Patent Publication Number: US-10307685-B2

Title: Assembly-toy-chassis building element

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/716,036 filed May 19, 2015. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention generally pertains to building elements for assembly toys and is particularly directed to an improved chassis building element for use in assembling a toy vehicle. Assembly toys are assembled by combining various building elements of a set of compatible toy building elements, such as a set of compatible LEGO® blocks, or a set of compatible SNAPO® blocks. 
     An assembly-toy chassis building element may or may not be adapted to be coupled to wheels in order to assemble a toy vehicle having wheels, such as a car, a train or a trailer. Examples of other types of toy vehicles that can be assembled using a chassis building element include, but are not limited to, toy boats and toy airplanes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides an assembly-toy building element for a toy vehicle in combination with an intermediate building element, the assembly-toy building element, comprising: a chassis element having a top side, two side walls, two end walls and compatible coupling components disposed at opposite ends of the chassis element for enabling the chassis element to be rotatably coupled to another said chassis element; wherein at least one end wall of the chassis element is disposed and configured for connection to an intermediate building element that is adapted, either alone or in combination with at least one other intermediate building element, to effect a non-rotatable end-to-end connection with another said chassis element; wherein the at least one end wall of the chassis element is configured to be non-rotatably connected to the at least one end wall of the another said chassis element by a said intermediate building element that is adapted to be non-rotatably connected to the at least one end wall of said chassis element when said intermediate building element is disposed between the chassis element and said another chassis element with the at least one end wall of the chassis element abutting an end wall of said intermediate building element; and wherein said intermediate building element is configured to cover coupled coupling components of the chassis element and the another chassis element when the intermediate element is non-rotatably connected to the at least one end wall of each chassis element. 
     Additional features of the invention are described with reference to the detailed description of various exemplary embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an assembly-toy chassis building element according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the chassis building element of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the chassis building element of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the chassis building element of  FIG. 1 , showing one side wall of the chassis element being interconnected with a particular wall of another building element of the toy vehicle; and also showing a coupling component at one end of the chassis element being rotatably coupled to a compatible coupling component at one end of another said chassis element. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the toy vehicle chassis element of  FIG. 1 , showing one side wall of the chassis element being interconnected with one side wall of another said chassis element. 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of the toy vehicle chassis element of  FIG. 1 , showing one end of the chassis element being interconnected with one end of another said chassis element. 
         FIG. 7  is side view of an exemplary toy car assembled by interconnecting the vehicle-chassis building element of  FIG. 1  with compatible building elements. 
         FIG. 8  is top view of an exemplary toy car of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a side-side connection of two chassis elements that is alternative to the side-to side connection of two chassis elements shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a non-rotatable end-to-end connection of two chassis elements that is alternative to the non-rotatable end-to-end connection of two chassis elements shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 3 , an exemplary embodiment of a chassis element  12  for a toy vehicle  10  includes a top side  14 , two side walls  16  on opposite sides of the chassis element  12 , a first coupling component  18  disposed at one end of the chassis element  12 , a second compatible coupling component  20  disposed at the opposite end of the chassis element  12 , and a plurality of protrusions  22  on the top side  14  of the chassis element  12 . In this exemplary embodiment the chassis element  12  is for a toy trailer. In other embodiments (not shown) the chassis element can be used for assembling other toy vehicles, such as, but not limited to, a toy airplane or a toy boat. 
     Each side wall  16  is configured for being releasably interconnected with a particular wall of another building element  24  of the toy vehicle  10 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . Each side wall  16  is so configured by including a tongue  26  and a compatible groove  28 . The entry portion of the groove  28  has a predetermined width. In some alternative embodiments, only one side wall is so configured. 
     The tongue  26  has an indented portion and a distal portion, with the distal portion having a predominant width that is greater than the width of the indented portion and greater than the given predominant width of the groove entry opening for interconnecting with a groove  28  in the particular wall of the other toy building element  24  that has an entry opening and a base region that have widths like those of the groove  28  in the side wall  16  of the chassis element  12 , so that the distal portion of the tongue  26  of the side wall  16  can reside in the base region of the groove in the particular wall of the other toy building element  24 . 
     The groove  28  can be interconnected with a tongue in the particular wall of another toy building element, such as the toy building element  24 , when the tongue in the particular wall of the other toy building element has a distal-portion-predominant width like the predominant width of the tongue  26  in the side wall  16  of the chassis element  12 . 
     The other toy building element  24  can be interconnected to another building element (not shown) of the toy or be configured other than as shown in  FIG. 4  to look like another building element of the toy, such as a fender of a car, a wing of an airplane, or an outrigger of a boat. 
     The first coupling component  18  includes a post at one end of the chassis element  12 ; and the compatible second coupling component  20  includes an opening in an extended portion at the other end of the chassis element  12  for receiving the post so that one end of the chassis element  12  can be rotatably coupled by a compatible coupling component to one end of a like chassis element  12 ′, as also shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     Preferably, the compatible coupling components  18 ,  20  are so shaped and dimensioned that another toy building element (not shown) can be disposed over and thereby cover a coupled pair of coupling components  18 ,  20 . In one exemplary embodiment, each of the respective end walls  29  of the chassis element  12  includes at least one groove  30  that is compatible with the tongues  26  in other building elements in a set of compatible toy building elements to enable a common square block (such as toy building element  24 ) to be so interconnected to the end wall  29  as to cover the coupling components  18 ,  20  and thereby hide them from view; which is desirable when wanting to build toy cars that do not look like trains or look like tow vehicles. 
     In another embodiment (not shown), the respective end walls  29  of the chassis element  12  includes both at least one tongue and at least one groove that is compatible with the tongues  26  and  28  in other building elements in a set of compatible toy building elements. 
     The protrusions  22  on the top side  14  of the chassis element  12  are configured for being releasably interconnected with one or more other building elements of the toy vehicle. Such other building elements of the toy vehicle are interconnected with the chassis element  12  by being stacked or snapped onto the protrusions  22 . Preferably, the protrusions  22  are wide and have a tapered top portion to facilitate assembly of the other building elements onto the protrusions  22 . In some embodiments, the protrusions  22  are integral to the top side  14  of the chassis element  12 . When the chassis element  12  is made by injection molding, the protrusions  22  are formed simultaneously in the same mold as the basic chassis element  12 . In some alternative embodiments (not shown), there are no protrusions on the top side of the chassis element. 
     In some embodiments, the chassis element  12  includes at least one axle  31  that is adapted for being coupled to wheels  32 . 
     In order to assemble a wider assembly-toy vehicle-chassis element  36 , one side wall  16  of the chassis element  12  is interconnected by an intermediate building element  33  with one side wall  16 ′ of another chassis element  12 ′, as shown in  FIG. 5 . Particular side walls of the intermediate building element  33  include tongues and grooves (not shown) that are compatible with the tongues  26  and grooves  28  in the side walls  16 ,  16 ′ of the chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′. 
     For assembling a wider toy vehicle  36  in accordance with the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , the axles  31  protrude from the sides of the chassis building elements  12 ,  12 ′ by less than one-half the width of the intermediate toy building element  33  that is adapted for coupling one side of the chassis element  12  to a side wall  16 ′ of another chassis element  12 ′ so that when wheels  32  are not engaged by the axles  31  on the sides of the respective chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′ that are to be interconnected, the one side wall  16  of the chassis element  12  can be connected to the side wall  16 ′ of the other chassis element  12 ′ by the intermediate building element  33 , to thereby assemble a wider toy vehicle. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , in order to assemble a longer toy vehicle  42 , one end wall  29  of one chassis element  12  is non-rotatably connected to the end wall  29 ′ of another chassis element  12  by an intermediate building element  44 , which has tongues (not shown) in its end walls that are compatible with the grooves  30  in the end walls  29 ,  29 ′ of the two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′, and by sliding the intermediate building element  44  downward in the grooves  30  in order to cover a coupled pair of compatible coupling components  18 ,  20 ′ of the respective chassis building elements  12 ,  12 ′. 
     In another alternative embodiment (not shown), the features shown in and described with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6  can be combined to assemble a toy vehicle that is both wider and longer than the toy vehicle shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
     The chassis element  12  described above with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 6  can be used to assemble a toy car, a toy train or a toy trailer. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  show an exemplary toy car  50  that is assembled by interconnecting the chassis element  12  with compatible building elements  52 ,  53 ,  54 ,  56 ,  56 ′. The side walls and the end walls of the building elements  52 ,  53 ,  54 ,  56 ,  56 ′ include tongues and grooves that are compatible with the tongues  26  and grooves  28  in the side walls  16  of the chassis element  12 . The bottoms of the building elements  52 ,  53 ,  54 ,  56 ,  56 ′ are open so that they can be disposed onto the protrusions  22  of the chassis element  12 . 
     Facing end walls of the building elements  52 ,  53 , which have an approximately square lateral shape, are interconnected tongue-in-groove and disposed onto protrusions  22  of the chassis element  12 , with the building element  52  being disposed on one end protrusions of the chassis element  12 . 
     One end wall of the building element  54  is interconnected tongue-in-groove to the exposed end wall of the building element  52  and disposed to cover one coupling component  20  of the chassis element  12  by sliding the building element  54  downward within both a groove in the exposed end wall of the building element  52  and an aligned groove  30  in the end wall  29  of the chassis element  12 . The approximately triangular lateral shape of the building element  54  provides a pointed feature at one end of the toy vehicle  50 . For other toy vehicles, the building element has another lateral shape. 
     The higher end wall of one building element  56 , which has a sloped-roof shape, is interconnected tongue-in-groove to the exposed end wall of the building element  53  and disposed onto the other end protrusion  22  of the chassis element  12 . 
     The higher end wall of the building element  56 ′, which also has a sloped-roof shape, is interconnected tongue-in-groove with the lower end wall in the aforementioned building element  56  having a sloped-roof shape, and disposed to cover the post of the coupling component  18  of the chassis element  12  by sliding the other building element  56 ′ downward within a groove in the lower end wall of the one sloped-roof building element  56  having a sloped-roof shape. The sloped-roof shape of the building elements  56 ,  56 ′ provides a sloped-roof feature at one end of the toy vehicle  50 . For other toy vehicles, the building elements  56 ,  56 ′ have other shapes. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , an alternative exemplary embodiment of a wider toy vehicle  60  is assembled by utilizing the protrusions  22 ,  22 ′ on the top side of two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′ to effect a side-to-side confection of the two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′. A protrusion  22  on the top side of one chassis element  12  is configured for being interconnected beneath an intermediate building element  62  that is adapted to be connected to another intermediate building element  44  that is connected to still another intermediate building element  64  that is interconnected on top of a protrusion  22 ′ on the top side of the other chassis element  12 ′, to thereby effect the side-to-side connection of the two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′. In this alternative exemplary embodiment, the tongue and groove connectors on the side walls of the chassis elements, as shown in  FIG. 3 , are not utilized, and can be omitted from the chassis elements, if desired. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , an alternative exemplary embodiment of a longer toy vehicle  70  is assembled by utilizing the protrusions  22 ,  22 ′ on the top side of two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′ to effect a non-rotatable end-to-end connection of the two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′. An end protrusion on the top side of one chassis element  12  is configured for being interconnected beneath an intermediate building element  72  that is adapted to be non-rotatably connected to another intermediate building element  44  that is non-rotatably connected to still another intermediate building element  74  that is interconnected on top of an end protrusion on the top side of the other chassis element  12 ′, to thereby effect the non-rotatable end-to-end connection of the two chassis elements  12 ,  12 ′. In this alternative exemplary embodiment, the tongue and groove connectors on the end walls of the chassis elements, as shown in  FIG. 3 , are not utilized, and can be omitted from the chassis elements, if desired. 
     In another alternative embodiment (not shown), the features shown in and described with reference to  FIGS. 9 and 10  can be combined to assemble a toy vehicle that is both wider and longer than the toy vehicle shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
     The benefits specifically stated herein do not necessarily apply to every conceivable embodiment of the invention. Further, such stated benefits of the invention are only examples and should not be construed as the only benefits of the invention. 
     While the above description contains many specificities, these specificities are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as examples of the preferred embodiments described herein. Other variations are possible and the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments described herein but rather by the claims and their legal equivalents. The claims require no implicit limitations. Each claim is to be construed explicitly as stated, or by its legal equivalent.