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
  • A63H33/06—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements
  • A63H33/08—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements provided with complementary holes, grooves, or protuberances, e.g. dovetails
  • A63H33/086—Building blocks, strips, or similar building parts to be assembled without the use of additional elements provided with complementary holes, grooves, or protuberances, e.g. dovetails with primary projections fitting by friction in complementary spaces between secondary projections, e.g. sidewalls
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H9/00—Special methods or compositions for the manufacture of dolls, toy animals, toy figures, or parts thereof
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C45/00—Injection moulding, i.e. forcing the required volume of moulding material through a nozzle into a closed mould; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C45/0001—Injection moulding, i.e. forcing the required volume of moulding material through a nozzle into a closed mould; Apparatus therefor characterised by the choice of material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/10—Processes of additive manufacturing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y10/00—Processes of additive manufacturing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y80/00—Products made by additive manufacturing
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08L—COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
  • C08L101/00—Compositions of unspecified macromolecular compounds
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
  • B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
  • B29B17/04—Disintegrating plastics, e.g. by milling
  • B29B2017/042—Mixing disintegrated particles or powders with other materials, e.g. with virgin materials
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
  • B29K2105/00—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped
  • B29K2105/26—Scrap or recycled material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
  • B29K2995/00—Properties of moulding materials, reinforcements, fillers, preformed parts or moulds
  • B29K2995/0037—Other properties
  • B29K2995/0056—Biocompatible, e.g. biopolymers or bioelastomers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
  • B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
  • B29L2031/52—Sports equipment ; Games; Articles for amusement; Toys
  • B29L2031/5209—Toys
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08L—COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
  • C08L2207/00—Properties characterising the ingredient of the composition
  • C08L2207/20—Recycled plastic
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
  • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
  • Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
  • Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling

Definitions

• Toy building elements have been manufactured and marketed for many years.
• such toy building elements are made of petroleum-based polymers, such as ABS.
• the increasing concern about diminishing petroleum resources and the impacts of the global warming, however, has encouraged development of alternative sustainable materials for use in the manufacturing of toy building elements as well as other kinds of toys.
• One type of toy building elements can be characterised as the traditional box shaped building bricks provided with knobs on the upper side and complementary tubes on the lower side.
• Such box-shaped building bricks were disclosed for the first time in US 3,005,282 and are today manufactured and sold in two sizes: the traditional LEGO®-size and the larger LEGO® DUPLO®-size.
• LEGO® DUPLO®-size Some toy building bricks of a size similar to the LEGO® DUPLO®-size have been introduced on the market for example by the Chinese toy company BanBao. These building bricks have been marketed as being made of sustainable bio-based polyethylene materials where the polyethylene has been produced using sugarcane as the renewable resource. Toy building elements of the traditional LEGO®-size have not yet been produced in sustainable bio-based material.
• the challenges of manufacturing the LEGO®- sized bricks are greater than compared with manufacturing of the larger LEGO® DUPLO®-sized toy building bricks for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is directed to the requirements relating to surface characteristics of the bricks, which are more demanding for the LEGO® bricks than for the LEGO® DUPLO® bricks.
• the LEGO® DUPLO®-sized bricks are manufactured for use as toys for children in the age of 2 to 5 years, and the main demand to the LEGO® DUPLO® bricks is to stack the bricks on top of each other without creating long-lasting constructions which can be moved from one place to another without the bricks falling apart.
• the LEGO® bricks are manufactured as construction bricks, i.e. the purpose of the LEGO® bricks is to create larger, long-lasting constructions which can be moved from one place to another without the bricks falling apart.
• the coupling force of the LEGO® bricks is an important characteristic, which indicates the effort which is required for a person to assemble and separate the bricks and also indicates the bricks ability to stay assembled for many years in large, long-lasting constructions.
• toy building element also includes other kinds of toy building elements that form part of a toy building set which typically comprises a plurality of building elements that are compatible with and hence can be interconnected with each other.
• Such toy building sets are also sold under the trademark LEGO, such as for example LEGO® Bricks, LEGO® Technic and LEGO® DUPLO®.
• LEGO such as for example LEGO® Bricks, LEGO® Technic and LEGO® DUPLO®.
• Some of these toy building sets includes toy building figures having complementary tubes on the lower side so that the figure can be connected to other toy building elements in the toy building set.
• Such toy building figures are also encompassed by the term "toy building element”.
• the term also includes similar toy building elements that are produced by other companies than The LEGO Group and therefore sold under other trademarks than the trademark LEGO.
• the toy building elements are made of a biopolymeric material and manufactured by processing of a resin comprising a bio-based polymer and/or a hybrid bio based polymer and/or a recycled polymer.
• biopolymeric material as used herein is meant a material which is obtained after processing of a resin comprising at least one bio-based polymer or at least one hybrid bio-based polymer or a recycled polymer.
• the term includes materials that have been obtained after injection moulding or additive manufacturing of a resin comprising at least one bio-based polymer or at least one hybrid bio-based polymer or a recycled polymer.
• bio-based carbon refers to the carbon atoms that originate from the biomass that is used as substrate in the production of monomers which form part of the bio-based polymers and/or the hybrid bio-based polymers.
• the content of bio-based carbon in the hybrid bio-based polymer can be determined by Carbon-14 isotope content as specified in ASTM D6866 or CEN/TS 16137 or an equivalent protocol.
• Scoring The scorings of the first two assembly/disassembly cycles are
• test specimen is placed on the base plate directly under the plumb with the coupling knobs on the upper-side facing downwards and the
• the injection moulding parameters were as follows:
• Cooling time 60 seconds.
• toy building elements can be built using the following description:
• the manufactured 2*4 building bricks were tested by 5 people according to the procedure described in the Brick assembly test.
• the average test score was 2.
• Metablen® S-2200 (supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical), which is a reactive rubber composed of silicone-acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate (epoxide functional)
• PET samples were dried at 150 degrees C to 50-100 ppm moisture content. Upon ambient cooling of the dried PET samples to below 50 degrees C, the samples were dry blended with impact modifier, in amounts as mentioned in the table below and processed via extrusion (Twin screw, Labtech Engineering Company Ltd, Thailand,) followed by injection moulding (Arburg, Allrounder 470 E 1000- 400, 30 mm screw, Germany).
• the mould broke during the experiments and it was therefore substituted.
• the bricks produced in trials 3-1 to 3-2 were injection moulded using a different mould than the bricks produced in trials 3-3 and 3-6.
• the first mould (used in trials 3-1 to 3-2) produces bricks having a certain wall thickness and supporting ribs
• the second mould (used in trials 3-3 to 3- 6) produces bricks having an increased wall thickness but no supporting ribs. Consequently, the impact strength of the bricks produced using the first mould cannot directly be compared with the impact strength of the bricks produced using the second mould.
• the injection molding processing parameters were as follows:
• Hot runner temperature 300 degrees C
• toy building elements can be produced by injection moulding a resin comprising recycled PET and hybrid bio-based PET polymer, i.e. PET where one of the monomers (MEG) has been produced using biomass as substrate.
• a resin comprising recycled PET and hybrid bio-based PET polymer, i.e. PET where one of the monomers (MEG) has been produced using biomass as substrate.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)
• Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)
• Biological Depolymerization Polymers (AREA)

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• 2018
  • 2018-11-30 BR BR112020010254-7A patent/BR112020010254A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2018-11-30 JP JP2020529750A patent/JP2021504066A/ja active Pending
  • 2018-11-30 WO PCT/EP2018/083090 patent/WO2019106129A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2018-11-30 US US16/767,215 patent/US20210001240A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2018-11-30 EP EP18815137.7A patent/EP3717087A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2018-11-30 KR KR1020207018522A patent/KR102699873B1/ko active Active
  • 2018-11-30 CN CN201880077800.XA patent/CN111432905A/zh active Pending

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