Abstract
A modular polyhedral object having at least four external faces which each have in the assembled state a different form and/or color design, is formed from several individual building blocks that each forms a part of the form or color design of each external face. The building blocks are joined together loosely or with releasable connecting means, wherein the building blocks of each module have at least four differently designed side faces. A form-congruent assembly of the object is created by arranging the individual building blocks so as to produce matching external faces on each side of the object, as well as to produce matching respective opposing side faces of the building blocks inside the object with vertically and horizontally matching coded pairs. A modular polyhedral cube-shaped object with at least five differently designed side faces is also described.
Claims
1. A modular polyhedral object having at least four external faces which each have in an assembled state a different form or color design, or both, the modular polyhedral object comprising: a plurality of individual building blocks, with each building block forming a part of the form or color design of each external face, wherein the building blocks forming the modular polyhedral object are joined together loosely or with releasable connecting means, wherein the individual building blocks of each modular polyhedral object have at least four differently designed side faces, wherein a form-congruent assembly of the modular polyhedral object is created by arranging the individual building blocks so as to produce matching external faces on each side of the object, as well as to produce matching respective opposing side faces of the building blocks inside the modular polyhedral object with vertically and horizontally matching coded pairs, wherein each individual building block of the object has at least four, five or six differently shaped side faces, wherein each individual building block of the object has a unique form due to the differently designed side faces, wherein the differently designed side faces are composed of a combined color design and form design, wherein the differently designed side faces have a number coding or a letter coding, and wherein the respective different color design and form design of the external faces produce a motif assembled in form of a puzzle in a predefined state of a correct, form-congruent assembly of the individual building blocks of the polyhedral object.
2. The polyhedral object of claim 1, wherein the motif is asymmetrical in relation to the building block.
3. The polyhedral object of claim 1, wherein the polyhedral modular object is composed of 16, 27, 32, 48, 64, 125, 216 or 512 individual building blocks.
4. The polyhedral object of claim 1, wherein the color designs and form designs of the side faces of the building blocks are each formed with meshing depressions and elevations as the connecting means.
5. The polyhedral object of claim 1, wherein the releasable connecting means comprise connecting means selected from plug-in connections and adhesive connections.
6. The polyhedral object of claim 1, wherein the polyhedral modular object has a shape of a rectangular body, a prism or a cube.
7. A modular cube-shaped object having in an assembled state six outer faces of identical size, but of mutually different form or color design, the modular cube-shaped object comprising: a plurality of individual cube-shaped building blocks that are configured to be joined together into the cube-shaped object loosely or with releasable connecting means, wherein the individual cube-shaped building blocks have an identical size and form each a part of the form or color design of each outer face, wherein the individual building blocks within the cube-shaped object have at least five differently designed side faces, and wherein, when the modular cube-shaped object is assembled in a form-congruent manner, each side of the modular cube-shaped object has matching outer faces and respective opposing side faces of the building blocks inside the modular cube-shaped object match, wherein each individual building block of the modular cube-shaped object has at least four, five or six differently shaped side faces, wherein each individual building block of the modular cube-shaped object has a unique form due to the differently designed side faces, wherein the differently designed side faces are composed of a combined color design and form design, wherein the differently designed side faces have a number coding or a letter coding, and wherein the respective different color design and form design of the outer faces produce a motif assembled in form of a puzzle in a predefined state of a correct, form-congruent assembly of the individual building blocks of the modular cube-shaped object.
8. The modular cube-shaped object of claim 7, wherein the motif is asymmetrical in relation to the building block.
9. The modular cube-shaped object of claim 7, wherein the modular cube-shaped object is composed of 16, 27, 32, 48, 64, 125, 216 or 512 individual building blocks.
10. The modular cube-shaped object of claim 7, wherein the color designs and form designs of the side faces of the building blocks are each formed with meshing depressions and elevations as the connecting means.
11. The modular cube-shaped object of claim 7, wherein the releasable connecting means comprise connecting means selected from plug-in connections and adhesive connections.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
(1) Further advantages and features of the invention will be explained in conjunction with the accompanying drawings with reference to the description of several exemplary embodiments. In the drawing, reference will be made, without any limitation, to an exemplary embodiment of a modular polyhedral object in the form of a cube-shaped object. The drawings show in:
(2) FIG. 1 a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object for illustrating the principle of the structure and the form of the building blocks;
(3) FIG. 2 a single building block of a second exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object in the form of a polyhedral net of a cube and a schematic three-dimensional view for explaining the polyhedral net of a cube;
(4) FIG. 3 a building block of a third exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object in the form of a polyhedral net of a cube and schematic three-dimensional representations to illustrate the form and design of the building block;
(5) FIGS. 2a to 2c polyhedral net representations of the building blocks of an exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object with 27 individual building blocks in the three different layers according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2;
(6) FIGS. 3a to 3d polyhedral net views of an object with 64 individual building blocks in the four different layers according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3;
(7) FIGS. 4a and 4b exemplary illustrations of variations of side faces of the building blocks; and
(8) FIG. 5 an exemplary illustration of a connecting means for the assembly of the cube-shaped object.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
(9) FIG. 1 shows in a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object 10 consisting of twenty-seven individual building blocks 20. The building blocks 20 are in the assembled state of the cube-shaped object 10 arranged three in width, three in depth and three in height. Each of the building blocks 20 is provided with at least four differently designed side faces 21, which are in this exemplary embodiment and for purposes of ease of explanation of the principle of the invention realized herein in the form of numbers as the connecting means. The numbers as possible embodiments of the side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 are, however, merely to be understood only as examples, and other motifs or color designs or design forms of the side faces 21 of building blocks 20, such as geometric forms, simple colors or pictorial designs may be used for this purpose, as shown by way of example in FIGS. 4a and 4b . In the correctly assembled predefined state of the cube-shaped object 10, the cube-shaped object 10 has on each of its six outer sides a respective uniform design of the outer face 11; for example, in the example of FIG. 1, on the top face the continuous representation with the number five and on the front face with the number two. The differently formed side faces 21 of the individual building blocks 20 thus represent both connecting means for constructing the cube-shaped object 10 as well as in the correct, i.e. form-congruent structure of the cube-shaped object 10, a part of the respective form or design of the entire outer faces 11. The design of the individual building blocks 20 thus has a dual function, i.e. on the one hand, the visualization of the respective defined form of the outer faces 11 as well as coding for the respective assembly of adjacent building blocks 20 of a respective cube-shaped object 10.
(10) Here, each building block 20 in this example is designed with at least five different side faces 21 and is in this embodiment also a unique feature within each cube-shaped object 10. In other words, in this cube-shaped object 10 consisting of twenty-seven individual building blocks 20, the specific form and design of each building block 20 appear only once. The design of the individual building blocks 20 is selected such that with a correct, form-congruent assembly of the cube-shaped object, not only are uniform outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10 formed on all six sides (see. FIG. 1), but the design of the side faces 21 that each face adjacent building blocks 20 or abut each other also matches in the interior. This is illustrated in the FIG. 1 by way of a corner building block 20 that has been removed. The back side of the building block 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 has, for example, the number one, while the bottom side has the number three corresponding to the adjacent building blocks 20. According to the invention, a specific embodiment of the respective individual building blocks 20 of the modular cube-shaped object 10 is thus realized wherein not only similarities in the design or implementation of the side faces result, which together form the respective outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10, but also of the abutting side faces 21 of each building block 20 disposed in the interior of the cube-shaped object 10. An embodiment with numbers is given here only an example to facilitate illustration of the principle of the invention. Other embodiments of the sides of the building blocks by way of designs, symbols, colors, or relief-like faces are also possible within the scope of the invention, as long as they allow for a kind of coding for the modular block-like assembly of the entire cube-shaped object. According to the invention, this produces not only a three-dimensional match of side faces of the building blocks 20 in the vertical and horizontal layers, but also design of the outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10 on the outer six faces. This is achieved by forming each building block 20 of each cube-shaped object 10 in at least four and at most six different versions. This will be explained in more detail in conjunction with the other exemplary embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 3d.
(11) FIG. 2 shows a building block 20 of a second exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object in the form of a polyhedral net and a partially three-dimensionally folded polyhedral net to illustrate the representations of the building blocks 20 of the cube-shaped systems in the form of polyhedral nets.
(12) FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of a possible form of building blocks 20 for an exemplary embodiment of a polyhedral net of a cube in corresponding representations as a polyhedral net (left hand side) and the three-dimensional composition of the individual side faces 21 of the building block 20, which are each formed with at least five different designs on the side faces 21. In the illustrations in the form of cubes crosses, the center square is always the bottom side face 21 and the bottom face is the respective side face 21 on the top side of the building block 20. The other four faces form the respective lateral side faces, i.e. rear, front, right and left side faces.
(13) As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the building block 20 of the cube-shaped object 10 is characterized by at least four different designs of side faces 21, i.e. only at least one form of a side face is repeated, in the example of FIG. 3 the top and right side faces 21. The building blocks 20 of the cube-shaped object are here regular squares and can be made for example of wood or another material that can be realized with different forms of side faces. The different forms of the side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 of each cube-shaped object 10 are preferably realized in the form of color designs or with motifs from pictures or with symbols. However, the side faces 21 may also differ in their form, as long as at least four differently formed side faces 21 are present in each building block 20. This specific different design of the individual side faces of the building blocks produces the modular cube-shaped object 10, as shown for example in the perspective view of FIG. 1. The individual forms of the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 3, i.e. the respective designs of their individual building blocks 20, will be described in the following based on the polyhedral net representations in the different layers of each cube-shaped object 10 of FIGS. 2a to 3d.
(14) In FIG. 2a, the building blocks 20 of the lowest layer of one exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object 10 according to the invention are shown with twenty-seven individual building blocks 20. FIG. 2b shows the form of the individual building blocks 20 of the middle layer and the FIG. 2c shows the form of the individual building blocks 20 of the top layer of the building blocks of this exemplary embodiment. It can be seen from FIG. 2a that the building blocks 20 are realized such that they are identically constructed in the assembled state at the outer side faces 20 and the lower side (bottom). The center side face of each polyhedral net of a cube 1.1.1 to 1.3.3 is here realized identically with the points in the center gray area and diagonal hatching in all building blocks 20. Likewise, this is true for the polyhedral nets 1.3.1, 1.3.2 and 1.3.3 for the rear side face 21 (upper square with white points motif) as well as at the respective lateral side faces at the outer sides of the cube-shaped object 10, i.e. the left column and the right column of the polyhedral nets in FIG. 2a. The layer 2 and layer 3 of the cube-shaped object are similar, as shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c. Thus, the respective outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10 are each implemented uniformly. The individual building blocks 20 are designed such that only matching forms of side faces face each other in the interior. For example, in FIG. 2b, the building block 2.2.2 with his black design will abut the likewise black design of the left side face 21 of the building block 2.2.3.
(15) This correspondence or match of respective abutting side faces 21 thus forms in the embodiment according to the invention a kind of coding for the three-dimensional assembly of the individual building blocks 20 of the cube-shaped object 10 in order to obtain uniform outer designs of the outer faces 11 of the finished modular cube-shaped object. The differently designed side faces 21 of the building block 20 thus represent a kind of connecting means for the assembly of the cube-shaped object, which can be implemented by way of a different design with motifs, colors, symbols or the like, but also by way of different forms. An example of connecting means is shown in FIG. 5, depicting elevations 22 and depressions 23 on the side faces 21.
(16) While FIGS. 2, 2a to 2c show an embodiment of a cube-shaped object with twenty-seven individual building blocks 20, FIGS. 3, 3a to 3d show another exemplary embodiment of a cube-shaped object of the present invention 10 with sixty-four individual building blocks, i.e. with four layers and each having four individual building blocks arranged in depth, width and height of the assembled cube-shaped object. Unlike the previous embodiment, the individual side faces 21 of the differently designed building blocks 20 are here implemented in a different form, in order to explain that the type or form of the motifs or the color of the side faces are not important, but rather the fact that according to the invention at least four different side faces 21 are implemented on each individual building block 20. In this further embodiment shown in FIGS. 3a to 3d, the outer faces 11 of the entire cube-shaped object 10 as well as the opposing side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 in the interior have only matching forms of side faces 21.
(17) As clearly seen in FIG. 3a, the opposing side faces 21 of the cubes 1.1.1 and 1.1.2, are designed white, whereas the side faces of the cubes 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 disposed above have a checkered pattern. Here too, the different versions of the side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 realized with motifs, forms or colors form both the means for the predefined correct assembly of the cube-shaped object 10 as well as, in relation to the outer faces 11, a part or a building block of the uniform embodiment of the cube-shaped object 10 that forms the outer faces 11. The other three layers of the cube-shaped object constructed from sixty-four individual building blocks 20, which each represent a unique feature in this exemplary embodiment, are evident from the corresponding representations of the polyhedral nets in FIGS. 3b, 3c and 3d.
(18) When the respective cube-shaped object 10 is assembled with its individual building blocks 20 in the pre-defined form of the composition (see. FIG. 1), all six outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10 have different contents, representations or motifs, i.e. six different designs on all six sides of the cube-shaped object. Simultaneously, due to the special form and design of the individual building blocks 20, a coding of the assembly of the particular modular cube-shaped object 10 due to the respective structure of the side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 is provided, which is used in the proper construction and defines the composition of the building blocks 20. Advantageously, each building block 20 is unique, i.e. is different from any other building block 20 of a cube-shaped object 10 due to the at least five different side faces 21 per building block 20. The side faces 21 of the building blocks 20 of the cube-shaped object 10 thus match in each horizontal and each vertical inner layer. The respective outer faces 11 of the entire cube-shaped object 10 are also formed identically or with matching designs, whether by way of color coding, an alphanumeric identification or by way of pictorial motifs or partial motives that can be used for applications of the cube-shaped object 10 as a visualization medium or as a multi-dimensional display or the like. As an example, five of the outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object 10 may be each realized in a same color, while the sixth outer face 11 in the form-congruent assembly, i.e. with a color matching structure formed in the interior, may for example have an image of a national flag. The latter would then be quasi the top side or front side of the finished cube-shaped object for visualization purposes.
(19) The modular cube-shaped object 10 illustrated as an example is in particularly well suited as a device for training the spatial imagination. Due to the special design and construction of the individual building blocks 20, a three-dimensional spatial assembly of all six sides of each building block 20 can be consistently observed in order to obtain the predefined, correct form of the assembly of the cube-shaped object from the building blocks 20. Unlike previous conventional systems, such as the so-called rotary cubes, the form does not only match on the outer sides of the elements in the defined state, but the respective design of the interior side faces 21 must also always still be taken into account. The individual building blocks 20 according to the illustrated exemplary embodiments can be both loosely assembled in various ways as well as assembled by using detachable connection means which ensure easy assembly and a better grip of the building blocks 20 to one another. The illustrated embodiments relate to a cube-shaped object 10 with twenty-seven or sixty-four building blocks 20, respectively. However, a greater number of building blocks 20 may be provided, for example, one hundred twenty five or two hundred and sixteen, as long as the individual building blocks 20 and the outer faces 11 of the cube-shaped object are implemented with uniform cube-shaped forms that are prepared with at least four and at most six different designs on each side face 21.
