Building element for toy structures

May 23, 1961 _G. _R. beck 2,984,935

BUILDING ELEMENT FOR TOY STRUCTURES

Filed March 12, 1959

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FIG.3

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INVENTOR:

George R.Beck

BY

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United States Patent Office

2,984,935

Patented May 23, 1961

2,984,935

BUILDING ELEMENT FOR TOY STRUCTURES George R. Beck, 530 Pleasant, Boulder, Colo.

Filed Mar. 12,1959, Ser. No. 798,931

Claims. (Ci. 46—25)

My present invention relates to a building element for toy structures and to a structure composed of a multiplicity of such elements.

Toys are known in which different structures can be assembled from flat pieces of wood or plastic provided with peripheral notches which enable these pieces to be fitted together at right angles to one another. Heretofore, however, the choice of structures to be built with a given set was severely limited by the available shapes so that versatility of design could be attained only at the cost of including a large variety of such shapes in a single set.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to provide an improved building element of this character which can be assembled with other, similar elements into many different structures without the use of glue, rivets, bolts or other auxiliary elements.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an element of this character which is free from sharp edges so as to be safely usable by children of all ages.

In accordance with this invention I provide a building element in the form of a flat disc, preferably of a plastic material having a certain resiliency, into whose periphery radial notches are cut at regular intervals. Advantageously, the notches are arranged in diametrically opposite pairs and are spaced 45° apart. A number of such elements may easily be assembled together to form a structure resembling a truss, with branches running horizontally and vertically as well as diagonally. In order to insure a correct dimensioning of the diagonal links between orthogonal branches, I provide at least two sets of notches of different depth staggered in such manner that at least one pair of notches are deeper than the remaining ones. In a specific embodiment, the notches may be alternately deeper and shallower to provide a cloverleaf-like appearance similar to that shown in my co-pending design-patent application Serial No. D. 50,806 filed May 8, 1958, and now abandoned.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a building element embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a slightly modified element according to the invention;

Fig. 3 is an end-elevational view of a simple structure assembled from several elements of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4—4 of Fig. 3.

The building element 10 shown in Fig. 1 is a flat disc provided at its center with a hole 11 by which it may be mounted, if desired, on a suitable shaft member (e.g. a pin or a matchstick) to simulate a wheel or the like. The disc 10 is provided with four pairs of diametrically opposite peripheral notches, spaced 45° apart, which include three relatively shallow pairs 12 and one relatively deep pair 13. Preferably, for reasons that will become apparent hereinafter, the depth ratio of notches 12 and 13 is substantially 1:V2.

The element 10' of Fig. 2 is similar to the element 10 of Fig. 1, being provided with a center hole 11' and 5 with four pairs of peripheral notches 12', 13' of staggered depth. In this instance, however, the notches 12' and 13' alternate so that two orthogonal notch pairs 13' of greater depth, extending horizontally and vertically in the figure, are separated by two diagonally extending 10 notch pairs 12' of lesser depth. This shape corresponds to that shown in my aforementioned design-patent application Serial No. D. 50,806.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate how a relatively simple structure 100, resembling a section of a truss which in turn 15 may form part of a bridge, a building or the like, is assembled from a number of elements as shown in the preceding figures. The structure 100 comprises a lower tier of vertical discs 10α, 10ό, 10c and 10d, an upper tier of vertical discs lOe, 10/ co-planar with the discs of the 20 lower tier, a single horizontal disc 10z interconnecting the discs 10c and 10/, two diagonally extending discs lOx and lOy linking the discs 10c, 10/ of the upper tier with the outermost discs 10α and 10d of the lower tier, respectively, and three horizontal discs 10α, lOv and lOw 25 interconnecting the discs of the lower tier. It will be seen that each vertical disc 10a-10/ has two of its notches engaged by respective discs (lOzz-lOz) lying in planes at right angles to the vertical.

Although the structure 100 in Figs. 3 and 4 is shown 30 composed of two types of discs respectively similar to those illustrated at 10 and 10' in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be understood that discs of either type alone can be used to form the structure. It is important, however, to note that the horizontal notches of all the vertical discs 35 10a-10/ must be the deep notches 13 or 13' of Figs. 1 and 2 and that the notches of the horizontal connecting discs 10«, 10v, 10w and IGz in enagement therewith must be of like character; on the other hand, the inclined notches of discs 10α, 10d, lOe and 10/ engaged by the di40 agonal discs lOx and lOy, as well as the occupied notches of these latter discs, must be shallower as indicated at 12 and 12' in Figs. 1 and 2. With a relative dimensioning of these notches in a ratio of V2:l as indicated above, correct alignment between discs of adjoining tiers (e.g. lOe and 10ό) will be insured if each pair of inter-linked 45 discs is brought into engagement for the full depth of its interfitted notches. A very stable structure is thereby produced.

It will be apparent that the truss section 100 illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 can be extended at will in its own plane, or in horizontal, vertical or inclined planes perpendicular thereto, by attaching further discs to the free notches of the elements already assembled. In some cases the overall design may be such that discs of either the type of Fig. 1 or that of Fig. 2 will be preferred at particular ^5o locations, yet in many instances the two types of discs 10 and 10' will be freely interchangeable. It will thus be seen that I have provided a building element of simple shape which can be assembled into a wide variety of different structures, it being of course understood that ⁶⁰ minor departures from the specific configurations described and illustrated will be possible. Thus, for example, the number and the spacing of the notches may differ from that illustrated in the drawing, with corresponding change in their relative dimensioning; if, for ⁶⁰ example, the inclined notches 12 in Fig. 1 were separated from the horizontal notches 13 by an angle of 30°, their depth ratio should be approximately l:V3/2 (or about 1:1.85), corresponding to the cosine of the enclosed _ angle. The geometrical relationship underlying this ‘ principle has been illustrated in dot-dash lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

2,984,935