US20060048475A1

US20060048475A1 - Building block

Info

Publication number: US20060048475A1
Application number: US10/934,809
Authority: US
Inventors: Fu-chi Lin
Original assignee: Youth Toy Enterprise Co Ltd
Current assignee: Youth Toy Enterprise Co Ltd
Priority date: 2004-09-07
Filing date: 2004-09-07
Publication date: 2006-03-09

Abstract

A building block includes a partially hollow cubic body, each side of which includes a square frame portion having a predetermined thickness, and a cross-shaped rib portion having a thickness twice as large as the thickness of the frame portion. The cross-shaped rib portions cooperate to divide a space behind each frame portion into four squared cavities. At least one side of the cubic body is provided at two diagonally opposite cavities with two centered round connecting posts projected from that side by a predetermined distance, and each of the round connecting posts has an outer diameter equal to a length of each side of the squared cavity. Any two laterally or diagonally disposed building blocks could be firmly connected to each other by inserting the round connecting posts of a third building block into two diagonally opposite cavities separately on the two laterally or diagonally disposed building blocks.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a building block, and more particularly to building blocks that could be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally connected or bridged.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective and side views, respectively, of a conventional building block 2 disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,780, mainly including a partially hollow cubic body, each side of which includes a square frame portion 21 having a thickness A, and a cross-shaped rib portion 22 having a thickness B small than the thickness A. The cross-shaped rib portions 22 cooperate to divide a space behind each frame portion 21 into four squared cavities 23. At least one side of the building block 2 is provided at two diagonally opposite cavities 23 with two centered round connecting posts 24, and each of the round connecting posts 24 has an outer diameter equal to a length of each side of the squared cavity 23. The remaining two diagonal cavities are denoted with a reference number 231.
FIGS. 3 and 4 shows any two building blocks 2 could always be horizontally or vertically connected to each other at two completely contacted side surfaces thereof. In this case, the round connecting posts 24 on one building block 2 could always be correspondingly inserted into two cavities 23 or 231 on the other building block 2. In this manner, a plurality of building blocks 2 could be continuously connected or stacked to form a desired shape.
Please refer to FIG. 5. When it is desired to bridge two laterally disposed building blocks 2′ using a third building block 2 by contacting part of one side surface of the third building block 2 with part of one side surface of each of the two laterally disposed building blocks 2′, it is impossible to insert the round connecting posts 24 on the third building block 2 into two diagonally opposite cavities 231′ separately on the two laterally disposed building blocks 2′ because a projection D of a central distance between the two round connecting posts 24 of the third building block 2 on one edge of thereof is equal to a sum of the thickness B of the cross-shaped rib portion 22 and twice radius R of the round post 24 (i.e., D=B+2R), and a projection C of a central distance between the two diagonally opposite cavities 231′ separately on the two laterally disposed building blocks 2′ on one edge thereof is equal to a sum of twice thickness A of the frame portion 21 and twice radius R of the round post 24 (i. e., C=2A+2R), and C is much larger than D because A is larger than B as mentioned above.
Please further refer to FIG. 6. When it is desired to bridge two diagonally disposed building blocks 2″ using a third building block 2, it is impossible to insert the round connecting posts 24 on the third building block 2 into two diagonally opposite cavities 231″ separately on the two diagonally disposed building blocks 2″ because a central distance E between two diagonally opposite cavities 231″ separately on the two building blocks 2″ is equal to √{square root over ( )}2 (2A+2R), and a central distance F between the two round connecting posts 24 on the third building block 2 is equal to √{square root over ( )}2 (B+2R), and E is much larger than F since A is larger than B. Therefore, the conventional building blocks 2, 2′, 2″ could only be assembled in some limited manners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a building block that could be assembled to other identical ones in more changeful manners. To achieve the above and other objects, the building block of the present invention includes a partially hollow cubic body, each side of which includes a square frame portion having a predetermined thickness, and a cross-shaped rib portion having a thickness twice as large as the thickness of the frame portion. The cross-shaped rib portions cooperating to divide a space behind each frame portion into four squared cavities. At least one side of the cubic body is provided at two diagonally opposite cavities with two centered round connecting posts projected from that side by a predetermined distance, and each of the round connecting posts has an outer diameter equal to a length of each side of the squared cavity. A central distance between the two round connecting posts of one building block is always equal to a central distance between two diagonally opposite cavities separately on any two laterally or diagonally disposed building blocks. Therefore, it is possible to bridge two laterally or diagonally disposed building blocks using a third building block by inserting the round connecting posts on the third building block into two diagonally opposite cavities separately on the two laterally or diagonally disposed building blocks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional building block;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conventional building block of FIG. 1, showing one side having round connecting posts provided thereat;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the normal way of assembling multiple pieces of the conventional building block of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the relative position of a third conventional building block of FIG. 1 to another two laterally disposed ones when the latter are to be bridged using the third building block;
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the relative position of a third conventional building block of FIG. 1 to another two diagonally disposed ones when the latter are to be bridged using the third building block;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a building block according to the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the building block of FIG. 7, showing one side having round connecting posts provided thereat;
FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing multiple pieces of the building block of the present invention are assembled in the same way as that for the conventional building blocks of FIGS. 3 and 4;
FIG. 10 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the relative position of a third building block of FIG. 7 to another two laterally disposed ones when the latter are to be bridged using the third building block;
FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing two laterally disposed building blocks of FIG. 7 are to be bridged using a third building block;
FIG. 13 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 12;
FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing two diagonally disposed building blocks of FIG. 7 are to be bridged at upper and lower sides using a third building block each; and
FIG. 15 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 7 that is a perspective view of a building block 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and to FIG. 8 that is a plan view of FIG. 7 showing one side thereof having two round connecting posts provided thereat. As can be clearly seen from these drawings, the building block 1 is a partially hollow cubic body, each side of which includes a square frame portion 11 having a thickness H, and a cross-shaped rib portion 12 having a thickness G. Wherein, the thickness G is twice as large as the thickness H (i.e. G=2H). The cross-shaped rib portions 12 cooperate to divide a space behind each frame portion 11 into four squared cavities 13. At least one side of the building block 1 is provided at two diagonally opposite cavities 13 with two centered round connecting posts 14 projected from that side of the building block 1 by a predetermined distance. Each of the round connecting posts 14 has an outer diameter equal to a length of each side of the squared cavity 13. The other two diagonally opposite cavities 13 on the side of the building block 1 having the two round connecting posts 14 will be hereinafter denoted with a reference number of 131.
FIGS. 9 and 10 are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, showing any two building blocks 1 of the present invention could be horizontally or vertically connected to each other at two completely contacted side surfaces thereof because the round connecting posts 14 on one building block 1 could always be correspondingly inserted into two diagonally opposite squared cavities 13 or 131 on an adjacent building block 1.
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a relative position of a third building block 1 to another two laterally disposed building blocks, which are denoted with a reference number of 1′, when the two building blocks 1′ are to be bridged using the third building block 1. FIGS. 12 and 13 are perspective views respectively showing the two building blocks 1′ before and after being bridged using the building block 1. As can be clearly seen from FIG. 11, when the two building blocks 1′ are laterally disposed with the side having two round connecting posts 14′ facing toward the same direction, a central distance I between two diagonally opposite cavities 131′ separately located on the two building blocks 1′ is twice as long as a sum of a radius R of the round connecting post 14′ and the thickness H of the frame portion 11 (i.e., I=2 (R+H); and a projection J of a central distance between two round connecting posts 14 on the building block 1 on one edge thereof is equal to a sum of twice radius R of the round connecting posts 14 and the thickness G of the cross-shaped rib portion 12 (i.e., J=2R+G). Since the thickness G of the rib portion 12 is twice as large as the thickness H of the frame portion 11 (i.e., G=2H) in the present invention, it is derived that I=J. Therefore, the two round connecting posts 14 on the building block 1 could be inserted into the two diagonally opposite cavities 131′ separately on the two laterally disposed building blocks 1′ to bridge them.
In practical applications of the present invention, two laterally disposed building blocks 1′ may be more firmly connected together by facing their respective sides with the round connecting posts 14′ toward each other and inserting the round connecting posts 14′ into corresponding cavities 131′ on the opposite side. Alternatively, two laterally disposed building blocks 1′ could be quickly bridged together simply by inserting the round connecting posts 14′ on a first building bock 1′ into any two diagonally opposite squared cavities 13′ on the other building block 1′. In this manner, a plurality of building blocks 1′ could be serially connected together.
FIGS. 14 and 15 are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, showing two diagonally disposed building blocks 1″ of the present invention are to be bridged at upper and lower sides using a third building block 1 each. As shown, when the two building blocks 1″ are diagonally oppositely disposed, a central distance between two diagonally opposite cavities 131″ or 13″ is equal to √{square root over ( )}2 I; and a central distance between the two round connecting posts 14 on the third building block 1 is equal to √{square root over ( )}2 J. Since it has been derived as above that I=J, the two round connecting posts 14 on the third building block 1 could be fitly inserted into two corresponding cavities 131″ or 13″ separately on the two diagonally disposed building blocks 1″ to enable a firm connection of the two building blocks 1″ to each other via the bridging third building blocks 1.
With the above arrangements, the building blocks of the present invention could be connected and stacked in more changeful manners and are therefore improved, novel, and more practical and interesting for use.
The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A building block comprising a partially hollow cubic body, each of six sides of which includes a square frame portion having a predetermined thickness, and a cross-shaped rib portion having a predetermined thickness; said cross-shaped rib portions cooperating to divide a space behind each said frame portion into four squared cavities; at least one of the six sides of said cubic body being provided at two diagonally opposite cavities with two centered round connecting posts projected from that side by a predetermined distance; and each of said round connecting posts having an outer diameter equal to a length of each side of said squared cavity; said building block being characterized in that the thickness of said cross-shaped rib portion is twice as large as the thickness of said frame portion.