US1092217A - Construction member. - Google Patents

Description

A. HOPKINS. v GONSTRUG'1ION MEMBER.

APPLICATION FILEDv AUG. 18, 1913.

Patented A'pr. 7,1914..

fr orme ALFRED HOlPKINS, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, '1Y0 BILL DEEZY COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CGRPURATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

ooNsrnUo'rroN MEMBER.

naait.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patented Apr. 7, ibid.

Application filed August 18, 1913. Serial No. 785,280.

' of various articles or devices for either practical, or amusement, 0r instructive pur-- poses, the object of the invention being to provide members which can be assembled to make. various structures, without the employment of nails, glue, or any tools'whatever.

As will be hereinafter explained, the members are capable ot being assembled :tor the making of useful articles1 or the frameworks for such articles, or ior the designing of architectural rand geometrical structures.

The members may be used as toys for the instruction of juveniles, or Jror their amusement in designing and building various things, or may be used as has been stated, in making an almost endless variety of articles.

The invention consists in the improve` ments which I shall now proceed to describe and claim.

l Figure l is a plan view of the joint mem-^ ber. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a slightly'dilerent form. Fig. 4 is a plan view, representing two `of the joint members assembled and with the rod members connected thereto-in the form of a wheel. Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa joint member bent to one of the useful forms hereinafter described. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the form shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the joint members bent to another form. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the form shown in Fig. 7. Figs. 9, 10, l1 and l2, are diagrammatic views, illustrating a few of the structures which may be built, or made up of a plurality of my improved construction members.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views. y

The joint membcuis made of sheet metal such as tin, brass, or other suitable material w ich is flexible, so as tb be capable of being bent and to retain the form imparted by bending. The joint member comprises a body or web a, having cars bent to form sockets a', the body or web a being preferably provided with a central hole o. irs indicated in Figs. l ano 2, the ears o are all. bent to form cylindrical sockets. Some ot the sockets, however, may be U-shaped, as

indicated at as, in Fig. i3. l do not limit myself to any particular shape olf the sockets. lt is essential that the connections between the sockets and the body yor web be capable of being bent to diiiercnt angles relatively to each other. The sockets should be of such size as to frictionally engage rod members b. The rod members may be of any length. lf two socket members are assembled, as indicatedv in Fig. Ll, and connected by a pin passed through the central apertures. or holes o2, and bent, short rods b then being fitted into the sockets, the resulting form will represent the hub and spokes of a wheel. For this purpose no bonding ot the ears relatively to their original plane is needed. The metal of which the joint members areconstructed is sul'liriently liexible to enable the ears to be bent to various relative positions, as indicated in Figs. 51 6, 7, and 8, and as indicated diagrammatically in 9, l0, 11, and 12. The last-mentioned figures indicate the rod members, by single.

lines, and the hinged members are shown diagrammatically. By the employment of the hinged members a at the various places indicated in Fig. 9, the sockets 'of such members receiving the ends of rod members b., I ma] construct a trussed framework, suitable ior the building of the roof oi either a toy house, or a house of a size sufficiently large to be capable of affording shelter.

ln Fig. 10 I indicate simply a geometrical ligure, such as a. cube, the ears ot the joint members 'being clearly indicated `as being bent in different directions to enable the rod members to connect the joint members.

Fig. ll represents a pyramid constructed of six rod members b, of substantially equal length, and iivcjoint members o. As indicated at the base of Fig. 11, some of the joint members may have one ear, each exten-ding outwardly to enable the structure shown in said ligure to be connected by rod members to other similarlyA or differently designed structures.

In Fig. l2 I represent a tower structure, which muy be considered not only as representing a toy Eiffel tower, but also represents a tower built on a large enough scale to serve a useful purpose, such as supporting a flag, ratus.

In Fig. l1 there are four members a, at the base, eachmember havingone ear extending downwardly to vform a leg 'which might enter the ground, or 'which might receive a rod member driven into the ground, the saidfour joint members being connected by four rod members of equal length. -The upwardly extending ears of the four base members a, receive'tlie lower ends of four long rods which extend up through jointmembers bent to the form indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, the upper ends of the rods entering a joint member Which has the four sockets bent downwardly close together to rpractically constitute a cap for the tower structure.

vThe forms illustrated are but a feW of a great variety of shapes or frames that may be made or built by means of my improved joint and rod members, without the employment of any nails, screws, or other fastening means, and it will be unnecessary to illustrate more forms. A

As indicated in Fig. et, some or all of the sockets may be indented, at at, either before` or after the rod members Z) are inserted, to increase the hold of the sockets upon the rods.

rlhe chief characteristic of my invention is, that the joints are flexible. lVhile they'. might be of resilient metal for some purposes, for-l most purposes it is preferable that they shall be flexible, in the sense that they will retain the forms to which they are bent. Ihe easiest way of bending the members a, is to insert the rod members 'and use the latter as levers, the bend then occurring at the point between the socket portion ot' the ear and the body or central portion of the joint. 'lhe socket ears are capable of being bent at a right angle, or less, to the plane of the centervor lbody of the joint.

. I-Vhile I show the joint members as having four radial arms, I donot limit myself thereto, as the number of radial flexible sockets may be greater or less than four. As

or a wireless telegraph appaclearly shown in Figs. 9, l0, l1 and l2,A

joints.constructed with four radial socket ears are capable ot' being used for constructing a great variety of frames, in connection with rod members ol greater or lesser length. Ut tours-c, it a joint is to be used in a location ..vhere one or 'more of the socket ears v would Vbe useless, those may be dispensed willi by cutting or breaking them olf. The

aperture or hole a2 not only enables a plurality of the joint members to be assembled, as shown in Fig. 4, but said holes may be used to receive Wire guys .when building a trussed structure,lor for other purposes.

By leaving one or more of the sockets open, or making it U-shaped, as indicated ata, in Fig.4 3, the joint member may be connected toene edge of a flat bar. For instance, if a flat bar is used as the ridge-pole of a structure, ears having the form shown at a3, in Fig. 3, may straddle the upper edge of the said ridge-pole bar, .other rods entering the other. sockets to form rafters.

It will be readily understood that the joint members may be fashioned to different f shapes, and that to enable any one to make a wide variety of articles, either for toy or' utilitarian urposes, it is only necessary to have a su icient number of joint members and rod members, which latter may be of various lengths, or which may be capable of being easily cut or broken to shorter lengths. These members furnish in simple form, all that is required for the making of a great variety of small or large articles, for either amusement purposes, or instruction in dei signing architectural or geometrical forms, or for the construction of frames for a Wide 'variety of articles. It is to be understood, of course, that I do not limit myself to the particular shape of the rod members in cross-section. While preferably round, they may be polygonal or flat, in which case the lips of the ears might be correspondingly bent to form sockets which would closely lit such differently formed rod members.

I claim z 4 i 'A construction membervformed of sheet metal consisting of a flat web or body having a plurality of elongated hollow sockets adapted to receive and frictionally hold rods of a size substantially equal to the size of the sockets, said sockets being flexibly and inte.

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