MODULAR BUILDING BLOCKS WITH INTERFITTING GROOVED SURFACES

• US 3,660,928 A
• Filed: 08/28/1970
• Issued: 05/09/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Jorge Picazo Michel
• Original Assignee: Jorge Picazo Michel
• Inventors: Michel, Jorge Picazo
• Primary Examiner(s): Shay, F. Barry
• Application Number:
  US05/067,761
• Time in Patent Office: 620 Days
• Field of Search: 46/25,26,28,16,17,23,30,31 35/72
• US Class Current: 446/124
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/084 with grooves dovetails A63H33/082

Abstract

A set of building blocks including five basic inter-related elements including two cubical elements having longitudinal grooves along opposite sides of the cube, two semicubical elements one having a longitudinal groove along one side thereof and the other having two longitudinal grooves along one side thereof, and a fifth member comprising an equilateral prism having a base of the same size as one side of a cubical member.

Claims

1. A construction set comprising a plurality of interrelatable component parts adapted to be used together to form a variety of patterns whereby to provide a variety of toy structures, said set including a plurality of components based upon a cube of unit size, said interrElatable elements comprising a first cubical element having a pre-determined unit size, a central straight groove of substantially uniform, rectangular, cross-section extending from one surface of said cube to its opposite surface along one of the connecting surfaces therebetween, and a second similar groove extending along the opposite surface parallel to the first said groove;

a second element comprising a semicubical member having a size equal to half said unit size, said semicubical member thereby initially having two large surfaces and four small side surfaces each small surface being one-half the size of a large surface, and a groove of substantially uniform, rectangular cross-section extending across one of said two larger surfaces from one side surface to the opposite side surface thereby to form a C-shaped element;

a third element having an E-shaped configuration and formed from a semicubical block of half unit size and having two parallel grooves of substantially uniform, rectangular cross-section cut in a larger surface of said semicubical block thereby to form said E-shaped configuration;

a fourth cubical element of unit size having two grooves of substantially uniform, rectangular, cross-section extending across one surface thereof and two similar grooves extending parallel to the first two grooves across the surface of said cubical member which is opposite to said first surface; and

a fifth element of prismatic shape the base of said element having a size equal to one surface of a unit size cube whereby a plurality of said elements can be placed in interrelation with each other in order to form a variety of constructions, said grooved surfaces including arms defining said grooves, said grooves and arms being dimensioned to interfit.

2. The construction set of claim 1 wherein each of the grooves formed in all of the components thereof have a uniform depth equal to one-third of the distance from one side to an opposite side across the surface of a cubical element having a pre-determined unit size, and wherein the width of each said groove is one-fifth said distance or a multiple of one-fifth thereof.

3. The construction set of claim 2 and further including additional components based upon said pre-determined unit size and having grooves of said depth and width, said grooves in said additional components being arranged to form blocks of other shapes.

4. A set of building blocks including a plurality of interrelated elements based upon a cube of unit size, structural elements of said unit size, of one-half said unit size, and multiples of said unit size, each of said elements having at least one groove of substantially uniform, rectangular cross-section therein said grooves being of uniform depth said depth being equal to one-third the shortest distance across one surface of a cube of unit size from one side to an opposite side and each of said grooves having a width equal to one-fifth of said distance or multiples thereof, said grooved surfaces including arms defining said grooves, said grooves and arms being dimensioned to interfit.

5. The construction set of claim 4 wherein each of the cubical elements of said set are provided with parallel grooves along two opposed surfaces thereof.