Abstract:
A toy combination includes a plurality of children&#39;s building blocks, each of the building blocks having a ferromagnetic material, and a wand with at least a portion that is magnetic, the wand capable of attracting the plurality of children&#39;s building blocks. The wand may have end lower ends in a variety of configurations to pick up the building blocks.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED CASE 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 (e) to provisional application No. 61/740,382, filed on Dec. 20, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to building blocks and a wand that can be used to collect and/or pick up the building blocks. 
         [0003]    Building blocks have been known and used to keep children busy in imaginative play for years. The building blocks come in buckets or containers that usually include hundreds of the building blocks and the building blocks can be assembled in any number of configurations. Children have also been able to collect the building blocks in sets and for specific projects or buildings/characters. However, when the children are done, the building blocks are usually spread all over the room(s) and need to be picked up and put away. However, picking up each of the individual pieces can be time-consuming and can be a struggle to get the children to pick up their own toys. 
         [0004]    Thus, a way to collecting and picking up the building blocks is needed to assist usually tired and overworked parents and eliminate at least one argument in the household. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention is directed to a toy combination that includes a plurality of children&#39;s building blocks, each of the plurality of children&#39;s building blocks having a ferromagnetic material, and a wand having at least a portion that is magnetic, the wand capable of attracting the plurality of children&#39;s building blocks. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments, the ferromagnetic material is a plurality of ferromagnetic pieces. 
         [0007]    In some embodiments, the ferromagnetic material is in a powder form. 
         [0008]    In some embodiments, the ferromagnetic material is in a particulate form. 
         [0009]    In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a wand for attracting building blocks with a ferromagnetic material therein that a first end, the first end being a handle for the wand, a second end, the second end having at least a portion that is magnetic to attract the building blocks with the ferromagnetic material, and an extended portion extending between the first and second ends. 
         [0010]    In some embodiments, the second end of the wand has a generally disc-shaped configuration. 
         [0011]    In other embodiments, the second end of the wand is generally rectangular in cross section. 
         [0012]    Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings. 
         [0013]    It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present embodiments of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of one embodiment of a wand having magnetic properties and the building blocks that can be attracted to the wand according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cross section of a generic building block showing the ferromagnetic material therein; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2A  is a cross section of another generic building block showing the ferromagnetic material as a single piece of ferromagnetic material; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2B  is a cross section of another generic building block showing the ferromagnetic material as a two pieces of ferromagnetic material in the building block; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of another embodiment of a wand having magnetic properties and the building blocks that can be attracted to the wand according to the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of one embodiment of a wand having magnetic properties and the building blocks that can be attracted to the wand according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiment(s) of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of a wand  10  according to the present invention. The wand  10  has magnetic properties. The wand  10  is used in conjunction with building blocks  20 , which have a ferromagnetic material (See  FIGS. 2 ,  2 A, and  2 B). The wand  10  has a handle  12 , an extended portion  14  extending from the handle  12  to a magnetic portion  16  at the end of the wand  10 . While the three portions ( 12 , 14 , 16 ) of the wand  10  are explicitly illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the extended portion  14  and the magnetic portion  16  may appear to be a single, integral portion without the line  18 . The magnetic portion  16  may be as large (e.g., 50% of the length of the wand) or small (only at the end of the wand  10 ) as the user would like. In  FIG. 1 , the wand  10  has an oval cross section, but it could have any appropriate cross section, including for example, round, square, or simply elongated with a number of discrete sides, e.g., hexagonal, pentagonal, etc. 
         [0022]    The building blocks  20 , illustrated in cross section in  FIGS. 2 ,  2 A, and  2 B could be of any style, size, shape, configuration or from any maker, e.g., Legos, Mega Bloks, etc., with a ferromagnetic material  22  that is attracted to the wand  10 . The ferromagnetic material  22  may be of any appropriate materials for the purpose of inclusion in the building blocks  20 . The ferromagnetic material  22  may be molded in the building blocks in a number of ways. The ferromagnetic material may be included as a single piece as ferromagnetic material  22 ′ as in  FIG. 2A , or multiple pieces as ferromagnetic material  22 ″ as in  FIG. 2B . The ferromagnetic material  22  is depicted as a powder or smaller particles (particulates) in  FIG. 2 . The ferromagnetic materials  22 ,  22 ′ and  22 ″ should be sufficiently encapsulated in the building blocks  20  so as prevent the ferromagnetic material from being exposed to the children using the building blocks  20 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  illustrates a second embodiment of a wand  30  according to the present invention. The wand  30  has a handle  32  that is attached to an elongated magnetized portion  34 . The magnetized portion  34  may extend from a bottom end  36  all the way to the handle  32 , or just a portion thereof. The magnetized portion  34  section of wand  30  has a generally rectangular cross section, and the relative sizes of the small and larger axis may be of any ratio. Thus, the magnetized portion  34  may be thin and wide, or closer to a square shape. 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  illustrates yet another embodiment of a wand  40  according to the present invention. The wand  40  has a handle portion  42  that is relatively longer than the other embodiments and has a magnetized portion  44  at the end of the handle portion  42 . As illustrated, the magnetized portion  44  is a flat, disk-shaped portion. However, the magnetized portion  44  may be of any shape or configuration at the end of handle portion  42  and be within the scope of the present invention. For example, the magnetized portion  44  may be a spherical shape, a square or rectangular shape, etc. The wands  10 ,  30 , and  40  allow a parent or even a child to essentially “scoop-up” the building blocks  20  based on the magnetic attraction between the wands and the building blocks. The magnetized portions of the wands may be of any shape or configuration, limited only by weight (should allow for small children to be able to manipulate them), size (if they are too large, they may not fit in corners to get the blocks or be hard to store), and configuration (shapes with sharp corners may accidentally damage walls, furniture, or children). 
         [0025]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.