US20260021423A1

US20260021423A1 - Wooden Building Block Structure

Info

Publication number: US20260021423A1
Application number: US19/001,522
Authority: US
Inventors: Qiaozhong Lian
Original assignee: Zhejiang Zonxie Arts&crafts Co ltd
Current assignee: Zhejiang Zonxie Arts&crafts Co ltd
Priority date: 2024-07-22
Filing date: 2024-12-25
Publication date: 2026-01-22
Also published as: EP4684855A1; CN223069076U; JP3250146U

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a wooden building block structure, which comprises building block bodies, wherein the upper end of each building block body is provided with a connecting post, the bottom end of the building block body is provided with a groove, and the inner wall of the groove is provided with a convex rib with an arc-shaped cross section corresponding to the connecting post; and when the building block bodies are connected, the connecting post is in interference fit with the front wall of the convex rib. The wooden building block is more environmentally friendly, and the problem of poor assembling stability caused by the material is solved by the fitting of the convex rib and the connecting post.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of China patent application No. CN202421724110.8 filed on Jul. 22, 2024, entitled “Wooden Building Block Structure and Wooden Building Blocks”, the entire contents of which, including the amendments thereof, are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a wooden toy, particularly to a wooden building block structure.

BACKGROUND

Wooden building block toys can solve the problems of pollution and material safety of plastic toys, but there will be some shrinkage and expansion problems due to the natural characteristics of materials.
The existing U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,761,609 and 10,478,742, as well as US20140127965A1 and US20090130947A1 all relate to the design of building block structures. However, when these structures are applied to wooden building blocks, there are still some problems of shrinkage and expansion. For example, when the building blocks are connected, it is easy to cause the problem that the building blocks can hardly be assembled because of the large matching tolerance. At the same time, because of the design differences between the building blocks, building blocks of different specifications cannot be combined and assembled.
Therefore, how to improve the assembling stability of wooden building blocks and realize the combination ad assembling between different specifications of building blocks has become an urgent technical problem.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a wooden building block structure, which includes building block bodies, connecting posts and grooves. Convex ribs with arc-shaped cross sections are disposed on the inner wall of the grooves corresponding to the connecting posts.
When the building block bodies are connected, the connecting post in interference fit with the convex rib. By providing the arc-shaped convex ribs on the inner wall of the groove, an interference fit is formed between the connecting post and the convex point on the front of the convex rib, and engagement part is locked, so that the assembling between building blocks is more stable and firm.
On the basis of this structure, wooden building block structures with various shapes and structures are designed to enrich the combined play of wooden building blocks, and convex ribs are disposed on the grooves corresponding to the wooden building block structures, so that the convex ribs will be extruded and deformed and generate radial pre-tightening force during assembling, thereby locking the engagement part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The drawings, which constitute a part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure and the descriptions thereof are used to explain the present disclosure, and do not constitute undue limitations on the present disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wooden building block structure with a single connecting post structure according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 1 with a groove structure;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the single-connecting-post wooden building block structure in FIG. 1 with a unidirectional array structure;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic structural view of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 3 with another array direction;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 1 with four connecting posts;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the four-connecting-post wooden building block structure in FIG. 5 with a unidirectional array structure and a groove structure;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 5

with two directional array structures;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 1 with six connecting posts;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of the wooden building block structure in FIG. 8 with a groove structure;

FIG. 10 shows the structural schematic diagram of the combination between wooden building blocks with different numbers of connecting posts;

the above drawings include the following reference signs:
1. Building block body, 2. Connecting post, 3. Groove, 4. Convex rib, 5. Separating post, 6. Clamping groove, 7. Upper groove, 11. Wooden building block structure A, 22. Wooden building block structure B, 33. Wooden building block structure C, 44. Wooden building block structure D, 55. Wooden building block structure E.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The technical solution in the embodiment of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the present disclosure, but not the whole embodiment. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the present disclosure, its application or uses. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work belong to the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
It should be noted that the terminology used here is only for describing specific embodiments, and is not intended to limit exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that when the terms “comprising” and/or “including” are used in this specification, they specify the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and/or combinations thereof.
Unless otherwise specified, the relative arrangement of components and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. At the same time, it should be appreciated that for the convenience of description, the dimensions of various parts shown in the drawings are not drawn according to the actual scale relationship. Techniques, methods and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, they should be regarded as part of the authorization specification. In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values should be interpreted as illustrative, and not as limiting. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar numbers and letters indicate similar items in the following drawings, therefore once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1 , a wooden building block structure includes a building block body 1. The upper end of the building block body 1 is provided with a connecting post 2, the bottom end of the building block body 1 is provided with a groove 3, and the inner wall of the groove 3 is provided with a convex rib 4 with an arc-shaped cross section corresponding to the connecting post 2. The above structure constitutes a wooden building block structure All, and when a plurality of building block bodies 1 are connected, the corresponding connecting post is in interference fit with the convex rib 4.
The rib 4 is formed on the inner wall of the groove 3 and protrudes into the groove 3, and two protruding sides form an arc transition with the inner wall of the groove 3, so that the rib is in the shape of an arc surface to form the arc-shaped cross section. The rib 4 is formed on the inner wall of the groove 3, with one end extending to the bottom of the groove 3 and the other end extending to the bottom of the building block body 1.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the upper end of the connecting post 2 is coaxially provided with an upper groove 7, and the inner diameter of the upper groove 7 is 1/2 of the diameter of the separating post 5.
The wooden building block structure of the present disclosure is made of environmentally-friendly wooden materials. Compared with the traditional plastic building blocks, the wooden building block structure is more environmentally-friendly and safe, has no adverse impact on children's health, and is suitable for children to use.
Compared with the existing building blocks made of other materials such as plastics, wooden building blocks are prone to shrink and expand during use due to the natural characteristics of materials, which further aggravates the defect of large matching tolerance between building blocks. Especially for the existing building block structure design, the assembling and plugging operation between building blocks is difficult and lacks convenience. However, with the design of the rib 4 with an arc-shaped cross section, the wooden rib 4 has certain elastic performance, and this elastic performance is compared with other materials in this kind of plugging structure.
Therefore, the convex rib with an arc cross-section ais disposed on the inner wall of the groove of the building block body to form an interference fit with the connecting post, so that the convex rib will be extruded and deformed and generate radial pre-tightening force during assembling, thereby locking the engagement part, which effectively solves the problems of large matching tolerance, loose and unstable connection between building blocks and poor assembling stability in the existing building block structure, and makes the assembling between building blocks more stable and firm, without the tendency of accidental separation. With the interference fit design of convex rib and connecting post, the problem that a wood material is prone to shrinkage, expansion and deformation during use is effectively solved, and the dimensional stability of building block structure is ensured, thus ensuring the accuracy and stability of assembling between building blocks.
In some embodiments, as the application of the above-mentioned wooden building block structure, on the basis of the above-mentioned structure, a wooden building block structure B22 is constituted along the horizontal and vertical arrays by taking the wooden building block structure A11 as the starting point of an array and taking the wooden building block structure A11 as the array unit. The number of horizontal arrays is the same or different from that of vertical arrays, and the numbers of the arrays are greater than or equal to 1. As shown in FIG. 3 , three straight rows of connecting posts are disposed side by side, which is a mass building block structure B22 obtained by a horizontal array on the basis of wooden building block structure A11. For the connecting post, convex rib and separating post mentioned above, their dimensions are all the same. Here, for the overall volume of the building block body 1, the volume of the building block body 1 corresponding to one connecting post 2 is taken as the unit volume, which isometrically varies with the number of connecting posts 2.
In other embodiments, as the application of the above-mentioned wooden building block structure, a wooden building block structure B22 is constituted along the horizontal and vertical arrays by taking the wooden building block structure A11 as the starting point of an array and taking the wooden building block structure A11 as the array unit. The number of horizontal arrays is the same or different from that of vertical arrays, and the numbers of the arrays are greater than or equal to 1. As shown in FIG. 4 , it is an L-shaped wooden building block structure B22 which is obtained by horizontal and vertical arrays on the basis of the wooden building block structure A11. For the connecting post, convex rib and separating post mentioned above, their dimensions are all the same. Here, for the overall volume of the building block body 1, the volume of the building block body 1 corresponding to one connecting post 2 is taken as the unit volume, which isometrically varies with the number of connecting posts 2.
Different from the wooden building block structure B22, in some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5 , as an application of the above wooden building block structure, a wooden building block structure includes a building block body 1. The upper end of the building block body 1 is provided with four connecting posts 2 distributed in two rows and two columns, the bottom end of the building block body 1 is provided with a groove 3, and the inner wall of the groove 3 is provided with a convex rib 4 with an arc-shaped cross section corresponding to the connecting posts 2. The center of the groove 3 is provided with a separating post 5. The above structure constitutes a wooden building block structure C33. When a plurality of building block bodies 1 are connected, the corresponding connecting posts are in interference fit with the separating posts 5 and the ribs 4 respectively.
On the basis of the wooden building block structure B22, a wooden building block structure D44 is constituted along the horizontal and vertical arrays by taking the wooden building block structure C33 as the starting point of an array and taking the wooden building block structure C33 as the array unit. The number of horizontal arrays is the same or different from that of vertical arrays, and the numbers of the arrays are greater than or equal to 1. As shown in FIG. 6 , the wooden building block structure D44 is obtained by horizontal arrays on the basis of the wooden building block structure B22. Meanwhile, an upper groove 7 is coaxially disposed at the upper end of the connecting post 2, and the inner diameter of the upper groove 7 is ½ of the diameter of the separating post 5.
Similarly, on the basis of the wooden building block structure B22, a wooden building block structure D44 is constituted along the horizontal and vertical arrays by taking the wooden building block structure C33 as the starting point of an array and taking the wooden building block structure C33 as the array unit. The number of horizontal arrays is the same or different from that of vertical arrays, and the numbers of the arrays are greater than or equal to 1. The difference from the structure shown in FIG. 6 is that, as shown in FIG. 7 , the L-shaped wooden building block structure D44 is obtained by horizontal and vertical arrays based on the wooden building block structure B22.
Different from the wooden building block structure B22, in other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8 , a wooden building block structure includes a building block body 1. The upper end of the building block body 1 is provided with six connecting posts distributed in two rows and three columns, the bottom end of the building block body 1 is provided with a groove 3; the inner wall of the groove 3 is provided with a rib 4 with an arc-shaped cross section corresponding to the connecting posts 2. A separating post 5 is disposed in the groove 3 corresponding to every four adjacent connecting posts 2. The above structures constitute a wooden building block structure E55. When a plurality of building block bodies 1 are connected, the corresponding connecting posts are in interference fit with the ribs 4.
On the basis of the wooden building block structure E55, as shown in FIG. 9 , the upper end of the connecting post 2 is coaxially provided with an upper groove 7, and the inner diameter of the upper groove 7 is ½ of the diameter of the separating post 5.
On the basis of the wooden building block structure E55, a wooden building block structure F is constituted along the horizontal and vertical arrays by taking the wooden building block structure E55 as the starting point of an array and four wooden building blocks in two rows and two columns as the array units. The bottom of the wooden building block structure F is provided with a groove 3, and a separating post 5 is disposed in the groove 3 corresponding to every four adjacent connecting posts 2. The number of horizontal arrays is the same or different from that of vertical arrays, and the numbers of the arrays are greater than or equal to 1.
The bottom of all the above-mentioned separating post can be flat with the bottom of the building block body 1, but this configuration is relatively inconvenient for the insertion of the connecting post. Therefore, in order to facilitate the connecting post to be inserted into the groove, the separating post 5 sinks inward by a certain distance compared with the bottom end of the building block body 1, but the sinking distance should not be too large to clamp the connecting post. Preferably, the separating post 5 sinks ½-¾ of the height of the connecting post 2.
Meanwhile, the four corners of the groove 3 are arc-shaped clamping grooves 6, and the diameter of the clamping grooves 6 is ½ of the diameter of the connecting post 6. The design of this structure is adapted for assembling wooden building blocks with different specifications.
All the wooden building block structures mentioned above can be designed in the same specification, and the dimensions of connecting posts, ribs and separating posts of the same specification are the same except for the changes of the volume of the building block body and the number of connecting posts. For the volume of the building block body, the volume of the building block body 1 corresponding to one connecting post 2 is taken as the unit volume, which isometrically varies with the number of connecting posts 2.
If all the wooden building blocks mentioned above are expanded by one time or reduced by one half in the same proportion in the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis directions, a large-size wooden building block structure or a small-size wooden building block structure can be obtained.
The interference fit design of the convex rib and the connecting post reduces the actual contact area between the convex rib and the connecting post, reduces the friction resistance during assembling and plugging, makes the assembling and plugging operation more labor-saving and convenient, and improves the practicability and operation experience of the building block toy. The dimensional proportions of the connecting post 2 and the groove 3 disposed on the building block bodies with different specifications are the same. With the interference fit mechanism of the convex rib 4 and the connecting post 2, the combination and assembling of building blocks with different specifications are realized, which enriches the diversity of play modes, improves the fun and playability of building block toys and stimulates children's creativity and imagination.
A wooden building block is proposed, which includes the above wooden building block structures. The wooden building blocks involved here can be building blocks with the same specifications or mixed building blocks with different specifications. The connecting post can be a solid structure, or a design with a hollow structure can be adopted.
As shown in FIG. 10 , the mixed assembling of wood blocks with different specifications is realized by the assembling of wood blocks with two different specifications. What needs to be explained here is that not all wooden building blocks with different specifications can be mixed. For example, when small-sized wooden building blocks are assembled at the lower end, the two ends of a small wooden building block shall just be assembled into the clamping grooves of the corresponding wooden building blocks; when small-sized wooden building blocks are assembled at the upper end, the separating grooves of the small-sized wooden building blocks shall be assembled in the corresponding upper grooves.
Of course, when wooden building blocks are assembled with large-sized wooden building blocks, the above assembling principle is also applicable.
The number of ribs mentioned above can be adjusted according to the specific situation. It is not necessary to set ribs on all the groove walls corresponding to the connecting posts, as long as the wooden building blocks can be assembled stably. For example, for wooden building blocks in one row and one column, convex ribs may be disposed on all four walls in the groove, or convex ribs may be provided on two opposite walls. The size of the rib is not limited, as long as it is applicable.
From the above description, it can be seen that the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure has achieved the following technical effects: in the wooden building block structure, the arc-shaped convex ribs are disposed on the inner side of the groove, and the connecting posts and the front convex points of the convex ribs are in interference fit, so that the engagement parts are locked, and the assembling between building blocks is more stable. By the interference fit between the convex rib and the connecting post, the contact area between the connecting post and the inner wall of the groove is reduced, which makes assembling and plugging more labor-saving and convenient. Meanwhile, with the wooden building block with the above structure, the building blocks with different specifications can also be assembled, so that the playing modes of the building blocks are more diverse. The wooden building block structure of the utility model is not only more environment-friendly, but also overcomes the problem of poor assembling stability caused by the material by the fitting of convex ribs and connecting posts, and is more applicable for assembling and fixing.
In the description of the present disclosure, it should be appreciated that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by orientation words such as “front, back, upper, lower, left, right”, “lateral, vertical, horizontal” and “top, bottom” are usually based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the attached drawings, just for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description. Unless otherwise stated, these orientation words do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, therefore they cannot be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure. The orientation words “inside and outside” refer to the inside and outside relative to the outline of each component itself.
For the convenience of description, spatially relative terms such as “above”, “on”, “on the upper surface of” and “upper” can be used here to describe the spatial positional relationship between a device or feature as shown in the drawings and other devices or features. It should be appreciated that spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations in use or operation in addition to the orientation of the device depicted in the drawings. For example, if the devices in the drawings are inverted, devices described as “above” or “on” other devices or structures will be positioned as “below” or “under” other devices or structures. Thus, the exemplary term “above” can include both orientation of “above” and “below”. The device can also be positioned in other different ways (rotated by 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatial relative description used here is explained accordingly.
In addition, it should be noted that the words “first” and “second” are used to define parts for the convenience of distinguishing the corresponding parts. Unless otherwise stated, the above words have no special meaning, and thus they cannot be construed as limiting the protection scope of the present disclosure.
What has been described above is only the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, and it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. For those skilled in the art, the present disclosure may have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent substitution, improvement and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A wooden building block structure, comprising building block bodies (1), wherein an upper end of each of the building block bodies (1) is provided with a connecting post (2), and a bottom end of the building block body (1) is provided with a groove (3), wherein an inner wall of the groove (3) is provided with a convex rib (4) with an arc-shaped cross section corresponding to the connecting post (2), and when the building block bodies are connected, the connecting post (2) is in interference fit with the convex rib (4).

2. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein the connecting post (2) is disposed on the building block body (1), and the groove (3) is disposed at the bottom of the building block body (1) to form the wooden building block structure A (11).

3. The wooden building block structure according to claim 2, wherein a wooden building block structure B (22) is constituted by arranging the wooden building block structure A (11) as an array unit along horizontal and vertical directions linearly or in an array form; and the numbers of horizontal arrays and vertical arrays is the same or different, wherein the number of the array unit is greater than or equal to 1.

4. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein the building block body (1) is provided with four connecting posts (2) distributed in two rows and two columns;

and the bottom of the building block body (1) is provided with the groove (3), and the center of the groove (3) is provided with a separating post (5) to form a wooden building block structure C (33).

5. The wooden building block structure according to claim 4, wherein a wooden building block structure D (44) is constituted by arranging the wooden building block structure C (33) as an array unit along horizontal and vertical directions linearly or in an array form; and the numbers of horizontal arrays and vertical arrays is the same or different, wherein the number of the array unit is greater than or equal to 1.

6. The wooden building block structure according to claim 4, wherein an upper groove (7) is coaxially disposed on the connecting post (2), and an inner diameter of the upper groove (7) is ½ of a diameter of the separating post (5).

7. The wooden building block structure according to claim 4, wherein the separating post (5) sinks inward compared with the bottom end of the building block body (1).

8. The wooden building block structure according to claim 4, wherein the separating post (5) sinks ½-¾ of a height of the connecting post (2).

9. The wooden building block structure according to claim 8, wherein four corners of the groove (3) are arc-shaped clamping grooves (6), and a diameter of the clamping groove (6) is ½ of a diameter of the connecting post (2).

10. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein six connecting posts (2) distributed in two rows and three columns are disposed on the building block body (1), and the groove (3) is disposed at the bottom of the building block body (1); and a separating post (5) is disposed in the groove (3) corresponding to every four adjacent connecting posts (2) to constitute a wooden building block structure E (55).

11. The wooden building block structure according to claim 10, wherein a wooden building block structure F is constituted by arranging array units along horizontal and vertical directions linearly or in an array form by taking the wooden building block structure E (55) as a starting point of an array and four wooden building block structures in two rows and two columns as the array units; and a separating post (5) is disposed in the groove (3) corresponding to every four adjacent connecting posts (2); and a number of horizontal arrays is the same with or different from that of vertical arrays, wherein the number of the array unit is greater than or equal to 1.

12. The wooden building block structure according to claim 10, wherein an upper groove (7) is coaxially disposed on the connecting post (2), and an inner diameter of the upper groove (7) is ½ of the diameter of the separating post (5).

13. The wooden building block structure according to claim 10, wherein the separating post (5) sinks inward compared with the bottom end of the building block body (1).

14. The wooden building block structure according to claim 10, wherein the separating post (5) sinks ½-¾ of the height of the connecting post (2).

15. The wooden building block structure according to claim 14, wherein four corners of the groove (3) are arc-shaped clamping grooves (6), and the diameter of the clamping groove (6) is ½ of the diameter of the connecting post (2).

16. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein an volume of the building block body (1) corresponding to one connecting post (2) is taken as a unit volume, and the volume of the building block body (1) provided with more than two connecting posts (2) varies with the number of connecting posts (2).

17. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein the wooden building block structure is expanded by 1 time or reduced by ½ in a same proportion in X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis directions, respectively, to obtain a large-size wooden building block structure or a small-size wooden building block structure.

18. The wooden building block structure according to claim 17, wherein the dimensions of connecting posts, ribs and separating posts of wooden building block structures with the same specifications are the same.

19. The wooden building block structure according to claim 1, wherein the rib (4) is formed on the inner wall of the groove (3) and protrudes into the groove (3); and two protruding sides form an arc transition with the inner wall of the groove (3), so that the rib is in a shape of an arc surface to form the cross section in an arc shape.

20. The wooden building block structure according to claim 19, wherein the rib (4) is formed on the inner wall of the groove (3), one end of which extending to the bottom of the groove (3), and the other end extending to the bottom of the building block body (1).