Panel and girder system for construction toy
First Claim
1. A construction toy system comprising a plurality of girders and connectors, characterized by(a) at least certain of said girders being of molded plastic construction and comprising an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis and an interlocking element on at least one end of said body portion,(b) said body portion being of generally polygonal configuration,(c) said interlocking element extending axially of said body portion and comprising a rod-like extension projecting from an end of said body portion, a neck groove at an outer end of said rod-like extension, and a flange adjacent an outer edge of said neck groove,(d) said rod-like extension having a generally circular cross sectional configuration and at least one of said neck groove and flange having a non-circular cross sectional configuration for effecting rotational orientation of an assembly of a girder and a connector,(e) said flange, in at least one transverse dimension thereof, being of substantially the same dimension as the diameter of said rod-like extension,(f) said connectors being of molded plastic construction and being formed with at least one socket having an open side and an open end, for the lateral snap-in reception of an interlocking element of a girder,(g) said connector socket having an axis and having opposed sidewalls defining axially adjacent regions for the reception of the rod-like extension, neck groove and flange respectively of an interlocking element of a girder,(h) a first of said axially adjacent sidewall regions having an axial dimension generally corresponding to an axial length of a rod-like extension, and an opposed pair of said first sidewall regions being spaced apart such as to snugly grip a rod-like extension between them,(i) said first side wall regions having axially extending grooves therein for snap-in reception of said rod-like extension and thereby resisting lateral separation of said rod-like extension from said connector socket, and(j) at least one of said side walls having in a second region thereof a transversely disposed locking rib projecting into the space between said opposed side walls and positioned to be received within the neck groove of a girder interlocking element inserted laterally into said connector socket, to resist axial separation of said interlocking element from said socket,(k) said socket having a portion spaced from said locking rib and defining a third region of said sidewalls, for the reception of the flange of a girder interlocking element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A construction toy system comprised of a plurality of molded plastic girders and connectors. The girder elements of generally square cross section, with interlocking elements extending axially from each end. The interlocking elements each comprise a flange of square configuration, a groove structure of squared configuration adjacent the flange, and a generally cylindrical rod-like extension projecting between the end of the girder body and the groove structure. Connector elements are formed with one or more sockets for receiving interlocking elements of the girders. The sockets have one open side into which the interlocking elements can be inserted with a lateral snap-in action. The flange portions are freely received in a slot formed in the socket, and the groove structure engages and cooperates with opposed locking ribs formed on the sidewalls of the connector socket. Opposed axial grooves in the socket sidewalls engage opposite side portions of the rod-like extension with a snap-in locking action. At least certain of the girder elements include positioning and retaining elements for mounting of wall panels as part of an overall structure formed with girders and connectors. The above described elements are compatible with existing K'"'"'NEX construction toy sets utilizing rods instead of girders, enabling hybrid structures to be formed with combinations of girders and rods, for example.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A construction toy system comprising a plurality of girders and connectors, characterized by
(a) at least certain of said girders being of molded plastic construction and comprising an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis and an interlocking element on at least one end of said body portion, (b) said body portion being of generally polygonal configuration, (c) said interlocking element extending axially of said body portion and comprising a rod-like extension projecting from an end of said body portion, a neck groove at an outer end of said rod-like extension, and a flange adjacent an outer edge of said neck groove, (d) said rod-like extension having a generally circular cross sectional configuration and at least one of said neck groove and flange having a non-circular cross sectional configuration for effecting rotational orientation of an assembly of a girder and a connector, (e) said flange, in at least one transverse dimension thereof, being of substantially the same dimension as the diameter of said rod-like extension, (f) said connectors being of molded plastic construction and being formed with at least one socket having an open side and an open end, for the lateral snap-in reception of an interlocking element of a girder, (g) said connector socket having an axis and having opposed sidewalls defining axially adjacent regions for the reception of the rod-like extension, neck groove and flange respectively of an interlocking element of a girder, (h) a first of said axially adjacent sidewall regions having an axial dimension generally corresponding to an axial length of a rod-like extension, and an opposed pair of said first sidewall regions being spaced apart such as to snugly grip a rod-like extension between them, (i) said first side wall regions having axially extending grooves therein for snap-in reception of said rod-like extension and thereby resisting lateral separation of said rod-like extension from said connector socket, and (j) at least one of said side walls having in a second region thereof a transversely disposed locking rib projecting into the space between said opposed side walls and positioned to be received within the neck groove of a girder interlocking element inserted laterally into said connector socket, to resist axial separation of said interlocking element from said socket, (k) said socket having a portion spaced from said locking rib and defining a third region of said sidewalls, for the reception of the flange of a girder interlocking element.
Specification