building blocks

Abstract

To provide building blocks which can be stacked both vertically and obliquely, and which are resistant to collapsing under lateral forces.SOLUTION: Building blocks comprise a side-grooved piece having a plurality of side grooves on a side surface, a plurality of cylindrical pieces that can be arranged along the side grooves of the side-grooved piece, and a both-end-grooved piece having an end-face groove on one end face which can be fitted to each of the cylindrical pieces.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[[Technical Field]]

[0001] The present invention relates to building blocks that can be used for promoting intellectual development in children and rehabilitation for people with hand and finger impairments, by stacking pieces (members) having various shapes. [[Background Art]]

[0002] Although conventional building blocks sold as educational toys are composed of pieces of various shapes such as cubes, rectangular prisms, triangular members, and cylindrical members, most of them are simply stacked vertically from bottom to top, and there has been a demand for building blocks that can stimulate greater free imagination.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses building blocks composed of a cube or a rectangular prism provided with a hole and a rod-shaped member to be inserted into the hole. However, the purpose of this building block is to allow children to understand the concept of numbers, and it only involves inserting the rod-shaped member into the hole.

[0004] Patent Document 2 also discloses building blocks including a first type of piece having a V-groove and a second type of piece fitted into the V-groove, and the building blocks are stacked into a balanced shape by means of this fitting structure. However, it is difficult for the stacked structure to maintain balance against an oblique force, which imposes great restrictions on the shape of the stacked structure. [[Prior Art Documents]] [[Patent Documents]]

[0005] [[Patent Document 1]] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-113059 [[Patent Document 2]] Japanese Patent No. 3762766 [[Summary of the Invention]] [[Problem to be Solved by the Invention]]

[0006] The present invention aims to provide building blocks that can be stacked not only vertically but also diagonally, and that are resistant to collapsing when subjected to lateral forces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The building blocks according to the present invention are characterized by comprising: a grooved piece having a plurality of side grooves on its side surface; a plurality of cylindrical pieces that can be arranged along the side grooves of the grooved piece; and a grooved piece with grooves at both ends on which an end face groove on one end face of the cylindrical piece can be placed.

[0008] Here, a piece with side grooves refers to a rectangular piece of lumber, such as a rod, that has multiple grooves (side grooves) on at least one side. A cylindrical piece refers to a rod-shaped material whose cross-section is circular. In the present invention, since the cylindrical pieces are assembled laterally along the side grooves of the grooved pieces, it is preferable that the multiple side grooves are arranged parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction along one side of the square timber, and it is preferable that the grooves (recesses) have a semicircular cross-section so as to coincide with the outer surface of the cylindrical pieces. A piece with grooves at both ends refers to a rectangular plate material that has a pair of grooves on both opposing end faces. Since the grooved pieces are stacked via cylindrical pieces, the groove shape is preferably semicircular in cross-section.

[0009] The building blocks according to the present invention are characterized by the combination of three types of pieces: the pieces with grooves on the sides, the cylindrical pieces, and the pieces with grooves on both ends. Therefore, for example, when a piece with grooves at both ends is placed with one end groove on the side of one of the multiple cylindrical pieces, the side of the piece with grooves at both ends is supported by the side of another cylindrical piece adjacent to the first cylindrical piece, and the pieces are stacked in such a way that they are held at a predetermined inclination angle. Alternatively, the spacing between multiple cylindrical pieces and adjacent cylindrical pieces is used to hold multiple pieces with grooves at both ends at an inclination, and other various pieces are stacked in between. These are basic structures on which further cylindrical pieces or other various pieces can be stacked. In this case, other cylindrical pieces or various other pieces can be stacked using the grooves on the other end faces of the pieces with grooves at both ends.

[0010] Other pieces used in this invention refer to pieces other than the three types of pieces described above, and examples include cubic pieces, rectangular pieces, cylindrical pieces, triangular pieces, polygonal pieces, wheel-shaped pieces, stepped cylindrical pieces of different diameters, triangular cross-section timbers, spheres, and other pieces of various shapes. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The building blocks according to the present invention, by combining the side grooves of the side grooved pieces with multiple cylindrical pieces, allow two end grooved pieces to be combined diagonally in a V-shape, for example, using the gaps (spacing) formed between the multiple cylindrical pieces. This allows other pieces to be stacked diagonally using the slope of this diagonal V-shape. Therefore, it is possible to stack them both vertically and diagonally, allowing for greater creative freedom. Furthermore, stacking them diagonally makes them less likely to collapse even when subjected to lateral force, and by combining them with wheels on the base, they can also be pushed from the side by hand for play.

[0012] The building blocks according to the present invention offer a high degree of freedom in stacking them vertically and diagonally, making them useful not only for children's intellectual development but also for purposes such as training and rehabilitation for the elderly. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] An example of the basic configuration of building blocks using three types of pieces is shown. (a) shows a state where two side grooved pieces are arranged, and cylindrical pieces are stacked so as to bridge across the groove portions of the side grooved pieces; (b) and (c) show a state where a double-end grooved piece is diagonally stacked between two cylindrical pieces. [Figure 2] (a) shows a state where two double-end grooved pieces are stacked, and (b) and (c) show a state where a cubic piece is stacked between the two double-end grooved pieces. [Figure 3] The positional relationship of the three types of pieces is shown in (a) and (b). [Figure 4] An example where various pieces are stacked using the inclined surface portion between two double-end grooved pieces is shown. [Figure 5] An example where a wheel-shaped piece is combined on the lower side so that the building block can be pushed from the side is shown. [Figure 6] An example where pieces are stacked in a gassho-zukuri shape is shown, wherein (a) is a front view and (b) is a perspective view. [Figure 7] (a) shows a state where the pieces according to the present invention are stored in a box, and (b) shows an example of a combination of various pieces. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, the pieces constituting the building block according to the present invention and the fact that the building block can be stacked based on free ideas will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] First, the gist of the basic configuration of the building block will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The present invention is basically based on three types of pieces: a side grooved piece (11), which is a square bar formed of an elongated rectangular prism as a whole, with a plurality of side groove portions (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) formed in parallel on one side surface thereof; a cylindrical piece (12) to be combined along the groove portions of said side groove portions 11a to 11d; and a double-end grooved piece (13), which is a plate member formed of a rectangular prism as a whole, with end groove portions (13a, 13b) formed on a pair of opposite end faces thereof.

[0016] In the example of stacking pieces shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, two side-grooved pieces 11, 11 are arranged in parallel with their lower surface sides 11e facing downward such that an inner interval l is formed therebetween, and a cylindrical piece 12 is placed so as to bridge between the side groove portions 11a, 11a of the two side-grooved pieces 11. The cylindrical piece 12 has circular end faces 12a and a side portion 12b formed of an outer peripheral surface with a circular cross-section. FIG. 1 shows an example using two cylindrical pieces 12, 12. Basically, if two cylindrical pieces 12, 12 are used as one set, the number of the cylindrical pieces is based on the free creation of the building blocks. Next, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends is inserted into the space formed between the two side-grooved pieces 11, 11 such that one end groove portion 13b of the grooved piece 13 abuts against the side portion 12b of the cylindrical piece 12. The thickness t of the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends, which is made of a plate material, is smaller than the interval l between the two side-grooved pieces 11, 11. Then, since the end groove portion 13b of the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends has a semicircular groove shape matching the outer shape of the cylindrical piece, the grooved piece 13 is held in an inclined state such that one side surface 13c of the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends abuts against the side portion 12b of the adjacent cylindrical piece 12. This state is shown in FIG. 1(c). For the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends, when one side surface 13c abuts against the side portion of the cylindrical piece 12, an inclined surface is formed on the other side surface 13d.

[0017] With the above combination as a basic configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, two grooved pieces 13, 13 with grooves at both ends can also be stacked on each other in a V-shape. In this way, as shown in FIG. 2(b), for example, a cubic piece 14 can be stacked in the V-shaped space formed. Since the two grooved pieces 13, 13 with grooves at both ends and the cubic piece 14 are in a positional relationship where they abut against each other obliquely, the stacked structure is less likely to collapse even under a force in the left-right direction in FIG. 2.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a front view showing the positional relationship among the side-grooved piece 11, the cylindrical piece 12 and the grooved piece 13 with grooves at both ends. The grooved side piece 11 has a flat bottom surface 11e so that multiple side grooves 11a to 11d are arranged on its top surface. The cylindrical piece 12 preferably has a circular cross-section, and its outer diameter d1 is preferably a semicircular (half-split) shape that matches the groove dimension d2 of the side grooves 11a to 11d. Furthermore, it is preferable that the dimensions d3 of the end face grooves 13a and 13b of the grooved end piece 13 also match the outer diameter d1 of the cylindrical piece 12. In this way, the cylindrical piece 12 fits into the inner circumferential surface of the side grooves 11a to 11d, and becomes stable. Furthermore, the inclination of the grooved end piece 13 is set to a predetermined angle θ by the center spacing W1 of the multiple side grooves and the spacing W2 between the cylindrical pieces. Specifically, the width dimension W3 of the grooved end piece should be approximately twice the distance W2 between the cylindrical pieces. Furthermore, the center distance W1 is approximately equal to the width dimension W3 of the grooved end piece 13. This angle θ is preferably about 90°, and is in the range of 60 to 120°.

[0019] The building blocks according to the present invention, by combining various pieces in addition to the above-mentioned pieces, become building blocks that offer a high degree of freedom and stimulate creativity, allowing for a wide range of variations. An example of this configuration is shown in Figure 7. Figure 7(a) shows the items stored in a storage box consisting of box 1 and lid 2, while Figure 7(b) shows the various pieces arranged. The configuration is not limited to that shown in Figure 7(b), but this embodiment has the following pieces. The assembly includes a grooved piece 11, a longer grooved piece 111, a cylindrical piece 12, a longer cylindrical piece 112, a shorter cylindrical piece 212, a cylindrical piece 17, a wheel-shaped piece 15, an axle-shaped piece 16 with a two-stage outer diameter, a thin rectangular piece 19, a triangular piece 20, a spherical piece 18, and the like.

[0020] By stacking these various pieces, for example, as shown in Figure 4, a long cylindrical piece 112 can be placed on the upper end groove of the grooved piece 13, or various combinations of pieces can be stacked between these grooved pieces 13, 13, and in this case, the stacks are less likely to collapse under forces from the left and right.

[0021] Figure 5 shows how the side groove portion of the side grooved piece 11 can be placed downwards, and the wheel-shaped piece 15, axle-shaped piece 16, and cylindrical piece 17 can be combined to allow movement in the left-right direction. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 6, the end grooved piece 13 can be placed in a pair front and back so that the end groove portions 13a and 13b are positioned vertically, the cylindrical piece 12 can be placed across the end groove portion 13a, and the side grooved piece 11 can be tilted and placed on top to form a gable roof shape overall. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0022] 11 Pieces with side grooves 12 cylindrical pieces 13 Pieces with grooves on both ends

Claims

1. Having two or more side-grooved pieces, each having a side groove portion consisting of a plurality of semicircular grooves along one side surface, It has two or more cylindrical pieces whose outer circumference matches the semicircular groove of the grooved piece, The cylindrical piece has end face grooves formed on both end faces that coincide with the outer circumference of the cylindrical piece, The two or more side-grooved pieces are arranged such that the distance between them is greater than the thickness of the end-grooved pieces. Two or more cylindrical pieces are placed between the two or more grooved side pieces via the semicircular grooves, A building block characterized in that, between two adjacent cylindrical pieces that are connected, one end groove of the grooved-end piece is placed on the outer circumference of one cylindrical piece, and the side of the grooved-end piece is held inclined against the other cylindrical piece.

2. Two of the grooved side pieces are arranged in parallel, and each grooved side piece has at least four or more grooves, Between the two grooved pieces, four or more cylindrical pieces are spanned between the corresponding grooves. The building block according to claim 1, characterized in that it has two grooved pieces at both ends, and the two grooved pieces are stacked on top of the four cylindrical pieces such that the sides of one grooved piece and the other grooved piece face each other to form a V shape.

3. The building block according to claim 2, characterized in that other various pieces can be stacked in the V-shaped space formed opposite each other.

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