Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Module or panel having discrete edgewise or face-to-face... – With joining means of dissimilar material and separate from...
Patent
1983-03-17
1984-09-18
Friedman, Carl D.
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Module or panel having discrete edgewise or face-to-face...
With joining means of dissimilar material and separate from...
403 56, 403143, E04C 110
Patent
active
044715951
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to building sets in general, and in particular to an improved constructional building set of the type comprising as its basic elements a plurality of linking units, each linking unit comprising at least one connecting rod having a generally ball-shaped head portion disposed at each end thereof, and a plurality of coupling members for coupling together linking units by use of said head portions thereof.
Various building sets have been proposed, for example as construction toys or engineering models or for use in constructing true articles or objects for everyday use such as furnitures. It is, however, a common feature to many prior building sets that the number of structures or assemblies which can be constructed are rather limited compared to the number of basic elements of the building sets.
Moreover, a stable or rigid structure, which has previously been built, cannot be changed without disassembling the structure completely or partially, or can only be changed to a limited extent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,261 discloses a ball- and -socket joint for joining members together, in particular in constructing toys. The joint comprises a pair of balls, each having four flat spots lying in the same plane and spaced 90.degree. from each other. A shaft or rod detachably interconnects the two balls and a generally spherically-shaped open socket is provided in a surface of each member to be joined. The or each socket is sized to snugly receive more than one half of the surface of a ball.
Such "undercut" sockets are, however, difficult to prepare in the surface of any member, and other structural features of the joint, such as various members which must fit snugly into each other, will also render the joint difficult and expensive to manufacture.
Due to its structure and design, the joint is, moreover, limited to joining of polyhedral members, whereby the number of stable assemblies, which can be constructed, becomes restricted.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,499 also relates to a building set which includes detachable linking units consisting of a cylindrical body portion interconnecting rounded spherical end pieces or head portions. Again, the number of stable assemblies, which can be constructed, is limited, because of the shape and design of the coupling means used which is cube-shaped plastic foam blocks.
On the above background, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved constructional building set of the type here contemplated and as stated in the opening paragraph, the building set being easy and inexpensive to manufacture and the set providing numerous possibilities of assembling stable structures.
Another object is to provide a constructional building set useful not only as construction toys, but also for the construction of articles for everyday use.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention are attained by the characteristic features of the building set consisting in that the coupling members are clamping members having tightening means for urging a pair of clamping members toward each other about head portions of linking units with said head portions being retained in a manner known per se in respective recesses formed in at least one surface of said clamping members, said head portions of said linking units having such a size that, when inserted in and between registering recesses of two juxtaposed clamping members being urged together, they hold said two clamping members in spaced apart relation to each other.
A large varity and number of structures or articles can be built by use of very few basic elements and such structures or articles can, moreover, be made movable or changeable in a very simple manner as desired or needed and without disassembling the structure. Thus, the utility of the improved building set becomes considerably increased due to the fact that the couplings in a particular structure can be made movable or more or less rigid depending on how tight the individual pairs of clamping members in the structure have been clamped about the h
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Friedman Carl D.
Synnestvedt Kenneth P.
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