Powered modular building block toy
First Claim
1. A building block of a powered building block toy system comprising:
- a housing having a first mechanical male connector extending therefrom and a first female mechanical connector provided thereon; and
a first circuit board, including a first functional circuit provided thereron, housed within the housing;
the first circuit board including a male card edge connector extending into one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector;
the first circuit board including a female card edge receptacle coupled thereto, which extends into the other one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector; and
the first functional circuit being adapted to be activated when either one of the male card edge connector and female card edge receptacle of the first circuit board is coupled to a powered corresponding female card edge receptacle or male card edge connector.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide building blocks with internal electrical circuits (such as LED circuits) that can be mechanically and electrically connected to other blocks with integrated mechanical and electrical connectors. Each block in the present invention may include a plurality of mechanical and electrical connectors that can be joined with the connectors on other blocks. It is desired in these embodiments that the electrical connectors are designed such that they cannot be connected in a manner that results in a short circuit, either due to improper connection of the blocks or due to contact with an external conductor. This is achieved by using card edge type electrical connectors with complementary receptacles. Additionally, the electrical connectors have their contacts arranged such that the proper polarities are maintained regardless of the orientation of the blocks. Certain embodiments of the present invention also provide blocks that can be connected in three dimensions. To achieve this, each block has connectors on a plurality of faces and nearly any block can be coupled with any other block.
97 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A building block of a powered building block toy system comprising:
-
a housing having a first mechanical male connector extending therefrom and a first female mechanical connector provided thereon; and
a first circuit board, including a first functional circuit provided thereron, housed within the housing;
the first circuit board including a male card edge connector extending into one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector;
the first circuit board including a female card edge receptacle coupled thereto, which extends into the other one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector; and
the first functional circuit being adapted to be activated when either one of the male card edge connector and female card edge receptacle of the first circuit board is coupled to a powered corresponding female card edge receptacle or male card edge connector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A powered building block toy kit comprising:
-
a power source block having a power supply circuit, at least one mechanical connector taken from a group consisting of a male mechanical connector and a female mechanical connector, and including at least one of a male card edge connector and a female card edge receptacle positioned within the mechanical connector and electrically coupled to the power supply circuit; and
a plurality of building blocks, each building block including, a housing having a first mechanical male connector extending therefrom and a first female mechanical connector provided thereon; and
a first circuit board including a first functional circuit provided thereron, housed within the housing;
the first circuit board including a male card edge connector extending into one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector;
the first circuit board including a female card edge receptacle coupled thereto, which extends into the other one of the first mechanical male connector and the first mechanical female connector; and
the first functional circuit being adapted to be activated when either one of the male card edge connector and female card edge receptacle of the first circuit board is coupled to a powered corresponding female card edge receptacle or male card edge connector. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
-
13. A building block of a powered building block toy system comprising:
-
a housing having a first mechanical male connector extending therefrom, a first female mechanical connector provided thereon, a second male connector extending therefrom on plane substantially perpendicular to the first male mechanical connector, and a second female mechanical connector provided thereon on a plane substantially perpendicular to the first female mechanical connector; and
one or more functional circuits provided within the housing, the one or more functional circuits collectively including electrical contacts extending into the first and second mechanical male connectors and the first and second mechanical female connectors. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification