Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02823253 2015-01-06
ILLUMINANT BUILDING BLOCK KIT WITH ELECTRIC
CONNECTION STRUCTURE AND ITS POWER SUPPLY SEAT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a light-emitting building block
kit, and
in particular to the light-emitting building block kit having an electric
connection
module received therein and when multiple building block kits are connected to
each
other, the electric connection modules are connected to transfer power to the
illuminant assemblies.
2. The Prior Arts
Although modern toys provide more vivid entertainment than traditional toys
with the fast development of the technology and industry some traditional
toys, such
as building blocks, still attract many parents and children. Playing the
building blocks
can improve hand-eye coordination of young children. Moreover, the building
blocks
can be assembled and connected in many ways. Children can use building blocks
in
various shapes to create anything and everything to stimulate children's
imagination
and provides both entertaining and educational effects. Therefore, the
building block
is still one of most popular toys.
Although the conventional building blocks provide entertainment and stimulate
creativity, the building blocks can be improved to attract more children to
play. One of
schemes to attract attention of the children is to provide a light-emitting
building
block. The improved building blocks can illuminate when they are connected to
each
other. However, the building blocks are toy with simple assembly. A positive
and
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practical solution needs to be developed to avoid to complicate the structure
and but
still to allow the building block to illuminate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting building
block
kit having an illuminant assembly and an electric connection module received
therein.
When the building block kits are connected to each other, the electric
connection
modules form a circuit to supply power to the illuminant assemblies, thereby
enhancing entertainment.
In order to achieve this, a building block kit according to the present
invention
comprises:
a hollow and light transmittable building block having a top, a bottom, at
least
two annular wedge portions extended from the top of the building block and at
least
two wedge holes corresponding to the wedge portions defmed in the bottom of
the
building block;
at least two electric connection modules mounted respectively in the building
block, each electric connection module having a positive conducting piece and
a
negative conducting pieces are separated from the positive conducting piece,
the
positive conducting piece having a first positive contact portion and a second
positive
contact portion disposed at two ends thereof, and the negative conducting
piece
having a first negative contact portion and a second negative contact portion,
and
disposed at two ends thereof;
at least one illuminant assembly disposed in the building block and
electrically
connected with the positive and negative contact portions of at least one of
=
the electric connection modules; and
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a circuit board disposed in the building block and the illuminant assembly
assembled on the circuit board;
wherein each electric connection module includes a fixing column, the positive
and the negative conducting pieces are mounted on the fixing column and the
fixing
column separates the positive conducting piece from the negative conducting
piece,
the fixing column passes through the circuit board, the first positive contact
portion
and the second positive contact portion of the positive conducting piece are
respectively located at two sides of the circuit board, so that the first
positive contact
portion is disposed in the wedge portion and the second positive contact
portion is
disposed in the wedge hole, the first negative contact portion and the second
negative
contact portion of the negative conducting piece are respectively located at
the two
sides of the circuit board, so that the first negative contact portion is
disposed in the
wedge portion and the second negative contact portion is disposed in the wedge
hole.
When the building blocks are connected to each other by inserting the wedge
portions of one building block into the wedge holes of another building block,
the first
positive and negative contact portions in the wedge portions are in contact
with the
second positive and negative contact portions in the wedge holes so as to form
a
circuit. When one of the building blocks is electrically connected to a power
supply or
a power supply is built in the building block, all of the illuminant
assemblies in the
connected building blocks are turned on, which increase the visual attraction
while
stacking the building block kits.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a power supply seat for
supplying power to the building block kits.
In order to achieve this, the hollow power supply according to the present
invention seat has at least one wedge portion corresponding to the wedge hole
of the
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building block disposed on a top thereof. The wedge portion of the power
supply seat
has a positive electrode sheet and a negative electrode sheet. . The positive
electrode
sheet and the negative electrode sheet are electrically connected with at
least one
battery so as to provide power to the second positive contact portion and the
second
negative contact portion disposed in the wedge hole of the building block,
respectively.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a hollow power
supply seat comprising at least one wedge portion corresponding to the wedge
hole of
the building block as described above, wherein the wedge portion is disposed
on a top
of the power supply seat, the wedge portion comprises a positive electrode
sheet and a
negative electrode sheet disposed therein, the positive electrode sheet and
the negative
electrode sheet are respectively connected with at least one battery, the
positive and
negative electrode sheets respectively correspond to the second positive and
negative
contact portions in the wedge hole at the bottom of the building block.
The electric power of the battery disposed in the power supply seat is
transferred
to the electric connection modules through the positive and negative electrode
sheets
so as to illuminate the illuminant assemblies in the building block.
By the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof
with reference to the attached drawings, the present invention will be
apparent. The
attached drawings recite the embodiments of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a light-emitting building block kit in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is another perspective view showing the building block kit in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;
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Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the building block kit according to
the
first embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 4A to 4C show various connections between electric connection modules
and Light Emitting Diodes of the building block kits according to the present
invention;
Figure 5 is a cross sectional view showing the building block kits and a power
supply seat according to the first embodiment of the present invention
connected to
each other;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a building block kit according to a
second embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 7 is a cross sectional view showing the building block kits according
to
the second embodiment of the present invention connected to each other;
Figure 8 is a perspective view showing a building block kit according to a
third
embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 9 is a perspective view showing a building block kit according to a
fourth
embodiment of the present invention.
The elements referenced numbers is listed as following:
10,10' building block 11 wedge portion 12 wedge hole
20 fixing column 201 upper fixing portion 202 lower fixing portion
21 positive conducting piece 211 first positive contact portion
212 second positive contact portion 22 negative conducting piece
221 first negative contact portion 222 second negative contact portion
31 LED 32 circuit board 33 wires
34 switch 40 power supply seat 41 wedge portion
42 positive electrode sheet 43 negative electrode sheet 50 fixing column
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51 positive conducting piece 511 top contact pin 512 bottom contact
pin
521 first negative contact portion 522 second negative contact portion
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to the drawings, the embodiments in accordance with the present
invention are recited. The similar referenced numbers represent similar
elements.
With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, a light-emitting building block kit according
to a
first embodiment of the present invention comprises a hollow and light
transmittable
building block 10. The rectangular building block 10 has at least two wedge
portions
11 extended from a top of the building block 10 and at least two wedge holes
12
defined in a bottom of the building block 10. The size and the position of the
wedge
holes 12 are corresponding to the wedge portions 11. The building block 10
according
to the first embodiment has four wedge portions 11 and four wedge holes 12
arranged
in a symmetric form of a 4 by 4 matrix.
As shown in Fig. 3, at least two electric connection modules are disposed in
the
building block 10. The number of the electric connection modules is the same
as the
number of the wedge portions 11, and therefore the building block 10 according
to the
first embodiment has four electric connection modules received therein. Each
electric
connection module has an insulating fixing column 20, a positive conducting
piece 21
disposed inside and extended through the fixing column 20 and a negative
conducting
piece 22 disposed outside of the fixing column 20. The fixing column 20
according to
the first embodiment includes an upper fixing portion 201 and a lower fixing
portion
202 disposed at an upper portion and a lower portion thereof, respectively. An
upper
end of the fixing column 20 penetrates through the top of the building block
10 and
the disk-shaped upper fixing portion 201 of the fixing column 20 is contacted
with an
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inner side of the top of the building block 10. The lower fixing portion 202
of the
fixing column 20 extends laterally from an outer surface of the lower portion
of the
fixing column 20 so as to fix the negative conducting piece 22.
The positive conducting piece 21 has a first positive contact portion 211 and
a
second positive contact portion 212 disposed on two ends thereof,
respectively.
According to the first embodiment, the positive conducting piece 21 is a thin
rod and
is axially disposed in the fixing column 20. The first positive contact
portion 211 of
the positive conducting piece 21 is a flat plate and located on a top the
fixing column
20. The second positive contact portion 212 is shaped in a spiral and
protruded out of
a bottom of the fixing column 20 and located in the wedge hole 12.
The negative conducting piece 22 has a first negative contact portion 221 and
a
second negative contact portion 222 disposed on two ends thereof,
respectively.
According to the first embodiment, the negative conducting piece 22 is an
elongated
strip and the first negative contact portion 221 is shaped in a ring-shaped
bowl having
a central hole. The ring-shaped bowl of the first negative contact portion 221
includes
an inner wall, an outer wall and a bottom between the inner and outer walls.
The outer
wall of the first negative contact portion 221 corresponds to and is contacted
with an
inside of the wedge portion 11. The inner wall of the first negative contact
portion 221
defines and extends along the central hole of the ring-shaped bowl, and is
corresponding to and sleeved on the upper end of the fixing column 20.
Therefore, the
upper end of the fixing column 20 is fixed. The second negative contact
portion 222
of the negative conducting piece 22 is a flexible bent strip and located in
the wedge
hole 12 and close to the inner periphery of the wedge hole 12.
The building block 10 has at least one illuminant assembly located therein and
the illuminant assembly is electrically connected with the positive and
negative
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conducting pieces 21, 22. According to the first embodiment, the illuminant
assembly
includes a Light Emitting Diode 31 (LED) which is connected to a circuit board
32.
The circuit board 32 has more than one set of wires 33 connected to the
positive and
negative conducting pieces 21, 22 of the electric connection modules. One of
the
preferred connecting way as shown in Fig. 4A, the positive and the negative
conducting pieces 21, 22 are connected in parallel with the LED 31 on the
circuit
board 32. Therefore, when the positive and negative conducting pieces 21, 22
of any
one of the electric connection modules are connected with the power source,
the LED
31 on the circuit board 32 is turned on. The fixing column 20 passes through
the
circuit board 32.
The amount of the LED 31 and the connecting way of the positive conducting
pieces 21, the negative conducting pieces 22 and the LED 31 can also be
altered as
described hereinafter.
As shown in Fig. 4B, each of the positive and negative conducting pieces 21,
22
of the electric connection modules is individually connected with one LED 31.
For
example, the building block 10 according to the first embodiment includes four
electric connection modules and four LEDs 31 disposed in the building block
10.
When any of the electric connection modules in the building block 10 is
connected
with the power source, the corresponding LED 31 is turned on.
As shown in Fig. 4C, the positive and negative conducting pieces 21, 22 of the
= electric connection modules are connected parallelly in pairs and each
pair is
connected with one LED 31. For example, the four electric connection modules
of the
building block 10 according to the first embodiment are arranged in two pairs
and the
= building block 10 has two LEDs 31. In each pair of the electric
connection modules,
the two positive conducting pieces 21 are connected in parallel, the two
negative
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conducting pieces 22 are connected in parallel and then the positive and
negative
conducting pieces 21, 22 and the LED 31 are connected in series. When the
positive
and negative conducting pieces 21, 22 of one of the electric connection
modules in the
building block 10 are connected with the power source, the corresponding LED
31 is
turned on, but the LED 31 connected with the other pair of the electric
connection
module is not turned on.
In order to provide the power to the illuminant assemblies, one of the
building
blocks 10 may has a power source mounted therein. The building block 10
includes at
least one battery (not shown in the drawing) received therein and the battery
may be
mounted to the circuit board 32. The building block 10 further includes a
switch 34 to
control the connection between the LED 31, the wires 33 and the battery. The
switch
34 may be disposed at an underside of the circuit board 32 and located
corresponding
to one of the wedge holes 12 in the bottom of the building block 10.
Therefore, the
user can operate the switch 34 through the wedge hole 12.
In addition to using the battery disposed in the building block 10 to supply
power,
the building block 10 may connect with a power supply seat 40 having a
structure
corresponding to the wedging structures and the electric connection modules of
the
building block 10. Referring to Fig. 5, the power supply seat 40 includes at
least
onewedge portion 41 corresponding to the wedge holes 12 of the building block
10.
Each wedge portion 41 of the power supply seat 40 has a positive electrode
sheet 42
and a negative electrode sheet 43 disposed therein. The positive electrode
sheet 42
and the negative electrode sheet 43 have structures the same as those of the
first
positive and negative contact portions 211, 221 of the wedge portion 11 of the
building block 10. The positive electrode sheet 42 and the negative electrode
sheet 43
are respectively connected to at least one battery (not shown in the
drawings). When
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the wedge holes 12 of the building blocks 10 are engaged with the wedge
portions 41
of the power supply seat 40, the second positive and negative contact portions
212,
222 in the wedge hole 12 are electrically contacted with the positive and
negative
electrode sheets 42, 43 of the power supply seat 40, respectively. Therefore,
the power
supply seat 40 provides power to the LEDs 31 in the building block 10 by the
positive
and negative electrode sheets 42, 43 of the power supply seat 40 and the
electric
connection modules of the building block 10.
When one building block 10 is connected with another building block 10', the
building block 10 is not only received power from the power supply seat 40,
but also
supplies power to another building block 10' through the electric connection
modules
so that the power supply seat 40 provides power to another building block 10'
through
the building block 10.
Via aforementioned structures, when the building blocks 10 and 10' are
connected to each other, the wedge portions 11 of one building block 10 are
engaged
with the wedge holes 12 of another building block 10' and the electric
connection
modules of the building blocks 10 and 10' are electrically connected. Then the
LEDs
31 can be turned on to provide amusement during interlocking the building
block kits
and visual attraction after interlocking the building block kits.
Figs. 6 and 7 show a building block 10 according to a second embodiment of the
present invention, wherein the differences between the first and second
embodiments
are the forms of the positive and negative conducting pieces of the electric
connection
module.
The positive conducting piece 51 and the negative conducting piece 52 of the
building block 10 according to the second embodiment are connected to a hollow
fixing column 50. The positive conducting piece 51 includes a top contact pin
511, a
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bottom contact pin 512 and a spring 513. Each of the top and bottom contact
pins 511,
512 includes a first end and a second end. The first ends of the top and
bottom contact
pins 511, 512 are projected out of two ends of the fixing column 50 to form
the first
and second positive contact portions, respectively. The spring 513 is
compressed
between the second ends of the top and bottom contact pins 511, 512.
Therefore, the
top and bottom contact pins 511, 512 not only electrically connect to each
other, but
also are movable by compressing the spring 513. The spring 513 is electrically
connected with the LED 31 on the circuit board 32.
The negative conducting piece 52 includes a first negative contact portion 521
disposed at a first end thereof The first negative contact portion 521 is a
conical coil
and the diameter of the first negative contact portion 521 is gradually
reduced from
top to bottom thereof. The top contact pin 511 is disposed inside the first
negative
contact portion 521. A second end of the negative conducting piece 52 is bent
to form
a flexible second negative contact portion 522 which is electrically connected
with the
LED 31 on the circuit board 32.
The connections of the positive and negative conducting pieces 51, 52 and the
LEDs 31 are the same as those disclosed in Figs. 4A to 4C.
The same as the first embodiment, when the building blocks 10 according to the
second embodiment are connected to each other, the wedge portions 11 of one
building block 10 are engaged with the wedge holes 12 of another building
block 10',
the bottom contact pin 512 and the second negative contact portion 522 of
upper
building block 10' are respectively connected with the top contact pin 511 and
the first
negative contact portion 521 of the lower building block 10'. Therefore, the
circuit is
formed to turn on the corresponding LEDs 31 therein.
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The building blocks 10 can be rectangular cubes or another shapes of cubes and
the number of the wedge portions can also be adjusted. As shown in Figs. 8 and
9, the
building blocks 10 are rectangular cube having two and eight wedge portions 11
on
the top thereof, respectively. The structure inside the building block 10 is
the same as
the previous embodiments.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the
preferred
embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety
of
modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the
present invention.
