A Toy Composed Of A Plurality Of Bodies Held In End-to-end Relation By An Elastic Member

Abstract

A toy comprises a number of mutually connected bodies of wood, plastic, metal, cork or the like arranged in a row in which consecutive bodies are joined turnably in such manner that the friction between the surfaces of the bodies resting against each other counteracts the turning. In each body both such contact surfaces have different directions, that is that in each body both turning axes have different directions.

Description

Various toys have been devised for children which are intended to be entertaining on one hand and educative on the other hand. The aim of the present invention is to afford a toy which has particular advantages in these respects.

A toy according to the invention can be twisted at various points to form a great number of different configurations. It can be used to produce geometric figures, simple letters, numerals, etc. In this way the toy develops the correlated action of the child's hand and eye. Due to the fact that friction between the contact faces of adjacent bodies resists their turning, the toy retains the shape it has been given. The toy also possesses particular therapeutic effects, for instance, in the rehabilitation of injured hands.

The various pieces constituting the toy may be mutually connected such as by means of slide bearings. But manufacture of the toy becomes substantially simpler if the bodies are mutually connected by means of a stretched, elastic band such as of rubber, which passes through them from one end to the other of the row and which is fastened to the bodies at either end. The cost of such an educative toy becomes so low that it can be offered to the general public.

The bodies are most appropriately mutually congruent, oblique-based cylinders, both bases of which form equal angles with the axis of the body. In its basic form, such a toy is a completely smooth-surfaced bar, which then can be shaped into various figures by twisting the bodies with respect to each other.

The invention is described for illustration in the following with reference to the attached drawing, the sole FIG. of which shows one configuration of the toy partly in section in solid lines, and another configuration of the toy is in chain dotted outline.

All bodies except those at the ends of the toy, which are indicated by the reference numerals 1 and 2, are mutually congruent oblique-based cylinders 3, the bases of which are inclined at equal angles with respect to the axis of the body. Through all pieces a rubberband 4 is passed, which has been stretched so that the bodies are urged one against the other with a given force. By action of this force friction is produced between the contact surfaces of adjacent bodies, which keeps the bodies in any twisted position into which they are brought. For anchoring the rubberband 4 in the endmost pieces 1 and 2, knots have been made in the rubber band, and the pieces 1 and 2 have recesses 5 for these knots.

For the purpose of illustration, the chain-dotted outline shows an arbitrary configuration into which the toy can be shaped.

Various modifications of the toy may obviously be made within the scope of the claims stated below. For instance, the bodies 1--3 need not necessarily have a cylindrical surface; bodies of other shape, such as a spherical segment or a star, may also be used. On the other hand the contact surfaces between the bodies need not necessarily be planar, and they may be, for instance, parts of a sphere which are urged against each other.

Claims

We claim:

1. A toy comprising a plurality of parts each said part having opposite inclined planar surfaces, each of said parts having a bore extending from one said surface thereof to the other, an elastic connecting band extending through the bores of the parts to hold the parts in assembled end-to-end relation to form an assembly having one said part at each end and the remaining said parts therebetween, with the surfaces of each said remaining part in contact with the surfaces of adjacent ones of said parts, and means securing the elastic connecting member at the ends thereof to the parts at the opposite ends of the assembly, said elastic connecting member being in tension and thereby exerting pressure on said parts and developing friction between the contacting surfaces, whereby the shape of the assembly is variable by mutually independently turning said parts and the shape resulting is maintained by the pressure and friction which is developed, each said part being a symmetrical body and the bore therein being substantially axial.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said part is cylindrical and said surfaces are end faces.

3. A toy as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bore is coaxial in the cylindrical part.

4. A toy as claimed in claim 3, wherein said end faces are inclined to said axis at equal and opposite angles and said parts are identical.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 3, wherein said elastic band has ends with knots secured in the bores in the parts at the ends of the assembly.