Background of the Invention Technical Field

The present invention relates to a block toy in which various shaped structures can be built by the use of blocks which are different in number of projections provided thereon at predetermined intervals.

Background Art

In recent years, block toys have been provided in which a large number of differently shaped blocks having projecting portions and receiving apertures are used to play with by inserting and fitting the projecting portions on some blocks into the receiving apertures of other blocks so as to interconnect the blocks into various shapes so that the blocks so interconnected assume an external appearance of a specific shaped structure. In block toys like this, there is a toy block as is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-82647 in which blocks having a plurality of shapes such as cubic blocks having different thickness and blocks having different shapes such as cylindrical shape, semi-cylindrical shape and the like are combined, and there is a block toy as is described in, for example, Japanese unexamined Patent Application No. 2005-58437 in which a plurality of apertures and rod-shaped elements which can be fitted in the apertures in such a manner as to pass therethrough are combined. In "addition, in these conventional block toys, when looking at sizes of the blocks, the length of a shortest side or diameter is in the range of 1 cm to several centimeters and is hence large. When a large number of such blocks are combined to assume shapes of various shaped structures, it becomes difficult to assume irregularities and bending of a shaped structure only with blocks of the same shape, and therefore, there have been provided block toys in which various types of blocks having different shapes such as blocks which have the same shape and different sizes and blocks having totally different shapes are combined so that the blocks can be built into shapes of various shaped structures.

Disclosure of the Invention

When the block toy is made up of the combination of various types of blocks which are different in shape and size as has been described above, manhours are required in molding and manufacturing blocks which are different in shape and the like.

In addition, how to combine blocks as a commercial product becomes difficult as in the case where which shapes of blocks are combined to form a block toy set, and a reduction in the number of shapes of blocks has resulted in a drawback that the change in shape of a shaped structure that configures an object to be formed by the combination of blocks becomes less conspicuous . With a view to solving a problem like this, the invention provides a block toy in which a combination of a plurality of types of blocks which are different in shape is made up of small blocks whose unit length is several millimeters so that the blocks can be built into accurate shapes of various shaped structures.

A block toy according to the invention is a combination of a plurality of blocks in which a plurality of projecting portions which are formed into the same cylindrical shape are provided on an upper surface of a rectangular parallelepiped base portion at intervals of several millimeters, the base portion has a rectangular parallelepiped interior space which is made to open downwards so as to enable the accommodation of projecting portions of other blocks, and the cylindrical projecting portions of the other blocks are made to be held by side wall panels of the base portion.

In addition, values of height and diameter of each projecting portion on the blocks of the block toy are made to be values which are smaller than a value of an interspace between centers of adjacent projecting portions. Additionally, the base portion of the blocks of the block toy is made into a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which its height is several millimeters which is equal to or slightly smaller than several millimeters which is referred to as the interspace between the centers of the cylindrical projecting portions and length and width are substantially equal to the multiplication of several millimeters which is referred to as the interspace between the cylindrical projecting portions by an integer including one.

In addition, the block toy is a combination of blocks which are different in number of projecting portions which are provided on the upper surface of the base portion.

Further, the blocks of the toy block includes blocks which have two auxiliary walls which are formed into a thin plate-like shape and are provided in parallel in the interior space of the base portion, so that cylindrical projecting portions of other blocks are held by the side wall panels of the base portion and the auxiliary walls.

In addition, the block toy may be a combination of auxiliary blocks in which a single cylindrical projection is provided on a base portion which is slightly larger than the cylindrical projection and which has an interior space which is made to open downwards so as to enable the accommodation of one of cylindrical projections of other blocks therein and the blocks which have the plurality of cylindrical projections. Since the invention is made into the block toy in which the blocks having the plurality of cylindrical projecting portions on the upper surface of the rectangular parallelepiped base portion are made to be combined together, the block toy can be the combination of blocks having the simple shapes. In addition, since the blocks are made into the small blocks in which the interspace between the cylindrical projecting portions is made to be several millimeters, a larger number of such blocks can be connected together so as to be built into an accurate shape of a shaped structure. In addition, since the interior space of the base portion is formed into the rectangular parallelepiped shape, the molding and manufacture of the small blocks can be facilitated.

In addition, since the cylindrical projecting portions have the same shape in which the height and diameter thereof are smaller than the distance between the centers of the projecting portions, the block toy can be the combination of small blocks which are different only in the shape of the base portion.

Additionally, since the base portion of each block is made in such a manner that the height is equal to or slightly lower than the interspace between the cylindrical projecting portions and the length and width are the multiplication of the interspace between the cylindrical projecting portions by an integer, the blocks can easily be combined together as the combination of the plurality of types of small blocks based on the rectangular parallelepiped.

In addition, by combining together the blocks which are different in the number of cylindrical projecting portions, building the blocks into various shapes can be facilitated. Further, with the blocks in which the auxiliary walls which are formed into the thin plate shapes are provided in parallel in the interior space of the base portion, in holding the cylindrical projections of the other blocks between the auxiliary walls and the side wall panels of the base portion, the auxiliary walls are easily deformed in an elastic fashion so as not only to ease the insertion of the cylindrical projections of the other blocks but also to ensure the holding of the cylindrical projections.

In addition, by combining the auxiliary blocks which have the single cylindrical projecting portion, in building a shaped structure, a modification to the shape of a detailed portion can be facilitated.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 shows diagrams depicting a first block of a block toy according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows diagrams depicting a second block of the block toy according to the invention, Fig. 3 shows diagrams depicting a third block of the block toy according to the invention, Fig. 4 shows diagrams depicting a fourth block of the block toy according to the invention, and Fig. 5 shows diagrams depicting a fifth block of the block toy according to the invention. In addition, Fig. 6 shows diagrams depicting an auxiliary cylindrical block which is used in the block toy according to the invention, and Fig. 7 shows diagrams depicting an auxiliary prismatic block which is used in the block toy according to the invention. Additionally, Fig. 8 is a diagram depicting an example of a shaped structure which is built up by the use of similar blocks to the blocks of the block toy according to the invention, Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a shaped structure which is built up by the use of the blocks of the block toy according to the invention, and Fig. 10 is a diagram depicting another example of a shaped structure which is built up by the use of the blocks of the block toy according to the invention.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention A mode for carrying out a block toy according to the invention is a combination of a plurality of blocks which include a rectangular parallelepiped base portion 31 having a plurality of cylindrical projecting portions 37 disposed on an upper surface at intervals of several millimeters such as 4 mm and in which the height of the projecting portion 37 is made to be a value which is smaller than a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, in the base portion 31, its height is made to be on the order of 3 mm which is a value slightly smaller than the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37, and its length and width are made to be one time or twice, or further, quadruple or eight times the interspace between the projecting portions 37 which are the multiplication of the interspace by an integer.

In addition, blocks making up the block toy are blocks which are different in number of projecting portions 37 like two, four or eight for combination and have projecting portions 37 which are disposed into a single or two rows. The base portion 31 has a rectangular parallelepiped interior space which is made to open downwards, and projecting portions 37 of other blocks are inserted into this interior space and are able to be held by side wall panels of the base portion 31. In blocks which have projecting portions 37 which are disposed into two rows, two auxiliary walls 34 are provided in the interior space, so that projecting portions 37 of other blocks can be held by the side wall panels and the auxiliary walls 34 so provided.

Further, the blocks having the plurality of projecting portions 37 and cylindrical or prismatic auxiliary blocks which have a single projecting portion 37 and which are made slightly larger than the projecting portion 37 are made to be combined with each other.

Hereinafter, the invention will be described in detail by the use of the drawings. A block toy according to the invention is a combination of blocks of a synthetic resin which include blocks having a plurality of cylindrical projections on an upper surface of a cubical main body such as a first block 11 having two cylindrical projections as is shown in Fig. 1, a second block 12 having four cylindrical projections which are disposed longitudinally and transversely as is shown in Fig. 2, a third block 13 having four cylindrical projections which are disposed into a single row as is shown in Fig. 3, a fourth block 14 having eight cylindrical projections which are disposed into two rows as is shown in Fig. 4 and a fifth block 15 having 16 cylindrical projections which are disposed into two rows as is shown in Fig. 5, as well as an auxiliary cylindrical block 18 having a single cylindrical projection on an upper surface of a cylindrical main body as is shown in Fig. 6 and an auxiliary prismatic block 19 having a single cylindrical projection on an upper surface of a prismatic main body as is shown in Fig. 7.

Projecting portions 37, which are the cylindrical projections, all have a cylindrical shape which is about 2.5 mm in diameter and about 1.7 mm in height and are formed in such a manner as to be slightly tapered so that a distal end is made thin (a distal end outside diameter of 2.50 mm) while a proximal portion is made slightly thicker than the distal end (a proximal portion outside diameter of 2.52 mm) and to project from a base upper panel 32 which forms an upper surface of a base portion 31 which is a main body, with a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 made to be 4 mm.

In addition, the base portion 31 of the first block 11 is formed into a cubical shape having a height of 3.05 mm which is smaller than a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37, a long side whose length is 7.90 mm which is extremely slightly smaller than twice the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 and a short side whose length is 3.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, as is shown in Fig. 1 (B) , the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened.

Additionally, an interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of the base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm, a long side whose length is 6.60 mm and a short side whose length is 2.46 mm.

In addition, as is shown in Fig. 2 (A) , the second block 12 has four projecting portions 37 which are provided in such a manner as to project from a square base upper panel 32, and the projecting portions 37 have a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the projecting portions 37 of the first block 11. In addition, these four projecting portions 37 are disposed in such a manner that a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 which lie adjacent to each other both in longitudinal and transverse directions is 4.0 mm.

Additionally, a base portion 31 is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a length in both longitudinal and transverse direction of 7.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than twice a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 and a height of 3.05 mm which is smaller than the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, as is shown in Fig. 2(B), the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened.

Further, an interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base portion side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of the base upper panel 32 is 2.35 mm in height, 6.60 mm in length of one (longitudinal) side and 6.54 mm in length of the other (transverse) side, being thereby formed into a square with substantially 6.6 mm sides. In addition, two auxiliary walls 34 are provided in this interior space in such a manner as to hang downwards from a lower surface of the base upper panel 32 while extending in parallel in the longitudinal direction. The auxiliary walls 34 are positioned transversely centrally and symmetrically with respect to the transverse direction with a distance of 1.60 mm provided between confronting surfaces of the two auxiliary walls 34 and a distance of 2.47 mm provided from the auxiliary wall 34 to an inner surface of a base side wall panel 33.

In addition, as is shown in Fig. 3(A), the third block 13 has four projecting portions 37 which are disposed into a single row and are provided in such a manner as to project, and the projecting portions 37 have a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the projecting portions 37 of the first block 11. In addition, these four projecting portions 37 are disposed in such a manner that a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 which lie adjacent to each other is 4.0 mm.

In addition, a base portion 31 is formed into a cubical shape having a height of 3.05 mm, a long side whose length is 15.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than quadruple the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 and a short side whose length is 3.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than one time the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, as is shown in Fig. 3 (B) , the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened.

Further, an interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by the base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of a base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm, a long side whose length is 14.60 mm and a short side whose length is 2.46 mm.

In addition, as is shown in Fig. 4(A), the fourth block 14 has eight projecting portions 37 which are disposed into two rows (four in one row) and are provided in such a manner as to project, and the projecting portions 37 have a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the projecting portions 37 of the first block 11. In addition, these eight projecting portions 37 are disposed in such a manner that a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 lying adjacent to each other of the four projecting portions 37 which are disposed into the one row and a distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 which are disposed in the different rows are 4.0 mm. In addition, a base portion 31 is formed into a cubical shape having a height of 3.05 mm, a long side whose length is 15.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than quadruple the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 and a short side whose length is 7.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than twice the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, as is shown in Fig. 4 (B) , the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 ram, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened.

Further, an interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of a base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm, a long (longitudinal) side whose length is 14.60 mm and a short (transverse) side whose length is 6.54 mm. In addition, two auxiliary walls 34 are provided in this interior space in such a manner as to hang downwards from a lower surface of the base upper panel 32 while extending in parallel in the longitudinal direction. The auxiliary walls 34 are positioned transversely centrally and symmetrically with respect to the transverse direction with a distance of 1.60 mm provided between confronting surfaces of the two auxiliary walls 34 and a distance of 2.47 mm provided from the auxiliary wall 34 to an inner surface of a base side wall panel 33 which configures the long side.

In addition, as is shown in Fig. 5(A), the fifth block 15 has 16 projecting portions 37 which are disposed into two rows (eight in one row) and are provided in such a manner as to project, and the projecting portions 37 have a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the proj ecting portions 37 of the first block 11. In addition, these 16 projecting portions 37 are disposed in such a manner that a distance between centers of the projecting portions 37 lying adjacent to each other of the eight projecting portions 37 which are disposed into the one row and a distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 which are disposed in the different rows are 4.0 mm.

In addition, a base portion 31 is formed into a cubical shape having a height of 3.05 mm, a long side whose length is 31.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly- smaller than eight times the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37 and a short side whose length is 7.90 mm which is substantially equal to and extremely slightly smaller than twice the distance between the centers of the projecting portions 37. In addition, as is shown in Fig. 5(B), the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portions 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened.

Further, an interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of a base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm, a long (longitudinal) side whose length is 30.60 mm and a short (transverse) side whose length is 6.54 mm. In addition, two auxiliary walls 34 are provided in this interior space in such a manner as to hang downwards from a lower surface of the base upper panel 32 while extending in parallel in the longitudinal direction. The auxiliary walls 34 are positioned transversely centrally and symmetrically with respect to the transverse direction with a distance of 1.60 mm provided between confronting surfaces of the two auxiliary walls 34 and a distance of 2.47 mm provided from the auxiliary wall 34 to an inner surface of a base side wall panel 33 which configures the long side.

In addition, the auxiliary cylindrical block 18, which is the auxiliary block in which a base portion 31 configuring a main body is formed into a cylindrical shape, is formed into a cylindrical shape in which the base portion 31 has a height of 3.05 mm and an outside diameter of 3.90 mm. A single projecting portion 37 disposed on an upper surface of the base portion 31 has a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the projecting portion 37 of the first block 11. Additionally, as is shown in Fig. 6(B) , in this auxiliary cylindrical block 18, the base portion 31 and the projecting portion 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portion 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened. An interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from the perimeter of a base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm and is formed into a circle having an inside diameter of about 2.5 mm (more or less an ellipse whose minor axis and major axis are 2.50 mm and 2.52 mm, respectively) .

Further, the auxiliary prismatic block 19, which is the auxiliary block in which a base portion 31 configuring a main body has a prismatic shape, is formed into a cubical shape in which the base portion 31 has a height of 3.05 mm and both longitudinal and transverse sides have a length of 3.90 mm, thereby forming a square. A single projecting portion 37 disposed on an upper surface of the base portion 31 has a slightly tapered cylindrical shape which is identical in shape and size to the projecting portion 37 of the first block 11. Additionally, as is shown in Fig. 7(B), the base portion 31 and the projecting portion 37 are given a thickness of about 0.7 mm, interiors of the base portion 31 and the projecting portion 37 are made hollow, and a lower surface of the base portion 31 is opened. An interior space of the base portion 31 which is surrounded by base side wall panels 33 which hang downwards from four sides of a base upper panel 32 has a height of 2.35 mm and both longitudinal and transverse sides of the interior space have a length of 2.50 mm.

In this way, the respective blocks of the block toy according to the embodiment have the basic space unit of 4.0 mm. The projecting portion 37 has a height of less than about 2 mm and a diameter of about 2.5 mm, which are both made smaller than the basic space unit. In addition, the base portion 31 has a height of about 3 mm, and the plurality of projecting portions 37 are provided on the upper surface of the rectangular parallelepiped base portion 31. The base portion 31 has the longitudinal and transverse widths which are made to be substantially the multiplicity of the basic space unit by an integer including one, and further, the base portion 31 has the hollow portion which is opened at the lower surface, so that the projecting portions 37 of the other blocks which are inserted into the hollow portion can be held by the base side wall panels 33 or the base side wall panels 33 and the auxiliary walls 34. In addition, since all the projecting portions 37 have the same diameter of about 2.5 mm and are tapered in such a manner that the distal end of the projecting portion 37 is made extremely slightly thinner than the proximal portion of the projecting portion 37, the projecting portions 37 can be held by the base side wall panels 33 in an ensured fashion, while the insertion of the projecting portions 37 into the interior space of the base portion 31 of the other blocks can be facilitated.

Further, since the interior space of the base portion 31 is formed into the rectangular parallelepiped shape and in the blocks having the single row of projecting portions, the width of the interior space is made slightly narrower than the diameter of the projecting portion 37, the shape of the block as the single interior space is simplified, so as to enable the ease of manufacturing minute blocks.

In addition, in the blocks having the two rows of projecting portions 37, since the auxiliary walls 34 are provided in the center thereof so that the projecting portions 37 of the other blocks can be held between the base side wall panels 33 and the auxiliary walls 34 and the auxiliary walls 34 are formed into the thin plate-like elements and are provided in two in parallel, the elastic deformation of each auxiliary wall 34 is facilitated, whereby not only can the projecting portion/s 37 of the small blocks be inserted easily but also the projecting portions 37 can be held in the ensured fashion.

Industrial Applicability

As has been described heretofore, with the block toy according to the invention, the small blocks can be interconnected easily and in the ensured fashion, and in a case where a shaped structure 41 is produced in a size which allows it to be placed on a table by combining the conventional blocks having the lengths in the range of 1 cm to several centimeters, as is shown in Fig. 8, it has been not possible to represent detailed irregularities. On the contrary to this, as is shown in Fig. 9, with the blocks of the embodiment in which the basic space unit is made small to be several millimeters, the shape of a shaped structure 43 can be represented accurately to thereby allow a player to enjoy playing with the blocks.

In addition, as is shown in Fig. 10, in the event that a shaped structure 45 is built up using the same number of blocks of the embodiment as that of the conventional blocks, a miniaturized shaped structure can be built up which is easy to be held by the hand/s, extremely small and lovely.