Abstract:
A play toy structure is provided wherein a plurality of elements is connected in fixed but modifiable relation to each other by a plurality of connectors. Each connector includes a pair of concentric loops joined by an interconnecting length of resilient and bendable material. The user may construct complex structures including action figures and may modify the structure by simply bending the connectors to achieve the desired result. A wide variety of fanciful structures may be assembled. Each of the structures may be readily disassembled and the elements stored conveniently.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/300,152 filed Nov. 19, 2002. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a play toy structure usable by children of ages 1-100. More particularly, the present invention provides a combination of structural elements and connectors for supporting those elements in fixed, but modifiable, positions. The connector is easily bendable so that the structural elements may be held in any desired angular and complex relationship to each other. The elements may be planar, bendable and/or cylindrical in shape (as well as other shapes).  
         [0003]     Arts, crafts and toy enthusiasts are constantly seeking new, sturdy, cost effective and easy to use play structures. The present invention provides an easy to use, inexpensive and sturdy play structure usable by persons of all ages.  
         [0004]     The prior art includes a variety of play toy structures, including, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,505,034; 3,747,262; 3,998,002; 5,487,690; 6,015,149 and 6,447,360. Those prior art structures include little or no adjustability of the connectors. In addition, most of the structural elements are simple, planar panels. In contrast, the present invention provides planar and non-planar elements, such as tubular and curved elements, and a play structure wherein an infinite number of angles may be easily formed between any two elements. Complex structures can be built with the present invention. Tubular elements may be connected together or connected with planar elements to form a wide range of fanciful structures.  
         [0005]     The connectors are preferably carbon steel wire and each includes first and second clamping sections, separated by an intermediate section of material. By varying the length of the intermediate section, variable spacing between elements is achieved, further increasing the number of possible structures.  
         [0006]     The present invention provides a simple yet effective and reliable play structure wherein multiple connectors may be used to connect multiple elements in a virtually unlimited number of various configurations. The structure is sturdy, inexpensive and its use is intuitive.  
         [0007]     A primary object of the invention is to provide a play toy structure wherein multiple elements are assembled and connected in a variety of angular relationships to each other.  
         [0008]     A further object of the invention is to provide a play toy structure which is readily and easily altered by the user to modify or vary the angular relationships between two or more elements supported by the connectors.  
         [0009]     Another object of the invention is to provide a very sturdy, economical play structure wherein the use of the elements is intuitive and extremely easy to use.  
         [0010]     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings wherein: 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a complex action figure according to the invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a fanciful toy structure according to the invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a single connector according to the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the connector of  FIG. 3  supporting first and second panels;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the connector and panels of  FIG. 4  showing how the connector may be bent;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a structure involving concentric tubular members according to the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  is a schematic illustration of a structure involving four hollow cylindrical members joined by four connectors according to the invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a generally S-shaped structure joined by five connectors according to the invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an alternate connector shown joining two panels;  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the alternate connector shown in  FIG. 9 ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  is a multi-panel structure according to the invention utilizing connectors as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 12  illustrates a convex and curved structure according to the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 13  illustrates a  3 -way connector according to the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 14  illustrates a  4 -way connector in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 15  is a section on the line  15 - 15  of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates a complex, three-dimensional action  FIG. 10  according to the present invention that is assembled using multiple elements  20  and multiple connectors  30 . As described in detail below, the action  FIG. 10  can be modified to assume different stances by simply bending some of the connectors  30 . Elements  20  are rigid, planar panels.  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  illustrates a fanciful toy structure  50  according to the invention, wherein an array of hollow, cylindrical elements  60  are joined and supported by multiple connectors  70 .  
         [0028]      FIGS. 3-5  illustrate a single connector  110  used to assemble the action  FIG. 10  of  FIG. 1 . A minor variation of connector  110  is used to assemble the fanciful structure  50  of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , connector  110  includes a first segment  120  of resilient material, such as carbon steel wire, formed into two adjacent and concentric loops  121  and  122 . The loops  121  and  122  are preferably adjacent (i.e. non co-planar) and preferably each has the same diameter as shown in  FIG. 15  so that a panel (or other element) may be slid between the loops easily. An additional advantage is that the loops grasp the panel without causing the panel to wrinkle, as is the case with a common paper clip. A common paper clip, in contrast to the present invention, uses co-planar loops which tend to wrinkle material to which they are attached. A second segment  130  of resilient material is formed into two adjacent and concentric loops  131  and  132 . An interconnecting length of resilient material  140  is formed between the first and second segments  120  and  130  for holding the segments  120  and  130  in a fixed angular relationship. The connector  110  has a total of four loops, two of which are utilized to hold a first element and the other two of which are utilized to hold a second element as illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The first segment  120  is a helical coil and extends angularly from tip  123  through approximately 630° to a point  124  at which the interconnecting length  140  begins. Similarly, second segment  130  is a helical coil and extends from its tip end  133  through an arc of approximately 630° to point  134  at which it begins to form a portion of the interconnecting length of resilient material  140 . The preferred angular length of first and second segments  120  and  130 , respectively, is between 540° and 720°. It is within the scope of the invention to use more than a double loop, i.e. angular lengths exceeding 720°, such as a triple loop of 1,080°, etc.  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  illustrates connector  110  supporting first and second rigid panels  160  and  170 . Panels  160  and  170  are rigid sheet material such as plastic, cardboard, heavy paper, metal or other such rigid sheet material. Panels  160  and  170  may have different thicknesses. Panel  160  is supported by first segment  120 . Edge  161  of panel  160  is simply inserted between loops of first segment  120  from any direction. The loops  121  and  122  serve to grasp and hold the panel firmly in position. Similarly, panel  170  is connected to second segment  130  by having the edge  171  slid between loops  131  and  132  of second segment  130 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 5  illustrates how the connector illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4  may simply be bent, causing a change in the angular relationship between panels  160  and  170 . For example, the angle A 1  illustrated in  FIG. 5  is 90° and the angle 2 A is also 90°. The user simply bends segments  120  and  130  toward each other which causes a bend to occur in the interconnecting length of resilient material  140 . The user may bend the connector  110  to form any desired angle in relative orientation between panels  160  and  170 .  
         [0032]     Connector  110  may be utilized to connect structural elements such as the hollow cylindrical elements  60  illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0033]      FIGS. 6-8  illustrate sample structures  180 , 185  and  190 , respectively, which are formed using an array of connectors  130  as shown in  FIGS. 3-5 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  illustrates an inner tubular member  181  connected to outer tubular member  182  by three connectors  130  to form structure  180 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  illustrates four tubular, or hollow cylindrical members  186 - 189 , joined by four connectors  130  to form structure  185 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flexible, rectangular panel  191  bent into a generally S-shaped configuration and joihed by five connectors  130 .  
         [0037]      FIGS. 9 and 10  illustrate an alternate connector  210  used to join panels  260 ,  270  at an angle A 3 . A first segment  220  of connector  210  includes adjacent and concentric loops  221 ,  222 . Second segment  230  includes adjacent and concentric loops  231 ,  232 . An inter-connecting length of resilient material  240  is between segments  220  and  230 . Angle A 3  may be changed by simply bending the segments  220 ,  230  either toward or away from each other. Each segment  220 ,  230  can alternately be rotated relative to the other. For example, segment  230  is rotatable about axis B-B.  
         [0038]      FIG. 11  illustrates a multi-panel structure  310  including four planar panels  311 - 314  joined by a plurality of connectors  320 . Each connector  320  is identical to connector  210  shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , except that the segments of connector  320  are elliptical rather than circular. Planar panels  311 , 312  and  313  are connected at their edges to each other and perpendicularly to each other. Panel  314  is perpendicular to panel  312  and is connected by moving it toward panel  312  as shown by arrows.  
         [0039]      FIG. 12  shows a convex, curved structure  410  in the shape of one-half of a football. Curved panels  411 , 412  are joined by connectors  420 . Connectors  420  are identical to connector  210  except that its segments are elliptical and the segments have been bent to achieve the convex surface of structure  410 .  
         [0040]      FIG. 13  illustrates an alternate embodiment wherein three way connector  510  includes three segments  520 ,  530  and  540  for holding three panels  560 ,  570  and  580 , respectively. Panels  560  and  580  each form 90° angles with panel  570 . Those angles are readily adjustable as described above.  
         [0041]      FIG. 14  illustrates a four way connector  610  having four segments  620 ,  630 ,  640  and  650  for holding four separate panels  660 ,  670 ,  680  and  690 , respectively. The angles between adjacent segments are quickly adjustable.  
         [0042]      FIG. 15  illustrates how loops  121  and  122  are adjacent, have the same diameter d 1  and d 2  and are not co-planar. This design allows elements to be easily slid into place between the loops.  
         [0043]     It is also within the scope of the invention to provide more than four segments in a single connector for supporting more than four panels. A number of n segments may be provided in a single connector for supporting n separate panels, where n is greater than one.  
         [0044]     It is significant to note that the connectors may have circular shaped segments such as  120  and  130  shown in  FIG. 3 , or elliptical or elongated segments, as shown in FIGS.  1 , 2 , 6 - 8  and  FIGS. 11-12 . For example, in  FIG. 2 , the narrower the tubular elements  60  are, the more elongated and less circular are the first and second segments of each connector.  
         [0045]     The structures may be readily disassembled and the components stored for reuse.  
         [0046]     The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best use the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications suited to the particular use contemplated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the following claims.