Assembly of construction elements and method of connecting construction elements

Abstract

Assembly of two construction elements (1) which each comprise a number of side faces and are provided with a connecting means (2) for connecting the construction elements (1) to one another. The construction elements each comprise a side face with a recess (3), the recess (3) having been produced by cutting away a part (4) from the construction element (1). The slidable parts (4) are slidable in the recesses (3) and form the connections (2). A method of connecting such construction elements (1) to one another is also provided.

Claims

1. Assembly of at least two construction elements (1), each construction element comprising: a number of side faces and at least one connecting means (2) for connecting the construction elements (1) to one another, wherein at least one side face of each construction element (1) comprises a recess (3) and a part (4) is slidable in said recess (3) and a shape of the part is virtually identical to a shape of the recess (3), further wherein said connecting means (2) is formed by at least a pair of the slidable parts (4) of two different side faces.

2. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recess (3) is formed by cutting away a part (4) from said construction element (1), and in that said cut-out part (4) forms the slidable part (4).

3. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein said recess (3) ends in a side face, adjoining the side face which comprises said recess (3).

4. Assembly according to claim 3, wherein the recess (3) extends over an entire height of the side face.

5. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recesses (3) comprise indentations (5) with which the connecting means (2) engages.

6. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein, in a connected position of the construction elements (1), the recesses (3) of connected side faces of the construction elements (1) are mutually opposite and in that each slidable part (4) extends in the recesses (3) of the connected side faces.

7. Assembly according to claim 6, wherein each recess (3) is substantially symmetrical with respect to an axis which extends at right angles to the side face in which said recess (3) is situated, and in that, in the connected position of the construction elements (1), the mutually opposite recesses (3) are virtually each other's mirror image.

8. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein the slidable parts (4) have a dovetail-shaped cross section.

9. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein the assembly is made of a compressible material.

10. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein said assembly is configured to produce a spatial construction.

11. Method of connecting at least two construction elements (1) each comprising a number of side faces, wherein each construction element (1) comprises: a recess (3) and a part (4) slidable into said recess (3) and having a shape virtually identical to a shape of the recess (3), and wherein the method comprises: fitting at least one pair of the slidable parts (4) in the recesses (3) such that each slidable part (4) extends in both recesses (3) of adjacent construction elements, and such that the at least one pair of slidable parts (4) form a connecting means (2).

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein a part (4) is cut out from at least one side face of each construction element (1) in order to form a recess (3) and said cut-out part (4) forms the slidable part (4).

13. Method according to claim 12, wherein the slidable parts (4) have a virtually identical cross section in such a way that said recesses (3) of construction elements (1) adjoining one another are each other's mirror image, in that the recesses (3) are virtually symmetrical with respect to an axis which extends virtually at right angles to the side face in which the recess (3) is situated, and in that, in order to fit the slidable parts (4) in the recesses (3), said slidable parts (4) are rotated through virtually 90° with respect to their position in the construction element (1) before they were cut out.

14. Method according to claim 11, wherein each said recess (3) ends in a side face which adjoins the side face in which the recess (3) is formed, and in that the slidable parts (4) are pushed into the recesses (3).

15. Method according to claim 11, wherein the at least two construction elements (1) and the said connecting means (2) are an assembly of at least two construction elements (1) and a connecting means (2).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In this detailed description, reference numerals are used to refer to the attached drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a front view of some connected construction elements according to a first embodiment of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a slidable part according to a second embodiment of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a connecting means according to the second embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a connecting means as illustrated in FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a construction element according to the second embodiment of the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a construction element according to the second embodiment of the invention, in which a connecting means is illustrated;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of some construction elements according to a first embodiment of the invention while the construction elements are being connected to one another;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of construction elements according to a third embodiment of the invention while the construction elements are being connected to one another.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) In FIGS. 1 to 8, three possible embodiments of assemblies of construction elements (1) and connecting means (2) or parts thereof are illustrated. Obviously, the invention is not limited to these embodiments.

(11) The construction elements (1) according to the first and the second embodiment of the invention are cube-shaped blocks of identical volume which serve as toy building blocks. Four of the eight side faces are provided with a central recess (3) which extends centrally in the side face along the entire length of the side face. This means that one end of each recess (3) ends in an adjoining side face, and the other end ends in another adjoining side face which runs parallel to the aforementioned adjoining side face.

(12) In FIG. 8, the construction elements (1) are L-shaped blocks. Such a construction element (1) may, for example, serve as a chair. The L-shaped side faces each comprise two recesses (3), one end of which ends in an adjoining side face.

(13) All said recesses (3) in the side faces have been created by cutting away a part (4) from each side face. The recesses (3) are therefore in fact cutouts (3). Below, the recesses (3) are therefore also referred to by the term cutouts (3). A separate illustration of such a cut-out part (4) can be seen in FIG. 2. Each cut-out part (4) is slidable in its corresponding cutout (3), as a result of which a cut-out part (4) may also be referred to as a slidable part (4), but in the text below, it will always be referred to as a cut-out part (4). The cut-out part (4) in FIG. 2 has a flat side (7) which originally formed part of the side face from which it was cut and which has 3 sharp corner parts (6). The shape of the cut-out part (4) largely corresponds to the shape of the cutout (3). Thus, the corresponding cutout (3) has 3 indentations (5) which correspond to the 3 sharp corner parts (6) of the cut-out part (4). Such an indentation (5) can be seen in FIG. 6. The cut-out parts (4) may also have a different shape, such as a dovetail shape or the shape of an isosceles trapezium. The dovetail shape can be seen in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8. The cut-out parts (4) with a dovetail-shaped cross section have a flat side (7) which originally formed part of the side face from which it was cut and have 2 sharp corner parts (6). The corresponding cutouts (3) have two indentations (5). The cut-out parts (4) of the construction elements (1) are retained, as they are used to connect the two or more construction elements (1) to one another.

(14) The thing that said cutouts (3) have in common is that the cross section of the cutouts (3) is symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry which extends at right angles to the side face in which the cutout (3) is situated. In both embodiments, virtually identical parts (4) are cut out of the construction elements (1) at the same position. As a result thereof, the cutouts (3) of two connected construction elements (1), at the location of the side faces of the adjoining side faces of the connected construction elements (1), are situated mutually opposite and virtually form two symmetrical halves of a space in which the connecting means (2) is fitted/fittable. The cutouts (3) are thus virtually each other's mirror image. The space has a first plane of symmetry which separates the two cutouts (3) from each other. As each cutout (3) is also symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry which extends at right angles to the side face in which the cutout (3) is situated, the space also has a second plane of symmetry which extends at right angles to the first plane of symmetry.

(15) The cut-out parts (4) are identical and fit completely into their corresponding cutouts (3). Due to the symmetry of said space, the cut-out parts (4) also fit completely into the space when they are positioned transversely therein and serve as connecting means (2). The term transversely is understood to mean that one half of each cut-out part (4) is situated in one cutout (3) which partly forms the space and that the other half is situated in the other cutout (3) which partly forms the space. The cut-out parts (4) of two mutually opposite cutouts (3) of construction elements (1) are thus rotated through 90° and placed back into the space in order to bring about the connection between the two construction elements (1). Due to the symmetry of the space, the cross section of the connecting means (2) which is formed by the cut-out parts (4) thus also comprises two planes of symmetry which extend virtually at right angles to each other. Such a connecting means (2) is illustrated in FIG. 4.

(16) Two cut-out parts (4) thus form a connecting means (2) which is able to connect two construction elements (1) to each other. The sharp corner parts (6) of the cut-out parts (4) which form the connecting means (2) engage in the indentations (5) of the cutouts (3). Due to these indentations (5) and corner parts (6), the connected construction elements (1) are securely connected to one another.

(17) In the first and the second embodiment, each construction element (1) has 4 cutouts (3) with each construction element (1) being connectable to another construction element (1) via one cutout (3). As a result thereof, one construction element (1) can be connected to 4 other construction elements (1).

(18) In the third embodiment, all L-shaped side faces of each construction element (1) have two cutouts (3). Each construction element (1) has two L-shaped side faces, as a result of which each construction element (1) is connectable to two other construction elements (1). The adjoining side faces of two construction elements (1) have two spaces in which a connecting means (2) is fittable. Here, each construction element (1) is connected to another construction element (1) via two connecting means (2), as a result of which the connection is of course strong. If the L-shaped blocks serve, for example, as seats, it is desirable not only for the bottom of the seats to be connected to one another, but also for the backrests to be connected to one another. This serves to prevent one backrest from leaning backwards more than another backrest.

(19) In the first embodiment, the cutouts (3) of each construction element (1) do not adjoin one another. In the second embodiment, the cutouts (3) of a construction element (1) do adjoin one another and extend around the construction element (1). In the second embodiment, the construction is such that if a construction element (1) is connected to several construction elements (1) via its side faces, the connecting means (2) of the adjoining side faces of the construction element (1) come to lie against each other. In order to ensure that the connecting means (2) of the various side faces do not counteract each other, the ends of the connecting means (2) are adapted in such a manner that the edges of the connecting means (2) can engage with each other more securely, as is shown in FIG. 4.

(20) Below follows a detailed explanation of the way in which the connection between two or more construction elements (1) is brought about.

(21) First, a cutout (3) is made in the construction elements (1). After the cutout (3) has been produced, the cut-out part (4) is still situated completely in the construction element (1) in which the cutout (3) has been made.

(22) The cut-out parts (4) are pushed out of the cutouts (3). Subsequently, the cut-out parts (4) are rotated through 90° and transversely positioned in the cutout (3).

(23) Positioning the cut-out parts (4) transversely in the cutouts (3) may be effected in several ways. Thus, it is possible to place the construction elements (1) to be connected against one another, so that their position with respect to one another corresponds to the position with respect to one another which they will have when they are connected. Due to this positioning, the cutouts (3) of the construction elements (1) to be connected are situated opposite one another and form a space. In this space, the cut-out parts (4) are then pushed into this space, optionally simultaneously.

(24) Another possibility is first to push the cut-out parts (4) in a cutout (3) of a first construction element (1) and then to push a second construction element (1) around the part of the cut-out parts (4) which projects with respect to the first construction element (1).

(25) Transversely positioning the cut-out parts (4) may also be effected by a combination of the above ways.

(26) As long as the connecting means (2) is situated in said space, it is difficult to separate the connected construction elements (1) from each other and the connection between the connected construction elements (1) is able to absorb forces well.

(27) Such assemblies are very suitable for producing spatial constructions, as it is possible to produce (large) spatial constructions without encountering transportation problems. The reason for this is that the construction elements (1) can be packed in a very compact way, as they can be packed separately from each other and as the cut-out parts (4) which form the connecting means (2) fit exactly into the construction elements (1) and do not take up additional space.

(28) They are also highly suitable for temporary spatial constructions, for example for building stands at trade fairs, temporary furniture and furniture which is moved frequently. The reason for this is that the construction elements (1) are readily and quickly connectable to produce a spatial construction and can also be disassembled quickly. All that has to be done in order to connect the construction elements (1) to one another is to push the connecting means (2) into the cutouts (3). All that has to be done to release the connection is to push the connecting means (2) back out of the cutouts (3).

(29) FIGS. 1, 7 and 8 show that the cutouts (3) which are not used to bring about a connection with another construction element (1) can be filled with one cut-out part (4). Such cutouts (3) are thus hidden from view and can thus not collect any dust. However, they still remain available if it is subsequently desired to bring about a connection with another construction element. In this way, it is also not necessary to provide any additional storage space for a connecting means which might possibly be needed later, as that is already present.