) in said pieces (12) when the joining pin (20) is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the surface of extension of the piece (12) in the vicinity of the engaging hole (14).
Kit according to Claim 1, wherein said pieces (12) extend substantially in the manner of a flat surface.
Kit according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein said pieces (12) have a polygonal form.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pieces (12) have a circular form.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said joining pin (20) comprises longitudinal incisions (22).
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pieces (12) are made of a material chosen from the group comprising: wood, cardboard, metal and polymer material.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pieces (12) have, in the vicinity of the at least one incision (16), the same thickness and wherein the width of the incisions (16) is substantially the same as said thickness.
Interlocking pieces with a square form (30), rectangular form (32), triangular form (34) and circular form (36), which are provided with one or more holes and lateral incisions, made of wood, light metal alloys, PVC or any other similar material provided that it is non-toxic and fire-proof, and joined together also using joining pins (20) so as to form toys of varying shapes and sizes which, after being constructed, may be left as such and have the functions associated with the type of toy made (e.g. car (22), house, animal, etc.), or may be disassembled an indefinite number of times and reassembled so as to form other objects; they may be assembled to form a unit intended for a single use (e.g. farm with animals).
Interlocking pieces with a square, rectangular, triangular and circular form, which are provided with holes and incisions and which, when joined together, allow the formation of objects of various shapes and sizes to be used as finished objects per se intended for various uses, such as furniture ornaments, collector's items and the like, or which may be disassembled so as to form further different objects.