Surfacescape for Multi-Dimensional Play and Display

• US 20150367247A1
• Filed: 06/18/2014
• Published: 12/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jennifer Lynn Kosmo
• Original Assignee: Jennifer Lynn Kosmo
• Inventors: Kosmo, Jennifer Lynn
• Granted Patent: US 9,364,769 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 18/00 Highways or trackways for toys railway permanent way A63H19/30; for special railways A63H21/00; Propulsion by special interaction between vehicle and track
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 18/02 Construction or arrangement of the trackway
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 19/30 Permanent way; Rails; Rail-joint connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 21/00 Other toy railways
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/082 with dovetails
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/086 with primary projections fitting by friction in complementary spaces between secondary projections, e.g. sidewalls
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/088 with holes A63H33/062, A63H33/065 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/42 Toy models or toy scenery not otherwise covered models or scenery for general purposes G09B
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49828 Progressively advancing of work assembly station or assembled portion of work

Abstract

A multi-purpose surface covering for interactive play and display is disclosed. The play or display environment, or surfacescape, is created by the user by combining the various components of the invention. The components interact so that they may be scaled to various sizes for use on floors, walls, table or counter tops, or other surfaces, and can be assembled outward as well as upward for play or display in multi-dimensional settings. As a play environment, it provides a set of easily interchangeable components that allow an unlimited number of colors, textures, shapes, and articles to be incorporated into the system. When displayed horizontally or vertically, this invention provides the capacity for interchangeable display of inserts, which may include but is not limited to artwork, advertising indicia, educational material (numbers, letters, etc.), instructional information, notices, or an infinite number of other materials which can be readily and changeably viewed.

Claims

1. A multi-functional, multi-directional, and multi-dimensional surface covering for play and display comprising:

I. A set of cooperating, interchangeable, tessellating tiles further comprising a plurality of opposing sides of equal length, ornamented surfaces, said surfaces including removably blocked punch-outs;

II. A set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing tiles, including multi-dimensional insert tiles and sloping tiles, capable of interacting with proximate tiles ornamentally and structurally to form structures or subsequent levels;

III. A set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing forms, including pillars and support forms, capable of interacting with proximate tiles to form structures or subsequent levels;

IV. Articles for a surfacescape comprising shapes of common cityscapes including landscape and travelway (roadway, railway, runway, waterway, and pathway) elements capable of being independently ornamented, laminated, textured, surfaced, conditioned or printed with indicia on one or more said sides or said surfaces, formed in a variety of shapes, dimensions, and depths, including but not limited to telephone poles, street signs, stop lights, street lights, fire hydrants, trees, shrubs, fences, billboards, bridges, ramps, columns or supports for bridges and upper roadways, gas pumps, flags, flag poles, people, animals, or other similar objects or figures, said forms further capable of insertion into or accepting said tiles, said punch-outs or said pillars; and

V. A set of cooperating, interchangeable and flexible tile mats with a raised panel or raised frame configuration;

wherein said cooperating, interchangeable tessellating tiles, dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms, articles, and mats further comprise physical dimensions that are the same as, or multiples of or proportional to, and capable of cooperating with the surfaces, sides, and ornamentation of proximate tiles to render them vertically and horizontally continuous.

2. The cooperating, interchangeable, tessellating tiles of claim 1 further comprising:

opposing surfaces that are independently ornamented, laminated, textured, coated, or treated to provide adhesive or decorative properties of various colors, travelways, continuous or non-continuous lines, margins, scenery, shapes, alphabetic or numeric characters, or indicia;

said opposing surfaces including at least a first surface and a second surface wherein one or more of said surfaces are continuous, routed, framed, paneled, or combinations thereof;

said combinations including;

a continuous first surface and a continuous second surface;

a continuous first surface and a framed second surface;

a continuous first surface and a paneled second surface;

a continuous first surface and a routed second surface;

a framed first surface and a framed second surface;

a framed first surface and a paneled second surface;

a framed first surface and a routed second surface;

a paneled first surface and a paneled second surface;

a paneled first surface and a routed second surface;

a routed first surface and a routed second surface;

said tiles further including ornamentation which can be aligned between adjacent tiles to render them vertically and horizontally continuous;

removably blocked punch-outs capable of continuing from said first surface to or through said second surface for inserting or attaching said tiles, said dimensionalizing tiles, said dimensionalizing forms, or said articles that allow perpendicular attachment, assembly and interconnection of multi-dimensional elements, other tiles and creation of multiple levels of play and display, or for mounting and for disassembly.

3. The cooperating, interchangeable and dimensionalizing tiles of claim 1 further comprising multi-dimensional insert tiles wherein said first surface extends outward from the plane of proximate tiles in various multi-dimensional shapes, such as mountains, ramps, steps, ladders, rooftops, or other objects.

4. The cooperating, interchangeable and dimensionalizing tiles of claim 1 including sloping tiles comprising a plurality of opposing sides and a plurality of opposing surfaces including a first surface and a second surface wherein at least one said side or said surface is sloping;

said sloping side or said surface can be in a variety of shapes, dimensions, and depths extending from one said surface to or through an opposite said surface which imparts continuous surface areas and open surface areas and renders ramps, slides, ladders, steps, and other sloping surfaces capable of joining and supporting multiple levels of tiles.

5. The cooperating and interchangeable dimensionalizing forms of claim 1 wherein said pillars additionally comprise at least one jut or at least one jut port on one or more said sides, said surfaces or both, capable of accepting said juts and said punch-outs from proximate tiles, forms, articles, pillars, or complimentary elements, thereby connecting multiple levels of play or display, or for attachment and interconnection.

6. The cooperating and interchangeable dimensionalizing forms of claim 5 wherein said pillars further comprise a plurality of sides and opposing surfaces wherein one or more of said sides or said surfaces are routed vertically, horizontally or both, forming recessed grooves capable of accepting tiles, forms, articles, or complementary elements.

7. The cooperating and interchangeable dimensionalizing forms of claim 6 wherein one or more of said sides, said surfaces, or both are angled.

8. The cooperating and interchangeable dimensionalizing forms of claim 1 wherein said support forms further comprise a first surface, a second surface, vertical sides, and horizontal sides;

said vertical sides including mitered edges extending beyond said horizontal sides thereby forming insertable tabs that fit within said punch-outs in tiles, allowing contact of said sides or said surfaces of tiles to form a top or roof surface of one level, or a bottom or floor surface of a subsequent level, when said insertable tabs are placed within cooperating said punch-outs or said jut ports.

9. The cooperating and interchangeable dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms and articles of claim 1 wherein said dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms and said articles are made, sold and stored flat, and are folded into multi-dimensionalized elements along “

V”

-cuts or relief cuts.

10. The tiles of claim 2 wherein said surfaces that are ornamented comprise ornamentation including travelways that are marked with one or more continuous or non-continuous lines, shapes or routed channels along one or more surfaces or one or more sides so that said travelways are extended by joining, combining or proximately placing a series of similarly ornamented or routed said tiles together that connect or align at the same relative positions along one or more said surfaces to enable self-aligning, expandable play pathways capable of tessellating or changing by individual tile rotation for variations in directionality.

11. The tiles of claim 2 wherein one or more sides or surfaces contain one or more extensions and one or more recessions, said recessions capable of receiving said extensions from proximately positioned tiles in order to releasably position and hold multiple, independently interchangeable tiles together thereby forming a multi-directional interlocking surface covering.

12. The tiles of claim 11 wherein said extensions and said recessions are configured to include a long first straight side, a second side forming a ninety (90) degree angle with said first straight side, and a third angled side returning back toward said first straight side to provide enhanced interlocking capacity between proximate said tiles, and wherein when coupled, said tiles are continuous across the surface and form right angles at corners.

13. The tiles of claim 2 wherein at least one side or surface is contiguous and does not include punch-outs.

20. The tiles of claim 2 additionally comprising indented areas or grooves in one or more said surfaces for mounting or interconnection of said tiles.

21. The tiles of claim 2 further comprising juts conforming to punch-outs to attach and maintain proximate tiles or other multi-dimensional elements.

22. The tiles of claim 2 further comprising corner panels defined by raised areas and recessed channels in the periphery of one or more of the tile surfaces, capable of conformingly pairing with or attaching to one or more proximately positioned tiles with said corner panels wherein the pairing or attachment means is a frame connector placed over and pressed down into the recessed channels around said corner panels of tiles to be connected, wherein said frame connector is occupied by said corner panels and thereby retains them.

23. The cooperating, interchangeable and flexible tile mat with raised panel configuration of claim 1 further comprising multiple raised panels and multiple recessed frames, or channels, that are capable of accepting and stabilizing tiles of the set with frames or complementing raised or routed areas, thereby creating a continuous surface;

said raised panel mat further comprises non-slip or adhesive backing, and is capable of folding or rolling for storage and portability.

24. The cooperating, interchangeable and flexible tile mat with raised frame configuration of claim 1 further comprising multiple raised frames and multiple recessed panels that are capable of accepting and stabilizing tiles of the set with panels or complimenting raised or routed areas, thereby creating a continuous surface;

said raised frame mat further comprises non-slip or adhesive backing, and is capable of folding or rolling for storage and portability.

14. Continuous tiles comprising a plurality of surfaces including a first surface and a second surface;

a plurality of opposing sides of equal lengths with one or more extensions and one or more recessions in each of said sides, said recessions capable of receiving said extensions from proximately positioned tiles in order to releasably position and hold multiple, independently interchangeable tiles together thereby forming a multi-directional surface covering;

removably blocked punch-outs capable of continuing from said first surface to or through said second surface for inserting or attaching upright elements that allow vertical attachment, assembly and interconnection of multi-dimensional elements, other tiles and creation of multiple levels of play and display or for mounting or removeablility; and

ornamentation with various colors, travelways, scenery, alphabetical or numeric characters, textures, or indicia;

wherein said continuous tile surface depths and side lengths are the same as or multiples of, proportional to and capable of connecting with the sides, surfaces, and ornamentation of proximate tiles to render them vertically and horizontally continuous.

15. Routed tiles comprising the continuous tiles of claim 14 wherein at least one surface is routed from one or more surfaces or one or more sides inward to form at least one routed channel extending partially across said surface area or fully across said surface area toward or to one or more adjacent or opposite said sides in a variety of shapes, dimensions, and depths which imparts partial frame orientations to said routed tiles;

said routed channel capable of insertion into, accepting, or stabilizing complementary insert tiles, toy vehicles, objects, elements, tracks, travelways, or combinations thereof when placed or drawn within said routed channel.

16. Frame tiles comprising the routed tiles of claim 15 wherein one or more surfaces is routed to form one or more frames;

said frame or frames can be in a variety of shapes, dimensions and depths extending from said first surface to or through said second surface to impart closed or open frame orientations to said frame tiles, and which can accept and stabilize other set tiles including insert tiles and complimentary panel tiles when placed within said frame rendering it capable of insertion into, accepting, or stabilizing complementary panel or insert tiles, or interacting with tile mats with raised panels.

18. Panel tiles comprising the frame tiles of claim 16, wherein said routed surface is routed along the surface sides inward to form at least one raised interior panel and at least one recessed frame or channel extending along surfaces and sides in a variety of shapes, dimensions, and depths, said panel capable of insertion into, accepting, or stabilizing complementary frame tiles and insert tiles, or interacting with tile mats with raised frames.

17. Insert tiles comprising a first surface, a second surface, and one or more sides, wherein said first surface and said second surface are independently ornamented, laminated, textured, coated or treated to provide adhesive or decorative properties, said tiles capable of being inserted into said routed tile, said routed channel or said frame tile and maintained therein by said first surface, said second surface, said routed tile, said routed channel, said frame, or a combination thereof, and further capable of facing either side outwardly to increase the variety of visual or functional surface capacity.

19. A set of cooperating and interchangeable tiles from the group consisting essentially of:

continuous tiles, routed tiles, frame tiles, insert tiles, and panel tiles.

25. A method of creating a multi-functional, multi-directional, and multi-dimensional play system comprising:

a.) providing a set of cooperating, interchangeable tessellating tiles, a set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing tiles, a set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing forms, articles for a tile surfacescape, and a set of cooperating, interchangeable and flexible tile mats; and

b.) laying or hanging a mat or tile along a vertical or horizontal surface and aligning proximate sides, surfaces, or ornamentation of additional tiles or mats such that they cooperate, interact, connect, and stabilize each other to form a first level surface arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

c.) aligning proximate sides, surfaces, or ornamentation of dimensionalizing tiles upon a first level of mats or tiles to form structures and interconnect said first level to a subsequent level of play arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

d.) inserting juts or tabs of dimensionalizing forms into the punch-out areas of mats, tiles, or dimensionalizing tiles to form structures, or to support and interconnect said first level to a subsequent level of play arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

e.) adding articles for a tile surfacescape into the punch-out areas of mats, tiles, or dimensionalizing tiles or into the juts, jut ports or grooves on dimensionalizing forms to create a surfacescape arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

f.) continuing the steps to join, support, and create multiple levels and directions of play;

g.) connecting, rotating, removing, and reconstructing mats, tiles, dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms, and articles for a tile surfacescape to form an endless variety of playscapes, travelways, and scenes capable of continuing infinitely in all directions and dimensions;

h.) adding vehicles and other elements to place and play with along tiles;

i.) removing the vehicles, elements, and disassembling the tiles, mats, articles, and other set components into the set.

26. A method of creating a multi-functional, multi-directional, and multi-dimensional display system comprising:

a) providing a set of cooperating, interchangeable tessellating tiles, a set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing tiles, a set of cooperating, interchangeable dimensionalizing forms, a set of cooperating articles for a display, and a set of cooperating, interchangeable and flexible tile mats;

b) laying or hanging a mat or tile along a vertical or horizontal surface and aligning proximate sides, surfaces, or ornamentation of additional tiles or mats such that they cooperate, interact, connect, and stabilize each other to form a first level surface arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

c) placing and attaching tiles ornamented with messages, information or indicia by inserting them into frames or inserting juts or tabs into punch-outs on proximately positioned tiles to form a multi-dimensional display;

d) aligning proximate sides, surfaces, or ornamentation of dimensionalizing tiles upon the first level of mats or tiles to form structures and interconnect said first level to a subsequent level of display arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

e) inserting juts or tabs of dimensionalizing forms into the punch-out areas of mats, tiles, or other dimensionalizing forms to create structures, provide support, and interconnect said first level to a subsequent level of display arranged according to the user'"'"'s preference;

f) adding insert tiles or articles into the punch-out areas or frames of mats, tiles, or into the juts, jut ports, or grooves on dimensionalizing forms of subsequent levels to create a multi-dimensional display according to the user'"'"'s preference;

g) continuing the steps to join, support, and create multiple levels and directions of display;

h) connecting, rotating, removing, and reconstructing mats, tiles, dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms, and articles for a tile surfacescape to form an endless variety of display areas capable of continuing infinitely in all directions and dimensions;

i) removing and disassembling the tiles, mats, forms, and articles into the set.

27. A method of making and using dimensionalizing tiles, dimensionalizing forms, or articles including:

a) starting with a flat sheet of a durable, flexible material rigid enough to support the weight of upper levels, such as foam, rubber, paper, wood, cardboard or foam board;

b) forming said material into articles or forms of the set;

c) making a series of relief cuts or “

V”

-cuts that allow said dimensionalizing tiles, said dimensionalizing forms, and articles to be folded;

d) folding pre-cut said dimensionalizing tiles, said dimensionalizing forms, said articles, or said forms into shapes that connect within or upon tiles of one level with a second or subsequent level;

e) unfolding pre-cut said articles or said forms to the original flat posture for storage or portability.