U.S. patent number 3,862,512 [Application Number 04/841,498] was granted by the patent office on 1975-01-28 for sets of building blocks of different sizes.
Invention is credited to Georg Vogel.
United States Patent |
3,862,512 |
Vogel |
January 28, 1975 |
SETS OF BUILDING BLOCKS OF DIFFERENT SIZES
Abstract
In a building block set made up of a plurality of blocks of
different sizes, the blocks are provided with plug-and-socket
connectors. Those blocks which have a relatively small number of
such connectors have the latter designed to provide a relatively
tight fit, while those blocks which have a relatively large number
of the plug-and-socket connectors have the latter designed to
provide a looser fit.
Inventors: |
Vogel; Georg (7141
Schwieberdingen, DT) |
Family
ID: |
5688650 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/841,498 |
Filed: |
July 14, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/128 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H
33/086 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63H
33/08 (20060101); A63H 33/04 (20060101);
A63h () |
Field of
Search: |
;46/25,26 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
American Calmac Corp., Mar. 10, 1966..
|
Primary Examiner: Guida; Antonio F.
Assistant Examiner: Lever; J. Q.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Schaffer; Murray
Claims
I claim:
1. A building block set comprising a plurality of blocks of
different sizes each having at least one connector for connecting
the blocks to each other, said connector including a plug
projecting from a block at one of the faces thereof and a socket
formed in the block at the opposed face thereof and aligned with
said plug, the connectors of those blocks of the set which have
less than three connector being formed of one size to provide a
relatively tight fit for all of said less than three connectors
thereon while the connectors of those blocks which have more than
three being formed with some of the aligned plug-and-sockets of the
same size to provide a tight fit and some sockets of a larger size
than their associated plugs to provide a looser fit for some but
not all of the connectors thereof, said connectors on said larger
blocks being arranged so that no two connectors of relatively tight
fit be adjacent each other.
2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein the fit of the connectors
is determined by selection of the diameter of the connectors.
3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein at least some of the
blocks have a plurality of rows of connectors with a plurality of
spaces therebetween and those connectors of relatively tight fit
alternating with those of relatively loose fit.
4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein the plug-and-socket
portions of each connector have a common axis along which at least
one of said portions is stepped to have an outer guiding region and
an inner region providing a preselected fit.
5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein the loose or tight fit is
achieved according to the axial length of the connector
portion.
6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein each block is in the form
of a hollow body having a hollow inner surface forming a socket and
exterior surface forming a plug and closing the body on one side,
the closed side of each body extending from the hollow opening
which forms each socket and said hollow plug-and-socket connectors
forming at edge regions of the block at least part of the outer
wall of each block.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to sets of building blocks.
In particular, the invention relates to building block sets made up
of blocks of different sizes and having plug-and-socket connectors
in the form of plugs situated on one side and sockets situated on
the opposite side of the blocks.
There are many known types of building blocks using plug-and-socket
connectors, with such blocks being most frequently made of plastic
at the present time.
A relatively large number of building blocks of this type use, to
provide the interconnection between the blocks, a clamping type of
connection resulting from the fact that one part of the connecting
structure is elastic so as to be deformable for the purpose of
holding the connected parts together with the required force. Such
building blocks must be made of a relatively soft plastic which is
expensive and which suffers from fatigue and failrue after a given
period of use. As a result, the clamping force for the required
connection is no longer effective to hold the parts together so
that with blocks of this type models or other structures which are
built easily fall apart.
There are also known building blocks which have the plug-and-socket
connectors arranged with the plug portions on one side and with the
plug-receiving sockets on the other side. Thus, each plug portion
and its aligned opposed socket portion forms a connector element
having a common axis for the plug-and-socket portions. The
advantage of this type of construction resides in the fact that the
assembling of such blocks in exceedingly simple and can even be
carried out by small children. However, the difficulty with this
type of construction resides in the fact that the assembly of the
blocks is easy or difficult to carry out, depending on the number
of plug-and-socket connectors. Blocks which have a relatively small
number of such connectors will generally not have the required
connection with each other which will hold them reliably together,
while blocks which have a relatively large number of these
connectors can, perhaps, be assembled by children but cannot be
taken apart.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to
provide a set of building blocks of the referred to general type
which will avoid the above mentioned drawbacks.
More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a
construction where the blocks of the set are of different sizes and
have different numbers of plug-and-socket connectors.
An important object of the invention is to provide a construction
where even relatively large blocks not only can be assembled
connected with other blocks but also can be disassembled or
disconnected from other blocks even by relatively small children
who cannot exert a substantial force.
Another object of the invention is to provide a set of blocks where
small blocks which have a relatively small number of connectors can
reliably be connected with other blocks, even relatively large
blocks, which have a relatively large number of connectors, while
at the same time presenting no difficulty with respect to
disassembly of the blocks from each other.
In accordance with the invention, the blocks which have plug
portions of the connectors on one side and socket portions of the
connectors on an opposite side are designed in such a way that
those blocks which have a relatively small number of connectors
provide for the small number of connectors a relatively tight fit
while those blocks which have a relatively large number of
connectors provide a relatively loose fit for the larger number of
connectors. In this way, even if a given relatively small block has
a relatively small number of connectors, the tight fit provides
nevertheless a sufficiently reliably connection even when such a
small block is joined to a block of larger size. The blocks are
larger size with the larger number of plug-and-socket connectors
provide for the latter connectors a looser fit. Thus, the
disassembly of a relatively small block from another block to which
it is connected is not difficult to carry out because of the
relatively small number of connectors. With the larger blocks
having a larger number of connectors, even though the fit of the
connectors is relatively loose there will nevertheless be the
required union between the connected blocks because of the
relatively larger number of connectors while at the same time the
disassembly of such blocks is not difficult to carry out.
With the building blocks of the invention, any combination of
building blocks of different sizes may be put together while
reliably achieving the required interconnecting force between the
blocks of a given model or other struccture which is built. At the
same time, the disassembly of the blocks is never difficult to
carry out.
In the case where the bulding blocks are made of a molded plastic,
for instance, a plastic which is injection molded, the construction
of the mold itself is relatively simple even when different fits
are provided for the connectors, simply by way of providing for all
of the blocks of the set plug-and-socket connectors of the same
construction while at the same time providing for blocks which have
a relatively small number of connectors a design for a tight fit
while blocks with a larger number of connectors are designed to
have a loose fit at the connectors. It becomes necessary,
therefore, to provide a predetermined fit for only part of the
connectors. This fit can be determined by proper selection of the
diameters of the plug portions or socket portions of the
connectors.
The relatively loose fit with the larger blocks can, according to a
further feature of the invention, be achieved by providing for the
plug-and-socket portions a pair of different diameters so that one
part of the connectors will have a tight fit while the remainder
thereof will have a loose fit. Where those connectors are
distributed in a plurality of rows with gaps therebetween, the
connectors of loose and tight fit alternate with each other.
A further simplification of the structure for the injection molded
type of building block is achieved by providing the plug-and-socket
portions of each connector with a stepped construction along the
common axis of each plug-and-socket of a given connector. In this
way the outer part of each connector serves only as a guide while
the inner part provides the preselected fit. The axial length or
height of the part of the connector which provides the preselected
fit can be selected in such a way as to achieve either a loose fit
or a tight fit.
In spite of these different designs of the connectors and the
different fits achieved thereby, it is nevertheless possible to
provide blocks in the form of hollow bodies having an almost
uniform, unchanging wall thickness. The design of the building
blocks is carried out in such a way that the building block is in
the form of a hollow body with the plug-and-socket connectors
forming a plurality of hollow connector bodies which are closed on
one side where the plug portions are located while being open at
that side where the socket portions are located, the socket
portions extending inwardly from a closed side of the block while
the plug portions extend from the open side of the block with side
walls of the block forming parts of the connectors.
The particular fits for the connectors which are achieved in the
above manner for the blocks of different sizes are capable of being
maintained over a long period of time by making the blocks from a
hard plastic which may be injection molded, such plastic being, for
example, polystyrene.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The invention illustrated by way of example in the accompanying
drawing which forms part of this application and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a block of the invention
having only a single plug-and-socket connector;
FIG. 2 shows, in a perspective view, a block of the invention
having a pair of connectors;
FIG. 3 shows, in a perspective illustration, a block of the
invention having eight connectors;
FIG. 4 is a perspective illustration of a block in the form of a
plate having 13 rows of connectors distributed along the longer
dimension of the block with the connectors of each row separated by
nine gaps therebetween;
FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation of a block of the
invention where the section is taken through the connectors;
and
FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation of the block of FIG. 5
where the section is taken between connectors.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A block A illustrated in FIG. 1 forms the smallest component of the
set of building blocks. The building block A shown in FIG. 1 is a
cubic configuration and has square side surfaces. The
plug-and-socket connector of the block A includes a central socket
2a extending, as shown, into the block A from the top surface
thereof, and situated centrally with respect to this top surface,
while a plug portion 1a of the connector extends from the bottom
surface of the block A and is coaxial with the socket portion 2a,
so that the plug portion 1a is also centrally situated at the
surface of the block from which it extends. The shading provided
for the plug-and-socket portions 1a and 2a is used to indicate that
the diameters chosen for the plug-and-socket connector of FIG. 1
are of a size which will provide a relatively tight fit with other
blocks with which the block A is connected. The tight fit is
achieved in a simple manner by providing for the socket portion 2a
a diameter which is smaller than the normal diameter and for the
diameter of the plug portion 1a a diameter which is greater than
the normal diameter.
With a block B shown in FIG. 2, there are a pair of plug-and-socket
connectors, each being composed of a plug portion 1a and a socket
portion 2a coaxial therewith and situated at the face of the block
opposed to the plug portions. In this case also, because of the
relatively small number of connectors, a tight fit is provided as
indicated by the shaded illustration of the connectors. Where
blocks have less than three connectors, such tight fits will be
provided in accordance with the invention.
Referring to FIG. 3, a block C illustrated therein has eight
connectors made up of the several plug portions 1b extending from
the bottom face of the clock and the socket portions 2a and 2b
extending into the block from the top surface thereof, as viewed in
FIG. 3. The shaded sockets 2a have the tight fit while the other
sockets 2b have a relatively loose fit. It is therefore easy to see
that when blocks A and B are connected to the block C there will
always be a good reliable connection between the blocks even when
the individual plug portion 1a of the block A is received in a
socket portion 2b of the block C. Moreover, disassembly of a block
A from the block C is not difficult to carry out even in the case
where the plug portion 1a of the block A is in a socket portion 2a
of the block C. These relationships are similar for a connection
between the block B and the block C inasmuch as the connection
remains limited to a pair of connectors of which only one will have
a tight fit.
Thus, it will be seen from FIG. 3 that the tight and loose fitting
sockets alternate with each other so that irrespective of how the
block B is joined to the block C there will only be one tight fit,
with the other fit of the other connector being loose. If a pair of
blocks C are connected to each other, thereby providing the block
with plug portions 1b of the same diameter, which is the normal
diameter, only half of the plug portions will have tight fits.
The block of FIG. 4 is in the form of a plate D having several rows
of connectors with gaps therebetween. With this construction, by a
different, preferably uniform, distribution of the socket portions
2a which have the tight fit, the number of connectors which will
have a tight fit can be reduced so that even relatively large
plates which form the building blocks can be easily disassembled
from each other while being reliably connected together. Even
relatively small blocks with only one or two connectors can be
reliably connected with a block D in the form of a plate since the
plug portion 1a has a diameter greater than the normal diameter.
With blocks which have at least four connectors in a row or
arranged in a square pattern, there is always one connector socket
2a having a press fit in the distribution shown for the block D of
FIG. 4 so that with this one out of four connectors providing a
tight fit there will be a reliable connection between blocks of any
sizes.
As is apparent from the sectional illustrations of FIGS. 5 and 6,
the socket portions of the connectors can be stepped so as to have
portions 2c and 2d. The outer portion 2c serves in this case only
as a guide for a plug portion of the connector of another block
while the inner part 2d of the socket provides the required fit
with the plug portion of the other block. It is possible to
determine the nature of the fit by selecting a proper height or
axial length for the portion 2d of the connector.
It should be noted that the set of blocks of the invention can also
be built with connectors having sockets of only one size and having
plugs of different sizes, some of which may even be stepped.
In the case where the blocks are in the form of hollow bodies
having a uniform wall thickness, the individual connectors are made
up of a socket portion and plug portion in the form of a hollow
plug closed on one side and having the socket portion 2c, 2d which
extends from the closed side 4 while the plug portions are situated
at the open side 5 of the block, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.
In order to achieve a uniform wall thickness while providing for
the hollow connector bodies only a relatively short springy length,
the hollow connectors are formed at least in part from the
box-shaped outer side walls 3 of the block. As is apparent from
FIG. 5, the hollow connectors form over their entire height part of
the outer side wall structure 3 of the block.
At a section taken between the connectors, as shown in FIG. 6, only
the outer side walls 3 appear in section. This section illustrates
that the wall thickness of the block is not greater even at those
locations where the connectors are joined with the outer side
walls. This feature is of particular importance for the manufacture
of the block according to an injection molding method.
Where the block has at least a pair of rows of uniformly
distributed connectors, the possibility of assembling the blocks in
all directions can be provided. One side of the block carries the
plug portions of the connectors while the opposite side is provided
with the corresponding socket portions, while each connector is
made up of a plug portion and socket portion in the form of a
hollow body as shown in the sectional illustration of FIG. 5. The
socket portion extends inwardly from the side 4 of the block while
the plug portion 1 extends from the opposite side 5 of the block.
The wall thickness of the connectors at the interior plug portions
2d is the same as the wall thickness of the outer side walls 3, so
that one of the other walls of the block will form part of the
connector structure. The capability of uniting the blocks in all
directions is assured by providing between a pair of adjoining
longitudinal transverse rows of socket portions of the connectors a
distance which is twice as great as the wall thickness of the
block.
* * * * *