Toy building set

Details Toy building set Toy building set

2002-06-04

2003-04-29

Ackun, Jacob K. (Department: 3712)

Amusement devices: toys

Construction toy

Including connectable panels or strips

C446S124000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06554676

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to a toy building set with toy building elements which have coupling studs and corresponding cavities to receive coupling studs on other building elements in frictional engagement.
GB 1 269 755 discloses a toy building set of the present type. In the cavities of the building elements there are two resilient walls or tongues in parallel with two outer walls. Cylindrical coupling studs on another building element can be received in the cavity such that they are in frictional contact with an outer wall as well as one of the resilient walls in the cavity. Projecting guide ribs are provided on the inner sides of the outer walls to ensure that coupling studs assume specific positions in the cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,210 (see FIGS. 11 and 12) discloses building elements where the user, by orienting two building elements differently relative to each other, can choose to engage or disengage supplementary coupling means and thereby deliberately choose a “normal” coupling force or an increased coupling force between interconnected building elements.
These documents do not disclose coupling means with different friction against coupling means like in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282 discloses toy building sets with building elements, which are marketed under the trademarks LEGO and DUPLO.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show such a known toy building set
10
seen in perspective from above and from below, respectively. This known toy building element has a square horizontal cross-section with four vertical, outer walls
11
and a horizontal upper wall
12
which, together with the outer walls, defines a cavity
13
which accommodates a central tube
14
extending from the inner side of the upper wall. The upper side has four cylindrical coupling studs
15
which, as described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282, may be received in the cavity
13
of a corresponding building element so that that the coupling studs
15
are in frictional contact with the inner sides of the outer walls
11
and with the tube
14
, which is also called a coupling tube.
FIG. 3
shows another known toy building element
16
seen from below, where the upper side of the element has cylindrical building studs (not shown) arranged in four rows perpendicular to each other with four coupling studs in each row. This building element has four outer walls
17
and a square outer shape. The four walls define a cavity
18
in which there are partitions
19
that divide the cavity into four subcavities. Each of the four subcavities accommodates a cylindrical coupling tube
20
, and a central coupling tube is provided in the centre where the partitions
19
meet. All these coupling tubes extend from the lower side of the upper wall
21
of the building element, which forms a termination or a ceiling of the cavity
18
.
The known building elements like in FIG.
3
and corresponding, larger building elements may be built together in the same manner as the building element
10
in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. Coupling studs on one of the elements
16
are received in the cavity
18
of another element, so that coupling studs are in frictional contact with the inner sides of the outer walls
17
and/or with one or two of the tubes
20
in the cavity. The partitions
19
in the cavity
18
are thinner than the outer walls
17
, which means that coupling studs will not be in frictional contact with the partitions.
Consequently, only the coupling studs which are in contact with the outer walls at their corners have full friction, i.e. the same total friction as is the case with building elements in
FIGS. 1-2
, while coupling studs which are spaced from the corners and coupling studs having no contact with outer walls each have a smaller total friction. The total friction is here the frictional force, which must be overcome to assemble or to disassemble two building elements, and this force is therefore also called the coupling force.
This is intended by the known building elements, which have an upper side with 4×4 or more coupling studs. If the cavities of these known building elements were not arranged as described, but so that all 4×4 coupling studs had full friction in the cavity, then the total coupling force would be correspondingly greater than with two elements like in
FIGS. 1-2
, and it would thereby take a correspondingly greater force both to assemble and to disassemble them. It would therefore be difficult for children to assemble and disassemble large building elements having many coupling studs. It is therefore intentional that the partitions are formed such that coupling studs will not be in contact with the partitions, so that coupling studs in only some positions have full coupling force, while coupling studs in other positions have a reduced coupling force. This provides the advantage that children can easily assemble and disassemble even large toy building elements with many coupling studs.
Still, the known building elements like in
FIG. 3
have a drawback.
FIG. 3
moreover schematically shows the known building element
10
in
FIGS. 1 and 2
with its four coupling studs
15
received in the cavity in the other known, larger building element so that none of the four coupling studs
15
is in contact with the outer walls
17
. The four coupling studs
15
are here in contact with the central coupling tube in the cavity, as this coupling stud is positioned coaxially with the coupling tube
14
in the element
10
. It will be seen that the building element
10
can rotate about the coupling tube between limits determined by the engagement of the coupling studs with the thin partitions
19
, which thus serve as end stops for the rotation. Therefore, the two building elements thus built together are not fixed, but can rotate relatively to each other. Correspondingly, building elements with one, two or three coupling studs, all of which are in contact with the outer side of one and the same coupling tube, will be able to rotate.
The object of the invention is to remedy this drawback, or in other words to provide a toy building set where relatively large building elements may be built together in such a manner that the coupling force is essentially the same as for the known relatively large building elements, while a smaller building element is essentially fixed so that it cannot rotate when it is built together with a larger element.
This object is achieved by a building set according to the invention where guide means are arranged in the cavity, which restrict the movability of the coupling studs in the cavity, and which just have an insignificant friction against the coupling studs.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3005282 (1961-10-01), Christiansen
patent: 4919635 (1990-04-01), Bertrand
patent: 5471808 (1995-12-01), De Pieri et al.
patent: 5795210 (1998-08-01), Kushner et al.
patent: 5848927 (1998-12-01), Frederiksen
patent: 1 269 755 (1972-04-01), None
patent: 2 136 700 (1984-09-01), None
patent: 8 101 580 (1982-10-01), None

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