Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H33/00—Other toys
  • A63H33/04—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts
  • A63H33/046—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts comprising magnetic interaction means, e.g. holding together by magnetic attraction
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H33/00—Other toys
  • A63H33/26—Magnetic or electric toys
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
  • G09B1/00—Manually or mechanically operated educational appliances using elements forming, or bearing, symbols, signs, pictures, or the like which are arranged or adapted to be arranged in one or more particular ways
  • G09B1/32—Manually or mechanically operated educational appliances using elements forming, or bearing, symbols, signs, pictures, or the like which are arranged or adapted to be arranged in one or more particular ways comprising elements to be used without a special support
  • G09B1/38—Manually or mechanically operated educational appliances using elements forming, or bearing, symbols, signs, pictures, or the like which are arranged or adapted to be arranged in one or more particular ways comprising elements to be used without a special support the elements being connectible magnetically
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
  • H01F7/00—Magnets
  • H01F7/02—Permanent magnets [PM]

Definitions

• the present invention relates, in general, to a magnetic toy having a magnetic blocking plate and, more particularly, to a magnetic toy having a magnetic blocking plate, which is constructed so that one or more recesses are independently formed on at least one surface of a unit block element having a polyhedral shape, a disc-shaped magnetic blocking plate is placed in the bottom of each recess to rotate in a horizontal direction, one or more pairs of magnets are parallelly disposed on the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate such that opposite magnetic poles provided on the magnets alternate around the circumference of the magnetic blocking plate, and a cap is mounted to the open end of each recess, thus preventing the magnets from being removed from the recess.
• the magnets attached to the magnetic blocking plate When repulsive force acts on the magnets attached to the magnetic blocking plate, the magnets rotate in a plane along with the magnetic blocking plate, like a top.
• the magnetic blocking plate increases the magnetic force of the magnets, thus increasing the force for coupling unit blocks to each other.
• Lego products which are a kind of block toy and function to increase the creativity of children when playing with them for long periods.
• the Lego products a plurality of small unit blocks having various shapes can be assembled into various structures, depending on the individual tastes and ideas of children.
• the Lego products are considered to improve children's imaginative power and creativity, and as well, are formed to be different in number and size of unit blocks according to age, while the size ratio of the unit blocks remains consistent, whereby children, teenagers, and adults may play with the Lego products.
• each unit block of the Lego products comprises a three-dimensional shape based on a cuboid or cube.
• the total assembly components thereof occupy a large storage space.
• a prolonged period to assemble a specific structure is further required.
• the magnetic toy is composed of magnetic rods each covered with a synthetic resin covering and each having a metal bar and a permanent magnet placed at each end of the metal bar, and metal balls. A plurality of magnetic rods is continuously connected by means of the metal balls, thereby assembling desired models or structures.
• the conventional magnetic toy comprising the metal balls and the magnetic rods can afford various geometrical models.
• the conventional magnetic toy may form a three-dimensional shape, that is, a polyhedral shape, but it does not have faces, so that it is unsuitable for education.
• educational toys comprising a plurality of blocks having shapes of various polyhedrons have been proposed so that children may play with the toys, in addition to educating children about shapes and characteristics of various polyhedrons, including a tetrahedron, a hexahedron, and a polyprism.
• the conventional polyhedral blocks are problematic in that they are made of wood or synthetic resin, so that the blocks are apt to be damaged even by small external force, when the blocks are stacked up.
• the attracting unit includes a housing, a cover, and one spherical magnet.
• the housing has the shape of a hexahedron which has a space therein and is open at an upper portion thereof.
• the magnet is rotatably disposed in the internal space of the housing. Since the magnet is rotatable in the housing, it is possible to connect a plurality of hexahedron-shaped attracting units to each other, as desired, regardless of the polarities of the magnets. Further, it is possible to stably connect polyhedral unit blocks to each other by magnetic force, by arranging the attracting units at regular intervals such that they do not protrude from each surface of each polyhedral unit block.
• Korean Patent No. 457305 discloses a joining apparatus with a rotatable magnet therein and a built-up type toy with the same.
• a magnet is inserted into each of a plurality of slots which are provided on faces of a unit polyhedral block, and a cap is mounted to each slot to prevent undesirable removal of the magnet.
• the magnet is rotatable while moving to some extent in an associated slot.
• this invention has effects and disadvantages which are similar to the above- mentioned Japanese Laid-Open publication.
• two unit blocks may always be attracted to each other, regardless of polarities of magnets of unit blocks brought together, due to rotation of the magnets.
• the magnet used in the conventional magnetic toy which is disclosed in the above-mentioned inventions and devices, is a single-sided unipolar magnet.
• an N-pole is provided on a flat upper surface of the magnet
• an S-pole is provided on a flat lower surface of the magnet, which is parallel to the upper surface.
• the magnet does not rotate in a plane about a central axis arranged in a pole array direction, like a top, but the central axis itself must rotate 180 degrees.
• the conventional magnet is problematic in that the depth of a space receiving the magnet must be larger than the maximum diameter (or length) of the magnet, so that a recess providing the space must be made excessively deep.
• an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic toy, in which a magnet does not rotate in a manner exchanging both sides of a central axis with each other, that is, in a manner exchanging upper and lower portions of the magnet with each other, but rotates about the central axis, that is, rotates in a plane, like a top, thus minimizing the depth of a recess, and providing sufficient magnetic force even when a small magnet is used.
• the above object of the present invention is accomplished by a disc-shaped magnetic blocking plate and a pair of magnets attached to an upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate.
• a magnetic toy having a magnetic blocking plate is constructed so that one or more recesses, which are opened upwards (when the recesses are formed on the upper surface), are formed on at least one surface of a unit block having a shape of a polyhedron, such as a cube, a panel, or a long bar whose length is larger than its cross-sectional size, and a disc-shaped magnetic blocking plate made of metal is rotatably seated in the bottom of each recess, and one or more pairs of magnets are parallelly attached to the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate, and a cap is mounted to an upper end of each recess, that is, an open end thereof so as to prevent undesirable removal of the magnetic blocking plate and the magnets.
• This invention is characterized in that the magnets coupled to the magnetic blocking plate are inserted into each of the recesses. This will be described below.
• the magnetic blocking plate serves to prevent the permeation of a line of magnetic force.
• 'relative magnetic permeability' Such a property is referred to as 'relative magnetic permeability'.
• the substance having the highest relative magnetic permeability is iron. The stronger a magnetic substance is, the higher the relative magnetic permeability is.
• the relative magnetic permeability of a non-magnetic substance, such as aluminum or copper, is almost equal to l.
• Each of the magnets, attached to the upper surface of the disc-shaped magnetic blocking plate, is magnetized to have an N-pole and an S-pole in a vertical direction.
• the magnets comprise one or more pairs of magnets having the same size.
• the magnets are parallely arranged such that the magnetic poles of the magnets have opposite orientation. That is, one magnet, magnetized to have an N-pole at an upper position thereof and an S-pole at a lower position thereof, and another magnet, magnetized to have an S-pole at an upper position thereof and an N-pole at a lower position thereof, are alternately arranged.
• each magnet is preferably formed to be positioned inside an outer edge of the magnetic blocking plate.
• one or more pairs of magnets parallelly arranged on the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate are magnetized in opposing directions.
• the magnets provided on the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate do not have the same orientation of magnetic poles, that is, N-poles or S-poles are not aligned; rather, the two kinds of magnetic poles, N-poles and S-poles, alternate around the circumference of the magnetic blocking plate.
• the magnets attached to the magnetic blocking plate serve as a single-sided multi-polar magnet.
• a magnetic blocking plate and a pair of magnets attached to the magnetic blocking plate are referred to as a 'magnetic unit'.
• the term, 'unit block element' means a polyhedral 'body' without the 'magnetic unit' and a 'cap'.
• the term, 'unit block' is defined as a 'unit block element' to which the 'magnetic unit' and the 'cap' are coupled.
• the lower surfaces of the magnets are secured to the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate such that opposite magnetic poles are alternately arranged.
• the magnetic unit serves as a rotor which rotates on the plane, like a top. Thanks to the rotation of the magnetic unit, one unit block is always attracted to another unit block.
• the upper surface of one magnetic unit having the magnetic blocking plate seated in the bottom of the recess, approaches the upper surface of another magnetic unit, which is turned upside down such that the upper surface is located at a lower position.
• repulsive force acts between the magnets.
• one or two magnetic units rotate in a horizontal direction. Thereby, opposite magnetic poles of the facing magnets make a pair, so that attractive force acts between the two magnetic units.
• the recess is formed in each surface of the unit block element. Since the position of the recess is fixed, it is impossible to slide one unit block relative to another unit block so as to change the positions of the blocks, when the unit blocks are attached to each other by attractive force.
• a recess which has a planar surface area suitable for accommodating only one magnetic unit and is shaped like a dot hereinafter, referred to as a 'dot-shaped recess'
• a long linear recess are preferably formed.
• the linear recess allows the magnetic unit to move from a position of a surface of each unit block element to another position thereof.
• the two unit blocks are in close contact with each other, it is possible to freely and longitudinally move one unit block relative to another unit block along the linear recess.
• the magnetic unit is longitudinally movable in the linear recess, and is rotatable in the same plane, like a top.
• the dot-shaped recess may be expanded (hereinafter, referred to as
• the magnetic unit is freely movable in the expansion recess. Therefore, more various movements of the unit blocks are possible, in comparison with a linear movement performed using the linear recess.
• each of the linear recess and expansion recess may be partitioned into two or more compartments, and the magnetic unit may be inserted into each of the compartments, thus allowing a plurality of unit blocks to be attached to one surface of one unit block.
• some of the compartments that are defined in the recess may have no magnetic unit. This prevents attractive force from acting between the magnetic units inserted in the two neighboring compartments of one unit block. Thereby, the magnets of one unit block may be reliably attached to those of another unit block.
• FIGS. IA to 1C show unit blocks constituting a magnetic toy, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. IA is a perspective view of a unit block having a hexahedron shape, FIG. IB is a perspective view of a unit block having the shape of a rectangular bar, and FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a unit block having the shape of a panel;
• FIGS. 2A to 2C show the unit block constituting the magnetic toy, according to this invention, in which FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of a part of the unit block, FIG. 2B is an exploded sectional view of a part of the unit block, and FIG. 2C is a sectional view of a part of the unit block;
• FlG. 3 is a perspective view of a unit block element having linear recesses, according to another embodiment of this invention
• FlG. 4 is a perspective view of a unit block element having an expanded recess and dot-shaped recesses, according to a further embodiment of this invention.
• FlG. 5 is a perspective view of a unit block having an expanded recess, a dot- shaped recess, and a linear recess, according to another embodiment of this invention.
• FIGS. 6A and 6B show magnetic units constituting a magnetic toy, according to this invention, in which FlG. 6A is a perspective view of a magnetic unit having a pair of magnets, and FlG. 6B is a perspective view of a magnetic unit having two pairs of magnets.
• FIGS. IA to 1C show perspective views of unit blocks constituting a magnetic toy having a magnetic blocking plate, according to the present invention
• FIGS. 2 A, 2B, and 2c are an exploded perspective view, an exploded sectional view, and a sectional view, respectively, of a part of a unit block constituting the magnetic toy having the magnetic blocking plate.
• the magnetic toy having the magnetic blocking plate according to this invention includes a plurality of unit block elements 11 each having a polyhedral shape, with one or more recesses G formed on at least one surface of each unit block element 11.
• a disc-shaped magnetic blocking plate 12 is inserted into each recess G of each unit block element 11 in such a way as to rotate in a horizontal direction.
• One or more pairs of magnets 13, comprising an even number, are placed on the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate 12.
• the magnets 13 are provided along a circle of the magnetic blocking plate 12 having the center of the magnetic blocking plate 12 as a center of the circle, such that opposite magnetic poles provided on the upper surfaces of the magnets 13 are alternately arranged.
• a cap 14 is secured to an open end of each recess G to close each recess G of each unit block element 11.
• the cap 14 is a ferromagnetic substance.
• the cap 14 is made of a transparent material, it is possible to see the magnets 13 in each recess G, thus arousing the curiosity of children.
• each recess G may comprise a dot-shaped recess Gl in which one magnetic unit constituting the magnetic blocking plate 12 and the magnets 13 is inserted.
• the recess G may comprise a linear recess G2 or an expansion recess G3 having a larger planar surface area which is sufficient to accommodate a plurality of magnetic units 12 and 13.
• the recess be partitioned into two or more compartments and one magnetic unit, constituting the magnetic blocking plate 12 and the magnets 13, be selectively inserted into each compartment g.
• the magnetic unit constituting the magnetic blocking plate 12 and the magnets 13 is configured such that one or more pairs of magnets 13, comprising even number, are parallelly placed on the upper surface of the magnetic blocking plate 12, and are arranged around the circumference of the magnetic blocking plate 12. Further, the magnets 13 are disposed such that N-poles and S-poles of the magnets 13 alternate around a circle having the center of the magnetic blocking plate 12 as the center of the circle.
• the present invention provides a magnetic toy having a magnetic blocking plate, which has stronger magnetic force due to the magnetic blocking plate, thus allowing the miniaturization of a magnet, therefore allowing a small unit block to be easily made. Further, a magnetic unit rotates like a top, thus minimizing the depth of a recess, therefore the recess is easy to form.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Educational Administration (AREA)
• Educational Technology (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (7)

Families Citing this family (4)

Citations (4)

• 2005
  • 2005-08-05 KR KR1020050071942A patent/KR100641366B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2005-09-27 WO PCT/KR2005/003206 patent/WO2007018331A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

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