CONSTRUCTIONAL TOY ELEMENTS

Abstract

A constructional toy element connectable in edge-to-edge relationship via a snap-fit to another such toy element to form a constructional toy, the toy element being of two-part construction comprising an at least partially hollow interior, edge portions of the element including respectively opposite male and female bearing surfaces in which either or both is formed on a resiliently deformable tongue formed integrally with one or other half of the constructional toy element whereby adjacent such toy elements may be interconnected together via a snap-fit.

Claims

1. A constructional toy element connectable in edge-to-edge relationship via a snap-fit to another such toy element to form a constructional toy, the toy element being of two-part construction comprising an at least partially hollow interior, edge portions of the element including respectively opposite male and female bearing surfaces in which either or both is formed on a resiliently deformable tongue formed integrally with one or other half of the constructional toy element whereby adjacent such toy elements may be interconnected together via a snap-fit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0009] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substantially square polygonal constructional toy element according to a preferred embodiment of the prior art shown in D1,

[0010] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a substantially square polygonal constructional toy element made according to the invention, and

[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view of part of the toy element of FIG. 2 showing a hinge pip arrangement according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Turning firstly to FIG. 1 there is shown a generally square polygonal element 1 having on each major side thereof a corner abutment 2 and a side abutment 3 shaped and sized to be received by and between corresponding abutments of an identical such element 1 (not shown) in edge-to-edge relationship, being secured thereto and therewithin via a hinge socket 4 (shown in broken outline) in the corner abutment 2 and a hinge pip 5 extending from the opposite face of the side abutment 3. The side abutment 3 includes opposite the hinge pip 5 a flat end face 6 co-operable with a corresponding end face of an adjoining toy element 1 such that each such flat end face 6 acts as a stationary thrust surface against which an oppositely disposed thrust surface of an adjacent constructional toy element may be positioned.

[0013] Between the flat end face 6 and the hinge pip 9 of the side abutment 3 is a substantially T shaped slot 7 which essentially acts as a spring allowing resiliently deformable compression of the side abutment 3 in the longitudinal direction between the hinge socket 4 and the hinge pip 5. This prior art arrangement allows oppositely orientated toy elements 1 to be interconnected by means of a snap-fit in which the hinge pip 5 of one such element is received within the hinge socket 4 of another such toy element by a snap-fit which may be released by one or other of the toy elements being pulled apart.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows a similar arrangement to that shown in FIG. 1 being a plan view of a generally square constructional toy element 10 also having a corner abutment 11 within which is disposed a hinge socket 12 and a side abutment 13 and associated hinge pip 14 by which respective pairs of toy elements 10 may be connected via a snap-fit, but in a different manner. This is achieved in the manner as described with reference to FIG. 3, showing partly in section one edge of the element 10 in which it will be seen that the constructional toy element 10 of the invention is in the form of a generally hollow shell with the upper shell half 10a being connected to the lower shell half 10b via an ultrasonically welded joint 15 extending around most of the outer edge portions of the toy element 10 other than in the area around the hinge pip 14. The hinge pip 14 forms part of a resiliently moveable tongue 16 extending from part of the side abutment 13 in the lower shell half 10b into an arcuate recess or mouth 17 in the upper shell half 10a which therefore allows the tongue 16 and hence the hinge pip 14 to resiliently bend within the mouth portion 17 when adjacent such toy elements 10 are being assembled or disassembled. This arrangement has distinct advantages over the prior art arrangement shown in FIG. 1 in that the force needed to connect and disconnect adjacent pieces of the constructional toy elements does not depend upon the overall size of each piece or the amount of plastics material used in their construction, as in the case of the solid toy element shown in FIG. 1, but only upon the force necessary to deflect or bend the tongue 16 and pip 14 sufficient for the pip 14 to be captured or released by a respective hinge socket 12 in the corner abutment 11 of another such toy element 10. The hinge socket 12 may be formed of two parts or may instead be formed as a single piece in a similar manner to that of the hinge pip 14. However, the absence of a welded joint in the movable hinge pip 14, even though the toy element 10 is formed in two halves 10a and 10b, makes it much less likely that the tongue 16 and/or pip 14 will fail or break, since they are moulded or otherwise formed integrally within the lower shell half only, in the example shown.

[0015] From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the size and structural strength of the constructional toy element of the invention is independent of the mechanism by which the toy element can be joined to another such element, whereas there are practical limits to the size of solid constructional toy elements of the type described in D1. Even if such were to be manufactured using blow moulding or rotational moulding techniques to form hollow toy elements, they are generally unsuitable for small hand held objects and would still suffer from the potential presence of unwanted sprue or other imperfections at the bearing surfaces unless manufactured to sufficiently high standards in which sprue is avoided or other imperfections sufficiently minimised by the use of high-precision moulds or by the sprue being removed from the moulded product in a separate operation. In contrast, the invention avoids such problems by adopting the elegantly simple solution of separating the steps of joining each half of the toy element from the step of preforming the bearing surfaces in one or other of each half of the toy element so that the quality of the bearing surfaces is independent of the quality of the join between each half of the toy element, which may therefore be made of any required size without affecting the quality of the bearing surfaces and hence the ease with which pairs of such toy elements can be joined or separated via a snap-fit.