US20020090881A1

US20020090881A1 - Construction toy

Info

Publication number: US20020090881A1
Application number: US10/034,195
Authority: US
Inventors: Stephen Turnham
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-06-22
Filing date: 2002-01-03
Publication date: 2002-07-11
Also published as: GB9914531D0; GB2351456A; GB2351456B; GB0011980D0

Abstract

A construction toy for producing structures or models using flat objects, playing cards in particular, connected together with the connector elements of the present invention. The connector element comprises variable numbers of radiating arms oriented at variable angles that are capable of gripping playing cards by means of an undulating channel. The number and angle of said radiating arms is dependent of the structure or model to be produced.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a construction toy, in particular to a toy that joins objects together.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Construction toys are known from the prior art, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,370 discloses interlocking discs and WO9315808 discloses interconnecting clips. When in use, the discs of U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,370 are connected together, with two discs being positioned at right angles to each other. WO9315808 is considered to be the closest prior art and discloses a method for creating a structure using interconnecting clips and objects such as coins. The clips of WO9315808 comprise arms oriented at right angles to each other, each arm having one coin-engaging slot, where coins are retained by frictional engagement and by co-operation between the coin rim and ridges located in the clip. It is not known from the prior art to use connector pieces with variable numbers of gripping elements that are capable of joining together flat objects, such as cards, at different angles in order to create structures or models.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, in one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a constructional system comprising a connector element having a plurality of undulating bifurcated gripping arms radiating from a common radiant point.

In a second embodiment, there is provided a construction toy consisting essentially of a connector element for connecting flat objects comprising a core element having a plurality of gripping arms radiating from said core element, where said gripping arms each have a central undulating channel to engage an object, and are angularly spaced.

Typically, the element has between 2 and 12 gripping arms, preferably between 2 and 8.

Preferably, the gripping arms are spaced at angles of 180°, 90° or 45° from each other.

Advantageously, the connector element is made from durable plastic.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a set of connector elements comprising a plurality of elements with different numbers of gripping arms, spaced at different angles from each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, [0011]
FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a toy in accordance with the present invention; [0012]
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the toy of the embodiment of FIG. 1; [0013]
FIG. 3 is a front view of a number of possible embodiments of the present invention; and [0014]
FIG. 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the toy in use. [0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a first embodiment of a [0016] connector element 10 including a core element 14 and varying numbers of bifurcated gripping arms 11 each with central undulating channels 12. Each gripping arm 11 is capable of engaging a flat object such as a playing card 13 (FIG. 4). The gripping mechanism is provided by the resilience and natural flexibility of the inserted card 13 in resistance against the upper and lower curves of the undulating channel 12 of the gripping arm 11. The inner sides of the undulating channel 12 are smooth and flat as, in the present invention, there is no need for ridges or teeth to retain the card 13.
Suitably, the [0017] connector elements 10 are sold as a set comprising a plurality of elements with different numbers and spacings of gripping arms 11. As is illustrated in FIG. 3, embodiments of the connector elements 10 may have varying numbers of gripping arms 11. The number of gripping arms 11 employed will depend on the structure or model that is being made from the connector elements 10 and playing cards 13. Two connector elements 10 with the same number of gripping arms 11 can have the gripping arms 11 oriented at different angles from each other. For example, in a connector element 10 with three gripping arms 11, the angles between the gripping arms 11 can be 90° or 45°, amongst others.
Whilst the present invention has been described with respect to assembling constructions from playing cards, it will be appreciated that the system is equally suitable for connecting a wide range of other articles provided those articles have at least a portion of an edge capable of being received in the undulating [0018] channel 12 of the element.

Claims

1. A constructional system comprising a connector element having a plurality of undulating bifurcated gripping arms radiating from a common radiant point.

2. A construction toy consisting essentially of a connector element for connecting objects comprising a core element having a plurality of gripping arms radiating from said core element, wherein said gripping arms each have a central undulating channel to engage an object and are angularly spaced.

3. A construction toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector element is made from durable plastic.

4. A construction toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connector element has between 2 and 12 gripping arms, preferably between 2 and 8.

5. A construction toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein the gripping arms of the connector element are spaced at angles of 180°, 90° or 45° from each other.

6. A construction toy as claimed in claim 4 wherein the gripping arms of the connector element are spaced at angles of 180°, 90° or 45° from each other.

7. A set of connector elements comprising a plurality of elements as claimed in claim 1 having a range of numbers and spacings of gripping arms.

8. A set of connector elements comprising a plurality of elements as claimed in claim 2 having a range of numbers and spacings of gripping arms.