BACKGROUND

This specification relates to a toy system including pieces having interlocking shapes.

Toy pieces having interlocking pieces can be used to assemble a variety of structures. Both children and adults enjoy using interlocking pieces to quickly and easily make things that satisfy their desire for creativity. However, not all interlocking shapes are suitable for use as pieces in a toy system. For example, if the toy system is intended for use by children, especially young children, the shapes must be designed to comply with safety concerns.

SUMMARY

A toy system includes at least one piece having a first shape defined by a central body and three sets of two protrusions extending outward from the central body, and at least one piece having a second shape defined by a central body and four sets of two protrusions extending outward from the central body. The pieces are respectively defined by at least one flat surface and at least one flat sidewall. The sets of the two protrusions define respective cavities having a width substantially equivalent to the width of one of the protrusions.

The protrusions respectively have at least one end that is rounded at a geometry (e.g., a semi-circle) that minimizes any potential harm if the protrusion came into contact with a human body. Further, the pieces can be manufactured of a soft material for safety reasons.

The thickness of the pieces can be substantially the same as the width of the cavities. In this way, two pieces can be aligned in a perpendicular fashion and the cavity of one piece can be mated to the central body of the other piece.

The pieces can be assembled into a variety of shapes, ranging from simple two- dimensional shapes to complex three-dimensional shapes such as sphere-like shapes and honeycombs. An assembled shape can be augmented with additional pieces in a manner limited only by the number of pieces available at a given time. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a shape assembled using pieces of a toy system.

FIGS. 2-5 show the pieces of the toy system in detail.

FIG. 6 shows another shape assembled using pieces of the toy system.

FIGS. 7A-7C and 8A-8C show schematics of the pieces.

DESCRD7TION

FIG. 1 shows a toy system 100 of pieces 102, 104 having interlocking shapes. A child 106 or other person can assemble the pieces 102, 104 into a variety of

configurations. Both simple and complex structures can be assembled using as few as two shapes. The child 106 could build a simple structure using a few pieces, or he/she could build an elaborate structure using many pieces. The complexity of the structure is limited only by the number of pieces available and the child's imagination. Further, the curvature and material of the pieces is suitable for use by children of young ages. For example, the pieces do not have sharp protrusions or sharp edges that might pose a safety hazard.

FIG. 2 shows two pieces 202, 204 of the toy system. One piece 202 has a shape similar to the English (e.g., Latin alphabet) letter "Y" and the other piece 204 has a shape similar to the English letter "X." Each piece has sets of two protrusions each defining a cavity. The first piece 202 has a first shape 220 having three sets 222, 224, 226 of two protrusions 232, 234 each. The two protrusions 232, 234 define a cavity 236 between them. Each set 222, 224, 226 of protrusions is arranged such that the cavity extends outward 252 from the center 254 of a body 206 of the first piece 202. Further, the sets 222, 224, 226 define three curves 256, 258, 260 between them. The three curves 256, 258, 260 have substantially equivalent geometry.

The second piece 204 has a second shape 240 having four sets 242, 244, 246, 248 of two protrusions 252, 254 each. The four sets 242, 244, 246, 248 of protrusions are arranged to define narrow curves 272, 274 and wide curves 276, 278 between them. The first narrow curve 272 is defined by two of the sets 242, 244 and the second narrow curve 274 is defined by the other two sets 246, 248. The narrow curves 272, 274 have substantially equivalent geometry. The first wide curve 276 is defined by two of the sets 242, 246 and the second wide curve 278 is defined by the other two sets 244, 248. The wide curves 276, 278 have substantially equivalent geometry. In some implementations, the wide curves 276, 278 have substantially equivalent geometry to the curves 256, 258, 260 of the first shape 220. In some implementations, the wide curves 276, 278 have different geometry than the curves 256, 258, 260 of the first shape 220.

The protrusions 232, 234 have a shape that minimizes safety risk when the pieces 202, 204 are used, for example, by young children. In some implementations, the ends 282, 284 of the protrusions are curved at a geometry that minimizes any potential harm if a protrusion comes into contact with the human body. For example, the ends 282, 284 shown here have a geometry defined by a semicircle, e.g., an arc of approximately one- hundred eighty degrees. If the ends had a geometry defining a portion of a semicircle, e.g., an arc of substantially less than one-hundred eighty degrees, then the ends would have a "pointy" geometry that could pose a safety risk to the human body.

Each piece 202, 204 respectively has a flat dorsal surface 286, 288 and a flat ventral surface (not shown). Each piece 202, 204 also respectively has a flat sidewall surface 290, 292. The flat surfaces are unlikely to cause harm if they come into contact with the human body. In some implementations, the pieces 202, 204 can be formed of a soft material such as foam. Because the pieces 202, 204 have a substantially flat shape, the pieces 202, 204 could be formed from flat materials having a uniform thickness such as plywood, pieces of insulation, or other materials having a uniform thickness. In some implementations, the material could be cross-linked polyethylene. In some

implementations, the pieces 202, 204 can be inflatable.

FIG. 3 shows an interlocking configuration 300 of the two pieces 202, 204. In this example, the pieces 202, 204 have been assembled by mating one set 302 of protrusions on the first piece 202 with one set 304 of protrusions of the second piece 204. The sets 302, 304 have been mated by aligning the cavity 306 defined by the first set 302 with a protrusion 308 of the second set 304, which also aligns the cavity 310 defined by the second set 304 with a protrusion 312 of the first set 302. In this way, the portions 314, 316 of the sidewalls 318, 320 defined by the cavities 306, 310 are in direct contact with each other. In some examples, the portions 314, 316 of sidewalls 318, 320 (or, in some examples, the entire sidewalls 318, 320) are formed in a manner that imparts a coefficient of friction upon the portions 314, 316. In this way, the pieces 202, 204 will tend to remain in the mated configuration 300 even if relatively small forces 322, 324 are applied to either or both of the pieces 202, 204.

In this configuration 300, the flat dorsal surfaces 286, 288 of the two pieces 202, 204 are substantially parallel to each other. In this way, the configuration 300 represents a planar structure, e.g., one aligned to a single plane. This configuration 300 is of the kind that may be used to build structures that represent two-dimensional shapes, e.g., a substantially circular two-dimensional shape.

FIG. 4 shows another interlocking configuration 400 of the two pieces 202, 204. In this example, the pieces 202, 204 have been assembled by mating one set 402 of protrusions on the first piece 202 with one set 404 of protrusions of the second piece 204. The sets 402, 404 have been mated by aligning the cavity 406 defined by the first set 402 with the cavity 408 defined by the second set 404.

In this configuration 400, the flat dorsal surface 286 of the first piece 202 is substantially perpendicular to the flat dorsal surface 288 of the second piece 204. This configuration 400 is of the kind that may be used to build structures that take full advantage of the three-dimensional possibilities of the toy system 100.

Either of the interlocking configurations 300, 400 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 can be used to mate two pieces of the toy system 100. A piece of the first shape 220 can be mated to up to three other pieces using any combination of the two configuration 300, 400. A piece of the second shape 240 can be mated to up to four other pieces using any combination of the two configuration 300, 400. For example, a piece of the second shape 240 could be mated to another piece of the first shape 240 using the first configuration 300, and could be mated to another piece of the second shape 240 using the second configuration 400, and could be mated to a piece of the first shape 220 using the first configuration 300, and could be mated to another piece of the first shape 220 using the second configuration 400. Any combination of pieces and configurations is possible.

FIG. 5 shows details of the geometry of the two shapes 220, 240 of the pieces 202, 204. The three cavities 512, 514, 516 defined by the first shape 220 are arranged in a manner that defines an angle 518 of one-hundred twenty degrees. Two cavities 520, 522 of the sets of protrusions separated by one of the wide curves 524 defined by the second shape 240 are arranged in a manner that defines an angle 526 of approximately one- hundred nine degrees, and two cavities 520, 528 of the sets of protrusions separated by one of the narrow curves 530 defined by the second shape 240 are arranged in a manner that defines an angle 532 of approximately seventy-one degrees. In some

implementations, other angles can be used. For example, the smaller angle 532 on the second shape 240 could be seventy-five degrees and the larger angle 526 on the second shape 240 could be one-hundred five degrees.

In the particular example shown in FIG. 5, each cavity has a width substantially equivalent to the width of any of the protrusions. For example, one of the cavities 512 has a width 534 of two units (for example, two inches or two centimeters). One of the protrusions 536 has a height 538 also of two units. In this example, the height 538 of the protrusions is equivalent to the height 540, 542 of the pieces 202, 204 because the pieces 202, 204 are formed from substantially flat material having substantially uniform height. In this way, any of the cavities 512 can mate with any of the protrusions 536 and can also mate with the body of either of the pieces 202, 204 (e.g., in the configuration 400 shown in FIG. 4).

The dimensions of the pieces 202, 204 can range from very small or very large relative to a human being. For example, the pieces 202, 204 could be sized to be only a few centimeters in length and width, or even smaller. As another example, the pieces 202, 204 could be sized to be a meter or more in length or width. In some implementations, the pieces 202, 204 are sized to be large enough to minimize the health risk to a child, e.g., such that the pieces 202, 204 cannot be placed in the mouth and/or swallowed.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a structure 600 formed by many pieces having one of the two shapes 220, 240 shown in FIGS. 2-5. The pieces of this structure 600 are mated using the second configuration 400 shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 6, a child can assemble a structure 600 easily and with a minimized risk of physical harm due to the shape and composition of the toy pieces.

FIGS. 7A-7C and 8A-8C show schematics of the pieces of the toy system at different dimensions. FIGS. 7A-7C show top views 702a-c and side views 704a-c of the "X-shaped" piece (e.g., the piece 204 shown in FIG. 2). FIGS. 8A-8C show top views 802a-c and side views 804a-c of the "Y-shaped" piece (e.g., the piece 202 shown in FIG. 2). Dimensions are provided in millimeters (in brackets) and in inches. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 A, a dimension 706 of the "X-shaped" piece can be represented as the diameter of a circle 708, the diameter in FIG. 7A being 10.567 inches (268.40

millimeters). In this way, the dimension 706 of the piece (e.g., the diameter of the circle) can be said to be the length of the piece. The "Y-shaped" piece can also have a length defined by the diameter of a circle, e.g., the circle 808 shown in FIG. 8A. The circles 708, 808 shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A have substantially the same diameter, e.g., 10.567 inches.

The foregoing description is intended to illustrate some embodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the following claims.