Amusement devices: toys – Construction toy
Patent
1991-07-09
1992-12-08
Muir, D. Neal
Amusement devices: toys
Construction toy
446124, 446125, 446117, 52DIG10, 52608, 52609, A63H 3304, A63H 3308, E04B 504
Patent
active
051693526
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a system of form bodies for use as toy building blocks, decorative objects, in particular for display use, furniture structures, sculptural building components etc., in which each form body has the shape of a polyhedron, in which polygonal side faces with each other form polyhedral outward extending protuberances and/or polyhedral inward extending recesses for assembling differently shaped bodies into spatial structures.
Such systems or building kits of geometrical form bodies are known, e.g. from DE-C-601 533, DE-A-1 907 044, DE-A-2 207 676 and from U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,292,188, 2,440,836, 3,787,996 and 4,051,621.
The disclosure of various of said references deals with systems in which the form bodies are shaped as or include pyramidal modules. Thus, DE-A-1 907 044 discloses a form body composed of two pyramidal bodies hingedly connected along an edge and DE-A-2 207 676 discloses the design of pyramidal hollow bodies by folding comparatively stiff cardboard blanks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides for obtaining a system of form bodies of the above type that is characterized in that each form body in a first group of form bodies is shaped on the basis of a cube and that protuberances and/or recesses in the form body are shaped on the basis of a subbody of a cube and with a shape like a pyramid with a square base, two of the lateral faces being perpendicular to the base at adjacent sides thereof and each of them having the form of an isosceles right triangle.
The subbody indicated as a basis of the protuberances or recesses is obtained as a subbody of a geometric cube with a base corresponding to a side face of the cube and a pyramid apex positioned at one of the vertices of the opposite lateral face of the cube and with edges extending from said vertex to each of the vertices of the base.
Any cube may be divided into three such pyramidal subbodies with a common apex at one of the vertices of the cube and with the diagonally opposed vertex point as a common zero point for the three mutually orthogonal side faces forming the base in a respective one of the three subbodies.
Since, moreover, any cube may be divided into smaller partial cubes, each with a lateral length corresponding to half the lateral length of the initial cube, thereby forming 2.sup.3 =8 partial cubes, any of said partial cubes may also be divided into three pyramidal subbodies, i.e. the initial cube into 24 such subbodies.
Each of said 8 partial cubes may still be divided into further 8 smaller partial cubes having a lateral length corresponding to one fourth of the initial cube then accommodating 4.sup.3 =64 such smaller partial cubes, each of which again accommodates 3 pyramidal subbodies corresponding in total to 192 subbodies.
As it also appears from the following description with reference to the drawings, an infinite number of different form bodies may be provided from the basic module by multiplication of a common smallest basic module. The form bodies may be equipped with outward extending protuberances and inward extending recesses which likewise appear as multiples of the common basic module.
In view of the fact that the shape of the basic module is determined by a single lateral length corresponding to the lateral length of the cube of which the basic module constitues a subbody, the form bodies and their protubetances and/or recesses may include subbodies in the form of multiples of a common basic module.
Moreover, a system of form bodies according to the invention may include a second group of form bodies, of which each form body is shaped on the basis of a prism with a base as an equilateral triangle and adapted to the form bodies in the first group, in that the base has the same lateral length and the prismatic body the same height as the cube used as the basis of form bodies in the first group, protuberances and/or notches being shaped as pyramids with a base constituted by one of the opposite end faces of the prism.
Such a system may further comprise a thir
REFERENCES:
patent: 1129281 (1915-02-01), Dulgeroff
patent: 1292188 (1919-01-01), Wheeler
patent: 1349767 (1920-08-01), Ivory
patent: 1997022 (1935-04-01), Stalker
patent: 2440836 (1948-05-01), Turngren
patent: 3461574 (1969-08-01), Larsen et al.
patent: 3787996 (1974-01-01), Smith et al.
patent: 4051621 (1977-10-01), Hogan
patent: 4063725 (1977-12-01), Snyder
patent: 4259821 (1981-04-01), Bash
patent: 4676507 (1987-06-01), Patterson
patent: 4778184 (1988-10-01), Fleischer
patent: 4778392 (1988-10-01), Mitchell
Abstract, SU 1349767A, Health; Amusement-p. 3, Week 8822, "Three-dimensional shaped paper tape articles formation involves forming ring-shaped supporting surface in first stage . . . ".
Muir D. Neal
Ole Friis Petersen ApS
LandOfFree
System of structural form bodies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with System of structural form bodies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and System of structural form bodies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-957853