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(11) | EP 3 517 191 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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RESILIENT TOY CONSTRUCTION BLOCKS STABILE SPIELZEUGBAUBLÖCKE BLOCS ÉLASTIQUES DE JEU À FIXER |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of building bricks in children's building sets. Particularly to giant-sized bricks with different configurations and simple manufacturing, wherein the joining is made based on a male-female relationship, including bricks made of compressive elastic materials which further allow assembling firm structures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Children's building sets are well known in the art. They are usually made up of a plurality of bricks with a certain configuration which allows each brick to be detachably joined to at least one other brick to build and create larger size figures, as claimed in patent US 3,005,282 which describes a brick having hollows of several configurations for example, square, rectangular or other shapes, made of rigid plastic and provided with several cylindrical projections that fit into the hollow of one other brick or the hollows of two or more adjacent bricks.
[0003] In this regard, it is customary in the art that to allow the concatenated and continuous assembly of bricks, the separation distance between said cylindrical projections is a multiple of the distance corresponding to the width and/or length of said brick. In this regard, patent IL121303 claims a toy building brick made of a semi-rigid plastic material and joinable to at least one other building brick, wherein the use of non-rigid materials is started to be considered for the manufacture of toy building bricks, however, the bricks disclosed in said invention include a plurality of irregular shapes and special cuts, the manufacture of which requires complex processes or specialized machinery.
[0004] It is common in the art for each brickto have at least one male element and at least one female element, so that the male element or elements of each brick is/are inserted into the female element of at least one other brick and so on. Usually, in the art, the male-female relationship is based on circular elements mainly on the male element having a cylindrical shape, and the female element having a tube shape or other configurations. In this regard, since there is a male-female relationship based on circular elements, it is possible to rotate on the axis of the circle of each male-female element to increase the range of building configurations. Thus, it is possible to build straight and angled structures. JP H105451 discloses a brick toy configured as a parallelepiped main body wherein a recess is delimited on each among three sides of the body and a projection protrudes from each of the other three sides of the main body.
[0005] It is important to note that the dimensions of the building bricks in the art are designed so that a child can handle them with its fingers, that is, wherein the size of each brick is not larger than the size of an average child's fist.
[0006] In this regard, the use of these materials with these dimensions only allows creating relatively small structures or figures, due to the number of parts required, complexity, and to the fact that the structure loses stability as the building bricks reach certain height. However, it is not possible simply to scale up the size of the bricks found in the art, since a child would not have enough force to join or detach the bricks. In this regard, it has been identified that children want to build figures exceeding the dimensions found in the art, that is, figures or structures exceeding their height such as castles, walls, or houses, but also providing stability in the structure to be built, safety and ease of use for the child.
[0007] At the same time, it is customary in the art to use rigid or semi-rigid materials such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic or an equivalent, wherein due to the properties of these materials, the male-female relationship must be perfect, often making the already joined bricks to be very difficult to detach by the force of a child or, in contrast, the joining to be weak causing the structures to fall easily. Additionally, the use of rigid materials may pose a risk to children, because the bricks include blunt edges or corners that can easily injure a human being and wherein the type of injury due to impact or blow varies according to the toy building brick size.
[0008] Thus, it is desirable to obtain a set of building bricks, the design of which is oriented to the use of soft materials that can receive impacts or be struck by a user such as a child, without injuring said user, which further allows building firm structures exceeding the average dimensions used in the art. Likewise, it is equally desirable the creation of a set of building bricks that allows a child assembling and disassembling structures exceeding the average dimensions found in the art without the help of an adult, that is, wherein the force required to join or detach is compatible with the force of an average child.
[0009] Thus, allowing said bricks or molds for the manufacturing of said bricks to involve simple designs without arbitrary shapes or curves or which are difficult to design and/or manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention is related to the toy building bricks, wherein the bricks include one or more shapes, thereby defining sets of bricks, wherein all the shapes are compatible with each other so that the sets of bricks can be joined with each other, that is, wherein a brick can fit to be detachably joined to at least one other brick thus allowing the modular construction of three-dimensional structures, maintaining a single brick final shape without arbitrary components, the manufacture of which is more complex. The bricks being independent parts which can be detachably joined to form structures or figures of different configurations. The invention provides a building brick according to claim 1.
[0011] In one embodiment of the invention, the length (L) of the building brick is greater than 20 cm.
[0012] In one embodiment of the invention, each set of bricks is made with at least one soft material with elastic properties, which absorb the impacts reducing the risk of injury to the user by some direct blow. In this regard, the material requiring between 0 to 82,7kPa (12 psi) to compress 25% of said material and which returns to its original shape in a period of time after the pressure stops being applied is considered soft. In a preferred embodiment, a material having a pressure is used to compress 25% of said material from 20,7 kPa (3 psi) to 34,5 kPa (5 psi). Thus, the risk of injury is reduced, and support is maintained in the structure formed when building several bricks vertically, including the density of the material which provides stability to said assembly equally.
[0013] In one embodiment of the invention, the material used to manufacture the set of bricks is selected from the list of ethylene-vinyl acetate (foamy), light polyurethane or polyurethane foam, polyethylene or polyethylene foam, and/or polystyrene or polystyrene foam, wherein said materials are considered soft. In one embodiment of the invention, foamy and polyurethane foam are used.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014]
Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in three different views corresponding to the isometric view, front view and bottom view.
Figure 2 shows an AA sectional view of the brick of figure 1.
Figure 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, wherein all dimensions of the brick are made in relation to multiples of a length L.
Figure 4, shows an embodiment of the present invention in front view and sectional view, wherein a support chamfer is included around the base of each protrusion or pivot.
Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention in front view and sectional view, wherein a support chamfer is included around the base of each protrusion or pivot and/or relief bores are included around each female element.
Figure 6 shows the brick of Figure 5, wherein some of the stresses undergone during use by said brick are seen.
Figure 7 shows an isometric bottom view of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the relief bores have a non-circular shape.
Figure 8 shows an illustrative example of the assembly of three bricks.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.
[0016] Several modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, on the contrary it must concur with the broader scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
[0017] The present invention relates to a toy building brick made of a soft elastic material joinable to at least one other building brick with the same properties, characterized in that it comprises: a plurality of projections extending from at least one surface of said brick, and undercut recesses disposed on the surface opposite to said at least one surface, at least some of said recesses being in substantial alignment with said projections, said projections having a hollow cylindrical shape or not, constituting male joining means, said undercut recesses constituting female joining means, being at least partial counterparts of said projections.
[0018] The examples shown in this document use bricks with two male elements and two female elements. However, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of male elements and female elements per brick may vary without affecting the subject matter of the present invention, wherein the dimensions of the brick are proportionally adjusted to accommodate said number of male and female elements. Additionally, the examples shown are made from rectangular parallelepipeds, however, one skilled in the art will appreciate that said configuration may vary without affecting the subject matter of the present invention.
[0019] Figure 1, shows an embodiment of the present invention in several views (isometric, frontal and bottom), wherein a brick 10 is shown with two protrusions which we will call male elements 11 distributed centrally and uniformly on one face of said brick 10; and two tubular holes corresponding to the female elements 12, distributed centrally and uniformly at one opposite face of said brick 10. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of male elements and female elements may vary without affecting the subject matter of the present invention, so they could be bricks of at least one male element 11 and at least one female element 12. Thus, a brick with a length L, width M, height H is shown. In one embodiment of the invention, the width M and the height H correspond to a multiple of said length L. In a particular embodiment, the width M correspond to L/2.
[0020] Figure 2 shows the AA sectional view in Figure 1. Thus, male elements with a height A and a diameter D are shown. In this regard, the female elements with a depth P and a diameter Q are shown. In one embodiment of the invention, the diameter D is equal to the diameter Q.
[0021] In another embodiment of the invention, the diameter D is different to the diameter Q. In a particular embodiment, the diameter D is greater than the diameter Q. In this regard, the height A is, either equal to or less than the depth P. In one embodiment of the invention, the height A and the depth P are equal to or greater than half the height H. In one embodiment of the invention, the diameter D is a multiple of the length L. In another embodiment of the invention, the diameter Q is a multiple of the length L.
[0022] In this context, making use of the properties of the materials used, that is, soft materials, and to ensure that the structures formed from the detachably joining of bricks 10 are firm, an offset between the diameter Q and diameter D is included, thus defining a non-perfect relationship or pressure relationship between said elements, wherein an elastic deformation in at least one of the male and/or female elements generates a joining force in said male-female relationship. In this regard, said offset is greater than 1 mm. In a particular embodiment, the offset is 2 mm.
[0023] The separation distance X between each center of the male elements 11 corresponds to the separation distance between female elements 12. Additionally, in one embodiment of the invention said distance X is a multiple of the length L. In a particular embodiment, the distance X is equal to L/2.
[0024] Figure 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a brick whose configuration and dimensions are relative to a length L.
[0025] In one embodiment of the invention, the length L, either corresponding to the embodiment of Figure 1 or the embodiment of Figure 3, is greater than 20 cm. In a particular embodiment, the length L is equal to 25 cm. Thus, a relationship between said length and the mechanical properties of the selected material corresponding to a soft and elastic material requiring about 20,7 kPa (3 psi) to 34,5 kPa (5 psi) of pressure to compress 25% thereof and return to its original shape after said pressure, defines a set of bricks that can be assembled forming firm structures, and representing a minimum risk to the user or users.
[0026] Figure 4, shows an embodiment of the invention, wherein the brick 10 includes a chamfer 20. Once a multi-brick structure of the present invention has been formed, the male elements 11 undergo a bending due to the same structure and to external forces, the base of each male element 11 being particularly a critical point. Thus, to increase the useful life of each brick, in said embodiment of the invention, a chamfer around the base of each male element 11 is included. Figure 4 shows a chamfer with straight and 45° shape, however, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the shape, angle and depth of the chamfer may vary without affecting the subject matter of the present invention.
[0027] Additionally, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the chamfer shape may be curved or irregular, without affecting the subject matter of the present invention.
[0028] Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention in sectional view and bottom view, wherein one or a plurality of relief bores 5 around the female elements 12 are included, which, depending on their size, number, shape and location, provide a controlled elastic deformation or controlled pressure on the male and/or female element when inserted with one another into a non-perfect male-female relationship. In this regard, the use of relief bores enables each male element to be inserted and detached from the female element when the male-female relationship includes a male width greater than the female width. Thus, when the male element is attempted to be inserted into the female element, a pressure is generated which is increasing as it continues to be inserted due to several factors including friction. In this regard, it has been identified that some children do not have enough force to either join or detach bricks when the male-female relationship is not perfect. Thus, the relief bores 5 enable the detachably joining of bricks by allowing firm structures of several joined bricks to be assembled.
[0029] In one embodiment of the invention, the relief bores, in a sectional view, have a conic shape. Thus, the relief pressure generated by said bores varies according to the depth with which each male element is inserted.
[0030] One skilled in the art will appreciate that the number, configuration, depth, shape and/or size of the relief bores may vary without affecting the subject matter of the present invention.
[0031] In one embodiment of the invention, a friction-reducing layer of slip material is used on the surface of either each male element and/or each female element to enable the joining and detachment of bricks with each other.
[0032] Figure 6 shows a brick of an embodiment of the invention in sectional view, wherein the stresses to which each brick is subjected during use are depicted. Thus, a force F applied cross-sectionally at one point of the brick is absorbed elastically deforming said brick without affecting the other points. The deformation of each brick will depend on the applied force F and on the material with which said brick is made. In this regard, an impact defined by a force F applied in a short period of time is likewise absorbed by the material of the brick.
[0033] Additionally, Figure 6 shows the stresses to which the male elements and the female elements are subjected particularly when there is a non-perfect detachably joining relationship and wherein there is an elastic deformation in at least one of said elements. In this regard, it is shown how the relief bores allow part of the material around the female element to be freely compressed and/or bent generating a joining stress between the male element and the female element controlled and dependent on the shape, number and size of the relief bore or bores. Thus, reflecting on a friendly force to join or detach the bricks by the user. In this regard, the use of soft materials in a non-perfect female-male relationship allows compressions and/or bends in different parts of the bricks to be relieved from elastic deformations, so that these are detachably joined.
[0034] Figure 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein the relief bores have a shape other than circular.
[0035] Figure 8 shows an example of assembly of bricks 10 of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein pressure is applied on said bricks to be joined so as to maintain a mutual joining.
[0036] The foregoing descriptions of several embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the disclosed shapes. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Further, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.
at least one cylindrical hollow protrusion, projected from a first face of the building brick, thus defining at least one male element (11), wherein a respective location of each of the at least one male elements (11) varies according to the length of the building brick; and
at least one cylindrical recess, on an opposite face of the first face of the building brick, thus defining at least one female element (12), wherein a respective location of each of the at least one female elements (12) on the opposite face of the building brick corresponds to the location of a corresponding male element (11), wherein a number of female elements (12) defined in the building brick equals a number of male elements (11) defined in such building brick,
wherein the building brick is made of a soft compressive elastic material, wherein the male-female relationship is not perfect
characterized in that a diameter (Q) of the at least one female element (12) is at least one millimeter (mm) smaller than a diameter (D) of each corresponding male element (11), and
in that the building brick further comprises at least one relief bore (5) around a length of at least one of the at least one female elements (12), wherein the at least one relief bore (5) is configured to relieve the pressure exerted around a length of the male element (11) when inserted into the at least one female element (12).
mindestens einen zylindrischen hohlen Vorsprung, der von einer ersten Fläche des Bausteins vorsteht, wodurch mindestens ein männliches Element (11) definiert wird,
wobei eine jeweilige Position jedes der mindestens einen männlichen Elemente (11) gemäß der Länge des Bausteins variiert; und mindestens eine zylindrische Aussparung auf einer der ersten Fläche des Bausteins gegenüberliegenden Fläche, wodurch mindestens ein weibliches Element (12) definiert wird,
wobei eine jeweilige Position jedes der mindestens einen weiblichen Elemente (12) auf der gegenüberliegenden Fläche des Bausteins der Position eines entsprechenden männlichen Elements (11) entspricht,
wobei eine Anzahl von in dem Baustein definierten weiblichen Elementen (12) gleich einer Anzahl von in einem solchen Baustein definierten männlichen Elementen (11) ist,
wobei der Baustein aus einem weichen druckelastischen Material hergestellt ist,
wobei die männliche-weibliche Beziehung nicht perfekt ist
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein Durchmesser (Q) des mindestens einen weiblichen Elements (12) mindestens einen Millimeter (mm) kleiner als ein Durchmesser (D) jedes entsprechenden männlichen Elements (11) ist,
und dadurch, dass der Baustein ferner mindestens eine Entlastungsbohrung (5) um eine Länge von mindestens einem der mindestens einen weiblichen Elemente (12) umfasst,
wobei die mindestens eine Entlastungsbohrung (5) so konfiguriert ist, dass sie den Druck entlastet, der um eine Länge des männlichen Elements (11) ausgeübt wird, wenn es in das mindestens eine weibliche Element (12) eingesetzt wird.
au moins une partie saillante, creuse et cylindrique dépassant d'une première face du bloc de construction, ladite partie saillante définissant ainsi au moins un élément mâle (11), bloc de construction dans lequel un emplacement respectif de chacun de l'au moins un de ceux parmi les éléments mâles (11) varie conformément à la longueur du bloc de construction ; et
au moins un évidement cylindrique se trouvant sur une face opposée de la première face du bloc de construction, ledit évidement définissant ainsi au moins un élément femelle (12), bloc de construction dans lequel un emplacement respectif de chacun de l'au moins un de ceux parmi les éléments femelles (12) se trouvant sur la face opposée du bloc de construction correspond à l'emplacement d'un élément mâle correspondant (11), bloc de construction dans lequel un certain nombre d'éléments femelles (12), défini dans le bloc de construction, est égal à un certain nombre d'éléments mâles (11), défini dans un tel bloc de construction,
où le bloc de construction est constitué d'un matériau élastique, compressif et souple, bloc de construction dans lequel le rapport mâle-femelle n'est pas parfait,
caractérisé
en ce qu'un diamètre (Q) de l'au moins un élément femelle (12) est au moins d'un millimètre (mm) plus petit qu'un diamètre (D) de chaque élément mâle correspondant (11), et
en ce que le bloc de construction comprend en outre au moins un alésage de décharge (5) autour d'une longueur d'au moins un de ceux parmi les au moins un éléments femelles (12), bloc de construction dans lequel l'au moins un alésage de décharge (5) est configuré pour relâcher la pression exercée autour d'une longueur de l'élément mâle (11) lorsqu'il est inséré dans l'au moins un élément femelle (12).
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.
Patent documents cited in the description