US3451158A

US3451158A - Toy construction kit with selective rotatable and non-rotatable connection of components

Info

Publication number: US3451158A
Authority: US
Inventors: Artur Fischer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-10-14
Filing date: 1966-11-15
Publication date: 1969-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 1986-06-24
Also published as: ES130991U; FI47045B; FR1496470A; AT268006B; GB1113159A; DK113271B; DE1478407B1; US3429213A; CH442107A; IL26811A; SE301745B; ES130991Y; DE1502829B2; DE1502829A1; BE688046A; NL6613854A; NL6613851A; NO120611B; NO118315B; FI47045C

Description

I Jam; 24, 1969 Fig.4 1

A. FISCHER 3,451,158 TOY CONSTRUCTION KIT WITH SELECTIVE ROTATABLE AND v NON-ROTATABLE CONNECTION OF COMPONENTS Filed Nov. 15, 1966 Fig.1

1 12 Fig.

I V INVENTDR. I I 84 W United States Patent Int. Cl. A63h 33706; F16b 7/00 US. Cl. 46-16 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a toy construction kit, a male element has a cylindrical end portion of constant diameter. A female element has a passage bounded by a concave inner surface extending over more than 180 of arc. The passage consists of two large longitudinally adjacent portions one of which The present invention relates to a toy construction kit. More specifically, the invention relates to a toy construction kit which includes a male structural element and a female structural element and in which the male structural element can be secured to the female structural element at the option of the user in such a manner as to be either rotatably or non-rotatably coupled to the female structural element.

It is customary to provide toy construction kits, with which models of buildings, vehicles, machines or the like can be erected, with shaft members which can serve as axles, as rotatable shafts, as supports for rotatable elements, and for similar purposes. Of course, the other structural elements included in such toy construction kits must also be secured to one another and for this latter purpose it has been proposed to provide all or some of these structural elements with undercut grooves whose width increases in the direction away from the surface in which they are provided, and to further provide all or some of the structural elements with male coupling portions which project from the respective elements and are so configurated that they can be inserted into the grooves from one or the other open end of the latter and are thereafter prevented from being withdrawn from the groove transversely of the elongation thereof. Such male coupling portions have a narrow neck portion carried by the respective structural element and configurated so as to be able to extend outwardly through the narrowest part of the undercut groove, and a wider head portion carried by the neck portion and of such size as to be unable to pass through this narrowest portion of the groove. Such construction kits which also utilize the shaft members mentioned above for varying purposes, have been found to be highly versatile and to be of considerable educational value for children. However, the last-described type of kit just as all the others which are known to me at this time from the prior art does not make any provision for circumstances in which it may be necessary or desirable to connect a shaft member to one of the other structural members either rotatably or non-rotatably relative to the latter. Usually, in all toy construction kits of the type here under discussion, the shaft member can be secured to another structural member for rotation relative thereto or therein; but there is no provision for securing such shaft member to the other member without any possibility of rotation or, even more desirably, with the option of changing from rotatable'to non-rotatable status without any difficulty and without requiring any complicated manipulative steps. Actually, although the term rotatable status has here been used for the sake of convenience it should be understood that the desired change is to be from a status in which the shaft is immovable relative to the other structural member to which it is secured and to .a status in which the shaft is in fact movable relative to such other structural member whether it be in a rotary or in a sliding sense. Hereafter, the term rotatable or rotatable status will frequently be employed and it should be understood that this does not exclude other freedom of movement in a predetermined manner relative to the structural element to which the shaft is secured.

In view of the above discussion of the prior art it is a general object of the present invention to eliminate such drawbacks as result from the impossibility of securing a shaft member either rigidly or movably to another structural member of a toy construction kit.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a toy construction kit in which a shaft or male member can be secured to another structural member in a manner which, at the option of the user of the construction kit, permits a very simple change from a connected status in which the shaft member is immovable relative to the other structural member to a connected status in which the shaft member has a certain freedom of movement relative to the other structural member.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such a toy construction kit in which use is made for the purposes of the invention as outlined above of female coupling portions already provided on the structural elements to which the shaft member is to be secured thus assigning to such female coupling portions a dual function.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toy construction kit of the type outlined above which is simple and economical to manufacture and which can be used even by children with little manipulative skill without any difficulties.

In accordance with one important feature of my invention I provide, in a toy construction kit a male structural element and a female structural element. The male structural element has a symmetrical end portion of constant diameter and the female structural element is provided with a passage bounded by a concave internal surface which extends over a portion of are at least slightly greater than Further in accordance with the invention the passage in the female structural element comprises two longitudinally adjacent portions, of which one is of a constant diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the end portion and of which the other has a diameter which decreases in the direction away from the one portion. Thus, when the end portion of the male structural element is inserted into the one portion the elements are free to move relative to one another, whereas insertion of the end portion into the other portion whose diameter decreases in the direction away from the one portion results in frictional engagement of the surfaces of the male structural element and of the other portion, whereby such movement of the elements relative to one another is prevented.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned side-elevational view of -a model construction provided with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end-elevational view of one element shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a partially sectioned side-elevational view of a male and female structural element incorporating the invention; and

FIG. 4 is an end-elevational view of the female structural element shown in FIG. 3.

Discussing now the drawing in detail and firstly FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, it will be seen that in FIG. 1 two structural elements, such as building blocks, are identified with

reference numerals

1 and 2 and are connected to one another. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 a screw 3 or a similar member is provided which secures the

building blocks

1 and 2 to one another for pivotal movement in the direction of the double-headed arrow. This is merely by way of illustration and does not form part of the invention.

The

building blocks

1 and 2 are each provided at their free end faces with a male coupling element, which in the case of the building block 1 is identified with reference numeral 4 and in the case of building block 2 is designated -with reference numeral 5. Each of these

male coupling portions

4, 5 is, as is clearly evident from FIG. 1, constituted by a neck portion and a head portion carried on the neck portion and having a greater width than the neck portion. Each of the

building blocks

1 and 2 is further provided with one undercut elongated groove, and in the building block 1 such groove is indicated with reference numeral 7 whereas in the building block 2 it is indicated with reference numeral 6. It is clear that, if for instance the male coupling portion 4 of building block 1 is inserted into the undercut groove 6 from the open end thereof, the building block 1 will be securely joined to the building block 2 and cannot be removed therefrom transversely of the elongation of the groove 6. In fact, this is shown in FIG. 1 by way of an additional building block 9 which is secured to the building block 2 in just this manner, namely by insertion of its male coupling portion 10 into the groove 6 of the building block 2. A reference to FIG. 2 will more clearly establish the cross-sectional configuration of these grooves and it will be seen that they diverge in the direction inwardly away from the surface in which they are provided so that, when the wider head of one of the male coupling portions is received in one of these grooves, they naturally cannot be withdrawn except axially thereof. It is also evident from FIG. 1 that each of the building blocks 2 can be provided with more than one of these grooves and, in fact, FIG. 2 that the building block 1 is provided with four such grooves.

In accordance with the present invention each of the

grooves

6, 7 is of a particular cross-sectional configuration. This is to permit the user of the toy construction kit to secure the cylindrical shaft member 8 to the

building blocks

1 or 2 in such a manner that the shaft member 8 is either immovably secured to the respective building block or that it can turn or move axially of the respective grooves. To this end each of the

grooves

6, 7 consists of two portions. Thus, the groove 6 comprises a first portion 6a located adjacent the open end of the groove and a second portion 6b located adjacent the closed end of the groove that is inwardly of the portion 6a. Similarly, the groove 7 comprises the first portion 7a and a second portion 7b. The common characteristic of both the

portions

6a and 7a is that they are of cylindrical cross-sectional configuration, complementary to the cross-section of the shaft member 8 so that the same can be received in either the portion 6a of groove 6 or the portion 7a of groove 7 and can rotate therein or move axially therein without any impairment. The

portions

6b and 7b of the

grooves

6, 7 however, taper in cross-section in the direction away from the

portions

6a and 7a, respectively. It is evident from FIG. 1 that this decrease in the cross-section of the grooves does not affect the manner in which the building blocks can be coupled to one another by means of their

male coupling portions

4, 5, 10 since as the male coupling portion 10 of the building block 9 shows, these coupling portions have fairly substantial clearance from the inner surfaces bounding the respective grooves so that they can freely slide along the entire length of these grooves without being affected by the fact that the crosssection of the grooves decreases over certain portions thereof.

However, and as will be evident from FIG. 1, the decrease in the cross-section of the grooves does affect the shaft member 8 whereas the shaft member 8 can be axially moved or rotated relative to the respective building block-in FIG. 1 the building block 1-when its leading end portion is received only in the

respective portion

6a, 7a of constant cross section of the

grooves

6, 7 any deeper introduction of the leading end portion of shaft member 8 causes the same to become wedged in the

groove portions

6b, 7b whereby the shaft member 8 is prevented by frictional engagement of its peripheral surface with the inner concave surface of the

respective section

6b, 7b from either rotating or moving axially. Thus, whenever the shaft member 8 is to be used as an axle, that is in a rotary capacity or when it must be axially shiftable, its end portion is simply inserted only into the portion of constant cross-sectional diameter 60, 7a, of the respective groove. If, on the other hand, the shaft member 8 is to be secured to the

respective building block

1, 2, immovably relative thereto, the front end or leading end portion of the shaft member 8 is just inserted somewhat further into the respective groove until it intrudes into the

respective portions

6b, 7b and becomes wedged therein. If, subsequently, it is again desired that the shaft member 8 be movable either in axial direction or in a rotary sense relative to the building block to which it is thus connected, it is simply pulled in the direction oppositely the single arrow, that is in the axial direction of the shaft member until it becomes dislodged from the respective portion 612 or 7b. No other manipulative steps are required, no connections must be established or released, no tools are needed and no time consuming assemblies or disassemblies are necessary.

Coming now to FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be seen that the arrangement there differs from that in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the building block 11, which has the male coupling portions '12 and 13 at its opposite end faces, is provided with grooves 14 which, unlike the

grooves

6 and 7 in FIG. 1, are open at both ends. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the outer end portions of the grooves 14 are designated with

reference numerals

15 and 16, respectively and it is these

end portions

15 and 16 which are of constantcylindricalcross-section. Just as in FIG. 1, each of the

portions

15 and 16 of constant cross-section is joined inwardly thereof with a portionidentified with

reference numeral

16 and 18, respectively-whose cross section decreases in the direction away from the respective portion of constant cross-section. The manner in which shaft member 8 is used in conjunction with the grooves 14 in building block 1 1 in FIGS. 3 and 4 is identical with that described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The difference, of course, lies in the fact that in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shaft member 8 can be introduced into the grooves 14 from either end of the building block 11 and can thus be movably or immovably secured to either end of the building block 11.

Although FIGS. 1-4 always show the shaft member 8 to be of constant cross-section and show the respective grooves to be provided with portions of constant crosssection and with portions of decreasing cross section it will be understood that this relationship could be reversed. In other words, the grooves could be of constant cross section and the shaft member 8 could be provided with a forward portion of constant cross section and a further portion immediately rearwards of this forward portion and having a cross-section which increases in the direction away from the forward portion. The operation of the novel arrangement would then still be the same and such a modification would be the functional equivalent of the invention as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Of course, such a modification is also intended to tbe encompassed by the claims appended. Furthermore, it is to be noted that there is no need for an inward convergence of the entire surface bounding the respective portions 61), 7b, 17 and 18; it would be sufficient, if this should for any reason be desired, perhaps because of manufacturing economies or for some other consideration to have only a part of the surface portions in question, for instance a strip-shaped part, taper inwardly.

Although various different materials are of course useable for constructing the building blocks and the shaft member, it is preferred to use a plastic material since there are many synthetic plastics on the market which have a high resistance to breaking stresses, which age very slowly, and which can be worked simply and therefore very economically.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of applications differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a toy construction kit, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made Without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy construction kit, a male structural element having a cylindrical end portion of constant diameter: and a female structural element having a surface provided with means for optionally coupling said elements in relatively rotational or relatively non-rotational relation, said means comprising a passage in form of an undercut groove provided in said surface and bounded by a concave internal surface which extends over a portion of are at least slightly greater than 180, said passage comprising two longitudinally adjacent portions, one of said portions being of a constant diameter slightly greater than said diameter of said end portion and the other of said portions having a diameter which decreases in direction away from said one portion so that, when said end portion of said male structural element is inserted into said one portion, said elements are free to move relative to one another whereas insertion of said end portion into said other portion results in frictional engagement of said surfaces and prevents such movement.

2. A kit as defined in claim 1, wherein said groove comprises an additional portion of constant diameter and an additional portion of decreasing diameter, said portions of constant diameter being longitudinally spaced and said portions of decreasing diameter being located thereintermediate.

3. A kit as defined in claim 1, wherein said concave internal surface converges inwardly in the region of said second portion over its entire arcuate extension.

4. A kit as defined in claim 1, wherein said concave internal surface converges radially inwardly in the region of said second portion over part of its arcuate extension.

5. A kit as defined in claim 1, wherein at least said female structural element consists of synthetic plastic material.

6. In a toy construction kit, a female structural element provided with means for optionally coupling said elements in relatively rotational or relatively non-rotational relation, said means comprising a passage in form of an undercut groove bounded by a concave internal surface which extends over a portion of are at least slightly greater than and a male structural element movable in said passage in a predetermined direction and provided with a peripheral surface, one of said surfaces defining a constant cross-sectional diameter and the other of said surfaces comprising two portions one of which is leading and the other of which is trailing in said predetermined direction, said one portion defining a constant cross-sectional diameter slightly differing from said constant cross-sectional diameter of said one surface, and said other portion defining a cross-sectional diameter which tapers in said predetermined direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,524 11/1947 Miller.

2,609,638 9/1952 Lindenmeyer 4616X 3,243,207 3/1966 Carpenter 285-260 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.