Toy Chassis Building Element With Tongue-and-Groove Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing assembly toys lack versatile and efficient building elements for creating diverse toy vehicles, particularly in terms of rotatability and compatibility for assembling various vehicle types, such as cars, trains, boats, and airplanes, with existing elements often failing to seamlessly integrate wheels and additional features like protrusions and coupling components.
Innovation Solution
A chassis building element with side walls, end walls, and compatible coupling components that allow rotatable and non-rotatable connections using tongue-and-groove mechanisms, along with intermediate building elements for wider and longer vehicle assembly, enabling the creation of various toy vehicles by hiding or exposing coupling components and incorporating axles for wheels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If existing building elements are used for assembling toy vehicles, then assembly can be performed with simple components, but the elements lack versatility for creating diverse vehicle types with wheels and coupling components
Solution Approach 1:
The chassis building element is designed with multiple functions: it can be assembled in different orientations (horizontal/vertical), coupled rotatably via coupling components for wheel attachment, connected non-rotatably via tongue-and-groove mechanisms for structural stability, and configured to hide or expose coupling components for aesthetic versatility. This multi-functional design enables a single element type to create diverse vehicle types including cars, trains, boats, and airplanes.
2Ease of operation
If coupling components are exposed for functional access, then wheel attachment and vehicle assembly is enabled, but the aesthetics of the toy vehicle is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The chassis element provides dynamic configuration options where coupling components can be positioned to be either exposed or hidden based on the desired vehicle design. The element can be oriented horizontally or vertically, and coupling components can be accessed from different sides, allowing the builder to expose coupling components when functional access is needed and hide them when aesthetics are prioritized.
3Adaptability or versatility
If rotatable coupling is used for wheel attachment, then wheel rotation is enabled, but the connection stability between chassis elements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is segmented into two distinct mechanisms: rotatable coupling components (such as pins and sockets) specifically for wheel attachment requiring rotation, and non-rotatable tongue-and-groove connections for chassis element bonding requiring stability. This segmentation allows each connection type to be optimized for its specific function without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling components act as intermediaries between the chassis element and wheels, providing the rotatable connection needed for wheel attachment. Meanwhile, the tongue-and-groove mechanism serves as an intermediary for stable non-rotatable connections between chassis elements. Each intermediary is specialized for its specific connection requirement.
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly-toy chassis building element for a toy vehicle has at least one side wall that is configured for being releasably interconnected with a particular wall of another building element of the toy vehicle. Each end wall of the chassis element includes at least one groove that is compatible with tongues in other building elements in a set of compatible toy building elements so that a compatible toy building element can be interconnected to the end walls of the chassis element. A wider toy vehicle can be assembled by side-to-side coupling of two chassis elements via an intermediate building element having compatible side walls. A longer toy vehicle can be assembled by end-to-end coupling of two chassis elements via an intermediate building element having compatible end walls.