US20070178800A1

US20070178800A1 - Toy blocks

Info

Publication number: US20070178800A1
Application number: US11/622,533
Authority: US
Inventors: Kwangil Kim
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-01-16
Filing date: 2007-01-12
Publication date: 2007-08-02
Also published as: KR20070076413A; WO2007081094A1

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to toy blocks, and more specifically, to toy blocks into which other blocks can be easily inserted on sides of each configured block. The present invention suggests toy blocks including hexahedral blocks where convex projections are formed on at least one side while concave grooves inserted into the convex projections are formed on the remaining side.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims priority to KR 10-2006-0004426 filed Jan. 16, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
C.-E. Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to toy blocks, and more specifically, to toy blocks equipped with concave grooves interference-fitted to convex projections on the rest of sides except one side where the convex projections are formed.
A LEGO product is a representative example of toy blocks. In case of the LEGO product, convex projections are formed on the top while concave grooves interference-fitted to the convex projections are formed on the bottom and the rest of sides are in flat shape. Thus, it is easy to pile up such “LEGO” blocks to the top from the bottom, but it is hard to make shapes which can be extended sideways.

BRIEF SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide toy blocks capable of inserting other configured blocks from sides of each configured block.
To accomplish the above object, the toy blocks including hexahedral blocks comprise convex projections formed on at least one side, and concave grooves inserted into the convex projections on all of the remaining sides through an interference-fit method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hexahedral block of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram for viewing the hexahedral block of FIG. 1 in various directions, (a) illustrates a plane figure, (b) illustrates a front view and a rear view, (c) illustrates a left side view and a right side view, and (d) illustrates a bottom view;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cylindrical block of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a diagram for viewing the cylindrical block of FIG. 3 in various directions, (a) illustrates a plane figure, (b) illustrates a front view and a rear view, (c) illustrates a left side view and a right side view, and (d) illustrates a bottom view;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connection piece connected to piercing grooves of the hexahedral block and the cylindrical block of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a cut sectional view of A-A′ of the hexahedral block which is the one embodiment of the present invention suggested in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a cut sectional view of B-B′ of the hexahedral block which is the one embodiment of the present invention suggested in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state that the connection piece is inserted into the hexahedral block; and
FIG. 9 is a cut sectional view of C-C′ direction in the perspective view of FIG. 8.

Brief Description of important referenced numbers:



10	convex projections
11	concave grooves
12	concave spaces
15	piercing grooves
16	vertial piercing grooves
17	horizontal piercing grooves
21	insertion grooves
22	inter-spaces
23	chamfers

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hexahedral block of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for viewing the hexahedral block of FIG. 1 in various directions, (a) illustrates a plane figure, (b) illustrates a front view and a rear view, (c) illustrates a left side view and a right side view, and (d) illustrates a bottom view.
Like shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.2, convex projections (10) are formed on an upper side of the hexahedral block, and concave grooves (11) into which the convex projections (10) are inserted are formed on the remaining sides. Though the convex projections (10) are formed on the upper side only while the concave grooves (11) are formed on the remaining sides in an embodiment of the drawing, it is only one embodiment. So, it is also possible to form the convex projections (10) on more than two sides and to form the concave grooves (11) on the remaining sides when necessary.
In central parts of each side, piercing grooves (15) piercing up to central parts of opposite sides are formed.
It can be confirmed that starting positions and ending positions of the piercing grooves (15) start and end by being further inserted into the inside than positions of planes which constitute each side.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cylindrical block of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for viewing the cylindrical block of FIG. 3 in various directions, (a) illustrates a plane figure, (b) illustrates a front view and a rear view, (c) is a left side view and a right side view, and (d) illustrates a bottom view.
Like shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, convex projections (10) are formed on an upper side of the cylindrical block, and concave grooves (11) into which the convex projections (10) are inserted through an interference-fit method are formed on a bottom side which is an opposite side. In central parts of the upper side, vertical piercing grooves (16) piercing up to central parts of the bottom side are formed. It can be confirmed that starting and ending positions of the vertical piercing grooves (16) start and end by being further inserted into the inside than positions of planes which constitute each side. Also, horizontal piercing grooves (17) piercing the central parts are formed on circular sides in mutually right-angled direction, and starting and ending positions of the horizontal piercing grooves (17) also start and end by being slightly inserted into the inside from each side. Furthermore, empty spaces (12) which are empty up to areas that form other horizontal or vertical piercing grooves (17,16) are made as right-angled directional internal areas on the basis of the vertical or horizontal piercing grooves (16,17).
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connection piece connected to piercing grooves of a hexahedral block and a cylindrical block of the present invention. It is shown that insertion projections (21) inserted into the piercing grooves (15,16,17) of the hexahedral block and the cylindrical block and chamfer shapes (23) are formed in both sections of the connection piece by leaving inter-spaces (22). The chamfer shapes (23) are formed at 45 degrees approximately or at less than 45 degrees. When the insertion projections (21) are inserted into the piercing grooves (15,16,17) of the hexahedral block and the cylindrical block, the inter-spaces (22) are inserted into partition walls which constitute the piercing grooves (15,16,17), and the chamfer shapes (23) are inserted into the empty spaces (12) formed around the piercing grooves (15,16,17). The reason why chamfers are formed at 45 degrees or at less than 45 degrees will be described by taking an example of the hexahedral block. In case one connection piece is inserted into piercing grooves formed on a front side of the hexahedral block suggested in FIG. 1, if the chamfer shapes are not formed at 45 degrees or at less than 45 degrees, another connection piece may collide with a connection piece inserted from a right side or a left side owing to the connection piece inserted into the front side when another connection piece is inserted into piercing grooves formed on a left or right side of the corresponding hexahedral block. As a result, another connection pierce cannot be inserted into the piercing grooves. In addition, piercing grooves (25) are formed in the middle of the connection piece, so that the piercing grooves (25) can be inserted into the convex projections (10) of the hexahedral block or the cylindrical block.
FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are cut sectional views for more specifically explaining a configuration of a hexahedral block in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cut sectional view of A-A′ of the hexahedral block which is one embodiment of the present invention suggested in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a cut sectional view of B-B′ of the hexahedral block which is one embodiment of the present invention suggested in FIG. 1. On the basis of piercing grooves (15), right-angled directional internal areas are made as empty spaces (12) which are empty up to areas that form other piercing grooves (15). In other words, the concave spaces (12) which are concavely dug are disposed among neighboring convex projections (10) to easily insert other configured connection pieces.
Besides, the convex projections (10) are equipped with vertical grooves (18) piercing through central parts, being formed in divided cylinder shape. Such a shape can solve a defect that the convex projections (10) are removed in the end owing to cracks on bottom sides of the convex projections (10), even though the convex projections (10) are interference-fitted to the concave grooves (11) repeatedly.
The vertical grooves (18) formed on the convex projections (10) are configured in certain depth, so that the grooves cannot reach upper sides of the blocks, consequently overall bottom sides of the convex projections (10) can be adjacent to the upper sides of the blocks. It is shown that the upper sides of the convex projections are divided into more than two parts owing to the vertical grooves passing through the central parts.
FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams for explaining a coupling relation between a connection piece and a hexahedral block, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state that the connection piece is inserted into the hexahedral block, and FIG. 9 is a cut sectional view in C-C′ direction of the perspective view of FIG. 8.
Toy blocks of the present invention can be made in various shapes since the toy blocks can be easily inserted in right and left directions as well as up and down directions. Therefore, it is possible to easily make a complex shape in addition to a simple shape, thereby giving considerable interest to children while the children may not be easily bored.
In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.

Claims

1. Toy blocks including a hexahedral block, comprising: convex projections formed on at least one side; and concave grooves configured to be inserted into convex projections on all of the remaining sides through an interference-fit method.

2. The toy blocks of claim 1, wherein piercing grooves, which pierce through middle parts of one side that constitutes the hexahedral block and an opposite side opposing the one side, are further comprised.

3. The toy blocks of claim 1, wherein 4 convex projections are disposed on sides where the convex projections are formed.

4. The toy blocks of claim 2, wherein 4 convex projections are disposed on sides where the convex projections are formed, and 4 concave grooves are disposed on each side where the concave grooves are formed.

5. The toy blocks of claim 4, wherein concave spaces are made among neighboring convex projections.

6. The toy blocks of claim 1 or 2, wherein the convex projections are equipped with vertical grooves passing through central parts, so that upper sides of the convex projections are divided into more than two parts.

7. The toy blocks of claim 2, wherein the convex projections are equipped with vertical grooves passing through central parts, so that upper sides of the convex projections are divided into more than two parts.

8. The toy blocks of claim 1, wherein a connection piece equipped with insertion projections inserted into the piercing grooves on both ends, as forming a flat and long plate shape, is further comprised.

9. Toy blocks including a cylindrical block comprising a plane-shaped upper side, a bottom side, and sides, comprising: convex projections formed on the upper side; concave grooves configured to be inserted into convex projections on the bottom side through an interference-fit method; and vertical piercing grooves piercing through the middle of the upper side and the bottom side, first horizontal piercing grooves piercing through central parts of the sides, and second horizontal piercing grooves piercing through the central parts of the sides as being vertical to the first horizontal piercing grooves.

10. The toy blocks of claim 9, wherein a connection piece equipped with insertion projections inserted into the piercing grooves on both ends, as forming a flat and long plate shape, is further comprised.