Angled Arm Construction Toy Element for Rapid Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Construction toy sets are slow to assemble and lack variation in connection options, posing safety risks due to fixed assembly requirements and potential ingestion hazards.
Innovation Solution
The design features a construction toy element with a body and multiple rows of arms, each with angled root ends and hooks at the free and intermediate points, allowing for flexible connections and reduced material usage, enabling rapid assembly and safer, more organic structure creation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If blocks are assembled one-by-one in fixed ways, then connection stability is ensured, but assembly speed is slow and structure variation is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The construction element is divided into multiple arms (typically six) arranged radially around a central body, with each arm capable of independent connection. This segmentation allows multiple simultaneous connections rather than sequential one-by-one assembly, dramatically increasing assembly speed while maintaining connection stability through the distributed arm structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The arms are designed with flexible root ends that can bend and adapt to different connection configurations. This dynamic flexibility enables the same element to connect in multiple orientations and positions, providing structure variation and adaptability without requiring precise pre-alignment, thus speeding up assembly while increasing connection diversity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional block designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but safety risks increase due to sharp corners and fixed assembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The element features a spherical body with radially arranged arms and rounded root ends, eliminating sharp corners and edges. This curved, organic design reduces ingestion hazards and improves safety for children while the radial symmetry and standardized arm configurations maintain manufacturing simplicity through efficient molding processes.
3Productivity
If multiple rows of arms with angled root ends are used, then connection flexibility and assembly speed are improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The arm root ends are designed with specific angular deviations from the radial direction (angled root ends) to optimize connection flexibility. While this introduces angular parameters, the angles are standardized and built into the molding process, allowing mass production with consistent precision. The angled design enables arms to naturally align with connection points on adjacent elements, speeding up assembly without requiring high-precision manual adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
In a first aspect, a construction toy element is provided and includes a body and a first circumferential row of arms extending from the body. The body has an axis, and has a first axial end and a second axial end. A first circumferential row of arms extends from the body. Each arm includes a root end and a free end, and has a first connecting member thereon that is configured for connecting the construction toy element to another construction toy element. The root end projects from the body in a direction that is angled towards one of the first and second axial ends relative to a normal direction to a surface of the body.