EP3706879B1 - Bauelement für unterschiedliche verwendungen - Google Patents

Bauelement für unterschiedliche verwendungen Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3706879B1
EP3706879B1 EP18800069.9A EP18800069A EP3706879B1 EP 3706879 B1 EP3706879 B1 EP 3706879B1 EP 18800069 A EP18800069 A EP 18800069A EP 3706879 B1 EP3706879 B1 EP 3706879B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
building element
diagonally opposed
portions
building
recessed portions
Prior art date
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Application number
EP18800069.9A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP3706879A1 (de
EP3706879C0 (de
Inventor
Sertan SALTAN
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Individual
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Individual
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Publication of EP3706879A1 publication Critical patent/EP3706879A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP3706879B1 publication Critical patent/EP3706879B1/de
Publication of EP3706879C0 publication Critical patent/EP3706879C0/de
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    • 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
    • A63H33/062—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements with clip or snap mechanisms
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a building element of a specified shape.
  • This element can be used for different purposes, such as toys for playing, or for construction elements for building walls or similar constructions.
  • interlocking means have been developed for different applications.
  • the aim of using an interlocking means is to lock two or more objects to each other.
  • Such locking means essentially performs a secure locking function and usually maintains the objects in tight interlocked relationship.
  • Common usages of interlocking means are among others clothing buttons, interlocking toys and different geometric shapes.
  • the present invention concerns interlocking means, such as a puzzle cube, a toy cube, a toy cylinder, a toy cone a toy pyramid, a clothing fastener, an interlocking band comprising geometry that enables attaching to another similar device with the possibility of detaching.
  • the invention is directed to a novel interlocking means, each of said interlocking means being associatively adapted to be detachably engageable with a friction effect.
  • the present invention relates to a building element of a specified shape having at least one surface comprising at least two diagonally opposed projected portions and at least two diagonally opposed recessed portions in relation to the diagonally opposed projected portions, wherein each projected portion has a flat surface facing away from the center of the building element and a circumferential side having in a first consecutive order a first, a second, and a third side, wherein the first side faces one of the diagonally opposed recessed portions and the second side faces the other of the diagonally opposed recessed portions and the third side faces away from the diagonally opposed recessed portions, or in a second consecutive order a first, a second, a third and a fourth side, wherein the first and the third side are opposite each other and the second and fourth side are opposite each other and wherein the first side faces one of the diagonally opposed recessed portions and wherein the second side faces the other of the diagonally opposed recessed portions, and wherein each recessed portion has a flat surface facing away from the center of the building element and wherein the flat surface of
  • the specific shape has from 2 to 10 surfaces. Typically, 6 surfaces, such as a cube. Preferably, the specific shape is a cube having six surfaces.
  • the at least one surface has two diagonally opposed projected portions and two diagonally opposed recessed portions.
  • the building element is a cube it has 8 corners of which 4 corners has three adjacent projected portions, and of which 4 corners has three adjacent recessed portions. This gives a particular strong attach and detach possibility and in addition an unlimited number of cubes can be interlocked in an unlimited number of ways to create walls, and to create meaningful structures and designs. It further minimizes the limitations of conventional building toys.
  • the snap fit of the first and second side is by means of a lip and a groove, or an overhang and an undercut, or wherein the first and second side forms an angle of less than 90° at the connection with the recessed portion.
  • each of the first and the second side forms an angle of 90° at the connection with the recessed portion, and the first and second side of the projected portions are adapted to engage and interlock by friction.
  • the building element is made of a solid molded material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), typically ABS.
  • a solid molded material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), typically ABS.
  • the building element is selected from any one of the elements shown in figures 1-14 .
  • the building element of the present invention is for use as a toy for assembling a desired structure.
  • the building element of the present invention is for use as a construction element in building a wall.
  • the present invention relates to a mold for making a building element of the present invention.
  • the mold is used for making a building element of any one of the elements shown in figures 1-14 .
  • the mold is selected from the mold shown in figures 15-16 .
  • the present invention relates to a building element (1-8, 77-83) of a specified shape (1, 4, 7a-7d, 8, 77-83) having at least one surface (10-28) comprising at least two diagonally opposed projected portions (10, 13) and at least two diagonally opposed recessed portions (11, 17) in relation to the diagonally opposed projected portions, wherein each projected portion has a flat surface (10, 13) facing away from the center of the building element and a circumferential side (12, 14) having in a first consecutive order a first, a second, and a third side, wherein the first side (12) faces one of the diagonally opposed recessed portions (17) and the second side faces the other of the diagonally opposed recessed portions (11) and the third side (25) faces away from the diagonally opposed recessed portions, or in a second consecutive order a first, a second, a third and a fourth side, wherein the first and the third side are opposite each other and the second and fourth side are opposite each other and wherein the first side faces one of the diagonally opposed recessed
  • Figure 1 illustrates a typical embodiment of the building element of the present invention. This is in the shape of a basic cube building block with protrusions on its six faces. In the figure 1 , the three faces of the building block are visible.
  • the protrusions (21,24,10,13,16,20) constitutes the six out of twelve. The protrusions split the surface they project from in two recessed areas (11,17,22,23,18,19).
  • a typical protrusion (13) has inner facing surfaces angled (12) and outer facing surfaces (14) perpendicular to the surface its protruding from. The angled surfaces (12) of a protrusion (13) creates the snap mechanism when another identical cube is attached.
  • the protrusions (20,21.26) are arranged in a way to form clusters at the corners of the building block so that there is always a possibility for another cube to attach without interference.
  • the gap (27) between two protrusions (13,10) allows cubes to connect without interference.
  • a single building block has six faces that can accept another cube.
  • a typical face has two diagonally placed protrusion (24,21) and two recessed areas (22,23).
  • a connection would take place if protrusions (21,24) is oriented so that they can meet the recessed surfaces (11,17) of another identical cube to form an assembly.
  • the preferred embodiment of invention as a building block has protrusions that are designed so that two sides of a protrusion slants upward (12).
  • FIG.5 Another embodiment of the invention works without a snap mechanism but utilizes the friction forces to hold the blocks together. Protrusions have straight surfaces (44,42) instead of any slant. In this embodiment Fig.5 any other identical block can be attached using the same principle of alignment that was described for the preferred embodiment.
  • the slanted side of a protrusion (69) of a building block should face another slanted side of another protrusion (70) so as any snap connection to take place ( fig. 9 )
  • another embodiment of the invention can also work based on the friction.
  • the protrusions (71,72) will hold together based on the surface friction ( fig. 10 )
  • a recessed area at the center to allow protrusions to clear each other.
  • This recess area can be as small as possible as long as the gap is never closed.
  • Some of the shapes that can be utilized but not limited to are square recess (73) parallelogram recess (77) rounded recess (75) or circular recess (76).
  • the main connection method of diagonally placed protrusions can be applied to different surfaces of different volumetric or planar shapes. So as to make angular connections a cube with an angular top (77) can be utilized. A flat surface can be equipped with the protrusions (78,79) to accept connections on either side. Another embodiment of the invention is a cylinder (80) that has diagonally placed protrusions on both ends. There are many shapes such as half a sphere with top cut off (81). Pyramids can be also chosen as the base surface for the building block (82,83)
  • the diagonal protrusions can also be incorporated in different shapes resulting the protrusions to resemble triangles (82) or quarter circles (80) However, whatever the protrusion shapes can be, they always have two inner facing surfaces that connects via either snap or friction.
  • a base equipped with the aforementioned protrusions (8) can be created in different size plates.
  • a mold is required to manufacture the building block (1) that can be in the form of a steel tool that consists of two main halves (m1,m2) and subsections that help create undercuts that are vital for the preferred embodiment.
  • An injection of plastic will yield a number of building blocks.
  • Building blocks may also be manufactured by using industrial level Polyjet, SLS, SLA or consumer level filament based printers, however, the coupling power of the blocks won't as strong as of one produced through injection molding process.

Claims (12)

  1. Ein Bauelement (1-8, 77-83) einer bestimmten Form (1, 4, 7a-7d, 8, 77-83) mit mindestens einer Fläche (10-28), die mindestens zwei diagonal gegenüberliegende vorspringende Abschnitte (10, 13) und mindestens zwei diagonal gegenüberliegende vertiefte Abschnitte (11, 17) in Bezug auf die diagonal gegenüberliegenden vorspringenden Abschnitte umfasst, wobei jeder vorstehende Abschnitt eine von der Mitte des Bauelements abgewandte ebene Fläche (10, 13) und eine Umfangsseite (12, 14) hat, die in einer ersten aufeinanderfolgenden Reihenfolge eine erste, eine zweite und eine dritte Seite aufweist, wobei die erste Seite (12) einem der diagonal gegenüberliegenden vertieften Abschnitte (17) zugewandt ist und die zweite Seite dem anderen der diagonal gegenüberliegenden vertieften Abschnitte (11) zugewandt ist und die dritte Seite (25) von den diagonal gegenüberliegenden vertieften Abschnitten abgewandt ist, oder in einer zweiten aufeinanderfolgenden Reihenfolge eine erste, eine zweite, eine dritte und eine vierte Seite aufweist, wobei die erste und die dritte Seite einander gegenüberliegen und die zweite und die vierte Seite einander gegenüberliegen und wobei die erste Seite einem der diagonal gegenüberliegenden vertieften Abschnitte zugewandt ist und wobei die zweite Seite dem anderen der diagonal gegenüberliegenden vertieften Abschnitte zugewandt ist, und wobei jeder vertiefte Abschnitt eine ebene Fläche (11, 17) hat, die von der Mitte des Bauelements weg weist und wobei die ebene Fläche jedes vertieften Abschnitts in einer Ebene liegt, die im Wesentlichen parallel zu der ebenen Fläche jedes vorstehenden Abschnitts ist, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mindestens die erste und die zweite Seite der vorstehenden Abschnitte dazu ausgelegt sind, durch Schnapppassung (69, 79) und/oder durch Formschlussreibung (71, 72) mit einer im Wesentlichen identischen ersten und zweiten Seite eines entsprechenden Bauelements in Eingriff zu treten und verriegelt zu werden.
  2. Das Bauelement von Anspruch 1, wobei die spezifische Form von 2 bis 10 Flächen hat.
  3. Das Bauelement von Anspruch 1 oder 2, wobei die spezifische Form ein Würfel mit sechs Flächen ist.
  4. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 3, wobei die mindestens eine Fläche zwei diagonal gegenüberliegende vorstehende Abschnitte und zwei diagonal gegenüberliegende vertiefte Abschnitte hat.
  5. Das Bauelement von den Ansprüchen 3 und 4, wobei der Würfel 8 Ecken hat, von denen 4 Ecken drei benachbarte vorstehende Abschnitte haben und von denen 4 Ecken drei benachbarte vertiefte Abschnitte haben.
  6. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 5, wobei die Schnapppassung der ersten und zweiten Seite mittels einer Lippe und einer Nut, oder eines Überstands und einer Hinterschneidung erfolgt, oder wobei die erste und zweite Seite an der Verbindung mit dem vertieften Abschnitt einen Winkel von weniger als 90° bilden.
  7. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 5, wobei jede von der ersten und der zweiten Seite einen Winkel von 90° an der Verbindung mit dem vertieften Abschnitt bildet und die erste und die zweite Seite der vorstehenden Abschnitte dazu ausgelegt sind, durch Reibung in Eingriff zu treten und verriegelt zu werden.
  8. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 7, wobei das Bauelement aus einem festen geformten Material hergestellt ist.
  9. Das Bauelement von Anspruch 8, wobei das feste geformte Material ausgewählt ist aus der Gruppe bestehend aus Polyethylen, Polypropylen, Polystyrol, Acrylnitril-Butadien-Styrol (ABS).
  10. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 8 zur Verwendung als ein Spielzeug zum Zusammenbauen einer gewünschten Struktur.
  11. Das Bauelement von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 8 zur Verwendung als ein Bauelement beim Bauen einer Wand.
  12. Eine Form zum Herstellen eines Bauelements von einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 11.
EP18800069.9A 2017-11-06 2018-11-05 Bauelement für unterschiedliche verwendungen Active EP3706879B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP17200099 2017-11-06
PCT/EP2018/080124 WO2019086652A1 (en) 2017-11-06 2018-11-05 Building element for different uses

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP3706879A1 EP3706879A1 (de) 2020-09-16
EP3706879B1 true EP3706879B1 (de) 2024-01-03
EP3706879C0 EP3706879C0 (de) 2024-01-03

Family

ID=60262822

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP18800069.9A Active EP3706879B1 (de) 2017-11-06 2018-11-05 Bauelement für unterschiedliche verwendungen

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US20200215450A1 (de)
EP (1) EP3706879B1 (de)
JP (1) JP2021501619A (de)
CN (1) CN111278523A (de)
AU (1) AU2018358079A1 (de)
WO (1) WO2019086652A1 (de)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
USD914109S1 (en) * 2018-12-14 2021-03-23 Building Blocks Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Robotic toy
USD914108S1 (en) * 2018-12-14 2021-03-23 Building Blocks Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Robotic toy
US11123652B2 (en) * 2019-05-16 2021-09-21 Drew HALDEMAN Modular cube building block system
USD960248S1 (en) * 2019-12-31 2022-08-09 Smart N.V. Housing for a game
USD954853S1 (en) * 2020-01-30 2022-06-14 Richard K. Bunger Counting blocks toy
WO2021176681A1 (ja) * 2020-03-06 2021-09-10 永田　一志 組立ブロック

Family Cites Families (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB191415956A (en) * 1913-07-03 1915-02-11 Alice Vilain Xiiii- Westvoorde Improvements in Building Bricks or Blocks.
US4147007A (en) * 1976-12-10 1979-04-03 Ebco Industries, Ltd. Matable modular elements for toy, display and model applications utilizing paired rib structure
JPH0347290A (ja) * 1989-01-20 1991-02-28 Cornelis J M Beerens 組立ブロック
JP3105734B2 (ja) * 1994-04-22 2000-11-06 核燃料サイクル開発機構 嵌め合わせ可能な直方体ブロック
US6439571B1 (en) * 1999-11-26 2002-08-27 Juan Wilson Puzzle
US6430891B1 (en) * 2000-09-28 2002-08-13 Adams Mfg. Corp. Construction element and coupling device thereof
US20040102132A1 (en) * 2002-11-25 2004-05-27 Stephanie Miller Construction toy formed of connectable components
US20060048475A1 (en) * 2004-09-07 2006-03-09 Lin Fu-Chi Building block
WO2008127980A1 (en) * 2007-04-13 2008-10-23 Microth, Inc. Interlocking spatial components
US8715029B2 (en) * 2007-05-11 2014-05-06 Forrest Frederick Bishop Robotic construction cubes
JP2009041215A (ja) * 2007-08-07 2009-02-26 Koichi Kamitoono 組立式ブロック及び仮設住宅
WO2012005567A1 (en) * 2010-07-05 2012-01-12 Wang Han Yap Building block
US20140308872A1 (en) 2013-04-12 2014-10-16 William Patrick Petillo Toy building blocks

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20200215450A1 (en) 2020-07-09
CN111278523A (zh) 2020-06-12
WO2019086652A1 (en) 2019-05-09
AU2018358079A1 (en) 2020-04-02
EP3706879A1 (de) 2020-09-16
JP2021501619A (ja) 2021-01-21
EP3706879C0 (de) 2024-01-03

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