BUILDING TOY SYSTEM WITH BASIC ELEMENT AND CONNECTING PIN

Abstract

The building toy includes at least one basic element and at least one connecting pin. The basic element has a body where in the wall there is at least one connecting opening led perpendicularly onto the wall. The connecting opening runs through the body of the basic element as a transitory cavity and the connecting opening is designed for an insertion of the connecting pin. All connecting openings in the body are mutually spatially skew. The pairs of connecting openings from each wall run through the body to lie in mutually perpendicular and rotated planes and the distance of the connecting openings if each pair is identical and it is at least the length of a diameter of the connecting openings. The pairs in the central zone of the body avoid each other without the cavities of the connecting openings colliding mutually.

Claims

1. A building toy comprising: at least one basic element (1) and at least one independent connecting pin (3), wherein the basic element (1) has a body whose at least three neighboring walls (7) are mutually perpendicular and in each such wall (7) there is at a connecting opening (2) led perpendicularly onto the wall (7), wherein the connecting opening (2) runs through the whole body of the basic element (1) as a transitory cavity and the connecting opening (2) is designed for an insertion of the connecting pin (3), which is designed for a connection of the basic element (1) with a neighboring element of the building toy, and a whole profile of each connecting opening (2) is independent andwithout an intersection with the profile of the other connecting opening (2) in the body; wherein on each from at least three perpendicular walls (7) if the basic element (1) there is a pair of the connecting openings (2) which are mutually parallel.

2. The building toy according to the claim 1, wherein the connecting openings (2) have a circular cross-section and an identical diameter.

3. (canceled)

4. The building toy according to the claim 1, wherein the adjacent edges of the connecting openings (2) of the single pair are distanced from each other at least at the length corresponding to the diameter of the connecting openings (2).

5. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein the pair of the connecting openings (2) stemming from the wall (7) lies in a plane which is perpendicular to the wall (7) and intersects the wall (7) in its middle.

6. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein a center of a line connecting axes of the connecting openings (2) on the wall (7) is in the center of the wall (7).

7. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein: the first pair of the connecting openings (2) is on a first wall (71) of the basic element (1); the axes of both connecting openings (2) in the first pair lie in a first plane (4) which is perpendicular onto the first wall (71) and the first plane (4) runs through the middle of the first wall (71); the second pair of the connecting openings (2) is on a second wall (72) of the basic element (1); the axes of both connecting openings (2) in the second pair lie in a second plane (5) which is perpendicular onto the second wall (72) and the second plane (5) runs through the middle of the second wall (72); the second plane (5) is perpendicular onto the first plane (4) and, at the same time, the second plane (5) intersects the first plane (4) in a line which is a symmetry axis of the first pair of the connecting openings (2); the third pair of the connecting openings (2) is on a third wall (73) of the basic element (1); the axes of both connecting openings (2) in the third pair lie in a third plane (6) which is perpendicular onto the third wall (73) and the third plane (6) runs through the middle of the third wall (73); the third plane (6) is perpendicular onto the first plane (4) and, at the same time, onto the second plane (5) and, at the same time, the third plane (6) intersects the second plane (5) in the line which is the symmetry axis of the second pair of the connecting openings (2).

8. The building toy according to claim 7, wherein the basic element (1) has an outer shape of a cube.

9. The building toy according to claim 8, wherein the basic element (1) has six cavities of the connecting openings (2) which in parallel pairs run through the first, second and third mutually perpendicular planes (4, 5, 6), whereby each cavity runs from one wall (7) of the cube to the opposite wall (7) of the cube and all the connecting elements (2) are identical.

10. The building toy according to claims 1, futher including at least one multiple element (8) which is formed by a merger of two or more basic elements (1) into a single body, whereby the connecting elements (2) are in the same position as in the case of the basic elements (1) which were merged, and all the connecting elements (2) are transitory.

11. The building toy according to claim 1, further including at least one derived element (9) whose body is a cutting and/or a cut out and/or a section of the basic element (1) and/or the multiple element (8); the connecting openings (2) are in the same position as in the case of the basic element (1) and/or the multiple element which were cut, and all the connecting openings (2) are transitory.

12. The building toy according to claim 1, further including at least one combined element (10) whose body is a merger of the basic element (1) and/or the multiple element (10) with the derived element (9) and all the connecting openings are transitory.

13. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein the connecting pin’s (3) length is equal to a dimension (a) of the wall (7) of the basic element (1) or its length is a whole number multiple of the dimension (a) of the wall (7) of the basic element (1).

14. The building toy according to claim 1, further including a shortened connecting in (15) whose length is a half or ¾ of the dimension (a) of the wall (7) of the basic element (1).

15. The building toy according to claim 14, wherein the connecting pin (3) and/or the shortened connecting pin (15) have both ends branching into two or more flexible segments, whereby there is a gap between the segments, and there is an outwardly oriented protrusion (13) on the segments, and in the cavity of the connecting opening (2) there is a circumferential groove (12) which is adjusted for the protrusion (13) to fall into, or lock into, this groove (12) by its shape, dimension and position.

16. The building toy according to claim 15, wherein the first circumferential groove (12) is in ⅛ of a length of the cavity of the basic element (1); second is in ⅜ of the length of the cavity of the basic element (1); third is in ⅝ of the length of the cavity of the basic element (1); and fourth is in ⅞ of the length of the cavity of the basic element (1).

17. The building toy according to claim 1, further including a blinding pin (14) which has one end equipped by the flexible segments with the protrusion (13) and the other end has a flat front.

18. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein the basic element (1) and/or the multiple element (8) and/or the derived element (9) is from plastics and/or a wood and/or a metal and/or a glass.

19. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein connecting pin (3) and/or the shortened pin (15) and/or the blinding pin (14) is from the plastics and/or the metal.

20. The building toy according to claim 1, wherein the connecting pin (3) and/or the shortened pin (15) and/or the blinding pin (14) have a color that is the same as that of the basic element (1) and/or the multiple element (8) and/or the derived element (9).

21. The building toy according to claim 1, further including a tool (11) which has at least one spike with the diameter corresponding to the diameter of the connecting opening (2).

22. The building toy according to the claim 21, wherein the tool (11) has a handle from which stem two parallel spikes, whereby a pitch of the spikes corresponds to a pitch of the connecting openings (2) on the wall (7).

23. The building toy according to the claim 21, wherein on one side of the handle the tool (11) has two spikes with a length that is half the length (a) of the cavity of the connecting opening (2) of the basic element (1) and on the other side of the handle the tool (11) has two spikes with the length that is the same as the length (a) of the cavity of the connecting opening (2) of the basic element (1).

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0030] The invention is further disclosed by means of FIGS. 1 to 33. The depicted scale of individual elements and the shape of assembled constructions are examples only and cannot be interpreted as features limiting the scope of protection. Position 1 in FIGS. 12, 14, 16, 18 and 25 depicts a supposed basic element as if it were used for production of the derived or multiple elements. Position 8 denotes the same in FIG. 20.

[0031] FIG. 1 spatially depicts a basic cube-shaped element with pairs of connecting openings visible on each side, whereby the circumferential grooves in the cavities of the connecting openings, designed for holding (locking) of the connecting pins, are partially visible, too.

[0032] FIG. 2 is transparent view of six cavities of the connecting openings in the body of the basic element. For the purposes of clarity, the circumferential grooves are not depicted here.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the body of the basic element in the first plane, where the circumferential grooves in the cavities of the connecting openings are depicted.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a spatial view of the connecting pin in the realization where there are two flexible segments on both edges of the connecting pin.

[0035] FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the connecting element in the central plane which is perpendicular onto the plane of the gap between the flexible segments.

[0036] FIG. 6 depicts the deformation of the flexible elements during the insertion of the connecting element into the cavity of the connecting opening.

[0037] FIG. 7 is a cross-section of two basic elements connected by two connecting pins whereby the different depth of the insertion of the connecting pins is depicted.

[0038] FIG. 8 is a spatial view of the connection of three basic cube-shaped elements with into a corner position. One connecting pin is depicted in the partially inserted state whereby three pins are inserted into half of the depth of the insertion in a single basic element.

[0039] FIG. 9 depicts identical position of the same three basic elements in the spatial view from another direction, different than in FIG. 8.

[0040] FIG. 10 is a three-dimensional view of the possibilities of connection of basic elements.

[0041] FIG. 11 depicts a sloped surface of the derived element, where the remnants of the cavities of the connecting openings after the cutting through the plane, which runs through diagonal of the one side of the basic element from which the derived element is derived, are visible.

[0042] FIG. 12 depicts the element of FIG. 11 before cutting the basic cube shaped element.

[0043] FIG. 13 depicts a derived element by two cuts through the basic cube-shaped element.

[0044] FIG. 14 depicts two sloped surfaces of the derived element, where the remnants of the cavities of the connecting openings after the cutting through the planes, which run through diagonals of the two neighboring sides of the basic element from which the derived element is derived, are visible.

[0045] FIG. 15 depicts a derived element produced by four cuts through the basic cube-shaped element.

[0046] FIG. 16 depicts four sloped surfaces of the derived element, where the remnants of the cavities of the connecting openings after the cutting through the planes are visible, whereby these cuts turn the basic element into derived pyramid-shaped element.

[0047] FIG. 17 depict a multiple element which results, from the merger of two basic cube-shaped elements.

[0048] FIG. 18 depicts two basic cube-shaped elements aligned one to the other in the direct position.

[0049] FIG. 19 depicts the derived element which results from the cut through one plane of the multiple elements produced by merger of two basic cube-shaped elements.

[0050] FIG. 20 depicts the derived element of FIG. 19 before cutting.

[0051] FIG. 21 depicts a realization where the remnants of the two cavities of the connecting openings remain, whereby the connecting elements are cut alongside the axis by the dividing plane.

[0052] FIG. 22 depicts a position of the connection of the derived element from the FIG. 19 and then - for the purposes of comparison.

[0053] FIG. 23 depicts a position of the connection of the derived element according to FIG. 20.

[0054] FIG. 24 depicts a combined element which includes a multiple element combined with the derived element.

[0055] FIG. 25 depicts three basic cube-shaped elements composed into a corner position whereby a cut with the cylindrical surface is led through the basic element in one corner.

[0056] FIG. 26 is an example of the use of the combined element from FIG. 24 for the purposes of a construction of an arc together with basic and derived elements.

[0057] FIG. 27 is a view of the blinding pin in comparison with the shortened pin.

[0058] FIG. 28 depicts an example of the use of the blinding pin in the spatial transparent view.

[0059] FIG. 29 depicts a side view of FIG. 28.

[0060] FIG. 30 depicts a shortened connecting pin where it is inserted into the basic and derived element.

[0061] FIG. 31 is a view of the blinding pin, connecting pin and shortened pin for the purposes of comparison.

[0062] FIG. 32 is a spatial view of the tool with two pairs of spikes;

[0063] FIG. 33, the shorter pair of the spikes is inserted into the basic element in such a way that the connecting pins are pushed out by the spikes which are in the depth that is half the dimension of the basic element.

EXAMPLES OF REALIZATION

Example 1

[0064] In this example according to FIGS. 1 to 10 the basic element 1 has a shape of the cube with the dimension of the wall a. The body of the basic element 1 is made from plastics. On each wall (side) 7 there is a pair of connecting openings 2 which are placed side by side to each other in such a way that the center of the line connecting their axes is in the center of the wall 7, that is, the connecting openings 2 are symmetrical through the middle of the wall Z of the basic element 1. On the first wall 71 there is a pair of connecting openings 2 arranged in such a way that the axes of the connecting openings 2 are in the first plane 4, the connecting openings 2 of the second wall 72 have axes in the second plane 5 and the connecting openings 2 in the third wall 73 have axes in the third plane 6. The first plane 4, the second plane 5 and the third plane are mutually perpendicular and they intersect in the center of the body of the cube that is the basic element 1. At the same time the diameter of all connecting openings 2 is the same. The mutual distance of the axes of the connecting openings 2 on the single wall 7 is larger than the diameter of the connecting openings 2 and this distance is the same on each wall 7. If the mutual distance of the axes of the connecting openings 2 on the single wall 7 were the same as the diameter of the connecting openings 2, the connecting pins 3 inserted in these connecting openings 2 would touch each other, which would not be necessarily undesirable, or such a dimensional arrangement would cause complications during the production of the body of the basic element 1.

[0065] The pair of connecting openings on the individual walls 71, 72, 73 are placed in the middle (central) line of the respective wall 7, where this middle line is parallel with the edge of the cube and, at the same time, the pairs are rotated mutually between the walls 71, 72, 73 in such a way that the cavities of the connecting openings 2 in the central zone of the basic element 1 are mutually avoided without mutual interference. The cavities of all connecting elements 2 run continuously through whole body of the basic element from one side (wall) 7 to the opposite side (wall) 7.

[0066] The cavities of the connecting openings 2 have two circumferential grooves 12 which are in the distance of ⅛, ⅜, ⅝ and ⅞ of the length of the cavity, that is, dimension a.

[0067] A connecting pin 3 falls into the connecting openings 2, whereby the pin 3 in this example is produced from the flexible plastics and its length is the same as the dimension of the wall (side) 7 - a. The connecting pin 3 in this example has a circular outer cross-section corresponding to the circular cross-section of the connecting openings 2; the diameter of the connecting pin 3 is diminished as opposed to the diameter of the connecting openings 2 by the gap which ensures an easy insertion of the connecting pin 3 into the connecting opening 2. Both ends of the connecting pins 3 are ended by two segments which run from the full circular cross-section of the material in the center of the connecting pin 3. The gap between the segments and the flexibility of the used material allows for the pressing of the segments towards each other. The transversal cross-section of each segment is a cut out of the circle which is less than semi-circle. On all segments a protrusion 13 is produced in the distance of ⅛ from the dimension a from the edge, whereby the protrusion 13 is designed by its shape and size in such a way that it falls into the circumferential groove 12 in the cavities of the connecting openings 2. The gap between the two segments is on each end at least as large as the difference between the diameter of the connecting openings 2 and the diameter of the connecting pin 3 at the point of the protrusions 13 in the unpressed state. The gap thus allows for flexible pressing of the protrusions 13 to the diameter of the connecting opening 2 without damage. At the same time the size of the gap determines the maximum allowed deformation of the segment in such a way that the segment is not broken.

[0068] As depicted on the FIGS. 7 to 10 the connecting pin 3 connects the neighboring basic elements 1, whereby the protrusions 13 locked in the circumferential grooves 12 create a relatively solid mechanical bond of the joint. The connecting pins 3 can be inserted into a basic element 1 from any direction, irrespective of the connecting pins 3 already inserted from other directions.

[0069] The building toy allows one to construe various spatial structures; the surface of the finished structure is smooth without the connecting protrusions.

[0070] The basic element 1 in this example is produced from solid material, for example by injection molding in the mold with the sliders or by 3D printing. In this example the technology of the production of the solid material of the cube is chosen - taking into account the relatively small dimension a compared to the diameter of the connecting openings 2. In such case the thickness of the material in individual walls 71, 72, 73 of the body is relatively even.

Example 2

[0071] In this example the basic element 1 with the geometry according to the previous example is hollow, whereby the cavities of the connecting openings are delimited by the pipes running from one side (wall) 7 to the opposite side (wall) 7. The body of the basic element 1 is welded by ultrasound from three components. Each component has two mutually perpendicular sides (walls) 7. From one side (wall) 7 run two pipes which form cavities of both connecting openings 2. The second side (wall) 7 has only two connecting openings 2 in the wall 7 which are designed for connection with two ends of the two pipes of the other component. The welding of three components produces a cube of the basic element 1, whereby the space between the pipes in the body is empty, matterless.

Example 3

[0072] In this example the building toy has — aside from the components according to examples 1 and 2 — the multiple element 8, too, depicted on the FIGS. 17 and 18. The multiple element 8 in this example is made by combination of two basic elements 1 placed side by side in such a way that the connecting elements 2 are transitory through the whole body of the multiple element 8. The connecting openings 2 are placed in the same position as is the case in basic elements 1.

[0073] The details of the connecting openings 2 and connecting pins 3 are identical as in the previous examples.

Example 4

[0074] The derived elements 9 according to FIGS. 11 to 16 are produced by supposed cutting of the body of the basic cube-shaped element 1. Through various cut surfaces a shape of the triangular prism — or triangular pyramid — was produced, whereby the remnants of the cavities of the connecting openings 2 with the circumferential grooves 12 remain in the body of the derived element 9.

Example 5

[0075] Derived elements 9 according to FIGS. 19 and 23 are produced by supposed cutting of the body of the multiple element 8, which is produced by merger of two basic cube-shaped elements 1. In one realization (FIG. 21) the remnants of both cavities of the connecting openings 2 are maintained, whereby these are cut by the dissection plane alongside their axis. In another realization (FIGS. 19 and 20) these connecting openings 2 are left out and the surface of the dissection plane is smoother and more aesthetically pleasing.

Example 6

[0076] A building toy according to this example and FIGS. 24 to 26 includes a combined element 10 which is produced by merger of basic element 1 and derived element 9. This combined element 10 allows one to easily create arcs.

Example 7

[0077] The building toy in this example has, aside from the connecting pins 3 with the length a, a shortened pin 15 and blinding pin 14, too, as depicted on the FIGS. 27 to 31. These pins are compatible by the dimensions and shape with other elements of the building toy pursuant to the previous examples. The shortened pin 15 has a length which is ¾ a. The blinding pin 14 has a length which is ½ a. The blinding pin 14 has two flexible segments with the protrusions 13 on one end, whereby the other end is formed by a flat front.

Example 8

[0078] A tool 11 pursuant to FIGS. 32 to 33 is composed of a flat handle and two pairs of spikes. One pair of spikes runs from the flat handle on one side, whereby the spikes are ½ a long, and on the other side there are two spikes with a length a. As depicted on the FIG. 33, the pitch (distance) between the spikes corresponds to the pitch (distance) between the connecting openings 2 on the wall 7. By pushing the spikes of the tool 11 into the connecting openings 2 the connecting pins 3, are pushed into the half the length of the cavity. The other side of the tool 11 pushes the connecting pins 3 out of the cavities of the connecting openings 2 of the basic elements 1. The tool 11 is preferably used during the assembly as well as disassembly.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0079] The industrial applicability is obvious. Pursuant to the invention it is possible to industrially and repeatedly produce and use building toys with at least one basic element and at least one connecting pin, preferably with multiple and/or derived and/or combined element and especially preferably with a tool for insertion and pushing out of the connecting pins.

LIST OF SYMBOLS

[0080] 1 basic element [0081] 2 connecting opening [0082] 3 connecting pin [0083] 4 first plane [0084] 5 second plane [0085] 6 third plane [0086] 7 wall [0087] 71 first wall [0088] 72 second wall [0089] 73 third wall [0090] 8 multiple element [0091] 9 derived element [0092] 10 combined element [0093] 11 tool [0094] 12 circumferential groove [0095] 13 protrusion [0096] 14 blinding pin [0097] 15 shortened pin [0098] a dimension of a wall