Miniature Building Blocks

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the filing priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/017,128, titled “MINIATURE TOY BUILDING BLOCKS” and filed on Apr. 29, 2020. The '128 application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to miniature toy building blocks. More specifically, the invention relates to the design and manufacture of ultra-miniature toy building blocks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

University of Pennsylvania professor of Urbanism, Witold Rybezynski has found that the earliest mention of building bricks for children appears in Maria and R. L. Edgeworth's Practical Education (1798). Called “rational toys,” blocks were intended to teach children about gravity and physics, as well as spatial relationships that allow them to see how many different parts become a whole. In 1837, Friedrich Fröbel invented a preschool educational institution Kindergarten. For that, he designed ten Froebel Gifts based on building blocks principles. During the mid-nineteenth century, Henry Cole (under the pseudonym of Felix Summerly) wrote a series of children's books. Cole's A book of stories from The Home Treasury included a box of terracotta toy blocks and, in the accompanying pamphlet “Architectural Pastime”, actual blueprints.

There are numerous physical, social, intellectual and creative benefits to users of these miniature building blocks, including:

Physical benefits: Toy blocks help build strength in a child's fingers and hands and improve eye/hand coordination.

Social benefits: Block play encourages children to make friends and cooperate and is often one of the first experiences a child has playing with others. Blocks are a benefit for the children because they encourage interaction and imagination. Creativity can be a combined action that is important for social play.

Intellectual benefits: Children can potentially develop their vocabularies as they learn to recognize and describe sizes, shapes, and positions. Math skills are developed through the process of grouping, adding, and subtracting, particularly with standardized blocks, such as unit blocks. Experiences with gravity, balance, and geometry learned from toy blocks also provide intellectual stimulation.

Creative benefits: Children receive creative stimulation by making their own designs with blocks.

Some of the better and lesser-known bricks, blocks and related building materials that have been enjoyed through the years by children and adults alike include:

• • ANKER (ANCHOR) STONE™ Blocks;
  • Unit block, a popular standardized wooden toy block;
  • KAPLA® and KEVA® Planks, wooden block construction toys;
  • LEGO®, a line of unique plastic building bricks that interlock for virtually endless combinations;
  • Lincoln Logs®, a toy consisting of notched miniature logs;
  • Stickle® Bricks, a plastic construction toy primarily intended for toddlers;
  • Froebel Gifts, a range of educational materials first used in the original Kindergarten;
  • Montessori sensorial materials, a range of educational materials including wooden blocks;
  • TiNKERTOYS®, consisting of interconnecting rods and wheels;
  • RASTI™, an Argentine toy block;
  • TENTE™, a Spanish toy block; and
  • ZOMETOOL™, a USA-made system of advanced building blocks.

However, these systems and devices have been predominately developed for and directed toward young children for play and development. However, building hobby enthusiast, which tend to be adults, typically look for systems which allow for more precise, accurate, detailed, and elaborate construction. This tendency has created a need for systems with smaller and more intricate pieces.

Until the invention of the present application, these and other problems in the prior art went either unnoticed or unsolved by those skilled in the art. The present inventive system provides a miniature building block system which includes components in numerous dimensions and shapes to perform multiple functions without sacrificing design, style or affordability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein an improved structure building system which avoids the disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structural and operating advantages.

Generally speaking, the disclosed building system comprises a miniature building brick having a height, length and width and comprised of a top wall, four identical sidewalls, and at least one cylindrical stud positioned on the top wall. Each of the top wall and sidewalls comprise a wall thickness, and a wall-thickness to height to width ratio of 1.0:2.09:10.35.

The disclosed building system is comprised of a plurality of first molded miniature brick structures having a height and width defined by a top wall and four sidewalls, and at least one cylindrical stud positioned on the top wall, each of the top wall and sidewalls having a wall thickness, wherein each of the plurality of bricks comprises a wall-thickness to height to width ratio of 1.0:6.3:10.35, and a plurality of second molded miniature brick structures having a height and width defined by a top wall and four sidewalls, and at least one cylindrical stud positioned on the top wall, each of the top wall and sidewalls having a wall thickness, wherein each of the plurality of bricks comprises a wall-thickness to height to width ratio of 1.0:2.09:10.35. Each of the at least one cylindrical studs for the plurality of first molded miniature brick structures and the plurality of second molded miniature brick structures has a height to diameter ratio of 2:1.

In all specific embodiments, the plurality of first and second molded miniature brick structures are interlocking. Further, the plurality of first molded miniature brick structures and the plurality of second molded miniature brick structures comprise an open bottom defined by the four sidewalls and the at least one cylindrical stud friction fits within the open bottom.

In all specific embodiments, each of the plurality of first and second molded miniature brick structures comprises a length which varies between brick structures.

A preferred embodiment of the system comes with a plurality of these uniquely sized bricks, panels and other components, which are miniature compared to current brick systems.

These and other aspects of the invention may be understood more readily from the following description and the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of a standard 2×4 brick illustrating relevant measurement for a comparison of size ratios between current building bricks and the miniature building bricks of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an end view of a standard brick, illustrating relevant measurements for a comparison of size ratios between current building brick cylindrical studs and the miniature building bricks cylindrical studs of the present application;

FIGS. 3A-C are a collection of views of a standard 2×4 brick of an existing brick system showing relevant measurements;

FIGS. 4A-D are a collection of views of a standard 1×2 brick and a standard single stud brick from an existing brick system showing measurements using a normalized unit of 1.6 mm;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of a standard single stud brick from an existing brick system, including measurements;

FIGS. 6A-D are a collection of views of a 2×2 miniature brick of the present brick system, including relevant measurements;

FIGS. 7A-D are a collection of views of a specialized 1×2 miniature brick panel of the present brick system, including relevant measurements;

FIGS. 8A-D are a collection of views of a single stud miniature brick panel of the present brick system, including relevant measurements; and

FIGS. 9A-D are a collection of views of a standard 2×4 miniature brick of the present brick system, including relevant measurements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail at least one preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to any of the specific embodiments illustrated.

The invention of the present application is directed to a miniaturized building brick system. By the terms “miniaturized” and “miniature” it is meant to refer to building bricks in the system having a small size more extreme than similar building bricks currently on the market (e.g., LEGO®). The miniature bricks of the present system allow more detailed construction by requiring more bricks to be used for a similar-sized structure made with other brick systems. The disclosed system is analogous to a high-resolution image, which uses smaller pixels (and, therefore, more pixels) than a normal-definition image, to create a sharper, more detailed picture.

As shown in FIG. 1, a standard brick 10 of the present system is comprised of a substantially hollow, molded, plastic body 12 having four sidewalls 20 and a top wall 22, leaving a bottom side 24 open. A plurality of identical cylindrical studs 16 are positioned uniformly on the top wall 22. A friction fit for the cylindrical studs 16 is created within the body 12 by cylindrical supports 30, such that the studs 16 can be inserted within spaces 32 created between the supports 30 and sidewalls 20.

The disclosed bricks 10 include a regular brick 10R (FIG. 9) and a short brick 10S (FIG. 8), which are distinguished by two different heights for the four sidewalls 20. However, both brick versions include a variety of lengths, including but not limited to the most popular sizes, 1×1 (single stud), 2×1 (two studs), 2×2 (four studs), 2×3 (six studs), and 2×4 (eight studs). All of the bricks from these two versions can be interlocked with one another, as is known in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, measurement of wall thickness (A), height (H), width (W) and length (L) of a brick are illustrated. The wall thickness (A) is the measured thickness of each of the four sidewalls 20 used to form the body 12 of the brick 10. The top wall 22 is not included as a measure of the wall thickness. The width, height and length measurements of the brick are straightforward, as shown.

FIGS. 3-5 are directed to an existing brick system for comparison purposes. With reference to FIGS. 3A-F, the dimensions of a standard 2×4 brick are illustrated. FIGS. 4A-D illustrate a 1×2 prior art brick with measurements using a normalized unit of 1.6 mm. FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section of a single stud and body portion from a standard brick, including relevant measurements.

With respect to existing bricks (OLD), the standard dimensions for a standard 2×4 brick are about 1.6 mm (wall thickness-A), 9.6 mm (height-H), 15.8 mm (width-W), and 31.2 mm (length-L). The standard 2×4 brick of the present disclosed brick system has measurements of 1.15 mm (A), 7.2 mm (H), 11.9 mm (W) and 23.9 mm (L), which can also be variable.

However, the present brick system is not about just reducing the brick dimensions but altering the various dimensions relative to one another—i.e., the ratio—to provide a more useful and realistic building brick for hobbyist. The prior art bricks have a ratio (A:H:W) of about 1:6.0:9.87, while the same ratio for the present bricks is 1:6.3:10.3, as set forth in TABLE 1 below. The lower sidewall thickness allows a significant material savings without deviating from the accepted visual dimensions of a building brick, as shown by the H:W:L ratios also provided in TABLE I below.

As important a measurement as those shown above, the cylindrical stud dimensions for the new brick system provide a more secure connection between bricks due to the greater height of the stud 16. For example, the ratio of the stud diameter (D) to height (H_s) for the OLD system is 3:1, while the same ratio for the present bricks is 2:1. That is, the stud height of the present system is 12.5% greater, but the stud diameter is 25% shorter. Further, the stud height (H_s) to brick height (H) ratio for the old system is 1:6, but only 1:4 for the current system, as shown in TABLE II below.

Clearly, the stud dimensions differ between the two brick systems (Old vs. New), as do the various ratios of the brick and the cylindrical stud used in both systems. These differences are carried over to other brick sizes (e.g., 2×1, 2×2, 2×3, etc.) as well. Of course, special bricks, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8—where the body portion 12 has a height of only 2.4 mm and/or only a single stud—can be made using the cylindrical stud dimensions only. This assures compatibility with the standard bricks 10.

As previously noted, FIGS. 3-5 illustrate embodiments of a toy building block of the prior art. The particular blocks are comprised of a rectangular base having an open side and a substantially hollow interior, and at least one cylindrical-shaped stud on at least one exterior surface. The blocks are configured such that the cylindrical-shaped stud tightly fits within the hollow interior through the open side. The result is a stacking of the blocks. Creative use of different size and color blocks allows a user to construct unique structure.

FIGS. 6-9 illustrate a few embodiments of miniature bricks, including 2×2 bricks, 1×2 panels, single stud panels, and 2×4 bricks. The dimensions of each brick embodiment are shown as well. Of course, these bricks and panels can come is most any size, so long as the disclosed ratio is maintained. For example, bricks may be 2×6, 2×8, 2×10, etc. Miniature building panels are half the height of bricks, meaning that stacking two panels will result in a brick-sized structure.

Finally, the miniature bricks are uniquely made to maintain their detail. The bricks are meticulously crafted using injection molding techniques.

The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants' contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.