HK1072216B - Rod and connector toy construction set - Google Patents

Description

Rod and connector toy construction set

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to toy construction sets and in particular to construction sets in which the main building components consist of a series of rods and connectors connected to the rods.

Background

One very popular form of such toy building set is the product sold by K' NEX Industries, Inc. Early U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,219, 5,137,486, 5,199,919, and 5,350,331 mention some of the features of K' NEX toy construction assemblies. While K' NEX toy construction sets were first introduced several years ago, they have become quite popular and have enjoyed great success in the marketplace. However, while the K' NEX construction toys currently marketed have a number of advantages and many attractive features, a certain level of manual dexterity and finger strength is required in order to fully exploit the many features offered. This limits the marketability of children who have developed the manual dexterity of existing toy building sets to a reasonable level.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a rod and connector toy construction set that is specifically optimized designed for use by younger children while incorporating many of the important advantageous features of existing K' NEX construction toys. To this end, the components of the toy construction set are designed and constructed so that young children can load and unload the components and subsequently build various structures and sets with a minimum of manual dexterity and finger strength.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a rod and connector toy construction set comprising:

(a) a plurality of rods molded of plastic material, each rod having a rod axis and comprising a body portion, a neck portion adjacent said body portion at one end thereof, and a rod end adjacent said neck portion at an end opposite said one end,

(i) the rod neck portion has a transverse dimension that is less than a corresponding transverse dimension of the rod end;

(ii) a shoulder formed between the rod end and the rod neck; and

(b) a plurality of connector elements, each connector element comprising:

(i) a connector body formed of a soft and pliable plastic material and having a front side, a rear side, and a periphery;

(ii) said connector body having a rod-engaging socket therein extending through said connector body from one side thereof to the other and defined by opposed side wall portions of said connector body;

(iii) said socket having a rod gripping portion of a first predetermined width with one end open at the periphery of said connector body to grip the rod neck of said rod;

(iv) said socket further having a rod end receiving portion abutting said second end of said rod gripping portion, said rod end receiving portion having a second predetermined width greater than said first predetermined width and defining a shoulder adjacent said second end of said rod gripping portion;

(v) said socket defining a socket axis lying in a plane between the front and rear sides of said connector body and extending intermediate said opposing side wall portions of said lever clamping portion;

(vi) said rod gripping portion and said neck portion having complementary profiles for gripping a rod coaxially with said socket axis;

(c) the transverse dimension of the stem neck of the stem is greater than the first predetermined width of the stem clamping portion, such that the stem neck can be pressed laterally into the stem clamping portion by a snapping action and subsequently resiliently clamped by the connector element with the stem shaft coaxially aligned with the socket shaft; and

(d) the shoulder formed between the stem neck and the stem end engages an opposing surface of the shoulder of the socket to prevent axial withdrawal of the stem from the stem engagement socket.

The rod elements and connector elements of the toy construction set are sized to fit in a child's hand so that the various components can be easily grasped and played by children of several years, such as four and over. For example, in the case of a rod element, a rod element diameter of about 0.9525 centimeters is suitable for grasping and manipulation by a small hand. With the contemplated type of advantageous toy construction set, such rod elements are provided in various lengths ranging from about 2.54 centimeters to about 22.86 centimeters. The primary rod elements of the toy construction set have a generally circular cross-sectional profile with two end portions and a central body portion of generally uniform diameter. The end flange and the central body portion are separated by a reduced diameter hosel having a predetermined length.

The construction assembly of the invention further comprises a connector element arranged to receive and clamp the rod element in a fixed orientation, thereby enabling assembly of the structure. Advantageously, the connector comprises a hub, one or more open-ended and open-sided rod-engaging sockets being radially located relative to the hub. In a typical construction set, the connector may be provided with as few as one or as many as eight such rod-engaging sockets. When more than one socket is provided, they are typically spaced at an angular interval of, for example, 45 degrees.

According to one aspect of the invention, the connector element is formed from a soft and pliable plastics material which is readily bendable in the region of the rod-gripping socket. The socket extends completely through the connector from one side thereof to the other and is open on both sides. The socket is formed with a plurality of features for gripping and grasping the flanged end and the hosel of the rod element. This arrangement enables the rod member to be mounted by a lateral (or transverse) snapping movement whereby the shank of the rod member is gripped and secured in axial alignment with the socket axis by the opposing concave profiles of the gripping portions of the sockets. The flanged end of the rod element is received in an enlarged portion of the socket to prevent axial withdrawal of the rod element from the socket in which it is mounted. Because the connector elements have a soft and pliable nature, small children can easily assemble the components to form a structure. Also, the connection of the rod to the connector has considerable flexibility and bending ability, thereby minimizing the possibility of injury, for example, from small children getting into the confusion of the assembled structure.

Advantageously, some of the rod elements of the toy construction set are formed of a somewhat harder and more rigid material than the connector elements, although it is preferred to bend with sufficient resilience and flexibility, for example by chance during play. The rod elements may also be provided in a softer and more easily bendable form, so that an effective degree of shaping of the rod is obtained during assembly of the structure with the above-mentioned components.

For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment thereof.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an eight-socket connector component constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the circled portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of one connector element form of the present invention provided with five radially spaced rod engaging sockets;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the connector element of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of another connector element form of the invention having four radially spaced sockets;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a further connector element form of the invention provided with three radially spaced sockets;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken generally along line 12-12 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a front view of an exemplary rod element of the construction assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a partially cut-away front view of a particular short length rod element that may be advantageously used in the construction assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is an end view of the lever member of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows an enlarged partial view of the connection of a rod member and connector socket, wherein the rod member is coaxial with the socket axis;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken generally along line 18-18 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional view of a socket having a hub with a central opening therethrough and showing a rod member located within the hub;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 19, wherein the connecting hub is formed with a central abutment web and a plurality of members for grasping the rod elements by their ends;

FIG. 21 is a partial front view showing the manner in which the rod member engages the connector socket, with the rod member at a right angle to the socket axis;

fig. 22 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken generally along line 22-22 in fig. 21.

Detailed Description

Referring now to the drawings, and initially to fig. 1-5, reference numeral 30 generally designates an octagonal location connector element which is injection molded from a soft, pliable plastic material, preferably a plastic material having a shore a hardness of about 94. Particularly advantageously, the plastic material used for the connector element may be a grade 8402, sold by DuPont Dow Elastomers. This is a thermoplastic olefin elastomer that is ideally suited for the intended purpose. A related material sold by DuPont Dow Elastomers on a scale of 8403 and a shore a hardness of 96 is somewhat harder than the above-described best material, making it more difficult for a small child to handle the components of the toy construction assembly. The same material, sold by the same manufacturer as grade 8401, has a hardness of 85 shore a, which is softer than the above-mentioned optimum material and therefore tends to wear under the intended circumstances.

The connector element 30 of fig. 1 has an octagonal general configuration, and desirably has an overall width between the opposing sides 31, 32 of about 6.35 centimeters. The desired thickness between the major front and rear faces 33, 34 of the connector element is about 0.9525 cm.

The connector member 30 is provided with a central hub 35 which defines a cylindrical through opening 36 in the configuration shown in figures 1-5. The cylindrical side walls of the hub extend slightly beyond the front 33 and back 34 of the connector, so that the hub has an overall axial length of slightly more than 1.27 cm.

A plurality of spoke-like webs 37 extend radially from the hub 35 and intersect an octagonal arrangement of intermediate walls 38. The radial webs 37 and the intermediate wall 38 define a substantially triangular space 39 which is preferably closed by a connecting wall 40 located in the central plane of the connector body.

An octagonal arrangement of intermediate walls 38 forms an inner end of each of the 8 radially spaced rod engaging sockets 41 defined by the connector. A plurality of sockets 41 are arranged on a socket axis 42 and are spaced at 45 degree angles. The socket 41 is comprised of a shank clamping portion 43 and a shank end receiving portion 44 that are specifically sized and shaped to receive and clamp a shank member 45 of the type shown in fig. 13. These post elements, which will be described in greater detail below, include an elongated central body portion 46 having a generally cylindrical cross-sectional profile, thereby forming a central portion of the post element. The rod element is provided at both ends with a reduced diameter neck 47 and an end flange 48, preferably and advantageously having the same diameter as the cylindrical profile of the body portion 46.

According to the invention, the rod-engaging socket 41 extends completely through the body of the connector element 30 from side to side and is open on both sides. Preferably, the rod end receiving portion 44 of the socket 41 is sized and shaped to closely conform to the end flange 48 of the rod member 45. In this way, the end flange portion 48 of the rod member can pass from side to side while being tightly restrained within the rod end receiving portion 44.

In an advantageous form of the invention, the rod member 45 has a basic diameter of about 0.9525 centimeters in terms of the body portion 46 and the end flange 48. The end flange 48 may be about 0.635 cm in length and is preferably provided with a distinct chamfer or chamfer 49 at its outer end, such as 0.15875 cm chamfer having a 45 degree slope. The rod end receiving portion 44 of the connector socket is shaped and dimensioned to closely conform to the shape and dimensions of the end flange 48 of the rod element so as to snugly capture the end flange 48 within the rod end receiving portion 44.

Advantageously, the hosel 47 of the rod member 45 is cylindrical with a diameter of about 0.635 cm and, in the preferred embodiment, has an axial length of about 0.8128 cm between the end flanges 48 and the opposite end faces 50, 51 of the rod body 46, respectively. For example, as shown in fig. 5, one connector socket 41 is defined by opposing side walls 52, 53, with interior portions 52a, 53a thereof connected to the intermediate wall 38. In the hosel retaining portion 43 of the socket defined by the outer portions 52b, 53b of the side walls, the minimum spacing between the side wall portions (see 54 in fig. 1) is much smaller than the diameter of the hosel 47. In a preferred embodiment, the hosel clamping portion has an entrance dimension of about 0.53848 centimeters. The outer portions 52b, 53b of the side walls are formed with cylindrical grooves 55, 56 (see fig. 4 and 5) coaxial with the socket shaft 42. The grooves 55, 56 define segments of a cylinder having a diameter of about 0.635 cm. In this way, the hosel 47 of the rod element 45 can be pressed laterally into the hosel retaining portion 43 of the socket (from either side). Typically, the shaft of the rod member is parallel to the socket axis, the rod member is pushed laterally into the socket, and the end flange 48 of the rod member is aligned with the rod end receiving portion 44. The rod element's hosel 47 is separated from the opposing side walls 52, 53 in the event that lateral pressure is applied to the rod element, which can be resiliently deflected as necessary to allow the rod element's hosel 47 to enter the opposing grooves 55, 56. Advantageously, the outer portions 52b, 53b of the side walls are convergently tapered, as shown in fig. 4, to facilitate outward movement of the outer portions 52b, 53b of the side walls when the rod element is pressed laterally into the socket. When the rod element's hosel is located between the opposed grooves 55, 56, the rod element is thereby tightly gripped and secured in axial alignment with the socket shaft 42. The end flange 48 of the rod member received in the rod end receiving portion 44 locks the rod member against axial movement in either direction.

The force required to insert the rod element 45 laterally into the rod-gripping socket need not be too great in order to be easily accessible to young children. At the same time, the rod element must be sufficiently clamped and secured in the socket 41 so that an efficient structure can be assembled. For this purpose, it is desirable that the chord subtended angle 57 of the cylindrical recesses 55, 56 advantageously be 60 to 70 degrees, preferably about 64 degrees. With the connector of the material, the recesses 55, 56 of this ratio provide sufficient retention without unduly impeding the handling operation by a child.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the respective side walls 52, 53 of adjacent pairs of rod-engaging sockets 41 are connected by an integral angled outer wall 60, the angled outer wall 60 defining the outer circumferential wall of the connector. The side walls 52, 53 and the outer wall 60 define a generally triangular opening 61 which is preferably closed by a central plate 62, the central plate 62 preferably being located in the central plane of the connector body, thereby adding a rigid element to the quadrilateral tongue element 63, the tongue element 63 being formed by the side walls 52, 53 and the connecting outer wall 60. As shown in fig. 1, the tongue elements 63 separating adjacent pairs of rod element receiving sockets 41 are connected to the interior of the body of the connector, which is defined by radial wall 37 and intermediate wall 38.

The outer wall 60 serves several functions. They provide blunt and soft contact areas, minimizing the possibility of any injury from unintended contact. Furthermore, by connecting the hosel retaining portion of one socket to the corresponding hosel retaining portion of an adjacent socket, each socket contributes to some degree of support from each other, which is desirable from the soft and pliable nature of the plastic material used for the connector.

In the modified socket shown in fig. 6-8, the connector is formed with 5 rod-engaging sockets 41, again radially spaced at 45 degree angles. Except as mentioned, the basic structure and shape of the socket 41 and other major components of the connector 70 are the same as those of the connector element 30 of fig. 1. One major difference is that the rod-engaging sockets 71, 72 at opposite ends of the connector body do not have an adjacent socket on one side. Advantageously, therefore, the outer side walls 73, 74 forming the outer walls of the sockets 71, 72 are reinforced by a rib 75, which rib 75 extends along the bottom wall 76 of the connector, preferably from one end to the other. Thus, whereas the side walls of the intermediate socket take up a measure of support from the connecting side walls of the adjacent sockets, the outer side walls of the end sockets rely on the ribs 75 to achieve this reinforcement.

As can be seen by comparing fig. 2 with fig. 8, in fig. 2 the hub 35 has a cylindrical passage 36 extending from one axial end to the other. In contrast, in fig. 8, the hub 77 is formed with a central partition wall 78 and a plurality of annular internal retaining ribs 79. The through passage 36 shown in fig. 2 may be provided in any type of connector. However, it is particularly desirable to provide through passages in the hubs of at least selected octagonal connector elements 30 as shown in figure 1. Other socket configurations, as well as other octagonal sockets, may preferably be provided with blind hub channels with partition walls 78, as shown in fig. 8.

Referring now to fig. 12, hub 77 is formed with three annular ribs 79 on each side of central wall 78. The smallest diameter of the annular rib 79 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the rod end flange 48. Advantageously, the root diameter, i.e., the diameter of the space 80 between adjacent ribs 79, is slightly larger than the diameter of the end flange 48. Thus, where the end flange 48 has a diameter of 0.9525 cm, the minimum diameter of the ribs 79 may suitably be about 0.9398 cm, while the root diameter 80 may advantageously be about 0.9652 cm. When the rod end 48 is inserted into the open end 81 of the hub slot, the annular ring 79 deforms and expands enough to tightly grip the end flange 48, as shown in FIG. 20. This arrangement allows the rod and connector to be "stacked" by inserting the rod end forward into the blind hub slot, as shown in fig. 20.

Fig. 9-11 show other forms of connector elements 90, 91 formed with four and three rod-engaging sockets, respectively. The structural components of the connector elements 90, 91 are essentially identical to the connector element 70 of fig. 6, i.e. the plurality of sockets 41 are arranged at an angle of 45 degrees, the terminal sockets 71, 72 being supported on one side by reinforcing ribs 92, 93, which ribs 92, 93 serve the same function as the reinforcing rib 75 of fig. 6. All of the connector elements described are formed of a soft and pliable plastic material, such as the aforementioned grade 8402 thermoplastic olefin elastomer.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the primary rod element 45 is formed of a material that is harder than the material used to form the various connector elements. Advantageously, the primary stem element may be formed from a conventional polypropylene such as that sold by Himont Incorporated. A material having a rockwell hardness number (R scale) of 105 is suitable. Advantageously, the bar element is moulded in a series of lengths based on a right-angled triangular configuration. The longer rod elements of the series are thus adapted to be mounted along the hypotenuse of an equilateral right triangle formed using three connectors, the legs of the triangle being formed by the next two rods of the shorter dimension of the series. The two short sides of the right triangle are formed by the length of the shorter bar, plus the distance from the inner end of the bar engaging socket to the central axis of the connecting hub. Likewise, the total distance along the hypotenuse of the right triangle is made up of the length of the longer rod, plus the distance from the inner end of the connector socket to the center of the rod engaging the connector hub. Advantageously, the shortest rod in the series has the size to connect the two connectors side by side, with their outer walls 60 substantially in contact. There is no theoretical limit to the maximum length of the rods in the series. However, in practice a rod having an overall length of about 22.098 cm is a suitable maximum for a typical toy building set.

It is preferable that the main body portion 46 of the rod member 45 is not formed as a solid cylinder because this is not necessary for strength and would add unnecessary weight and cost. Preferably, the body portion 46 has a ribbed configuration, as shown in FIG. 14. The central web 100 extends from side to side along the diameter of the rod body. The ribs 101, 102 extend at right angles from the central web and are spaced apart from one another. The web 100 and ribs 101, 102 define at their outer ends a cylindrical envelope which conforms to the cylindrical outer surface of the end flange 48.

As shown in fig. 13, the hosel 47 of the rod element is advantageously formed with relatively sharp corners 103 where the hosel meets the inner surface 50 of the end flange 48. At its opposite end, the hosel merges with an end face 51 of the rod element 45 having a rounded corner with a radius of, for example, 0.1016 cm.

The configuration of the end of the rod member 45 preferably closely conforms to the configuration of the connector socket 41. The hosel 47 is formed with a length of approximately 0.8128 centimeters between the end faces 50, 51 and the length of the hosel gripping portion 43 between the socket's internal shoulder 105 and the connector's outer side 31 is also of substantially the same dimension, as shown in fig. 17. This helps to allow the rod to fit tightly and securely and connect to the connector.

As shown in fig. 4, the lateral entrance surfaces 104 taper towards the cylindrically contoured clamping surfaces 55, 56, thereby facilitating lateral entry of the hosel 47 into the clamping position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pair of opposing surfaces 104 may be disposed symmetrically and at an angle of about 22 degrees to each other.

While it is contemplated that the attachment and detachment of the rod to the connector is accomplished by moving the rod end laterally into and out of the rod gripping socket 41, it will also be appreciated that the rod may be forcibly detached from the connector in other ways due to the soft and pliable nature of the material forming the connector and the relatively discretion of the young child desiring to use the toy device. For example, the connector may be fixed in place, while the rod connected thereto is forcibly displaced by its outer end in the same plane as the connector. If sufficient force is applied in this manner, the connector socket 41 will be forced open and one side of the stem end 48 will be forced away from the retaining shoulder 105, forcing the stem out through the open front end of the socket 41. In the rod and socket configuration of the illustrated embodiment, damage to the connector is minimized by the profile of the rod end 48 and the rod end receiving portion 44. In this way, the generally rounded inner edge 106 of the lever member 45 enables the deflected lever to slide over the shoulder 105 when desired without excessive wear on the soft plastic material. The inner corner edges 105a of the shoulders 105 are also preferably slightly rounded, for example forming a fillet with a radius of 0.079375 cm. In addition, the beveled outer leading edges 49 of the rod ends 48 also facilitate removal of the skewed rod from the socket 41 without excessive wear. This is advantageous because the soft and pliable material used for the connector allows the child's hand to be safely and easily manipulated without accelerating wear on the connector.

In an advantageous form of construction toy device of the invention, as shown in figure 15, its shortest rod of a series based on the aforesaid right-angled triangular sequence is of such a size that it engages with two connectors 110, 111 lying in the same plane, with its outer surface portions substantially abutting. To this end, the shortest rod 112, as shown in fig. 15, consists of a pair of opposed rod ends 113 connected by a cylindrical section 114 of uniform diameter, the length of which corresponds approximately to the length of the two journals 47 of the longer rod element 45, as shown in fig. 13. In a toy construction set of the general dimensions mentioned herein before, the overall length of the short bar 112 is approximately 2.9718 cm.

As a safety feature, the rod 112 of FIG. 15 is provided with a plurality of outwardly facing grooves 116, 117 at its opposite ends 113, which form a plurality of corners and edges 118, 119 around the edges of the opposite ends of the rod. The purpose of these corners and edges is to provide a stimulus when the rod is held in the mouth by a child. In such cases, if the corners and/or edges 118, 119 contact the area near the throat or trachea, it may be desirable to generate a gag reflex to allow the child to spit and throw away the rod before the problem occurs.

Advantageously, it is desirable that certain rod elements of the construction assembly, especially those of greater length, have relatively flexible and pliable properties. This allows flexible rods to be incorporated into the structure in a variety of shapes and profiles. To this end, the selected longer rod may advantageously be molded from a relatively soft and pliable material available from QST, inc. The material has a shore a hardness value of about 90 and is slightly softer than the material from which the connector is formed, thereby allowing the rod to be easily bent into different shapes. The basic cross-section and outer structure of the bendable stem is the same as a stem made of a harder polypropylene material in terms of the stem end, stem neck and body portion, and soft stems function in the same way as hard stems in all respects, except for their flexibility properties. In a typical construction toy set of the present invention, at least some of the longest (e.g., 22.098 cm) rods are preferably formed of Monprene MP material.

As shown in fig. 19 and 20, different types of hub structures provided in the connector element allow different functions to be performed according to the needs of the manufacturer. For example, in fig. 19, the connector element 30 has a hub 35 formed with a smooth cylindrical opening 36 extending completely through the hub. A rod 45 can pass through the opening 36, and a central body portion 46 of the rod can rotate or rotatably support the connector element within the connector element. The rod may also slide within the hub, as can be appreciated.

In the arrangement shown in fig. 20, the hub 77 is formed with a central dividing wall 78 which defines opposed blind recesses 77 a. The end 48 of one or both rods 45 can be inserted into the blind groove and tightly clamped therein by the annular rib 79. Preferably, the blind groove has a depth of about 0.635 cm, which is approximately the same axial length as the rod end 48, so that the rod end is fully received within the hub groove 77a and captured by the hub groove 77 a. This structure provides great flexibility in the design of toy structures that may be manufactured with the toy construction set, particularly allowing the connector elements to be connected together in a laterally spaced relationship.

Fig. 21, 22 show an alternative arrangement for assembling the lever 45 to the connector element 30 (or 70, 90, 91) at right angles to the plane of the connector. This is achieved by placing the rod on the connector at right angles and pushing the neck 47 of the rod into the open outer end of the connector socket 41. The diameter of the hosel 47 (approximately 0.635 cm) is slightly larger than the socket opening defined by the outer portions 52b, 53b of the side walls (approximately 0.53848 cm), so that cross-insertion of the hosel 47 into the socket requires the socket to be forced open to some extent, which is achieved by lateral flexing of the tongue element 63.

The rod 45 is pushed into the socket 41 until the rod neck 47 reaches the enlarged socket rod end receiving portion 44 (fig. 21). The socket side walls 52, 53 then resiliently close to their normal position to retain the rod neck 47 within the rod end receiving portion 44.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the axial length of the hosel 47 is slightly less than the thickness of the connector element 30 between its sides 33, 34. For example, the thickness of the connector element 30 may be about 0.9525 centimeters, while the axial length of the hosel 47 may be about 0.8128 centimeters. Thus, when the hosel 47 is pressed into the socket 41 in the vertical orientation shown in fig. 22, the shoulders 50, 51 at the opposite ends of the hosel 47 will engage and press the side walls 33, 34 of the connector inwardly in the regions where the surfaces of the shoulders 50, 51 face the surfaces 33, 34 of the connector. This provides the desired tight fit between the rod and the connector when assembled in the manner described.

It is particularly advantageous that the cylindrical neck 114 of the stub shaft 112 has an overall length of about 1.7018 centimeters, which is slightly less than the thickness of two side-by-side connectors. Thus, the shortest rod 112 can also be cross-fitted into the sockets of a pair of side-by-side connectors to connect therewith in this configuration.

The toy construction set of the invention is particularly suitable for use by children whose manual dexterity and finger strength have not developed sufficiently. It is particularly important that it combines the relatively large size of the connector elements and rods which allows easy gripping and manipulation by a small hand with the soft and pliable nature of the connector which allows easy handling of the components by a small hand. The elements of the toy building set, although having some similarities to the well-known K' Nex building set and incorporating its advantageous features, differ from it in a considerable number of ways. One of these is the relative softness of the connector material relative to the harder material of the rod. Another point is that the hosel gripping portion of the connector socket engages and grips the hosel of the rod to secure the rod in axial alignment with the socket of the engaged rod. The rod is secured in various ways in cross-engagement with the connector, either by inserting the stem neck of the rod into the connector socket cross-wise, or by inserting the flanged rod end into the blind slot of the connector so provided.

The soft and pliable nature of the connector element is also an important safety feature as it allows the installed rod to deflect upon unintended contact. It also allows a rod mounted by lateral insertion into a rod-gripping socket to be removed by a twisting motion in the plane of the connector. Even if it is not desired to remove the rod in this manner, it will be appreciated that young children often play with the components in a variety of unintended ways, and that the construction assembly of the present invention accommodates such activity.

The relatively large size of the components is in itself a safety feature, since it is not possible for young children to place larger components in their mouths. Even if children do so, there is little chance of causing any injury. By increasing the likelihood of spitting the component via the gag reflex, and adding an additional safety feature to the smaller size of the wand, the risk of possible accidental asphyxiation is minimised.

It should be understood, of course, that the specific forms of the invention herein shown and described are intended to be representative only, as certain changes may be made without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

Claims (43)

1. A rod and connector toy construction set comprising:

(a) a plurality of rods molded of plastic material, each rod having a rod axis and comprising a body portion, a neck portion adjacent said body portion at one end thereof, and a rod end adjacent said neck portion at an end opposite said one end,

(i) the rod neck portion has a transverse dimension that is less than a corresponding transverse dimension of the rod end;

(ii) a shoulder formed between the rod end and the rod neck; and

(b) a plurality of connector elements, each connector element comprising:

(i) a connector body formed of a soft and pliable plastic material and having a front side, a rear side, and a periphery;

(ii) said connector body having a rod-engaging socket therein extending through said connector body from one side thereof to the other and defined by opposed side wall portions of said connector body;

(iii) said socket having a rod gripping portion of a first predetermined width with one end open at the periphery of said connector body to grip the rod neck of said rod;

(iv) said socket further having a rod end receiving portion abutting said second end of said rod gripping portion, said rod end receiving portion having a second predetermined width greater than said first predetermined width and defining a shoulder adjacent said second end of said rod gripping portion;

(v) said socket defining a socket axis lying in a plane between the front and rear sides of said connector body and extending intermediate said opposing side wall portions of said lever clamping portion;

(vi) said rod gripping portion and said neck portion having complementary profiles for gripping a rod coaxially with said socket axis;

(c) the transverse dimension of the stem neck of the stem is greater than the first predetermined width of the stem clamping portion, such that the stem neck can be pressed laterally into the stem clamping portion by a snapping action and subsequently resiliently clamped by the connector element with the stem shaft coaxially aligned with the socket shaft; and

(d) the shoulder formed between the stem neck and the stem end engages an opposing surface of the shoulder of the socket to prevent axial withdrawal of the stem from the stem engagement socket.

2. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) at least some of the rods are formed of a plastics material having a hardness greater than that of the connector elements.

3. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 2,

(a) the rods are formed of polypropylene and the connector element is formed of a thermoplastic olefin elastomer.

4. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 3,

(a) the thermoplastic olefin elastomer has a shore a hardness value of less than 96 and greater than 85.

5. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 2,

(a) at least some of the rods are formed of polypropylene and are relatively rigid; and

(b) at least some other of the rods are formed of a material softer than polypropylene and are relatively flexible compared to the some rods.

6. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the rod end receiving portion and the rod end of the socket have closely conforming cross-sectional configurations such that the rod end is tightly restrained by the rod end receiving portion and is disposed in or parallel to a central plane between the front and rear sides of the connector body.

7. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 6,

(a) the rod end is cylindrical and is provided at its end spaced from the rod neck with a beveled corner profile extending 25% of the length of the rod end, so that the rod can be forced out of the socket by forcibly pivoting the rod in or parallel to the central plane.

8. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 7,

(a) the rod end is formed with a smooth outer surface to minimize wear of the socket walls during the forced withdrawal of the rod from the socket.

9. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the connector body is formed with a cylindrical slot having a slot axis at right angles to the front and rear sides;

(b) the cylindrical slot is sized to receive a rod end.

10. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 9,

(a) the cylindrical slot extends completely through the connector body;

(b) the rod is cylindrical and has a uniform diameter except for a portion of the rod neck disposed adjacent to a rod end at an opposite end of the rod; and

(c) the cylindrical slot is sized to closely receive the rod so that it can rotate within the slot.

11. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 9,

(a) the slot axis intersects the socket axis at a right angle; and

(b) the connector body is formed with a plurality of angularly arrayed rod-engaging sockets, each socket defining a socket axis intersecting the slot axis.

12. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 9,

(a) the cylindrical slot is sized to tightly receive and retain a rod end.

13. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 12,

(a) the cylindrical tank has a central dividing wall.

14. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 12,

(a) the cylindrical slot is formed by a cylindrical wall provided with one or more annular constricting rings dimensioned to tightly receive and retain a rod end.

15. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 14,

(a) the one or more annular constricting rings have an arcuate cross-sectional configuration to define a minimum ring diameter slightly smaller than the rod end diameter and a maximum ring diameter slightly larger than the rod end diameter.

16. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 11,

(a) the connector body is formed with eight lever engagement sockets in an angular array spaced at 45 degree angles; and

(b) the cylindrical slot is centrally disposed with respect to the socket.

17. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 11,

(a) said connector body having rod-engaging sockets arranged in an angular array of less than eight sockets in which the sockets are spaced at 45 degrees therebetween, and outside said angular array, rod-engaging sockets at opposite ends of the angular array are spaced at a greater angle, the greater angle being greater than 45 degrees;

(b) a connector body portion located between a pair of angularly adjacent sockets spaced at a 45 degree angle forms a wall portion of the adjacent pair of sockets; and

(c) the connector body has a stiffening rib extending outside the angular array along a side of the chord thereof diagonally to the larger angle, the stiffening rib outboard of the spar engaging sockets at each end of the angular array.

18. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the rod gripping portion of the socket includes opposing side entry portions adjacent the front and rear sides of the connector body and a concave gripping portion of concave profile centrally located between the entry portions;

(b) during lateral movement of the rod into the rod gripping portion, the inlet portions on either side of the connector body contact and guide the hosel, thereby opening the rod gripping portion and allowing the hosel to engage the recessed gripping portion.

19. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 18,

(a) the inlet portion includes opposed inwardly converging walls.

20. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 18,

(a) the hosel portion is cylindrical in shape, the recessed gripping portion has a cylindrical profile and has a diameter closely corresponding to the diameter of the hosel;

(b) the chord diagonal of the concave clamping portion is 60-70 degrees.

21. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the connector body having a predetermined thickness in the region of the rod-engaging socket; and

(b) the length of the hosel relative to the predetermined thickness of the connector body is determined to enable the hosel to be inserted into the socket crosswise with the shaft of the rod at right angles to the socket axis.

22. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 21,

(a) the length of the hosel is slightly less than the predetermined thickness of the connector body so as to compress the material of the connector body in the region adjacent the socket when the hosel is inserted crosswise into the socket.

23. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 17,

(a) adjacent sockets spaced at a 45 degree angle are spaced radially outwardly from the slot axis at a uniform distance;

(b) said connector body including a common intermediate tongue element located between said adjacent sockets and forming one side of each of said sockets;

(c) said tongue element having an inner portion which is relatively narrow with respect to its outer portion and an outer portion which is relatively wide with respect to said inner portion, said relatively narrow inner portion forming an inner portion of said adjacent socket and said relatively wide outer portion forming an outer portion of said adjacent socket;

(d) the tongue element is flexibly connected at its relatively narrow inner portion laterally to an adjacent portion of the connector body, thereby allowing the tongue element to deflect laterally when the lever member is assembled with the connector body.

24. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 21,

(a) the rod neck has a length slightly less than twice the thickness dimension of the connector body so that the rod elements can be inserted into the sockets of two side-by-side connector elements crosswise.

25. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 24,

(a) the rod end is formed with a plurality of end surface features defining edges and corners.

26. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) at least some of the stems have a body portion with a transverse dimension greater than the neck portion of the stem.

27. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the connector element is formed from a thermoplastic olefin elastomer;

(b) the stem is formed of a material having a hardness greater than the thermoplastic olefin elastomer.

28. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 27,

(a) the thermoplastic olefin elastomer has a shore a hardness value of less than 96 and greater than 85.

29. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 27,

(a) at least some of the rods are formed of polypropylene and are relatively rigid; and

(b) at least some other of the stems are formed of a material softer than polypropylene and more flexible than the at least some stems.

30. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the connector body is formed with a cylindrical slot having a slot axis at right angles to the front and rear sides;

(b) the cylindrical slot is sized to receive a rod end.

31. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 30,

(a) the cylindrical slot extends completely through the connector body; and

(b) the cylindrical slot is sized to closely receive the rod so that it can rotate within the slot.

32. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 30,

(a) the slot axis intersects the socket axis at a right angle;

(b) the connector body is formed with a plurality of rod-engaging sockets in an annular array, each socket defining a socket axis intersecting the slot axis.

33. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 30,

(a) the cylindrical slot is sized to tightly receive and retain a rod end.

34. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 33,

(a) the cylindrical tank has a central dividing wall.

35. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the transverse dimension of the body portion of the stem is greater than the transverse dimension of the neck portion of the stem;

(b) the connector body having a predetermined thickness in the region of the rod-engaging socket; and

(c) between the rod end and the body portion, the rod neck portion has a length relative to the predetermined thickness of the connector body such that the rod neck portion of a rod is inserted crosswise into the socket with the axis of the rod in a right angle relationship with the axis of the socket.

36. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 35,

(a) the length of the neck portion is less than a predetermined thickness of the connector body, thereby compressing material of the connector body in an area adjacent the socket when the neck portion is inserted crosswise into the socket.

37. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 35,

(a) the hosel has a length twice the predetermined thickness of the connector body so that the rod can be inserted crosswise into the sockets of two side-by-side connector elements.

38. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) said connector member having a slot formed therein aligned along a slot axis disposed at right angles to said socket axis;

(b) the slot is adapted to receive a rod end of a rod aligned with the slot axis.

39. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 38,

(a) the slot has a central dividing wall and is sized to snugly receive and retain the rod end.

40. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 38,

(a) the slot extends through the connector element and is sized to loosely receive a rod end and body portion of a rod to permit rotation of the rod relative to the connector element.

41. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 1,

(a) the body portion of the rod has a transverse dimension perpendicular to the rod axis that is greater than a transverse dimension of the neck portion.

42. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 3,

the thermoplastic olefin elastomer has a shore a hardness value of 94.

43. A rod and connector toy construction set according to claim 27,

the thermoplastic olefin elastomer has a shore a hardness value of 94.