Tower House Assembly

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/557,397, entitled “Tower House Assembly,” filed Feb. 23, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Role-playing games can be experienced more vividly and concretely when physical scenarios are used. A scenario that is visible by all players can clarify player positions so that strategy can be devised and implemented.

Many available physical scenarios are either too loosely connected or too solidly connected. Loosely connected scenarios may be negatively impacted by player exuberance. Solidly connected scenarios are difficult to rearrange quickly to adapt to new situations.

Thus, what is needed is an assembly and method that can survive player horse-play while facilitating being reconfigured to adapt to new situations.

This disclosure is directed to apparatuses and methods of assembling models, such as a tower house assembly, for role-playing games. In embodiments, elements disclosed within may be reconfigured to provide essentially an infinite number of configurations. Floors may be reshaped. Interior and exterior walls may be added or removed, including sections with doors and windows. Multiple-story assemblies may be constructed with each additional story supported by the one below. Complex roofs may be constructed and placed atop each story. Such roofs and stories are easily removable to view the interior scene. However, when removed, the roofs may retain their shape because they are joined by biscuits. Floor sections may be similarly joined by biscuits. In addition, floor sections may be further connected by edge connectors about the perimeter of a floor section. Wall sections may be positioned at the junctions between floor sections by inserting a wall section tab into a slot in the biscuit joining two adjacent floor sections. Wall sections may be positioned at the perimeter of a floor section by inserting a wall section tab into a slot created by a floor section edge connector.

In this manner, a model for a role-playing game may be assembled and subsequently reconfigured as desired to adapt to different user-driven scenarios.

In the following, like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout the application. Reference numbers followed by a letter indicate a particular one of the same element within a drawing. For example, in, each elementrefers to a biscuit; however, biscuitsandinclude an additional letter to aid in describing how flooris assembled.

is an upper front left perspective view illustrating a tower house assembly. In, tower house assembly includes first and second stories, with a third storyplaced on top. A roofon third storyis made ofroof corner sections. A roofon first storyis made of roof corner sections, a roof interior corner section, and a roof dormer section.

Wallsof third storyare made of solid wall sections, and window wall sections, connected by straight wall connectorsand corner wall connectors. Wallsof first storyare made of solid wall sections, window wall sections, and a door wall section, connected by straight wall connectors, corner wall connectors, and an interior corner wall connector. Wallsof the second story, which is partially obscured by roof, include solid wall sectionconnected by straight wall connectorsand corner wall connectors.

A floorbetween wallsand wallsincludes straight floor connectorsand external corner connectors. A floorfor first storyincludes straight floor connectors, external corner connectors, and an interior corner connector.

is an upper rear left expanded perspective view illustrating aspects of tower house assemblyof. In, roofhas been removed from third storyto reveal interior aspects of floor, which includefloor sectionsas well as straight floor connectorsand external corner connectors. Wallsshow solid wall sectionsand window wall sectionsreceived within groovesof straight wall connectorsand groovesof corner wall connectors. Roofis shown partially disassembled, revealing that each corner roof sectionis provided with two biscuit slots. When two corner roof assembliesare brought together with a biscuitsandwiched between in slots, the pair of roof assembliesare reversibly connected. Roofmay be reassembled by joining the two corner roof sectionson the right side ofinto one-half of roofand then bringing both halves of rooftogether such that biscuitsconnect the two halves. Roofmay be assembled in a similar manner. Each roof piece, including interior corner roof sectionand dormer roof section, includes a roof biscuit sloton each exposed edge. Each biscuit slotis positioned to align with a biscuit slotin any other type of roof section. Thus, roof sections,,may be joined to each other arbitrarily as desired by the user using biscuits. In embodiments, corner sectionmay be itself composed of two mirror halves, and separable along the ridge from the roof peak to the outer corner into two pieces, each half a mirror image of the other and including another biscuit slotfor joining the two halve together with a biscuit.

is an upper expanded perspective view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly.illustrates the construction of a floorfromfloor sections, which in the embodiment are square, but may be other shapes in other embodiments, e.g., triangular, quadrilateral, hexagonal, and the like. Each floor sectionincludes a flat top sectionand a flat bottom sectionseparated by corner posts, such that a floor biscuit slotis provided on each edge side.

illustrates that two floor sectionsmay be joined by placing a biscuitin a floor biscuit slotand bringing floor sectionstogether in directionsSimilarly,illustrates that two floor sectionsmay be joined by placing a biscuitin a floor biscuit slotand bringing floor sectionstogether in directionsIn this manner, floormay be assembled. Similarly, floors of other configurations may be assembled by connecting floor sectionsin different configurations.

is an upper expanded perspective view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly.illustrates that floor sectionsandmay be joined using biscuitsleaving an empty corner. Then, biscuitsmay be provided in slots(obscured),Subsequently, floor sectionmay be moved in diagonal directionso that both biscuitsare received by slotsin floor sectionat which point flooris complete. In the embodiment, the rounded nature of biscuitsallows floor sectionto be installed in the empty corner, after the otherfloor sections have been joined, by moving floor sectionin the diagonal direction.

is an upper expanded perspective view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly. In, flooris provided about the perimeter with straight floor connectors(each having a straight rib) and external corner connectors(each having a bent rib). In the embodiment, the bend in bent ribis 90 degrees. In other embodiments, the bend may be modified to adapt to corresponding non −90-degree corners in a floor piece.

Straight floor connectorshave three main features: they provide a finished look to the edge (with straight ribpotentially having a texture); they further connect adjacent floor sections; and they provide notches or slots to receive tabs from wall sections and wall connectors. In, a floor sectionincludes slotsand a floor sectionincludes slotA straight floor connectorconnects floor sectionswhen a tabis inserted into slotand a tabis inserted into slotWith tabs,on either side of corner postsfloor sectionsare hindered from moving apart, though some movement may be permitted, as discussed within regardingand.

External corner connectors have two main features: they provide a finished look to the corner (with bent rib); and provide notches or slots to receive tabs from wall sections and wall connectors. A corner connector covers a single corner of a floor section. For example, the exposed outer corner of floor sectionis covered by corner connectorwhen a tabis inserted into slotand a tabis inserted into slotFloor sectionhas its exposed corner similarly covered by corner connector

is an expanded top view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly.further illustrates that after floor sectionsare brought together in directionstraight floor connectormay further connect floor sectionsby inserting tabinto the slot in floor sectionand inserting tabinto the slot in floor section

is a top view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly andis a top view of the section indicated in.andillustrate floorafter all straight floor connectorsand corner connectorshave been installed. As a result of the additions of connectorsand connectors, the perimeter of floorhas been provided with a series of wall tab slots, straight wall connector slots, and corner wall connector slots. Wall tab slotsare configured to receive tabs from any wall section,,and hold the section in position. Straight wall connector slotsare configured to receive tabs from straight wall connectorsand hold the connector in position. Corner wall connector slotsare configured to receive tabs from corner wall connectorsand hold the connector in position.

With regard, connector tabs,of floor connectorare not visible because they have been fully inserted into slotsuntil tab baseand tab baseof straight floor connectorabut floor sectionsrespectively. This leaves straight wall connector slotaccessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a straight wall connector. Similarly, connector tabs,of corner connectorare not visible because they have been fully inserted into slotsuntil tab baseand tab baseof corner connectorboth abut floor sectionat different edges. This leaves corner wall connector slotaccessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a corner wall connector. Wall tab slotis formed by elements of straight floor connectorand corner connectorWith tab baseof floor connectorabutting floor sectiona space is left between floor sectionand an extended sectionof flat ribWith tab baseof corner connectorabutting floor sectiona space is left between floor sectionand an extended sectionof bent ribThe two spaces combine to form wall tab slotwhich is configured to receive a wall tab. Slotand all slotshave a with. Such wall tab slotsmay be formed from adjacent pairs of any combination of straight floor connector, corner connector, or interior corner wall connector.

is an expanded top view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly. In, assembled flooris ready to be provided with: a corner wall connectorin each corner wall connector slot; and a straight wall connectorin each straight wall connector slot.

is an expanded top view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly. Inthe provisioning of slots,is complete. Thus provided, each straight wall connector groovefaces either another straight wall connector grooveor a corner wall connector groove. The pairs of facing grooves/, or/are configured to receive any of the wall sections,, or. In, each pair of facing grooves/or/is about to receive a wall section,, or. As wall sections,, anddescend between a pair of wall connectors, each tabwill enter a corresponding straight wall connector slot. Thus, groove pairs/or/, tabs, and straight wall connector slotscooperate to maintain each straight wall section in the designated position.

is an expanded top view illustrating aspects of a tower house assembly.is similar toexcept that the lower left floor sectionofis missing from. Thus, flooris missing the lower left corner floor sectionof floor. To adapt to the missing corner floor section, elements about the periphery of floorare shown to include an interior floor corner connector. The function of interior floor corner connectoris similar to a straight floor connector, although interior floor corner connectorincludes abend. After floor sectionsare brought together to form the corner, corner floor connectormay be moved in directionto further connect floor sectionsby inserting corner connector tabinto slotof floor sectionand inserting corner connector tabinto slotof floor section

andare front and side views, respectively, illustrating an exemplary wall section. Window wall sectionand door wall sectiondiffer from wall sectionin how the wall is depicted, but the geometry of each that govern its placement is the same, i.e., facesand tabof wall sectionare the same on wall sections,. Facesare configured to be received within groovesof straight wall connectorsand groovesof corner wall connectors.

andare top and perspective views, respectively, illustrating a straight floor connector. Straight floor connectorincludes an elongate flat ribthat remains exposed when connectoris fully inserted into floor section. Thus, the face of flat ribmay be decorated as desired. Tab bases,extend separately from flat rib, leaving a center notchbetween. From each tab base,, a connector tab,extends, respectively. Each connector tab includes a short side, a long side, and a curved side. Ribincludes extended sections,. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab.

When tabs,are fully inserted into adjacent floor sections, the space between tabs,measured between short sidesallows floor postsof the adjacent floor sections to be moved slightly apart for the reasons discussed with regard toand. Tabs,may be inserted into a floor section up to tab baseand tab base. With an edge of a floor sectionabutting tab baseand tab base, notcheffectively becomes straight wall connector slot. Straight wall connector slotis accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a straight wall connector.

When a pair of straight floor connectorsare inserted into floor sections adjacent to each other, an edge of one floor sectionabuts tab baseand an edge of the adjacent floor sectionabuts tab base, and wall tab slotsare formed by adjacent pairs of notches/or/as shown with regard to. Wall tab slotsare accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a wall section,, or.

One will recognize that the function of notches,, andcould be effectuated by forming notches,, andinto slots. The optional changes are indicated inby dotted lines: connecting long sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; connecting long sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; and connecting the top of tab baseto tab basefor turning notchinto a slot.

andare top and perspective views, respectively, illustrating an interior corner floor connector. Interior corner floor connectorincludes an elongate bent ribthat remains exposed when connectoris fully inserted into floor section. Thus, the face of bent ribmay be decorated as desired. Tab bases,extend separately from bent rib, leaving an L-shaped center notchbetween. From each tab base,, a connector tab,extends, respectively. Each connector tab includes a long side, a short side, and a curved side. Bent ribincludes extended sections,. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab. In the embodiment, the bend in bent ribis 90 degrees. In other embodiments, the bend may be modified to adapt to corresponding non −90-degree corners in a floor piece.

Tabs,may be inserted into a floor section up to tab baseand tab base. With an edge of a floor sectionabutting tab baseand an edge of a different floor sectionabutting tab base, notcheffectively becomes a corner wall connector slot. Corner wall connector slotis accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a corner wall connector.

When a pair of interior corner floor connectorsare inserted into floor corner areas adjacent to each other, an edge of floor sectionabuts tab baseof a first floor connectorand also abuts a tab baseof the other floor connector. As a result, a wall tab slotis formed by the adjacent pair of notches/. Wall tab slotsare accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a wall section,, or.

One will recognize that the function of notches,, andcould be effectuated by forming notches,, andinto slots. The optional changes are indicated inby dotted lines: connecting short sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; connecting short sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; and connecting the top of tab baseto tab basewith an L-element for turning notchinto an L-shaped slot.

andare top and perspective views, respectively, illustrating an exterior corner connector. Exterior corner connectorincludes an elongate bent ribthat remains exposed when connectoris fully inserted into floor section. Thus, the face of bent ribmay be decorated as desired. Tab bases,extend separately from bent rib, leaving an L-shaped center notchbetween. From each tab base,, a connector tab,extends, respectively. Each connector tab includes a long side, a short side, and a curved side. Bent ribincludes extended sections,. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab. A notchis formed between extended sectionand tab.

Tabs,may be inserted into a floor section up to tab baseand tab base. With an edge of a floor sectionabutting tab baseand a different edge of the same floor sectionabutting tab base, notcheffectively becomes a corner wall connector slot. Corner wall connector slotis accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a corner wall connector.

When a pair of exterior corner connectorsare inserted into floor corners adjacent to each other, an edge of floor sectionabuts tab baseof a first corner connectorand also abuts a tab baseof the other corner connector. As a result, a wall tab slotis formed by the adjacent pair of notches/. Wall tab slotsare accessible from above, which allows the subsequent insertion of a tabfrom a wall section,, or.

In embodiments, a wall tab slotmay be formed by an adjacent pair of notches from any combination of: straight floor connector; interior corner floor connector; or exterior corner connector. That is, if any of notches,,,,, orare side-by-side in an assembly, a wall tab slotis formed.

One will recognize that the function of notches,, andcould be effectuated by forming notches,, andinto slots. The optional changes are indicated inby dotted lines: connecting short sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; connecting short sideof connector tabto the end of extended sectionfor turning notchinto a slot; and connecting the top of tab baseto tab basewith an L-element for turning notchinto an L-shaped slot.

For embodiments in which notches,,,,,, andhave been formed into slots, tabof wall sections,, andmust have a notch taken out of the center to avoid an interference.

andare front and bottom views, respectively, illustrating a straight wall connector. Groovesfor receiving facesof wall sections,, orare provided on opposing sides of straight wall connector. Tabis shown to be centered between grooves.

andare front and bottom views, respectively, illustrating a corner wall connector. Groovesfor receiving facesof wall sections,, orare provided on adjacent sides of corner wall connector. Tabis shown to have an L-shape and to have its bend at approximately the center of the connector. A railseparates groovesand their common edge. One will realize that a second railand a third groovecould be added to create a 3-wall connector. Similarly, a 4-wall connector could be fashioned having four groovesdivided by four rails.

is an upper perspective view illustrating aspects of a partially-assembled tower house assembly. In, a roofincludes a roof dormer sectionbetween corner roof section. Roof dormer sectionis provided with a biscuithaving a center slotCenter slotis configured to accept a spacer tabof a flat spacer. When a floor sectionis joined to dormer roof sectionusing biscuitflat spacer tabmay be inserted into center slotof biscuituntil the top of flat spaceris level with the roof and floor sections and hides a gap between the floor section and the roof dormer section.

Similarly, roof corner sectionis provided with a biscuithaving a center slotCenter slotis accepts a spacer tabof a roof spacer. When another roof section is joined to corner roof sectionusing biscuitroof spacer tabmay be inserted into center slotof biscuituntil the top of roof spaceris level with the roof sections so that roof spacerhides a gap between the two roof sections.

is an upper perspective view illustrating aspects of a partially-assembled tower house assembly. In, adjacent floor sectionsare shown with a gap between them, the gap allowing flat spacer tabto be inserted into a center slot of a biscuit connecting the floor sections (see connector biscuits in-) and then lowered until the top of flat spaceris even with the floor sections.

is an upper perspective view illustrating aspects of a partially-assembled tower house assembly. Inadjacent floor sectionsare shown with a gap between them, the gap allowing a wall tabof wall sectionto be inserted into center slotof a biscuitconnecting the floor sections and then lowered until wall sectionis properly positioned.

In embodiments, both roof sections and floor sections may be separated slightly while still keeping the connecting biscuit and other connector engaged. Then, biscuitmay be manipulated to expose the slot, so that one of tabs,, ormay be inserted.

In an embodiment, elements may be symmetric about one or more planes so that they may be reversed about the z-axis or flipped about a horizontal axis and still be used in an intended position. For example: wall sections,,may be rotated 180 degrees about the z-axis and inserted into a slot(although doors and windows will follow the rotation); floor connectors,,may be rotated 180 degrees about a horizontal axis and function equally well. For straight floor connectorthe axis of rotation would be orthogonal to the flat exterior side of flat rib. For external corner floor connectorand internal corner floor connectorthe axis of rotation would be parallel to a plane defined by the right and left connector tabs and at a 45-degree angle bisecting the 90-degree angle of the bent rib,.

In embodiments, the following dimensions are provided as examples of sizes. One of skill will understand that sizes may be varied to adapt the teachings of this disclosure to their purposes. For example: biscuits, connector tabs, and spacer tabs may be configured to have a slip fit on each side; the slip fit may be 0.0025 in clearance per side; a wall tab slotmay be 0.880 in wide and 0.115 in deep; a half of a tab slotassociated with a corner connector, interior corner floor connector, or straight floor connector, may be 0.107 deep in by between 0.432 and 0.440 in wide; a biscuit may be 1.567 in by 0.656 in; a biscuit slot may be 0.886 by 0.100 in; a corner connector may be 1.255 in by 1.255 in with a separation of 0.314 in between tabs; floor connector tabs may be 0.145 in thick; corner connector tabs may be 0.850 along the side connected to the tab base; a straight floor connector may be 1.995 in long by 0.345 in high by 0.690 deep; a corner wall connector may be 0.503 in wide and 2.312 in tall in total with tabbeing 0.320 in tall; each leg on either side of the bend in tabas viewed from the bottom may be 0.090 in thick; groovesmay be 0.317 in wide; groovesmay be 0.335 in wide; floor sectionsmay be 2.000 in by 2.000 in by 0.394 in; slotmay be 0.150 in high; postsmay be 0.200 in by 0.200 in; flat spacers may be 0.080 in thick and 1.650 in wide; flat spacer tabs may be 0.850 in wide and 0.219 in high; roof biscuit slotsmay be 1.600 in wide by 0.150 high; wall sectionsmay be 1.680 wide by 0.346 in deep; and wall tabsmaybe 0.852 in wide by 0.317 in high by 0.090 in thick.

Consistent with the foregoing, in at least one case referred to herein as Example A-1, an apparatus comprises: a first flat section (e.g., floor section) including a first main side (e.g., the floor surface) and a first edge slot (e.g., slot) provided in a first edge side; and a first connector (e.g., connector,,) including a first rib (e.g., rib,,) having a first tab base section (e.g., tab base), a second tab base section (e.g., tab base), a first tab (e.g., tab,,) perpendicular to the first tab base section, a second tab (e.g., tab,,) perpendicular to the second tab base section, a first slot or notch (e.g., notch,,) between part of the first tab and the first rib, a second rib slot or notch between part of the second tab and the first rib, and a third rib slot or notch (e.g., notch,,) between the first tab base section and the second tab base section, wherein the first tab is received within the first edge slot such that the first tab base section is next to the first edge side, and the first, second, and third rib slots or notches are accessible from a first direction orthogonal to the first main side (e.g., from a direction going into the drawing in).

In another case referred to herein as Example A-2, the apparatus of Example A-1, or any other exemplary embodiment described herein, may further comprise: a second flat section including a second main side and a second edge slot provided in a second edge side, wherein: the first rib is an elongate rib (e.g., flat rib) and the first tab and the second tab both extend in a second direction (e.g., perpendicularly away from flat rib); and the second tab is received within the second edge slot such that the second tab base section is next to the second edge side.

In another case referred to herein as Example A-3, the apparatus of Example A-1, or any other exemplary embodiment described herein, may further comprise: a second flat section including a second main side and a second edge slot provided in a second edge side, wherein: the first rib (e.g., bent rib) includes a 90-degree bend between the first tab base section and the second tab base section; the first tab extends in a second direction from the first tab base section (e.g., tabextends perpendicularly away from tab base); the second tab extends in a third direction from the second tab base section (e.g., tabextends perpendicularly away from tab base) that is perpendicular to the second direction (because tab baseis at a 90 degree angle from tab base); and the second tab is received within the second edge slot such that the second tab base section is next to the second edge side (as described with regard to interior corner edge connectorin).