US2072698A - Toy building - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1937. ,o. B. ANDREWS TOY BUILDING Filed April 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l ,YIIIIIIIIIIA'IIII'II'IIIA March 2, 1937. I o. B. ANDREWS I 2,072,693 7 TOY Buubme Filed April 22; i935 2 Sheets-Sheef 2' ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to toy buildings and more particularly to toy buildings made from paperboard material which may be assembled and taken down by the child.

5- The toy building forming the subject matter of this invention comprises separable parts which are cut from paperboard and suitably lithographed or printed to give, when assembled, the appearance of a particular building. The building structure, such as the side walls and the roof, may be detachably connected together as by means of cooperating tabs and slits. A distinctive feature of this invention comprises the provision of a pair of telescoping box sections within which the collapsed building structure may be packed and. shipped, one of the box sections later serving as a raised base. upon which the building structure is superimposed and erected. The side walls 7 of the building and the supporting base are provided with cooperating tabs and slits to removably support the building structure in erect position thereon. The slits are preferably cut at spaced intervals in the bottom wall at the base section and the side. walls of the building structure are provided with, tabs or ears insertable into the slits in the base.

The side walls of the building may be hinged together so as to permit collapse thereof into a size which will fit within the box section.

30 In some instances thev size of the box sections can be materially reduced by making one of the building side wall sections detachable, permitting the other side wall sections to be inwardly collapsed upon one another in superimposed rela- 35 tionship. The roof of the building may be angular or arched as desired and the roof may be made to closely conform to the contour of the side walls by providing transverse score lines extending across the roof section. These transverse 40 score lines also give a certain decorative eifect to the roof, giving the appearance of sectional roofing material.

With certain types of buildings, such as garages or airports, the appearance and amusement qual- 45 ities of the building may be greatly enhanced by the provision of a ramp structure which may be detachably secured to the supporting base. The ramp is preferably made collapsible so that it will fit in a minimum of space within the box sections.

50 In toy buildings such as toy houses, churches, offices, theatres and other buildings which are designed in life for human occupancy, the ramp structure may be replaced by a collapsible staircase similarly constructed which can be remov- 55 ably detached to the base or to the side wall of the building structure adjacent a door representation. Porches, wing structures, awnings, window boxes, signs and manifold other building accoutrements may be detachably secured to the base of the building wall or roof by means of tab and 5 slit connections.

The invention herein disclosed may be applied and used in association with any type of toy building made from. paperboard sections suitably lithographed or printed to represent the partic- 10 ular building desired. The entire assembly can be economically manufactured at low cost and the box sections forming the container in which the goods are packed are so made as to form a cooperating part of the toy combination. 15

The invention consists in certain new and original features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Although the. novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be par- 20 ticularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages and the manner in which it may be carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connec- 25 tion with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completely assembled and erected toy building, the particular structure shown, for purpose of illustration, being a toy airport;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the box sections within which the building structure may be packed and shipped, one of the box sections being formed to provide a raised base upon which the building structure is erected;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the separate parts forming the airport assembly, certain parts being shown in separated or exploded view and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary-perspective view of the preferred form of attaching means for connecting together separate parts of the structure. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings and specifications.

The building structure forming a part of this invention is so shaped and formed as to permit the structure to be collapsed and packed within the telescoping box sections shown in Fig. 2. One of the box sections comprises a bottom wall l and surrounding side walls or flanges 2 connected together to provide a container. Another box section of substantially similar form comprises a bottom wall 3 and side walls or side flanges 4 suitably connected together and of a size to telescope over or within the box section providing a closed container assembly.

One of the box sections is used to provide a base upon which the superimposed building structure is erected. Any type of building may be made in conformity with this invention and it is understood that the toy airport is herein disclosed for purpose of illustration only, and that the invention may be applied to any toy building design such as churches, theatres, garages, dwellings, houses, cabins, ofiice buildings, railroad terminals and other structures. The building preferably comprises building side walls 5, 6 and l suitably joined together so as to permit collapse of the wall sections. In one form the side wall 5 of the building and the end walls 6 may be hinged together along the score lines i4 so as to permit inward collapse of the end walls upon the side wall 5 so that these parts may be placed in fiat condition within the box sections shown in Fig. 2, to occupy a minimum of space within the box section. The side wall I, as shown in the drawings, may be connectedto the end wall 6 by means of separable connections including tabs ll projecting laterally from the ends of the side Wall E insertable into the slits l8 provided in the end walls 6. It is understood, however, that the side wall i may be hingedly connected to the end wall 6 as by means of score lines, or on the other hand, all the side and end walls may be separately connected by means of tabs and slits..

The side walls 5 and l and the end walls 6 are removably supported in erect position by means of tabs or ears 5% which project from the bottom of these walls and into spaced slits or slots it provided in the bottom wall I of the box section forming the base for the building. The building side and end walls are thus rigidly but removably secured to the base and will withstand a considerable lateral thrust without being moved from their fixed position.

The building structure is provided with a roof 8 formed from a blank of paperboard material and is designed to rest upon the side and end walls of the building structure. The roof is rigidly held in removable position by means of the outwardly projecting tabs or ears H] which are inserted into-the spaced slots or slits in the roof 8. Further holding the roof in fixed position are the end wall portions 2i which project upwardly through the elongated slits or slots 22 in the roof. The end portions 2| give a finished architectural appearance to the building and strengthen and reinforce the same. The inclined portion of the roof may be arched or angular in form, and may be provided with score lines 29 extending transversely thereacross to permit the roof to closely conform and seat against the top edge of the building Walls. The transversely extending score lines 29 also give the roof the appearance of having been covered with roofing material applied in strips. 5

Where the toy structure is intended to represent an airport or garage its amusement value and appearance may be greatly enhanced by the provision of a removable ramp. The ramp may comprise an inclined fioor i2 formed of cardboard material having triangular shaped side flanges 23 hinged thereto. The side flanges 23 may be collapsed inwardly so that the ramp occupies the minimum of space within the container shown in Fig. 2. The ramp is also preferably removably connected to the base i by means of tabs 27 insertable into slits 28 cut into the base along the meetingline between the sidefianges 2 of the in the roof.

base and the bottom or floor l thereof. The side flanges 23 may be held in fixed assembled position by means of tabs 2d which are inserted into the slits or slots in the side flange 2 of the base. Toy aeroplanes, automobiles and other vehicles can then be rolled up the ramp, on to the base i and into the airport or garage, affording considerable amusement to the child.

The side walls of the building structure may be lithographed to provide representations of windows 30, doors 3! and staircases 32. The staircase 32 may, if desired, be made as a removable collapsible structure similar to the ramp above described. Where an airport representation is desired, a cardboardrepresentation of a beacon l0 and wireless tower H may be provided which may be removably held in position by means of the tabs 26 insertable into proper slots or slits 21 A sign structure 33, which may give information as to the entrance to the building or advertising, may also be provided. The sign structure may be removably secured to the side or end walls of the building by means of tab and.

slit connections, as heretofore, described. Printed representations indicating sliding garage doors 34 may also be provided surrounding the entrance opening into the building. Printed representations of a gas pit 35 may also be provided either in the ramp or in the base supporting the building structure, and if desired, a gasoline pump 40, held to the fioor l by a tab and slit connection, may also be provided.

The tab and slit connections for removably securing the various parts of the building assembly together is more particularly illustrated in Fig. 4. Preferably the slit or slot used is somewhat narrower in width than the thicknessof the tab which is inserted into the same. Frictional binding action is thus exerted by the side edges 11 of the slit against the sides of the tab so that some force is required to insert the tab into, or remove the tab therefrom. The parts are thus held firmly assembled together until forcibly separated.

While an airport structure is here shown for purposes of illustration only, it is fully understood that other toy building representations may be assembled from the teachings of this invention. Cutout paperboard parts which when assembled form churches, theatres, public buildings, museums, houses, garages, and numerous other buildings may be readily made in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A toy building assembly including in combination, a box having a bottom wall and surrounding flanges which provide a raised base for the erected superimposed building structure and a container for the building structure when collapsed, said building structure including a plurality of vertical building wall sections adapted to be detachably connected to said base, said vertical wall sections comprising a side wall having hingedly connected end walls adapted to collapse thereon so as to fit within the container, said end wall top portions being formed with extensions of substantially the same width as the end walls and a separate side wall adapted to be detachably connected to the collapsible end wall portions, each of said side walls being formed with an arched portion intermediate the ends thereof; a roof detachably supported upon the vertical wall sections comprising two substantially horizontal end portions and an intermediate arched portion, the arched portion of the roof having a plurality of transversely extending score lines permitting said portion to be arranged in arch formation conforming to the arched contour of the side walls of the building, the horizontal end portions of the roof being provided with slits to receive the extensions formed on the top portions of the building end walls, a ramp including an inclined floor portion leading to the raised base upon which the building is erected, said ramp being of substantially the same width as the length of the raised base, means for detachably securing said ramp to the base comprising closed slots in one of the flanges of the raised base and tabs intermediate the side edges of the ramp insertable in said slots, and cooperating slits and tabs associated with said building walls and said base for removably securing said building walls in erect position thereon, said tabs being of slightly greater thickness than the width of said slits so that the side of said slits will be irictionally gripped by the material surrounding said slits.

OLIVER B. ANDREWS.

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