TOY BUILDING BLOCKS

BLOCS POUR JEUX DE CONSTRUCTION

English Abstract

A B S T R A C T
The invention is a toy building block in which
some of the sides are covered by hook material and some of
the sides are covered by loop material, both of a matching
hook and loop fastener, so that the blocks may be assembled,
fastened together and disassembled.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed is defined as follows.
1. A toy building block of polygonal configuration
having at least one side covered with hook fastener material.
2. A toy building block as claimed in Claim 1 having
at least a second side covered with loop fastener material.
3. A toy building block as claimed in Claims 1 and
2 in which said block has three sides covered with hook fastener
material and three sides covered by loop fastener material.
4. A toy building block as claimed in Claim 3 in
which one side and two sides adjacent thereto and opposite
to each other are covered with hook material and a second
side and two sides adjacent thereto and opposite to each
other are covered with loop material.
5. A toy building block as claimed in Claims 1,2,
3 or 4 in which said block is a cube.
6. A toy building block as claimed in Claims 1,2,3
or 4 in which said block is rectangular with each dimension
a multiple of the smallest dimension.

Description

,J ~
This invention relates to toy building blocks.
In particular, it relates to improved building blocks with
surfaces which are capable of releasably fastening to one
another to form a more rigid structure.
Toy building blocks, usually in the form of cubes,
sometimes with letters or numbers and other indicia thereon,
have been used for many years as a source of amusement and
learning for small children. Cubic or ~ectangular blocks
can be built up to form a wall or an enclosure or some rudimentary
semblance of a house or other structureO
One of the problems with traditional blocks is
that they are easily knocked over by the uncoordinated hands
of small children. In addition, because the blocks have
no interlocking means, they do not form a very sturdy structure
and the size and shape of the st:ructures which can be created
are very limited.
It is the purpose of this invention ~o provide
a toy building block which has sides which will adhere together
so that they can be stacked into a composite s~ructure with
some rigidity so as to avoid the frustration associated with
traditional blocks.
This object and other advantages may be achieved
by the present invention which comprises a toy building block
of polygonal configuration having at least one side covered
by hook material and a second side covered by loop material,
the hook and loop material being adapted to fasten to one
another. Ideally, the polygonal configuration is rectangular
with three sides covered with hook and three sides with loop
material.

In one embodlment, one side plus two adjacent
sides which are opposite to each other are covered with hook
material and a second side with two adjacent sides which
are opposite to each other are covered with loop material.
The block may be cubic or rectangular in which
each side is equal or a multiple of the area of the smallest
side.
The invention may be better understood by the
following description of one embodiment thereof with reference
to the drawings in which;
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a block in accordance
with the present invention.
Figure 2 shows a small stack of the blocks assembled
and fastened together.
Figure 3 shows an alternative configuration of
the blocks of the present invention.
Figure i illustrates a single toy-building block
of cubic shape and dimensions. The block is covered by hook
and loop fastener material. This material, which commonly
goes by the name Velcro (Trade Mark), provides adhesion between
mating surfaces. One surface of the material has a series
of loops and the other surface has a series of hooks which
engage the loops to fasten two mating portions of the fastener
material together.
In the block illustrated in Figure 1, sides 2
and 4 are covered with loop material and side 6 is covered
with hook material. On the sides not visible, the side 8,
which is opposite side 2, is also loop material, and the
sides opposite 4 and the side opposite 6 are hook material.

2 ~ 6
In this illustrated embodiment, three sides of
a six sided cube are covered with hook material and the othe~
three sides with loop material.
Thus, as illustrated in Figure 2, the blocks may
be assembled with mating sides in juxtaposition to form a
wall or other structure which has some cohesion and rigidity.
Nevertheless, the structure may be dismantled by pulling
apart the adhering surfaces.
In Figure 3, similar blocks 10 and 12 are shown
assembled with a third block 14 which is not of the same
size and shape but is a multiple of the smaller blocks so
as to provide a greater span but still conform to the modular
pattern of the smaller blocks.
Thus, by means of building blocks having hook
and loop fastener material on various sides of each block,
a child may make a variety of structures without the frustration
of having them fall down or con~,tantly being knocked over
and may therefore construct larger, more elaborate structures
with greater satisfactionO A greater variety of structures
may be built with greater xigidity but may still be dismantled
and rearranged in a different way.
It will~ of course, be realized that modifications
and variations of the illustrated embodiment may be employed
without departing from the inventive concept herein.

Representative Drawing