US2600900A

US2600900A - Toy house

Info

Publication number: US2600900A
Application number: US48812A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mcneill Albert George
Original assignee: Bachmann Brothers Inc
Current assignee: Bachmann Brothers Inc
Priority date: 1948-09-11
Filing date: 1948-09-11
Publication date: 1952-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 1969-06-17

Description

June '17, 1952 A. G. MCNEILL TOY HOUSE Filed Sept. 11, 1948 IN VEN TOR. 14L6RT QEORGE Me NE LL BY f! A rroR/vE Y Patented June 17, 1952 my HOUSE Albert .George MoNeill, Philadelphia; Panpassignoi' to.; Bachma nn Bros. Inc-:,.;Philadelphia,' Pa-., a oorporationof Pennsylvania j Application September 11, 194s; Serial Nofl 48,812

,Thisinvention. relates .in'general to toys, and more particularly to toy houses of the knockdown or collapsible types The principal object ofthetinvention is to provide 'a tophouse kitor assembly of a pleasing design,. and-simplified construction, and especially adapted for the amusementand instruc- Itioniofchildren.

1; Another object is the provision of a .childs. toy

house of collapsible or knock-down type, and

formedofxplastic, washable. materialthat may be assembled in a matter of minutes'by a child td-serve both as a toy and/or as a decoration for Christmasgardens and .the like. .A further object of the invention is toprovi'de a novel .toy house. assemblyof substantially unbreakable, plastic material, and particularly adaptedto be assembled by children into a miniature reproduction of. anattractive cottage. i .Astill. further object of the invention is to provide. a my house kit of the .type indicated, and wherein...the.-.plastic. Washable, components are rovided with means facilitating their immediate operative junction to form the completed house.

Other objects and advantages residing in the novel design and. construction, .and in the. combination and arrangement of.-parts,.will.appear as the description proceeds and willbe bestunderstoodwhen taken in. connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figurefltis aperspectiveview of the toy house as it appears after being assembled; and Figure 2..is an explodedperspective view, with parts .omitted, andshowingthe means provided for operatively retaining. theassembly together in theiform shown in Figure 1.

Referring. now tothe drawings wherein similar i characters of reference. indicate correspondingipart'si-in the several views of the preferred and. connected to the front and back walls I3,

I'd-respectively... The side walls which are sub stantially similar in size andover-all configuration have a rectangular body portion and a triangulanshapedupper. portion, as at 15. According to the presentinventiomthe opposite or lat- .er'ali'edges of eachendwall is formed with spaced projecting lugs, as at I6, that provide correspondingly spaced openings or. notches lfia therebetween. 'Ihet'brick-shaped lugs lfi as described I hereinafter; are adapted to dovetail with com- I. i... I J1.- plementary..brick-shapedl s iilfiorm'e o the adjacentsedgei portions of theirorit andback walls L3, i Lthat. similarly. provide spacedtiopens ings,l aslat Ila, .to. accommodatezthelugs. 1.6,;whi1e the said lugs' .!.'i':are being receivedinth. spaces l6a. The .n'lanner...ofJoiningor .dolvetailing the complementary lugsl-S and I! is shownin Figure 2', :itilbeing' understood that, by reason of their plastic and flexible composition, .these lugs. read.- ily. engage in clampinglfashion to. securely -retain the .fourzwalls. in :the..:normal.=vertical; posie tionshowninFigui-e l. LTheL'side. onend walLzJ l.'is :molded breast to provide aldoor l8 and. a...window .l9;.while'..the companion Isidewall .l 2 is. formed to providettwo windows 2c and 1.2 i ,sland .lalsoa i com-paratively small window: frame. or Ventopening 22. The front. wall .113 is "molded or? cast tosiinulate a centrally Ipositioned door assembly.- indicated generally. atf'23.' .Located. on eithenlsideiof the door 23 Lin.spaced.relation is. a pair. of...iv'zindow frames designated .generallyat': 24,? 25. that .similarly to. the? door.'22,;.ar.etmolded integrally with the front wall. Thecomplementary baclewalllfl difiers from the front wall l3 in that a do'on2-6 arranged at one side of two similarly positioned windows=2'l, 28. Here also, the molded construction, it will beunderstood, issuchas' to simulate the actual appearance of window framesJand a .doonwithout thesprovision of means forotheir actual movement. Referring toFigure 2, it..will. be seen that the slanting roof, designated Y generallyat ,...29, .is formed of.two complementary members 30, 3.! respectively. Each. of the..members...30-,.\3l.xas viewed in Figure :2, is prov-idedwithl.anjupper pair of studs orprongs 32 .and a lower. pair of studs 33. The lower pair of. these lugs isgadapted to seat on theetop edgesofthe .front andback walls I3, 1:4 and also to abut against the sidewalls l l and I2 so thatits positionis secured in. the operative relation shown inFigureil. The .upper edge of each roof member 30, 3| is also'formed with a reinforcing strip or portion as. at 34. Each roof member is configured to simulate shingles, as at 35 andhas its reinforcing portion 33 notched as at 36 to form a square. opening.3'| when the two roof members are in the. position illustrated in Figure. l. Theopening 31 accommodates. a .chimney 38 formed ormolded of the same plastic, washable material as the other components of the assembly. The hollow chimney member 38 is shouldered or reduced as at 39 for reception in the above-mentioned opening 31 and is additionally recessed as at 40 to provide a triangular shaped recess that fits over and accommodates the adjacent intersecting edges of the reinforced portions 34 of the roof members 30, 3|.

According to individual preference, the component parts of the assembly are preferably provided in pleasing color designs. For example, the doors and windows may be red, while the walls and chimney may be white. It will be further observed that the dovetails or lugs l6, i! not only serve as means for retaining the walls together, but also convey the general impression of a pleasing brick or building block construction.

The mode of assembling the components of the toy house outfit has been in large size indicated above but may be summarized as follows:

One of the side walls I I or l2 may be placed in a normal vertical position and, by way of example, the front wall l3 thrust thereagainst in such wise as to join the dovetail lugs l6 and [1 into cooperative relation. The back wall [4 may now be similarly secured to the same side wall and this is followed by the application of the remaining side Wall in the same manner. Each of the roof members 30, 3| will now be laid in slanting fashion upon the upper sloping edges of the end walls ll, l2 and upon the horizontally extending upper edges of the front and back walls l3, 14. As mentioned above, the bottom lugs of the pairs 3|, 32 will engage the upper edges of the front and back walls, and the adjacent lateral portions of the side walls and the upper pair of lugs 32 will contact the adjacent inner surface of the side walls, thereby preventing displacement of the roof members until desired. The chimney 38 now may be inserted in the opening 31, thus completing the assembly.

It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in the specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a knock-down toy assembly of the character described, the combination of a pair of structural elements that are intended to be detachably secured together, each of said elements being made from a plastic material and having a main body portion that is relatively thin and an end edge, and a plurality of lugs arranged in spaced relation along said end edge from which they project and integrally joined to said main body portion, each of said lugs being thicker than said main body portion and having a pair of uninterrupted continuous parallel surfaces normal to said end edge, the spaced lugs on one of said elements being complemental to the lugs on the other of said elements between which they are adapted to frictionally interfit with the faces on one lug engaging those of adjacent lugs to establish a detachable connection between said elements.

2. In a toy house, a pair of Wall elements intended to be detachably secured together at an angle, each of said wall elements being made from a plastic material and having a main body portion that is relatively thin, and an end. edge that is adapted to be detachably secured to the corresponding end edge of the other of said elements, and a plurality of lugs arranged in spaced relation alon each end edge and projecting therefrom with the lugs on one end edge interfitting between the lugs on the other end edge, each of said lugs being thicker than said main body portion and having a pair of continuous uninterrupted parallel surfaces normal to said end edge with the surfaces of the lugs on one wall element in frictional engagement with the surfaces of the lugs on the other wall element.

3. In a toy house of the character described, a pair of opposed end walls, a front wall, and a rear wall, said walls being arranged in rectangular formation with each wall being made from a plastic material and having end edges that are joined to the end edges of adjacent Walls by a detachable connection, said detachable connection comprising spaced lugs integrally formed on the end edge of each wall and interfitting with corresponding lugs on adjacent walls, said lugs being thicker than said Walls and extending beyond the outer faces thereof, each of said lugs having a pair of continuous uninterrupted parallel surfaces normal to the end edge of the wall by which it is carried with the surfaces of the lug on one wall in frictional engagement with the surfaces of the lugs on the other wall.

l. In a toy house, front and rear walls of rectangular formation defined by end edges, top and bottom edges, a pair of end walls each having an end edge corresponding to the end edges of said front and rear walls, a bottom edge corresponding to the bottom edge of said front and rear walls, and a pair of inclined top edges that meet at an angle and which are disposed above the top edges of said front and rear walls, each of said Walls being made of a plastic material and of relatively thin construction, a series of spaced lugs projecting beyond each end edge of each wall and integrally joined thereto, each of said lugs being thicker than the respective wall on which it is formed, the lugs on the edge of one wall interfitting with the lugs on the edge of an adjacent wall to establish a, detachable connection therebetween, a pair of roof members resting on the top edges of said walls, and lugs projecting downwardly from the lower faces of said roof members, and engaging said walls adjacent to the upper edges thereof to detachably hold said roof members in position.

5. In a toy house, front and rear walls of rectangular formation defined by end edges, top and bottom edges, a pair of end walls each having an end edge corresponding to the end edges of said front and rear walls, a bottom edge corresponding to the bottom edge of said front and rear walls, and a pair of inclined top edges that meet at an angle and which are disposed above the top edges of said front and rear walls, each of said walls being made of a plastic material and of relatively thin construction, a series of spaced lugs projecting beyond each end edge of each wall and integrally joined thereto, each of said lugs being thicker than the respective wall on which it is formed, the lugs on the edge of one wall interfitting with the lugs on the edge of an adjacent wall to establish a detachable connection therebetween, a pair of roof members resting on the top edges of said walls, each of said roof members being of rectangular formation presentin four corners, a lug arranged at each of said corners spaced fromthe edges thereat and projecting downwardly from the inner face of the respective roof member, said lugs being adapted to engage said walls to removably hold said roof members in position on said walls, said roof members meeting at an apex with each roof member formed with a recess along said meet- 5 ing edge, and a chimney removably positioned Number in the opening defined by said recesses. 972,498 ALBERT GEORGE MCNEILL. 1,107,477 1,110,093 REFERENCES CITED 5 1,371,35 The following references are of record in the 1,716,233 file'jbf this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,334,844 Number Name Date 10 129,960 Johnson July 30, 1872 6 Name Date Boyd et a1 Oct. 11, 1910 Bartels Aug. 18, 1914 Yauck Sept. 8, 1914 Cade Mar. 15, 1921 Nichols et a1. June 4, 1929 Fay Oct. 20, 1936 Schauer Aug. 3, 1937 Salter Nov. 23, 1943