"Toy building set"

The present invention relates to a toy building set of the type comprising a plurality of modular molded elements made of a synthetic material, so-called "bricks", which can be linked together with a tight fit to build tridimensional models representing fancy figures or real objects such as buildings, vehicles, pieces of forniture, as well as animals, plants, etc.

The toy building sets of the above type are generally packed in cartons containing a predetermined number of bricks. The simplest bricks typically have a prismatic profile with a square or rectangular cuntour and, although they may differ from one another for size and shape, they have the common feature of being provided with projections on one base, which are shaped to fit into corresponding recesses formed on one opposite base. Alternatively, certain bricks may have only one base provided with projections or recesses.

None of the known toy building sets have bricks which can be both stacked on top of each other and linked side by side and at right angles. This deficiency considerably affects the versatility of the toy and the creative possibilities that the toy offers.

The toy building sets have evolved over the years, with the production of a variety of assorted bricks having more and more complex shapes specifically intended for creating predetermined profiles. Consequently, such bricks have a limited polyvalence and high manufacturing costs due to their complexity and to the high variety of different shapes.

Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a toy building set comprising only one typology of brick, or two typologies at most, which are shaped such to have a high polyvalence, with possibility of articulated lateral connections, in order to allow complex profiles to be formed even by using a small number of bricks.

A further object of the invention is to provide the above bricks with a high degree of safety in relation to the use of the toy from children.

The above objects and other aims and advantages, which will better appear below, are achieved by the toy building set having the features recited in claim 1, while the other claims state other advantageous features of the invention.

The invention will be now described in more detail with reference to a preferred, non- exlusive embodiment shown by way of non limiting example in the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view from above of a first brick belonging to a toy building set according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view from below of the brick of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section of the brick of Fig. 1 made along line III- III;

Fig. 4 is a plan view from above of a second brick belonging to the toy building set according to the invention;

Fig. 5 is a plan view from below of the brick of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view in cross section of the brick of Fig. 4 made along line VI-VI;

Fig. 7 is a plan view from above of an auxiliary element belonging to the toy building set according to the invention;

Fig. 8 is a plan view from below of the auxiliary element of Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a view in cross section of the auxiliary element of Fig. 7 along line IX-IX;

Fig. 10 is a pictorial image of a model built with the toy building set according to the invention.

With reference to the above Figures, a toy building set according to the invention comprises two different types of modular elements connectable together with a tight fit. Figs. 1-3 illustrate an element of the first type which consists of a flat brick having a square contour 10 with two opposite main faces. A first main face 12 has nine square-shaped recesses such as 14 arranged in a square array. The second main face 16 has four square- shaped bosses such as 18 which are aligned to the four corner recesses 14 of the square array and are sized to engage the recesses with a tight fit. Brick 10 has four level, side faces. Two adjacent side faces 20, 22 are each provided with two rectangular tabs 24 arranged at right angles to the respective side face and to the main faces, and aligned to

two peripheral rows of shaped recesses. The other two side faces 26, 28 are each provided with two forks 30. Each fork consists of a pair of side-by-side rectangular fins arranged at right angles to the respective side face and to the main faces. The fins of the forks are mutually arranged such that a tab is insertable therebetween with a tight fit, and the distance D between centers of the two forks is equal to the distance L between two tabs 24. Moreover, each fork 30, as well as each tab 24, has an outer profile engageable into recesses 14 with a tight fit. Preferably, the distance between the centers of two adjacent recesses equals the distance between the center of a peripheral recess and the adjacent side edge, plus a half of the length of tab 24. As the person skilled in the art will appreciate, with this arrangement, the distance between centers of two recesses belonging to different bricks interconnected laterally is always a multiple of the distance between two adjacent recesses.

Figs. 4-6 illustrate an element of the second type which consists of a disc-shaped brick 32. Disc-shaped brick 32 has eight transverse openings such as 36 arranged in a square array and aligned to the eight peripheral recesses 14 of square bricks 10. The eight openings 36 have a square profile corresponding to recesses 14 for being engaged by forks 30, as well as by bosses 18 and by tabs 24. Disc-shaped brick 32 is provided with an axial hole 38 and with a peripheral toothing 40. Advantageously, the pitch diameter P of toothing 40 of the disc-shaped brick is substantially equal to the length of side A of the square brick plus the length B of tabs 24. As the person skilled in the art will immediately understand, this allows two disc-shaped bricks pivoted at the middle of respective adjacent square bricks to mesh with each other.

An accessory pivot member 42 is shown in Figg. 7-9. Pivot member 42 has a circular profile, with a pin-shaped end portion 44 which is pivotally insertable into axial hole 38 of disc-shaped brick 32, and with a cylindrical end portion 48 opposite to pin 44 and insertable with a tight fit into the recesses of square bricks 10 or into the openings of discshaped bricks 32. Pivot member 42 is also preferably provided with an intermediate thin spacer flange 46. The free end of pin 44 is surrounded by a peripheral edge 50, whereby pin 44 is inserted into axial hole 38 with a snap action.

In use, recesses 14 on square bricks and openings 36 on disc-shaped bricks cooperate with

bosses 18 and tabs 24 of square bricks, to allow the square bricks to be stacked both on top of other square bricks and on top of disc-shaped bricks. Tabs 24 cooperate with the forks 30 to allow the square bricks both to be interconnected laterally, and to be connected at right angles to other square bricks and to disc- shaped bricks.

The square profile of recesses 14, square openings 36, and bosses 18, prevents two joined bricks from rotating with respect to each other even when the connection is provided by the mutual engagement of only one boss 18 or fork 30 in a corresponding recess 14 or opening 36.

Fig. 10 is a pictorial image of a composition representing a car 60. The composition is formed by twelve square bricks 10 which are laterally joined at right angles to form a frame, and four disc-shaped bricks, representing the wheels and pivoted to respective pivot members 42, each inserted in a corresponding recess 14 of the square bricks forming the side walls of the frame. Although in Fig. 10 all the square bricks are joined at right angles, the shape of the tabs and forks allows lateral connections at different angles, with a large amount of possible configurations.

A preferred embodiment has been described herein, but of course many changes may be made by the person skilled in the art within the scope of the inventive concept. For example, the number of recesses and/or bosses on the square bricks, as well as the number of openings on the disc-shaped bricks may be varied. The number of tabs and/or forks on each lateral face may also be different from what illustrated.