U.S. patent number 3,696,548 [Application Number 05/107,191] was granted by the patent office on 1972-10-10 for educational building toy modules with interior lights and mechanical connections acting as circuit closers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kinetic Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Alvin N. Teller.
United States Patent |
3,696,548 |
Teller |
October 10, 1972 |
EDUCATIONAL BUILDING TOY MODULES WITH INTERIOR LIGHTS AND
MECHANICAL CONNECTIONS ACTING AS CIRCUIT CLOSERS
Abstract
An educational toy comprising a plurality of interiorly
illuminable modules, each of which is electrically interengageable
with another module to form a stacked arrangement of modules. Each
module contains a lamp therewithin which is energized when the
module is connected to another module.
Inventors: |
Teller; Alvin N. (Chicago,
IL) |
Assignee: |
Kinetic Technologies, Inc.
(N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
22315320 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/107,191 |
Filed: |
January 18, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/91 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H
33/042 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63H
33/04 (20060101); A63h 033/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;46/16,226,228
;35/19A |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Shay; F. Barry
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An educational toy comprising a plurality of interiorly
illuminated modules each of which is interengageable with another
module to form a stackable arrangement of modules, each module
having one side that is disconnectable to provide simple access to
its interior; a lamp socket and battery contact means located in
each module to provide receptacles for a lamp bulb and a battery,
respectively, first electrical connectors fastened to each module's
housing, means electrically connecting said socket and said battery
contacts to said first electrical connectors whereby said lamp bulb
and battery will be in series with the series circuit being
normally open-circuited across said first electrical connectors;
each module's housing carrying second electrical connectors which
are electrically shorted and are complementary with said first
electrical connectors, to complete said series circuit when two
modules are interconnected.
2. An educational toy as described in claim 1, wherein said modules
have a housing that is formed of a material that is substantially
opaque when viewed from the outside when the lamp therein is unlit
but is light transmissive with respect to an energized lamp located
therein.
3. An educational toy as described in claim 2, wherein said
material has an opacity that obscures the outline of the lamp and
its filament when the lamp is energized.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an amusement device which may also be
used for educational purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many years children have enjoyed playing with blocks of various
forms and building structures with such blocks. Such building is
generally amusing to the child and serves many useful training
functions. For example, the child is given a sense of
accomplishment while he performs an artistic endeavor, and the
child learns basic mechanics of construction during his attempts to
build a structure. Building blocks have been found very useful for
children between the ages of one and four, and typically after the
age of four a child's interest in building with simple blocks
appears to dwindle. I have invented a device which has all of the
favorable characteristics of building blocks yet includes many
novel additional features which draw the attention of children of
many ages and which device includes modules which may be connected
to form a large number of attractive forms.
One of the attractions of the present invention is its ability to
provide a new effect with each connection that is made. That is,
each time a module is connected with another module, an interior
lamp within one of the modules is energized to illuminate the
connected module.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to
provide an educational toy which provides amusement for a child
while teaching him artistic concepts, mechanical concepts and
providing him with a sense of accomplishment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an
educational toy which comprises a number of interiorly illuminable
modules, each of which is electrically interengageable with another
module to form a stacked arrangement of modules.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of modules
are provided each of which contains a lamp therewithin and has
electrical connectors fastened to the module's housing for
complementary connection with electrical connectors on another
module's housing. In this manner, engagement of one module with
another will place the lamp of one module in circuit for
energization. Means are provided for electrically energizing the
lamps of the connected modules.
In one embodiment of the invention, each module contains its own
battery power source connected in series with the lamp. The series
circuit is normally open-circuited across the electrical
connectors. Each module carries a pair of complementary shorted
electrical connectors for engagement with the open-circuited
electrical connectors of another module, to complete the series
circuit when two modules are interconnected.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a base in provided
having complementary electrical connectors for engagement with the
electrical connectors of one of the modules. Means are provided for
connecting the base's electrical connectors to a supply of
household current.
In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the modules have a
housing that is formed of a material that is substantially opaque
when viewed from the outside when the lamp therein is unlit, but is
light transmissive with respect to an energized lamp located
therein. The material has an opacity that obscures the outline of
the lamp and its filament when the lamp is energized.
A more detailed explanation of the invention is provided in the
following description and claims, and is illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partially exploded, of an educational
building toy in accordance with the principles of the present
inventions;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partially broken in order to view the
interior, of one of the modules from the toy of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevation of the removable
end of one of the modules;
FIG. 4 is similar to the view of FIG. 3, except that the removable
end has been removed;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the electrical connectors used in the
FIG. 1 embodiment, taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of a module's electrical
circuit;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of educational
building toy in accordance with the principles of the second
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view, partially broken in order to view the
interior, of one of the modules from the toy of FIG. 7; and
FIG. 9 is a schematic circuit diagram of the electrical circuit of
the FIGS. 7 and 8 embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
Figs. 1 and 2 Embodiment
Referring to the drawings, the educational building toy 10 of FIG.
1 includes a plurality of modules 12 which can be interconnected
with each other to form various configurations of a building unit.
While each module may take many different shapes, the modules
illustrated in FIG. 1 comprise cubes and a pyramid.
Each of the modules 12 is formed of a plastic housing 16 within
which is fastened a pair of battery clips 18, 20 between which is
positioned a conventional battery or suitable source of electrical
energy 22. Also located within housing 16 is a lamp socket 24
having a low voltage lamp 26 positioned therein. An electrically
conductive wire 28 connects the positive terminal of battery 22 to
the base 30 of lamp socket 24 and the side of the lamp socket is
connected by electrical conductor 32 to an electrical connector 34.
The negative terminal of battery 22 is connected via electrically
conductive wire 36 to another electrical connector 38. A schematic
diagram of the circuitry is shown in FIG. 6.
Module 12 also has another pair of electrical connectors 40, 42
suitably fastened to housing 16. Connectors 40, 42 are electrically
shorted by means of electrically conductive wire 44. It can be
readily seen that when connectors 34, 38 of one module are in
electrical engagement with connectors 40, 42, the series circuit
containing battery 22 and lamp 26 is closed to energize lamp
26.
Many different types of electrical connectors could be used. For
example, instead of using a separate connector for each pole, a
single bipolar connector, similar to a telephone jack, could be
utilized. Additionally, the connectors need not be male and female,
but could be planar surface contact connectors.
The connectors of the FIGS. 1 and 2 embodiment are shown in detail
in FIG. 5, where it can be seen that connector 34 comprises an
externally threaded sleeve 48 to which a prong 50 is fastened,
which sleeve is positioned within an aperture 52 defined by housing
16. A nut 54, which is in threaded engagement with sleeve 48, is
utilized to fasten sleeve 48 to housing 16. Wire 32 is soldered at
56 to the electrically conductive sleeve 48.
Conductor 40 comprises a female receptacle having an insulative
annular rim 60 and an electrically conductive fitting 62 which
receives prong 50 in frictional engagement therewith. An externally
threaded sleeve 64 is fastened to housing 16 and is separated from
electrically conductive fitting 62 by an extension 65 of rim 60.
Wire 44 is soldered at 66 to an electrically conductive extension
of fitting 62.
One side 70 of module 12 is removable to obtain access to the
interior of the module. Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, it can be
seen that side 70 comprises an inwardly extending continuous flange
72, the outer surface 74 of which snugly engages the inner surfaces
76 of the module. The inside surfaces of side 70 outside of flange
72 are bevelled to form a bevelled connection 80 with the bevelled
cooperating ends 78 of the sides of module 12 to which end 70
connects. As shown in FIG. 4, a notch 82 is provided to enable side
70 to be pried with a screwdriver out of engagement with the other
sides of module 12.
Figs. 7 and 8 Embodiment
In the FIGS. 7 and 8 embodiment of the invention, there is provided
an electrically connected base 100, to which one or more modules
102 is connected. As with modules 12 of the FIG. 1 embodiment,
modules 102 can have various configurations and can be
interconnected to form various constructions. Also, the housings
forming the modules consist of a plastic material similar to the
plastic material used in the modules of FIG. 1.
The electrical connections within the FIGS. 7 and 8 modules are
such that the lamp 104 positioned in each of the modules is simply
connected in parallel to each pair of electrical connectors. In
other words, referring to FIG. 8, the base of the lamp socket is
directly electrically connected via lines 105 and 107 to male
connector 108 and female connector 106 and the side of the lamp
socket is directly electrically connected via line 109 to male
connector 112 and via line 111 to female connector 110. Although
electrical connectors 106, 108, 110, and 112 could take various
forms, in the FIGS. 7 and 8 embodiment they are illustrated as male
connectors 108 and 112 being identical to connectors 34 and 38 of
the FIGS. 1 and 2 embodiment, and female connectors 106 and 110
being identical to connectors 40 and 42 of the FIGS. 1 and 2
embodiment.
Female connectors 106 and 110 are also fastened to base 100 and are
connected to a suitable source of household current so that these
female connectors will be electrically energized to provide
energization to connected modules 102.
Referring to FIG. 9, it is seen that the electrical circuit of base
100 comprises a pair of leads 120 and 122 which are connected to a
conventional male plug 124 for connection to a household current
supply. Leads 120 and 122 are connected through a step-down
transformer 126, the secondary 128 of which is connected across
receptacle connectors 106 and 110 as shown in FIG. 8. It is
preferred that the lamps 104 located within the housings of modules
12 are 6-volt lamps and for that reason step-down transformer 126
is utilized. By using low-voltage lamps, the low voltages in the
module circuits provide a safety factor.
It can be seen that the male connectors 108, 112 of any module 102
can be placed in engagement with receptacle connectors 106, 110 for
electrical energization of the lamp 104 within the module. Upon
connection of a first module 102 with any connectors 106,110 of
base 100, the lamp 104 of the first connected module 102 will be
energized. Subsequent connection of any module to the
first-connected module or to succeeding connecting modules will
place the lamp of each connected module in parallel for
energization.
As with the FIGS. 1 and 2 embodiment, one end of modules 102 is
removable in the same manner that end 70 of modules 12 (in the
FIGS. 1 and 2 embodiment) is removable. This can be seen by
reference to the second module from the top module of FIG. 7. In
this manner, an operative lamp can be substituted for an
inoperative one.
In order to make the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and the embodiment
of FIGS. 7 and 8 most attractive to children, it is preferred that
the modules be very colorful, with each side of each module being a
different color from the other sides. It is further preferred that
the modules be formed of a plastic material that is substantially
opaque when viewed from the outside of the module while the lamp is
not energized, but is somewhat light transmissive with respect to
an energized lamp located therein. However, the plastic material
preferably has an opacity that obscures the outline of the lamp and
its filament when the lamp is energized, so that, when a lamp is
energized, the housing of the module will appear to be illuminated
from the interior thereof, without showing an outline of the lamp
filament.
It is to be understood that various modifications and substitutions
may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the
novel spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the
modules could be formed of various different materials, that take
various different configurations and shapes, and the modules may
vary in light transmissivity. Further, the electrical connectors
may take various different forms and the base of the FIG. 7
embodiment to which modules are connected could take various
configurations. As an additional attraction to children, numerals
and/or letters and/or symbols may be placed on various sides of the
modules and certain color combinations may be utilized to aid the
children in learning words, numbers, arithmetic, and colors, or
other subjects which may be learned through the use of block
connections.
* * * * *