GB2365795A

GB2365795A - Building blocks with rotating connector

Info

Publication number: GB2365795A
Application number: GB0020318A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tung-Shao Lin
Original assignee: LIN TUNG SHAO
Current assignee: LIN TUNG SHAO
Priority date: 2000-08-18
Filing date: 2000-08-18
Publication date: 2002-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2020-08-18
Also published as: GB0020318D0; GB2365795B

Abstract

A toy building system comprising building blocks 30 having at least three side edges and a connector 10 for connecting building blocks together. Each side edge of the block has a notch with a flat bottom, two opposed sides 31 perpendicular to the bottom and two stubs 33 respectively formed on the two opposed sides 31 of the notch and extending parallel to the flat bottom. The connector is formed from two poles of elastic material connected by a pivot 15, 16 provided in a middle portion of each pole and being perpendicular to their longitudinal axes. In this way the poles may lie side by side with the ability to rotate with respect to each other about the pivot. A slit 13 in each pole may be provided to enable connection with the stub 33. The engagement is easily achieved, is strong enough to allow robust models to be constructed and allows one block to be able to rotate about two axes with respect to another block.

Description

<Desc/Clms Page number 1> TOY BRICK GAME 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to toy brick games favored by children, especially to the toy bricks which are able to be securely connected with each other and rotate in two directions with respect to each other, and which can bring a lot of interest for the children playing with them.

2. Description of Related Art Toy brick games are favored by children all over the world. They a very good kind of toy that can be used to improve children's intelligence and patience. A typical kind of conventional toy brick game is shown in Figure 7. Square toy bricks (60) are provided, and in each side of each of the toy bricks (60) a notch (6 1) is defined. In most situations the notch (6 1) has a flat bottom and two opposite sides that are perpendicular to the bottom. A substantially semispherical protrusion (63) is formed on each of the two sides of the notch (6 1). A pole connector (50) is provided for connecting two toy bricks (60) together. The pole connector (50) has two dimples (52) formed spatially apart from each other on the top face of the pole connector (50). Pushing the pole connector (50) into the notch (61) until the protrusions (63) are received in the dimples (52) can then connect two toy bricks (60).

However, this kind of toy brick game has the following shortcomings: 1. inconvenience in assembly: The volumes of both the protrusions (63) and the dimples (52) are very small. To align the protrusions (63) with the dimples (52) accurately is not only inconvenient, but also boring to a child; 2. insufficient combination force:

The small volume and thus the small contacting area determine that the combination forces maybe insufficient to make a strong and large structure, especially to a child, because the accuracy of his/her actions is not very high; 3. only one rotational direction is possible thus resulting in fewer assembly variations: Obviously, one toy brick is only able to rotate with respect to another in one rotational direction.

The main objective of the invention is to provide a kind of toy brick game of which two bricks can be connected allowing one to be able to rotate with respect to the other in two rotational directions.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a kind of toy brick game of which two bricks can be connected by simple action and which achieve great combination force.

In the drawings Figure I is an exploded perspective view of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the invention showing two toy bricks combined;.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the invention; Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the invention showing the rotation of the toy brick; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the invention showing the rotation of the toy brick; Figure 6 is a plane view showing another embodiment of the invention; and, Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional toy brick.

As shown in Figure 1, a toy brick game of the invention has two constituent parts: at least two toy bricks (3 0) and at least one connector (10) for connecting the at least two toy bricks (30) together.

Each toy brick (30) can be one of a variety of geometrical shapes and has at least three side edges, each of which has a notch (3 1) defined therein. The notch (3 1) has a flat bottom and two opposite sides that are perpendicular to the bottom. Two cylindrical stubs (33) are respectively formed on the two sides and extend parallel to the flat bottom.

Each connector (10) is composed of two identical poles (11, 111) made of elastic material, and a pivot (16) securely but pivotally extended through two through holes (15) defined in the middle portion of each pole (11, 111) and being perpendicular to the axis of each pole (11, 111) respectively. The two poles (11, 111) are positioned substantially side by side but are able to rotate with respect to each other after being connected by the pivot (16), as shown in Figure 3.

Still with reference to Figure 3, since the two poles (11, 111) are identical, only one is selected herein as an example. The pole (11) is round in cross-section when viewed from an end face and has a slit (13) extending along its entire length and defined perpendicular to the through hole (I 5).A cross-sectional view from an end of the slit (13) shows a sector of a circle greater than 180'. This circle meets the periphery of the pole (11) at two points and therefore forms two identical arms (131, 132). The distance between these two points is smaller than the diameter of the circle, which is substantially equal to the diameter of the cylindrical stub (33).

In assembly, a user can first align the slit (13) of the connector (10) with the cylindrical stub (33) of one of the toy bricks (30) and push the connector (10) towards the notch (3 1). Since the diameter of the cylindrical stub (33) is a little

greater than the distance between the aforementioned two points and since the connector (10) itself is elastic, the cylindrical stub (3 3) will push the two arms (13 1, 13 2) apart at the beginning and then is enclosed there by the two reinstated arms (13 1, 13 2) when it is finally pushed into the slit (13). In a similar way, the user can set up any desired structure by connecting more toy bricks (30) together with the connectors (10). Figure 2 is a schematic view showing two of the toy bricks (3 0) combined together by one of the connectors (10).

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, one of the toy bricks (30) is able to rotate with respect to another by pivoting about the pivot (16).

In the above embodiment, all the toy bricks (30) are square when viewed from a front face. However, as mentioned hereinbefore, the toy bricks (30) can be one of a variety of geometrical shapes, such as rectangles, triangles, and so on. Shown in Figure 6 is another embodiment showing an assembly built up by using two square toy bricks (30) and a triangular toy brick (30).

From all above description, it could be seen that the toy brick (30) of the present invention has the following advantages: 1. one toy brick (30) is able to rotate in two directions with respect to another brick (30) connected thereto and thus introduces many variations in construction and interest in play; 2. the engagement between the slit and the cylindrical stub is easy to achieve yet strong enough to enable robust models to be constructed therewith.

Claims

CLAIMS: LA toy brick game comprising: at least two toy bricks each having at least three side edges each of which has a notch defined therein, the notch having a flat bottom and two opposed sides that are perpendicular to the bottom, two stubs respectively formed on the two opposed sides of the notch and extending parallel to the flat bottom; and, at least one connector each having two identical poles made of elastic material and a pivot securely but pivotally received in two through holes respectively defined in a middle portion of each pole and being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of each pole respectively, said two poles being substantially side by side but being able to rotate with respect to each other after being connected by the pivot.