DIAGONAL TOY PIECES AND THEIR CONNECTION

Abstract: A diagonal toy piece (52) for a modular toy building set including an underlying support structure (4) for supporting the diagonal toy piece and other toy pieces. The diagonal toy piece is a generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, two outside edges (56) having respective outer ends (60) spaced from one another, and a diagonal edge (62) joining the outer ends of the outside edges. For mounting the diagonal toy piece on the underlying support structure, the bottom side of the toy piece has an attachment fitting (66) removably attachable to the support structure. The attachment fitting is preferably spaced from the diagonal edge of the toy piece. The diagonal toy piece can be joined with another, complementary diagonal toy piece via a connector on its diagonal edge which is releasably connectable to a cooperating connector on the complementary diagonal toy piece. The toy building set includes a plurality of generally planar toy pieces mountable on the support structure, including one or more of the diagonal toy pieces or composite toy pieces.

Description: DIAGONAL TOY PIECES AND THEIR CONNECTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to diagonal toy pieces for toy building sets, and their connection. More specifically, the invention relates to composite toy pieces formed from connected diagonal toy pieces, and toy building sets including such diagonal and composite toy pieces. Background of the Invention In U.S. Patent No. 5,427,530, a portable water pollution model and method are disclosed that provide an improved device and method for simulating water pollution. This invention includes a portable simulated watershed model, including a simulated body of water and a simulated water pollution source; a simulated water pollutant, placeable on selected portions of the model; a simulated best management practice for pollution minimization, placeable on selected portions of the model; and a fluid dispenser capable of simulating rain over the watershed model. This invention further includes a method for simulating water pollution including providing a portable simulated watershed model, providing a simulated water pollutant, placing the simulated pollutant on selected portions of the model, providing a simulated best management practice, placing the simulated practice on selected portions of the model, and simulating rain over the model. In U.S. Patent No. 5,417,603, a playing structure includes a plurality of playing structure modules connectable together to form an array having a generally continuous, visually fluid, three-dimensional playing surface. Each playing structure module has a reversible top to allow the topography of the playing surface to be changed. The top of each playing structure module has a different three-dimensional topography on either side thereof. Each playing structure module may have a different or the same top. The playing surfaces have a colored landscape painted thereon to depict lakes, countryside, roadways etc. and the like. The topography of the playing surfaces and the painted landscapes are designed so that certain symmetries exist. In particular, when a plurality of playing structure modules are assembled to form an array and the tops of the playing structure modules are arranged to provide a playing surface having a continuous, visually fluid landscape, any one of or all of the tops can be reversed along a diagonal and the landscape of the resulting playing surface will still be continuous and visually fluid. This of course increases the number of different playing surfaces which can be created with the playing structure modules. In U.S. Patent No. 5,348,478, a modular terrain board is provided having a plurality of sections or terrain cell plugs which are held in place by a baseboard assembly having a corresponding plurality of cell receiving sections or cells formed therein. The terrain cell plugs can be easily removed to allow for quick and accurate reconfiguration of the terrain model. The terrain board has means for representing buildings, rivers, lakes, roads, and other topographical features. In U.S. Patent No. 5,326,267, model terrain accessories that are positioned for use on the surface of a miniature landscape are fabricated from a permanently flexible material, preferably polyvinyl chloride. These flexible accessories are realistically contoured models representing roads, streams, stream banks, earthworks, and walls, or segments thereof. These flexible accessories will conform to changes in surface elevation on any miniature landscape on which they are assembled. The flexible accessories fit together easily in an infinite variety of individual and group configurations, and can be easily removed from the landscape surface and reused when desired. U.S. Patent No. 5,251,900 discloses a puzzle formed of a plurality of puzzle pieces which, when assembled, create a self-standing, three-dimensional building structure. The puzzle pieces are of irregular, polygonal shape, but all puzzle pieces are flat, planar blocks. The blocks are releasably interlocked about a common plane with first, edgewise, complementary dovetail joints. For interlocking puzzle walls that are transverse to one another, second, straight U-shape, edgewise, complementary tenon and mortise joints are further provided edgewisely of those corner blocks for frictional interlocking. Thus, no separate pin, bent units or the like are required to anchor the corner portions of the three dimensional structure. The self-standing, enclosing structure is continuous, and shows a continuous image on its external face. U.S. Patent No. 5,011,411 discloses a method making a non-repetitive modular design. The design is created by assembling a plurality of substantially identical modules to cover a surface. Each module has the shape of a polygon, especially a regular polygon, such as a square. The design of each module is created in the following manner. First, one selects a set of points, disposed symmetrically around the midpoint of a side of the polygon, and duplicates the same pattern of points for the remaining sides. Then, one connects every pair of points with a line, such that the lines so drawn form a pattern which is not symmetrical around any imaginary straight line joining any pair of vertices of the polygon. The spaces between lines, or between one or more lines and one or more sides of the polygon, can be filled in with a color, or with any other design element. To make the final design, one provides a plurality of such modules, and arranges them, with random orientations, to cover a surface. The design is non-repetitive, and any orientation of the individual modules will produce a valid design. The appearance of the design is varied by changing the orientation of one or more of the modules. In general, the appearance of the overall design is quite different from that of each of the modules. The modules made according to the invention can be used as floor tiles, or they can be otherwise secured permanently to a solid substrate for decorative purposes. In U.S. Patent No. 4,992,069, the plug-in building blocks of a building set have protruding connecting pins and corresponding mating connecting sockets. In order that bend-proof trusses can also be built, the building set has single-row connecting bars with two terminal pins, whose spacing from one another amounts to ^ times an integral multiple of the modulus, and girder elements, which at two bordering side faces each have a single row of pins with modular spacing and parallel to these side faces each have a projection set back by the thickness of the connecting bar. In this way, stable, aesthetically appealing trusses can be built with the building set. In U.S. Patent No. 4,988,322, a toy building set for building tree-like models comprises a trunk element and a branch element. The trunk element comprises a trunk portion and projecting branches having coupling means spaced from the trunk portion. The branch element comprises a plurality of connecting bars, at whose ends coupling bushings are provided. These bushings are formed with primary and secondary coupling means respectively, so that the branch elements may be interconnected and connected with the trunk elements. Preferably, said bars have additional branching portions whose ends are provided with bushings similar to the coupling bushings. U.S. Patent No. 4,978,301 discloses a construction set suitable and safe for children of various ages comprising construction pieces and connector strips. The construction pieces have a semirigid planar construction with opposing major sides which have hook fastener material disposed on one side and loop pile fastener material disposed on the other. The fastener materials are of the type which adhere when pressed together. An outer border or margin area of the construction pieces is kept free of the fastener materials, to provide a tab or hem for separating attached pieces. The construction pieces have various shapes and sizes with which man> designs and structures may be constructed. The connector strips have a similar construction to the construction pieces and are used to join adjacent construction pieces. The sides may include complementary colors and patterns. U.S. Patent No. 4,937,181 discloses an educational visual display system for teaching geography in which objects having some geographical or topographical significance, e.g., states of the Union, may be detachably affixed and arranged to demonstrate relationship between the objects. The system includes a primary background surface of iron velvet fabric material to which hook type fasteners may be detachably adhered, a plurality of primary objects having geographical significance and comprising a soft foam core with a layer of iron velvet fabric on one side and a plurality of hook type fasteners on the other side, the primary objects being arrangeable to represent in combination a larger geographical unit, and a plurality of secondary objects each having geographical or topographical significance and having hook type fasteners on one side thereof for being detachably affixable to the layer of iron velvet fabric of the primary objects. The iron velvet fabric and the hook type fasteners function as an attachment pair similar to hook and loop fasteners sold under the trade name VELCRO®. U.S. Patent No. 4,874,176 discloses a three-dimensional puzzle including puzzle pieces having discrete surfaces, at least one surface of which has a three- dimensional sculpted form whereby the sculpted surfaces in the aggregate upon assembly of the puzzle form a continuous three-dimensional pictorial representation. Abutting sides of the puzzle pieces may be interlocking or three-dimensional for conformal abutting relation with the sides of opposed puzzle pieces. Filler pieces are also provided underlying the puzzle pieces for elevating the sculpted surfaces of the puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces and filler pieces may be disposed on a base which may have an edge containment whereby non-interlocking puzzle and filler pieces may be used. The puzzle and filler pieces may be vertically interlocked against lateral movement and with respect to the base by projections received in corresponding recesses. In U.S. Patent No. 4,846,750, a base for a building set is provided with coupling studs for mounting building blocks having corresponding coupling elements. The base is further provided with cavities contoured to receive at least some of the building blocks. The cavities preferably extend from the side opposite the side provided with the coupling studs. U.S. Patent No. 4,743,202 discloses a toy building block having on one face thereof at least one row of mechanical coupling pins and opposite thereto mechanical counter-coupling tubes for coupling said toy building block to a similar toy building block either with the row of said coupling pins parallel to a corresponding row of coupling pins of said similar block or perpendicular to said corresponding row. The toy building block includes first and second current paths connected to first and second contact areas respectively designed to establish electrical connection with first and second contact areas in a similar block. The first and second contact areas are disposed in first and second angular sectors about adjacent coupling pins. The angular sectors are offset from each other and do not overlap regardless of whether the building block row of coupling pins is parallel or perpendicular to the row of coupling pins of the similar block. U.S. Patent No. 4,715,832 discloses a building element of the type which contains current-carrying components placed in the electrically insulated building block. There are provided at least two current-carrying components with respective contact areas which are mutually- co-axially positioned. The building blocks can be intercoupled mechanically while establishing electrical connection between the respective current rails in the cooperating building elements, without any risk of short circuiting between the two current-carrying components, no matter how the building blocks are intercoupled mechanically. U.S. Patent No. 4,685,884 discloses a multitude of parts of three-dimensional shape have full edges and also edge segments adapted for abutment with like edges and edge segments of other parts. The parts additionally include non-abutting irregular or curved edges which may represent terrain contour lines or the bank of a body of water. Inclined areas on the parts are adjacent the irregular or curved edges and represent sloped terrain which is continuous with like inclined areas on other abutting parts. The inclined area of a part may be dispensed with to provide a vertical surface to simulate an escarpment. U.S. Patent No. 4,556,393 discloses a building block having side walls and a perpendicular front with two rows of coupling pins on one side of the front face and counter-coupling tubes on the other side for mechanically coupling two building blocks by means of a clamping action. In each row, each second coupling pin has an electrically conducting surface, while the coupling pins lying between these are electrically insulating. One row of conducting pins is displaced in the direction of the rows by one coupling pin from the adjacent row. On the other side of the front wall a contact bar is arranged which is connected electrically with the conducting coupling pins of an associated row. The bar has a contact area for producing electrical contact with a row of conducting coupling pins of an adjacent, coupled building block. U.S. Patent No. 4,461,116 discloses a connecting member comprising an elastically deformable, tubular plug slitted at the ends for interconnecting pairs of building components, which have coupling holes to receive the ends of the connecting member. Apertures are in the plug wall between the slits. The plug wall is formed with lengthwise extending clamping wedges between the apertures. The clamping wedges have inclined faces which slope towards the ends of the connecting member and cause the connecting member to be compressed at the center and be expanded at the ends when it is pressed into a pair of co-axial holes in adjacent building components. The connecting member may in particular be formed with an annular flange and end beads which fit in corresponding annular grooves in a pair of adjacent components. U.S. Patent No. 4,245,400 discloses a three dimensional toy having a base member showing a housing development with structural profile members mounted thereon which are secured by profile locking elements for constructing elevations of roadways, lots and surrounding terrain. The profile members and locking elements also serve as retaining walls for soil which, when shaped to conform to the contours of the profile members and locking elements and provided with living plants defines the topography of a living housing development. U.S. Patent No. 4,185,410 discloses a suspension device for slideable and pivotal suspension of a base plate for toy building sets or base boards for visual planning panels. One face of the base plate or board is provided with rows of coupling studs including a plurality of studs uniformly spaced apart in both longitudinal and transverse directions, and the suspension device includes a gripping member having inwardly projecting guides adapted to slide along the base plate between a pair of rows of projections and to support the base plate when suspended on a wall. The device is further provided with a hinge member pivotally mounted on top of the gripping member, so as to provide for pivotal movements of the base plate relatively to a wall on which the base plate is mounted by means of the slideable suspension device. U.S. Patent No. 4,176,493 discloses a rotatable element comprising a base plate and a disc pivotally mounted in a circular aperture in the base plate. A socket for a pivot on the disc is located at the bottom of the plate and is supported thereon by ribs integral with the socket and with four side walls at the bottom of the base plate. Four identical apertures in the bottom of the base plate are formed by the socket, the ribs and the side walls. Four engagement studs are provided on the top face of the disc and extend beyond the periphery thereof. The underface of these studs provides for slideable contact with the top face of the base plate during the rotation of the disc. In U.S. Patent No. 3,981,506, a plurality of parallelepiped blocks having varying heights, planar sides and a curved upper surface are connected together by special pin and hole interlocks randomly spaced in predetermined locations to form a three dimensional puzzle with at least a curved upper surface. Two or more puzzles can be made by initially assembling the blocks into a polyhedron with six rectangular faces and sawing along a predetermined path to separate the polyhedron into individual puzzles. In U.S. Patent No. 3,742,620, there is provided an apparatus for demonstrating the inter-relationship of a landscape, and the contour lines representing said landscape in two- and three-dimensional representation. A transparent plate is supported over and free from the model and contour lines connecting points of the same height on the model are drawn upon the said plate using a substantially ablative transfer material, said contour lines are transferred onto transfer receiving material slabs and layers of the material corresponding to the contour lines are produced by cutting along the contour lines. The contour slabs are then stacked upon each other to give a three-dimensional representation of the model. In a further modification, the contour slabs are colored in such a manner that at least adjacent slabs are of a different color. Upon compression of the contour model by a transparent plate, a two-dimensional contour representation is again visible. U.S. Patent No. 3,667,153 discloses the coupling of two plate-shaped elements by means of an interlocking arrangement formed along the edges of the elements. The locking members of one element are in resilient engagement with identical locking members on the other element, the thickness of the individual locking members being half the thickness of the element, and the members being staggered alternately to one side and the other of a plane through the center of the edge parallel to the side faces of the element. U.S. Patent No. 3,597,875 discloses toy building blocks of similar shape but constructed to different modules. The inner protrusions of the smaller blocks coact with the outer projections of the larger blocks. In U.S. Patent No. 3,597,858, there is provided a plurality of building elements dimensionally related to conform to a selected scale having interlocking socket and beaded joint portions which may be assembled into a wide variety of composite structures including scale model buildings. The socket joint portion is slotted for insertion of the beaded joint portion and firmly grips the beaded joint portion to hold the elements in particular angular relation while at the same time permitting substantial forced rotational and sliding movement between elements. One of the elements is a flat panel which may be of a variety of geometric shapes and another of the elements is a connector of preselected lengths having plural joint portions arranged in angular spaced relation to one another about a common midpoint. Summary of the Invention From one aspect, the present invention provides a diagonal toy piece for a toy building set, preferably a modular toy building set including an underlying support structure, or substructure, for supporting the diagonal toy piece and other toy pieces. The diagonal toy piece is a generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, first and second outside edges having respective outer ends spaced from one another, and a diagonal edge joining the outer ends of the first and second outside edges. For mounting the diagonal toy piece on an underlying support structure, the bottom side of the toy piece has at least one attachment fitting removably attachable to the support structure. The attachment fitting is preferably spaced from the diagonal edge of the toy piece. The diagonal toy piece can be joined with another, complementary diagonal toy piece via a connector on its diagonal edge which is releasably connectable to a cooperating connector on the complementary diagonal toy piece. Preferably, the first and second outside edges of the diagonal toy piece diverge from one another toward their outer ends. The outside edges may meet one another at respective inner ends to give the toy piece a generally triangular shape. In embodiments where the diagonal toy piece is generally triangular, an attachment fitting removably attachable to the underlying support structure is preferably located at the apex of the triangle, where the inner ends of the outside edges meet. It is preferred that the bottom side of the diagonal toy piece has a further attachment fitting removably attachable to the underlying support structure, whereby the toy piece can be supported on the underlying support structure at two spaced apart points. The further attachment fitting, for example, may be located at the junction of the outside end of one of the outside edges and the diagonal edge. Advantageously, the further attachment fitting may be spaced from the connector on the diagonal edge, whereby the attachment fittings and the connector, in combination, provide three-point support for the diagonal toy piece, two points of support being provided by the underlying support structure, and the third point of support being provided by a complementary diagonal toy piece to which the diagonal toy piece is connected. It is particularly preferred that the diagonal toy piece has two connectors along its diagonal edge, releasably connectable to respective cooperating connectors on a complementary toy piece, the two connectors being located one at either end of the diagonal edge. In this way, the diagonal toy piece and the complementary diagonal toy piece can readily provide mutual support for one another. Whether the diagonal toy piece includes one, two, or even more connectors along its diagonal edge, each connector preferably comprises one of a hook and a socket to releasably engage with the other of a hook and a socket on the complementary diagonal toy piece. From another aspect, the invention provides a composite toy piece including a first diagonal toy piece and a second, complementary diagonal toy piece which can be joined along respective diagonal edges to form the composite toy piece. Each diagonal toy piece may include one or more of the features discussed above. From further aspects, the invention provides a playing structure, such as a toy building set, including a support structure and a plurality of generally planar toy pieces mountable on the support structure, including one or more of the diagonal toy pieces or composite toy pieces defined above. Brief Description of the Drawings The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a modular toy building set embodying the present invention; FIGURE 2 is an exploded isometric view of the modular toy building set of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of a column for use in a lattice support structure for the modular toy building set of FIGURE 1 ; FIGURE 4 is an isometric view of a frame that is combined with the column of FIGURE 3 to form the lattice support structure for the modular toy building set of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of a plurality of columns and frames such as is shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, combined to form a portion of lattice support structure for the modular toy building set of FIGURE 1 ; FIGURE 6 is an isometric view of two diagonal toy pieces for use in the modular toy building set of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 7 is an isometric view of a composite toy piece formed by connecting the two diagonal toy pieces of FIGURE 6; and FIGURE 8 is a bottom view of the composite toy piece of FIGURE 7. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, an embodiment of a modular toy building set 2 is disclosed that includes a lattice 4, a base 6, a terrain 8, and playing components 10. The base 6 includes tile bases 42 supporting an array of tiles 40, including a number of composite tiles according to the present invention, as explained in greater detail further below. Considering the overall structure of the toy building set when erected to form a landscape (for example as seen in FIGURE 1), the lattice 4 provides the underlying support structure which supports, and is removably attachable to, the base 6. In turn, the base 6 supports, and is removably attachable to the playing components 10. The lattice 4 also supports, and is removably attachable to the terrain 8. The modular aspects of the lattice 4, the base 6, the terrain 8, and the playing components 10 allows a multitude of different configurations to be created with the modular toy building set 2 while employing the same elements of the lattice 4, the base 6, the terrain 8, and playing components 10. The lattice 4, the base 6, the terrain 8, and the playing components 10 are preferably comprised of a synthetic polymer such as acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS). This synthetic polymer can be extruded or injection molded to form the lattice 4, the base 6, the terrain 8, and the playing components 10. Referring to FIGURES 3 and 5, a column 12 of the lattice 4 is shown in detail. The column 12 is substantially cubic in shape, but preferably has a height slightly greater than its width. The column 12 has four sides 14, a top (or upper portion) 16, and a bottom (or lower portion) 18. Protrusion connectors 20 are preferably located on the top 16 of the column 12. Additionally, while the protrusion connectors 20 are shown on the upper end of the top 16 of the column 12, protrusion connectors 20 could, instead, be receptive connectors provided that the component to which the top 16 of the column 12 is to be attached has the appropriate mating fitting thereon. Similarly, as discussed throughout the rest of this description, wherever a receptive connector (or conversely protrusion connector) is mentioned, a protrusion connector (or conversely a receptive connector) can be employed in its stead as long as complementary fittings are present on components to be removably attached. Bottom (or lower portion) 18 of column 12 preferably has a plurality of receptive connectors on its underside in the same configuration and orientation as the protrusion connectors 20 on the top 16 of the column 12. The protrusion connectors 20 on the top 16 and the receptive connectors on the bottom 18 of the column 12 allow for secure, removable vertical stacking of a plurality of the columns 12, in order to vary the height of the lattice 4. Receptive connectors also allow for attachment of the column 12 to the center portion and to the corners of a frame 32 (FIGURE 4), as discussed further below. While protrusion connectors 20 on top 16 of column 12 are substantially clover leaf in shape in FIGURES 3 and 5, the protrusion connectors discussed herein, as well as the receptive connectors, can be of any shape that provides removable attachment of two components with a secure connection when attached. Next, referring to FIGURES 4 and 5, the frame 32 is shown. Frame 32 is preferably parallelogram in shape with four outer walls 33 that form beams between adjacent corners, and is more preferably polyomino in shape and most preferably a square. A polyomino is a shape formed by connecting squares. These shapes permit multiple connecting patterns for the columns and the frames, permitting some columns to be skipped so that a roadway or other features can be added between columns, and the frames and columns will continue their regular repeating pattern. The arrangement thus gives the broadest amount of arrangements of the structures. By providing a plurality of frames, some of the frames of which are a polyomino of at least one more square in dimension than other of frames in said plurality, a user of the modular toy building set 2 can form wider openings under the terrain 8 for receiving roadways or other items. For example, the road frames 35, 37 shown in FIGURE 2 are either two times the size of the regular frames 32 (road frames 35 are two squares), or four times the size (road frames 37 are four squares). Some frames, because of the arrangement of the squares in the polyomino, may have more than four corners. For example, a three square polyomino could be in the shape of an "L". The four corners 34 of frame 32 each have a protrusion connector 36 thereon. Intersecting stabilizing beams 38 interconnect opposite corners 34. A center portion 39 is located at the intersection of the stabilizing beams 38 and preferably includes four clover leaf-shaped protrusion connectors 40. A single clover leaf- shaped protrusion in each corner 34 forms a protrusion connector 36. The diameter of the protrusion connector 36 is slightly greater than that of a receptive connector 26 of the lower portion 18 of the column 12 of FIGURE 3, for removable snap fitting of the column 12 of FIGURE 3 with the frame 32 of FIGURE 4, as shown in FIGURE 5. Referring to FIGURE 5, each column 12 can be attached to a center portion 39 of a frame 32 by snap fitting of receptive connectors on the lower portion 18 of the column 12 into the protrusion connectors 40 of the center portion 39 of the frame 32. Alternatively, the column 12 can be secured to up to four adjacent frames 32 by snap fitting one of the four receptive connectors on the lower portion 18 of the column 12 with one of the protrusion connectors 36 on a corner 34 of four different frames 32. One of the columns 12 can also be attached on top of another column 12 by snap fitting one of the receptive connectors on the bottom of one of the columns onto the protrusion connector on top of another column. In this manner, the columns can be stacked to form a structure of a lattice 4 having a desired height. The above-described modular columns 12 and frame 32, having varying heights and lengths, and facilitating both horizontal and vertical interconnection, allow for a multitude of lattice configurations having individual components orthogonally disposed with respect to each other. The resulting lattice 4 can thus provide an array of attachment nodes, provided by the upper portions of the columns 12 and/or the frames 32, to which the base 6 and/or the terrain 8 can be attached. In the preferred embodiments, these attachment nodes coincide with nodes of a regular orthogonal grid, preferably having polyomino shape grid elements, most preferably square grid elements. As can be best seen in FIGURE 1 , the base 6 provides the playing surface for the playing components 10, and is formed from an array of tiles 40 supported on tile bases 42, which in turn are supported on the lattice 4. Each tile base 42 has, on its underside, attachment fittings matable with attachment fittings on the attachment nodes of the underlying supporting lattice 4, to securely hold the tile bases in place. In turn, the tiles 40 may have attachment fittings on their underside matable with attachment fittings on a top side of the tile bases. Additionally or alternatively, the tiles 40 themselves may have attachment fittings on their underside matable with attachment fittings on the attachment nodes of the lattice 4, in order that they may be directly attached to and supported on the lattice 4. The tile bases 42, and the tiles 40, especially if directly mounted on the lattice 4, are preferably polyomino in shape, based on the same orthogonal, preferably square, grid elements as the attachment nodes of the lattice 4, so that they may be supported on four of the attachment nodes. In this way, in addition to providing excellent support for the base 6, a great deal of flexibility is possible in the placement of the tiles 40 and tile bases 42 on the underlying lattice 4. For instance, many if not all of the tiles and associated tile bases may be interchangeable with one another to provide a great variety of designs of the playing surface whilst utilizing the same components. A tile 40 supported on a tile base can cover all of the top of the tile base 42, for example when the tile 40 is to portray a section of grass, earth, water, or pavement that has a unitary depth. However, when a varied depth is desired, such as when a road, street, river bank, or lake shore is being portrayed, as shown in FIGURE 1 , tile 40a can cover only a portion of tile base 42 on which it is supported, such that tile 40a can portray a sidewalk, green belt, river bank, or lake edge having a height greater than the street, road, river, or lake depicted by the exposed portion of tile base 42. The tiles 40 can have patterns thereon, affixed by printing, painting, contrast plastic molding, photolithography or other methods known in the art. The patterns on patterned tiles 40 can represent, for example, sidewalks, paths, or roadways. Rotation of patterned tiles 40 in their horizontal plane on tile bases 42, or on the underlying lattice 4 when the tiles are mounted directly on the lattice, allows patterned tiles 40 to depict a multitude of different configurations of sidewalks, paths, or roadways. In the example illustrated in the FIGURES, a majority of the tiles 40 are formed in one piece and each present a consistent appearance on their upper surface. That is to say, each of these regular tiles is either a sidewalk-tile, a grass-tile, or has some other consistent surface configuration. However, to provide more flexibility to the configuration of the playing surface of the toy building set, a number of tiles are composite tiles 50a, 50b formed from two detachably connected diagonal tile pieces, described in more detail below. Diagonal tile pieces of a number of varied surface configurations may be provided with the toy building set, each being detachably connectable to any other diagonal piece. Since the two diagonal tile pieces of each composite toy piece may have different surface configurations, the use of composite tiles formed from a selected two of the diagonal pieces enables an even greater variety in design of the surface of a landscape built using the components of the toy building set. For instance, as seen in FIGURE 1, four composite tiles 50a can be arranged in a square to simulate a pond in the playing surface which has its banks skewed, in this example 45 degrees, relative to the edges of the regular tiles. This is accomplished by selecting as one half of each composite tile, a diagonal tile piece 52a designed to simulate water, and as the other half a diagonal tile piece 54a designed to simulate grass, paving or the like, to represent the bank of the pond. Other non-aligned features can be included in the toy structure, in a similar way, by appropriate selection of the diagonal tile pieces making up each composite tile. A further use for a composite tile is illustrated at the base of the terrain feature 8 in FIGURE 1. Here, composite tiles 50b are used to avoid the necessity of having the lower edge of the terrain follow the strict, orthogonal grid provided by the underlying support structure. One half of the composite tile 50b is a diagonal tile piece 52b selected to present a surface pattern, such as water, grass or the like, whereas the diagonal tile piece 54b forming the other half of the composite tile has a top surface carrying protrusion connectors 56 to which the terrain 8, or indeed any other building component having suitable mating attachment fittings, may be attached. In this way, the base of the hill formed by the terrain 8 is able to cut diagonally across the regular, orthogonal grid of attachment nodes provided by the underlying lattice 4, generating a more pleasing appearance. An exemplary composite tile 50 is described in greater detail with reference to FIGURES 6 and 7. The composite tile 50 is formed from two diagonal tile pieces 52,54. As seen most clearly in FIGURE 6, each diagonal tile piece 52,54 is generally triangular in shape, more specifically taking the form of a right-angled isosceles triangle in the present example. Thus, each diagonal tile piece has two straight, outside edges 56 of substantially equal length, which extend perpendicularly to one another and meet at respective inner ends at the right-angled apex 58 of the diagonal tile piece. Respective outer ends 60 of the two outside edges 56 are joined by a straight, diagonal edge 62, forming the hypotenuse of the triangle opposite the right- angled apex 58. On the underside 64 of each diagonal tile piece 52,54, two attachment fittings 66 are provided, each attachment fitting 66 being removably attachable to a mating attachment fitting on a respective attachment node of the underlying lattice support structure 4 of the toy building set 2, or on an underlying tile base 42. On each diagonal tile piece 52,54, one of the attachment fittings 66a is formed at the right- angled apex 58, where the two outside edges 56 meet. The other attachment fitting 66b is formed at the junction of one of the outside edges 56a and the diagonal edge 62 (at the left-hand end of the diagonal edge 62 of the rear diagonal tile 54, and the right-hand end of the diagonal edge 66 of the front diagonal tile 52 as seen in FIGURES 6 and 7). In the preferred form described here, the attachment fittings 66 of the diagonal tile pieces 52,54 take the form of receptive connectors engageable with the clover leaf protrusion connectors 20,36 on the upper portions 16 of columns 12 and/or the corners 34 of the frames 32 of the lattice 4. Specifically, in the example illustrated, the receptive connectors are square receptacles, providing a snap-fit with the clover leaf protrusion connectors. However, any suitably mating connectors may be used. To accommodate the receptive connector at the junction between the diagonal edge 62 and the outer end 60 of the one outside edge 56, the triangular shape of the diagonal tile piece is extended at that junction to form a square corner block 70. At the other end 72 of the diagonal edge 62, where the diagonal edge 62 meets the opposite outside edge 56, the triangular shape of each diagonal tile piece 52,54 is truncated, to be complementary in shape to the square corner block 70. In this way, when the two diagonal tile pieces 52,54 are brought together, with their respective diagonal edges 62 butted face to face, to form the composite tile 50, the square corner block 70 of each diagonal tile piece 52,54 interlocks with the truncated corner of the opposing diagonal tile 54,52 to give the composite tile 50 a continuous square perimeter edge, as seen in FIGURE 7. The two diagonal tile pieces 52,54 are joined to form the composite tile 50 by cooperating connectors 76,78, located one at either end of the diagonal edge 62 of each diagonal tile piece 52,54. Any of a number of cooperating connector constructions may be used to secure this connection. The exemplary connector arrangement illustrated is a hook 76 and socket 78 connector. More particularly, the square corner block 70 of each diagonal tile piece 52,54 has a D-shape extension 80 adjacent the diagonal edge 62, forming a receptive socket 78 between an edge 82 of the square corner block 70, a portion of the diagonal edge 62, and the D-shape extension 80. The top surface of the D-shape extension 80 is stepped down below the upper surface 84 of the tile piece 52,54, to provide a shoulder 86. The complementary, truncated corner 72 of each diagonal tile piece 52,54 has an undercut 88 which compliments the shoulder 86 provided by the D-shaped extension 80, and a tongue 90 which depends downwardly from the outer end of the undercut 88 to form a hook connector 76 engageable in the socket 78 formed by the D-shape extension 80. As illustrated in FIGURE 6, the two diagonal tile pieces 52,54 can be connected with one another by aligning the respective hook 76 and socket 78 connectors at either end of their respective diagonal edges 62, with the two tiles slightly skewed relative to one another so that the diagonal edges 62 can be butted against one another with the hook 76 on each tile piece 52,54 clear of its respective socket 78 on the other tile piece 54,52, and then twisting the tile pieces 52,54 relative to one another (as indicated by arrows 92) to bring them into the same plane and hence bring the respective hooks 76 and sockets 78 into engagement with one another, to securely, but detachably, connect the two diagonal tile pieces and form a square composite tile 50. As can best be seen in FIGURE 8, when mounted on the underlying support structure, whether it be a lattice 4, tile base 42 or other structure, with the described arrangement of attachment fittings and connectors, each diagonal tile piece 52,54 can be supported at three points: at two points where the attachment fittings 66a, 66b on its underside 64 are supported by the underlying support structure 4, and at its truncated corner 72 where the hook connector 76 is supported by the socket connector 78 of the adjacent diagonal tile piece of the composite tile 50. As can be seen in FIGURE 8, the socket 78 is connected to the opening for the attachment fitting 66b. When the tongue 90 of the hook connector 46 extends into the socket 78. the hook connector 76 becomes a portion of the side wall of the attachment fitting 66b. A protrusion connector 36 extends into the attachment fitting 66b, and frictionally engages three walls of the attachment fitting 66b and the hook connector 76. In this manner, the protrusion connector 36 helps to keep the diagonal tile pieces 52, 54 attached to form the composite tile 50. This connection can provide a very stable support for each diagonal tile piece 52,54, and hence the overall composite tile 50. As discussed above, an advantage when using the diagonal tile pieces 52,54 of the present invention to form composite tiles 50, is that it is possible to provide a number of different diagonal tile pieces 52,54 with a variety of upper surface 84 configurations. This enables the formation of composite tiles with different, selected surface configurations on the two halves. For example, the composite tile 50 illustrated in FIGURE 7 includes one diagonal tile piece 52 having a plane top surface 84a, and the other diagonal tile piece 54 is provided with a series of protrusion connectors 96 on its top surface 98, for attachment to a further tile piece, terrain piece 8, or other component of the playing structure overlying it and having appropriate mating attachment fittings. Since the rear tile piece 54, as seen in FIGURES 6 and 7 is intended to be covered by a further component, such as terrain 8, it can have a frame-like form as shown, without detracting from the aesthetic appearance of the completed toy landscape. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 1. A diagonal toy piece for a playing structure, the toy piece comprising: a generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, two outside edges having respective outer ends spaced from one another, and a diagonal edge joining the outer ends of the outside edges; the bottom side having an attachment fitting spaced from the diagonal edge and removably attachable to an underlying support structure of the playing structure; and the diagonal edge having a connector associated therewith detachably connectable to a cooperating connector on a complementary diagonal toy piece. 2. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 1, wherein the first and second outside edges diverge from one another towards their outer ends. 3. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 2, wherein the outside edges meet one another at respective inner ends, whereby the toy piece is generally triangular in shape. 4. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 3, wherein the at least one attachment fitting on the bottom side of the generally planar member is located at the junction of the inner ends of the outside edges. 5. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 4, comprising a further attachment fitting on the bottom side of the generally planar member, the further attachment fitting being removably attachable to the underlying support structure and being located at the junction of the outside end of one of the outside edges and the diagonal edge. 6. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 1, comprising a further attachment fitting on the bottom side of the generally planar member removably attachable to the underlying support structure of the playing structure and being located adjacent the connector associated with the diagonal edge. 7. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 1, comprising two connectors associated with the diagonal edge, each connector detachably connectable to a respective cooperating connector on a complementary diagonal toy piece, the two connectors being located one at either end of the diagonal edge. 8. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 7, comprising a further attachment fitting on the bottom side of the generally planar member, the further attachment fitting being removably attachable to the underlying support structure of the playing structure, and being located at the junction of the outer end of one of the outside edges and the diagonal edge, adjacent one of the connectors. 9. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 1, wherein the connector associated with the diagonal edge is one of a hook and a socket to connectably engage with the other of a hook and a socket on the complementary diagonal toy piece. 10. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 9, comprising two connectors associated with the diagonal edge, each connector detachably connectable to a respective one of two cooperating connectors on a complementary diagonal toy piece, the connectors being located at respective opposite ends of the diagonal edge, one of the connectors being a hook and the other of the connectors being a socket to connectably engage respective cooperating socket and hook connectors on the complementary diagonal toy piece. 11. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 10, comprising a further attachment fitting on the bottom side of the generally planar member removably attachable to the underlying support structure of the playing structure, the further attachment fitting being located adjacent the socket connector on the diagonal edge. 12. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 1, wherein the shape of the generally planar member is based on a regular polygonal grid element, the first and second outside edges coinciding with two respective diverging sides of the grid element, and the diagonal edge extending across the grid element. 13. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 12, wherein the grid element on which the shape of the generally planar member is based is a polyomino. 14. The diagonal toy piece of Claim 13, wherein the grid element is a square. 15. A composite toy piece for a playing structure, comprising: a first diagonal toy piece comprising a first generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side of the first planar member having an attachment fitting removably attachable to an underlying support structure of the playing structure; a second, complementary diagonal toy piece comprising a second generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side of the second planar member having an attachment fitting removably attachable to the underlying support structure of the playing structure; the first and second planar members having respective first and second complementary diagonal edges buttable against one another to form the composite toy piece; and at least one connector on the diagonal face of each diagonal toy piece, respective connectors on the first and second diagonal toy pieces cooperating to releasably connect the first and second toy pieces together with their abutment edges butted against one another. 16. The composite toy piece of Claim 15, wherein the top side of the first diagonal toy piece and the top side of the second, complementary diagonal toy piece have different surface configurations. 17. The composite toy piece of Claim 15, wherein each diagonal toy piece has two outside edges which diverge from one another toward respective outer ends of the outside edges, the diagonal edge of each diagonal toy piece joining the outer ends of the outside edges. 18. The composite toy piece of Claim 17, wherein the outside edges of each diagonal toy piece meet one another at respective inner ends, whereby each diagonal toy piece is generally triangular in shape, the diagonal toy pieces being of the same dimensions, whereby the composite toy piece is square. 19. The composite toy piece of Claim 18, wherein the attachment fitting on the bottom side of each diagonal toy piece is located at the junction of the inner ends of the first and second outside edges. 20. The composite toy piece of Claim 15, comprising a further attachment fitting on the bottom side of each diagonal toy piece, each further attachment fitting being releasably attachable to the underlying support structure and being located at the junction of the outside end of one of the outside edges .and the diagonal edge of the respective diagonal toy piece, the further attachment fitting on one diagonal toy piece being located at the opposite end of the abutted diagonal edges to the further attachment fitting on the other diagonal toy piece. 21. The composite toy piece of Claim 15, wherein each diagonal toy piece comprises two connectors associated with its diagonal edge, one at either end of the diagonal edge, the connectors of one diagonal toy piece being releasably connectable to the connectors of the other diagonal toy piece. 22. The composite toy piece of Claim 21, wherein respective pairs of engaged connectors on the diagonal edges comprise a hook on one of the diagonal toy pieces and a socket on the other diagonal toy piece, the hook and socket being engageable with one another to connect the two diagonal pieces. 23. The composite toy piece of Claim 22, wherein the connectors on the diagonal edge of each diagonal toy piece comprise a hook connector at one end of the diagonal edge and a socket connector at the other end of the diagonal edge. 24. The composite toy piece of Claim 15, wherein the shape of each diagonal toy piece is based on a regular polygonal grid element, the first and second outside edges of each diagonal toy piece coinciding with respective diverging sides of the grid element, and the diagonal edge of each diagonal toy piece extending across the grid element, when connected to form the composite toy piece, the two diagonal toy pieces together coinciding with a complete grid element. 25. The composite toy piece of Claim 24, wherein the grid element is a polyomino. 26. The composite toy piece of Claim 24, wherein the grid element is a square. 27. A diagonal toy piece for a playing structure, the toy piece comprising: a generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, and generally triangular in shape with two orthogonal outside edges of substantially equal length which meet at respective inner ends and having respective outer ends spaced from one another, and a diagonal edge joining the outer ends of the outside edges; the bottom side having two attachment fittings removably attachable to an underlying support structure of the playing structure, one of the attachment fittings located at the junction of the inner ends of the outside edges, and the other attachment fitting located at the junction of one of the outside edges and the diagonal edge; and the diagonal edge having two connectors associated therewith, one of the connectors being a socket connector located adjacent the attachment fitting at the junction of said one of the outside edges and the diagonal edge, and the other connector being a hook connector located at the other end of the diagonal edge, the socket and hook connectors being releasably connectable to respective mating hook and socket connectors on a complementary diagonal toy piece. 28. A composite toy piece comprising two diagonal toy pieces according to Claim 27 connected to one another with their respective diagonal edges butted against one another and respective hook a socket connectors engaged, one of the diagonal toy pieces having a surface on its top side with a configuration different from a configuration of a surface on the top side of the other diagonal toy piece. 29. A playing structure comprising: a support structure; and a plurality of generally planar toy pieces, each toy piece having a top side and a bottom side, and at least one attachment fitting on the bottom side of each toy piece for attachment to the support structure; at least one of the toy pieces being a composite toy piece comprising: a first diagonal toy piece including a first generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side of the first planar member having at least one attachment fitting removably attachable to an underlying support structure of the playing structure; a second, complementary diagonal toy piece including a second generally planar member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side of the second planar member having at least one attachment fitting removably attachable to the underlying support structure of the playing structure; the first and second planar members having respective first and second complementary diagonal edges buttable against one another to form the composite toy piece; and at least one connector on the abutment face of each diagonal toy piece, respective connectors on the first and second toy pieces cooperating to releasably connect the first and second toy pieces together with their abutment edges butted against one another. 30. The playing structure of Claim 29, wherein the generally planar toy pieces are polygonal in shape, each one corresponding in shape to a polygonal grid element of a regular polygonal grid, the outside edges of each diagonal toy piece coinciding with sides of a respective one of the polygonal grid elements of the regular polygonal grid, and the diagonal edge of each diagonal toy piece extending across the respective polygonal grid element. 31. The playing structure of Claim 30, wherein the support structure has a plurality of attachment nodes arranged to coincide with the nodes of the regular polygonal grid, each attachment node having at least one attachment fitting thereon for attachment to a corresponding attachment fitting on the bottom side of a toy piece. 32. The playing structure of Claim 31, wherein the grid element of the regular polygonal grid are polyominos. 33. The playing structure of Claim 32, wherein the grid elements are square.

Inventors: CYRUS PETER, CYRUS, PETER
Applicants: CYRUS PETER, PARVIA CORP, CYRUS, PETER, PARVIA CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A63H33
IPC codes: A63H33