Interlocking Building Block System

The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/319,141, filed May 17, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates to an interlocking building block system, and more specifically to an interlocking building block system that facilitates convenient assembly and disassembly of building blocks using dovetail recesses and connectors.

Children typically play with building blocks to build creative structures and models. Building blocks are known to develop engineering mindset and creativity in children when the children are developing their motor skills. Adults, especially engineers, also use building blocks to build miniature models of engineering projects on which the adults may be working.

Conventional building block systems include building blocks of small sizes that may be difficult to assemble or dissemble. For example, children or adults may face inconvenience in building a structure when they may be required to assemble a substantial count of small-sized building blocks. Further, it may be challenging to build a large structure, for example, a beam or a large-sized arch, using small-sized conventional building blocks.

Thus, there is a need for a building block system that may facilitate a user in conveniently building large-sized structures.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

The present disclosure is directed towards an interlocking building block system that may enable a user to build different types of model structures. Examples of model structures include, but are not limited to, beams, arches, tunnels, model skyscrapers, pyramids, curves, and/or the like. The system may include a plurality of components that may be configured to removably attach with each other to enable the user build the model structures. In some aspects, the system may include a plurality of building blocks and a plurality of elongated connectors that may enable connection between the building blocks. Specifically, each building block may include a plurality of faces, and one or more faces may include dovetail recesses. A dovetail recess may be disposed at a face center portion and may have a length equivalent to a face length. The user may connect two building blocks (e.g., a first building block and a second building block) by placing the building blocks in proximity to each other such that respective recesses may be adjacent to each other, and inserting the elongated connector through the adjacent recesses.

The elongated connector may be of different shapes and dimensions to enable the user to securely connect the first building block and the second building block. For example, in one exemplary aspect, the elongated connector may include a first portion and a second portion that may be connected to each other at an intersection line/portion (or a “throat portion”) and may have mirrored shapes. The first portion and the second portion may be dovetail shaped so that the user may easily insert the elongated connector into dovetail recesses of adjacent building blocks to enable connection between the building blocks.

In some aspects, each of the first portion and the second portion may include an elongated wall and a pair of side walls that may be slanted at a predefined angle relative to the elongated wall (or an elongated connector lateral axis). The elongated wall may be “peaked” at an elongated center portion. Specifically, the elongated wall may include an elongated ridge that may be disposed at the elongated center portion and may have a length equivalent to an elongated wall length. When the user inserts the elongated connector into adjacent recesses, the elongated ridge may touch recess surface (e.g., a recess elongated wall), and remaining elongated wall surface or portions may not touch the recess surface. Since only the elongated ridge or the “peak” touches the recess elongated wall, friction between moving parts (e.g., the elongated wall and the recess elongated wall) may be significantly reduced when the user inserts (or removes) the elongated connector into (or from) the recesses. The elongated ridge may also enable robust and secure connection between adjacent building blocks.

In other aspects, the elongated connector may have a tapered width. Specifically, each of the first portion and the second portion may include a proximal end and a distal end, and a proximal end width may be greater than a distal end width. In this case, the dovetail recesses too may have tapered widths. The user may insert the elongated connector into the adjacent recesses via the distal end. Elongated connector tapered width may ensure that the elongated connector does not “slide out” from the recesses when the elongated connector may be inserted into the recesses. The tapered width may also enable the user to build strong and sturdy model structures, for example, for engineering models.

In yet another aspect, the elongated wall may have a curved shape along an elongated wall length (e.g., shaped as a “banana”). When the user inserts the elongated connector into the adjacent recesses, the curve-shaped elongated wall may “lock” against recess side walls, thus enabling secure connection between adjacent building blocks.

In yet another aspect, the elongated wall may be slanted “inwards” towards the intersection line or the throat portion, such that a center point of the elongated wall is closer to the intersection line than side edges of the elongated wall. Such a slanted structure of the elongated wall ensures that when the user inserts the elongated connector into a recess, only the side edges (specifically, the “peaked” or “ridged” parts of the side edges) of the elongated wall touch the recess surface (e.g., the recess elongated wall) and not the other portions of the elongated wall. This significantly reduces the friction between the moving parts (e.g., the elongated wall and the recess elongated wall) when the user inserts (or removes) the elongated connector into (or from) the recess.

In further aspects, the elongated connector described above may include a through-hole located in the elongated wall. The through-hole may extend through an entire height of the elongated connector. In one exemplary aspect, a shape of the through-hole may be equivalent to a shape of the elongated wall. For example, if the elongated wall is rectangular, the through-hole may also be rectangular.

The through-hole may enhance the ease of manufacturing of the elongated connector. For example, the through-hole may facilitate in efficient injection molding of the elongated connector. Furthermore, the through-hole may have chamfered edges. The “chamfered” through-hole may provide flexibility to the elongated connector (like a spring). For example, the chamfered through-hole may enable squeezing or bending of the elongated connector when the elongated connector is being inserted into a recess of a building block, thereby enabling the user to conveniently insert (or remove) the elongated connector into (or from) the recess.

Furthermore, the intersection line or the throat portion that connects the first and second portions of the elongated connector may have a non-zero width. In an exemplary aspect, the width of the throat portion may be in a range of 1-20% of a height of the elongated connector. The non-zero width or the dimensions of the throat portion can be used to control the interface between two adjoining or adjacent building blocks. A small throat portion (e.g., having a width tending to zero or of 1% of the elongated connector's height) will create an interference, and a large throat portion (e.g., having a width of 5-20% of the elongated connector's height) will create a gap between the two adjoining or adjacent building blocks. The width of the throat portion influences the rigidity of a string of assembled building blocks in a straight line. For example, a small throat portion reduces the amount of bending in a long line of assembled building blocks.

In further aspects, the interlocking building block system may include additional components, e.g., cubic blocks, filler blocks, etc., which may enable the user to build the model structures. In additional aspects, the building blocks may be of different shapes and dimensions. For example, the building blocks may have a shape of a cube or a cuboid that may enable the user to build linear model structures or beams. As another example, the building blocks may have a shape of a triangle or a truncated pyramid that may enable the user to build curves or arches.

In an exemplary aspect, when the building block is shaped as a cube (or a cuboid), two or four corners of the cube may include circular through-holes that may extend through an entire length of the cube. These circular through-holes may facilitate in efficient injection molding of the building block. Furthermore, in an exemplary aspect, the cube may include a rectangular through-hole located at a center portion of a building block face. The rectangular through-hole may also extend through an entire length of the cube. Similar to the circular through-holes, the rectangular through-hole may also facilitate in efficient injection molding of the building block. In some aspects, one or more dovetail recesses described above may be disposed parallel to the rectangular through-hole, and one or more dovetail recesses may be disposed perpendicular to the rectangular through-hole.

In further aspects, when the building block is shaped as a triangle or a truncated pyramid, one or more corners of the truncated pyramid may include cavities (e.g., circular cavities). These cavities may also facilitate in efficient injection molding of the building block. In this case also, the truncated pyramid may include a rectangular through-hole located at a center portion of a building block face, which may extend through an entire height of the truncated pyramid.

The present disclosure discloses an interlocking building block system that enables the user to build large model structures. The system includes large-sized building blocks that may be securely connected or “interlocked” with each other by using elongated connectors. The elongated connectors enable the user to stably connect large-sized building blocks, which may not be possible using conventional building blocks systems that may use small-sized building blocks and may not use connectors to interlock the building blocks. Further, the elongated connector including the elongated ridge, tapered width, slanted and/or curved elongated wall may enable secure and robust connection between adjacent building blocks, thus assisting the user in building large-sized model structures.

These and other advantages of the present disclosure are provided in detail herein.

The disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments of the disclosure are shown, and not intended to be limiting.

depicts an example environmentin which techniques and structures for providing the systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented. While describing, references may be made to. The environmentmay include an interlocking building block systemthat may include a plurality of components including, but not limited to, building blocks, connectors, filler blocks, cubic blocks, and/or the like. Each component may be made of plastic, wood, metal, a combination thereof, and/or any other similar material.

A user (not shown) may build different structures or models, e.g., beams, arches, walls, tunnels, blanket forts, curves, skyscrapers, pyramids, book shelves, etc. by connecting one or more building block system components. Specifically, the plurality of components may configured to removably connect with each other and/or placed over each other to form a plurality of different structures. For example, the user may connect or assemble one or more components to build a beamor an arch(or any other similar structure), as shown in.

In some aspects, the user may build the beamor a linear structure by connecting one or more building blocks that may be shaped as cube or cuboid. An exemplary viewofdepicts a first building blockand a second building blockremovably connected with each other to form a linear structure. The first building blockand the second building blockmay be connected with each other via an elongated connector. Specifically, the user may insert or slide the elongated connectorbetween recesses formed on one or more faces of the first building blockand the second building blockto enable connection between the first building blockand the second building block. Structural details of the first and second building blocks,and the elongated connectormay be understood in conjunction with.

depicts an isometric view of the first building block(or the second building block) in accordance with the present disclosure. In an exemplary aspect, the first building blockmay be shaped as a cube having six building block faces. The first building blockmay be a solid cube with a large-sized dimension (e.g., length) of each face in a range of 0.5 to 4 inches. A person ordinarily skilled in the art may appreciate that the first building blockhas dimensions greater than a conventional building block. The first building blockmay be made of wood, plastic, rubber or metal. Further, the first building blockmay manufactured using 3D printing or known molding techniques (e.g., injection molding).

In some aspects, one or more building block faces of the first building blockmay include recesses,,(collective referred to as recess). In an exemplary aspect, three building block faces may include the recesses, and the remaining building block faces may not include recesses, as shown in. In other aspects (as shown inand described below), more or less than three building block faces may include the recesses. Further, the recessmay be disposed at a face center portion and may have a recess length equivalent to a building block face length. For example, if a building block face length “L” is 2 inches, the recess length too may be 2 inches. In other aspects (not shown), the recess length may be shorter than the building block face length “L”. Furthermore, a recess width “W” may be substantially smaller than the building block face length “L”. For example, the recess width “W” may be in a range of 30 to 60% of building block face length “L”. In additional aspects (not shown), the recessmay not be disposed at the face center portion, and may be disposed in proximity to a building block face right or a left edge.

In some aspects, the recessmay be a dovetail recess having a recess elongated walland recess side walls,(collectively referred to as recess side walls). The recess side wallsmay be slanted relative to a recess elongated wall lateral axis. Specifically, the recess side wallsmay be disposed at a predefined angle “α” relative to the recess elongated wall lateral axis, as shown in. The angle “α” may range from 30 to 60 degrees. Further, a recess side wall width “W” may be in a range of 20 to 70% of recess width “W”.

In an exemplary aspect, one or more walls of the recess elongated walland the recess side wallsmay be polished to have a smooth surface having Root Mean Square (RMS) surface finish in a range of 15 to 40 RMS. In other aspects, one or more walls of the recess elongated walland the recess side wallsmay have a textured surface.

The user may removably connect (or assemble) the first building blockand the second building blockwith each other by placing respective recesses of the first building blockand the second building blockadjacent to each other, and inserting or sliding the elongated connectorthrough the adjacent recesses. An isometric view of the elongated connectoris shown in.

The elongated connectormay be shaped as double dovetail (or may be shaped as a “bow tie”) and may be made of similar or different material as the first and second building blocks,. The elongated connectortoo may be manufactured using 3D printing or known molding techniques (e.g., injection molding). The elongated connectormay include a solid body having a first portionand a second portion, as shown in. The first portionand the second portionmay be connected with each other and may form a unified integrated structure of the elongated connector. Further, the first portionand the second portionmay have mirrored shapes, and each of the first and second portions,may have shapes complementary to the recessshapes. For example, the first and second portions,may be shaped as dovetail, which may be similar to the dovetail-shaped recesses.

Each of the first portionand the second portionmay include an elongated walland side walls,(collectively referred to as side walls). Each side wallmay be slanted at a predefined angle “β” relative to an elongated connector lateral axis, as shown in. The angle “β” may be equivalent to the angle “α”.

In an exemplary aspect shown in, the elongated wallmay include a first elongated wall portionand a second elongated wall portionconnected to each other. The first elongated wall portionand the second elongated wall portionmay form a unified integrated structure of the elongated wall. The first and second elongated wall portions,may have equivalent lengths and widths. Each of the first elongated wall portionand the second elongated wall portionmay be slanted at a predefined angle “γ” relative to the elongated connector lateral axis. The angle “γ” may be in a range of 1 to 2 degrees. Since the first elongated wall portionand the second elongated wall portionare slanted relative to the elongated connector lateral axis, the first elongated wall portionand the second elongated wall portionmay form an elongated ridge or peakat an intersection point of the first elongated wall portionand the second elongated wall portion. The elongated ridgemay be disposed at an elongated wall center portion and may have a length equivalent to an elongated wall length (or lengths of the first and second elongated wall portions,), as shown in.

In some aspects, one or more of the side wallsand the first and second elongated wall portions,may be polished to have a smooth surface having RMS surface finish in a range of 15 to 40 RMS. In other aspects, one or more of the side wallsand the first and second elongated wall portions,may have a textured surface.

In operation, the user may place the first building blockand the second building blockin proximity of each other, such that respective recessesmay be adjacent. The user may then insert the elongated connectorinto adjacent recesses to enable connection or “interlocking” between the first building blockand the second building block. When the user inserts the elongated connectorinto the adjacent recesses, the first portionmay insert into a first recess (e.g., a first building block recess) and the second portionmay insert into a second recess (e.g., a second building block recess) that may be adjacent to the first recess, thereby enabling secure connection between the first and second building blocks,. The “interlocking” arrangement of the elongated connectorand the first and second building blocks,enables the user to conveniently and securely connect relatively large building blocks (e.g., may be as large as 4*4 inch cube), and stably build large structures. For example, the user may build a large-sized beam or arch by interlocking large building blocks using elongated connectors, which may not be possible using conventional small-sized building blocks that may not use elongated connectors for connection.

In some aspects, when the first portion(or the second portion) may be inserted into the first recess (e.g., the recess), the elongated ridgemay touch the recess elongated wall, and remaining surfaces of the first and second elongated wall portions,may not touch the recess elongated wall. Since the elongated ridgetouches the recess elongated walland a substantial elongated wall portion may not touch the recess elongated wallwhen the elongated connectoris inserted into the recess, the user may experience less friction in inserting (or removing) the elongated connectorinto the recess. Stated another way, elongated connector structure including the elongated ridgeassists the user in conveniently assembling and/or disassembling the first and second building blocks,, as friction between moving parts (e.g., the elongated walland the recess elongated wall) is substantially reduced due to elongated ridge presence.

In some aspects, the elongated connectormay be shaped (e.g., have dimensions) such that a predefined small space or gap may exist between opposing surfaces of adjacent building blocks when the adjacent building blocks may be connected with each other by using the elongated connector. The gap may enable the user to easily slide the adjacent building blocks against each other. In other aspects, no gap may exist between opposing surfaces of adjacent building blocks when the adjacent building blocks may be connected by using the elongated connector.

Although the description above describes an aspect where the elongated connectoris shaped as a double dovetail (or “bow-tie”), the present disclosure is not limited to such structure. In other aspects (not shown), the elongated connectormay be shaped as double ellipse, double diamond, figure eight, etc.

Further, although the description above describes an aspect where the interlocking building block systemincludes a cube-shaped building block (e.g., the first and second building blocks,), in additional aspects, the interlocking building block systemmay include blocks of different shapes. An exemplary building block of a different shape is shown inand described below.

depicts an isometric view of an example building blockin accordance with the present disclosure. The building blockmay be made of similar material as the first and second building blocks,, and may have recesses,,that may be similar to the recesses. The building blockmay have a triangular or truncated pyramid shape and may enable the user to form arches (e.g., the arch) using the building blocks, as shown in. Specifically, the user may dispose two building blocksin proximity to each other and insert the elongated connectorinto adjacent recesses to connect the building blocks, thereby forming an arch. The user may connect a plurality of building blocks(using a plurality of elongated connectors) to form arches of different diameters. Building block connections by using elongated connectors enable the user to build stable and sturdy large-sized arches, which may not be possible using conventional small-sized building blocks that may not use elongated connectors for connection.

In some aspects, the building blockmay include a top portionhaving a width “W” and a bottom portionhaving a width “W”. The width “W” may be greater than the width “W”. Specifically, side walls,of the building blockmay be slanted by a predefined angle “δ” relative to a building block longitudinal axis, as shown in. The angle “δ” may be in a range of 10 to 20 degrees, which enables the user to form an arch when the user connects two or more building blockstogether by using the elongated connectors. In a preferred aspect, the angle “δ” may be 15 degrees.

Other building blockstructural details are similar to building block,structural details, and hence are not described again here for the sake of simplicity and conciseness.

depicts an isometric view of an elongated connectorin accordance with the present disclosure. The elongated connectormay be similar to the elongated connector; however, the elongated connectormay have a tapered width along an elongated connector length.

The elongated connectormay include a first portionand a second portionthat may be similar to the first portionand the second portion, respectively. Each of the first and second portions,may include a proximal endand a distal end. In an exemplary aspect, a proximal end width “W” (e.g., width of a proximal end top/bottom surface) may be greater than a distal end width “W” (e.g., width of a distal end top/bottom surface).

In some aspects, to connect the first and second building blocks,by using the elongated connector, the user may insert the distal endinto the recessesto enable connection between the first and second building blocks,. Elongated connector tapered-width structure ensures that the elongated connectormay only be inserted or removed to/from the recessesvia one end (e.g., the distal end), and hence probability of the elongated connector“sliding out” from the recessesis considerably reduced. Further, the elongated connector tapered-width structure may enable the user to build robust and sturdy connections (since the elongated connectormay not slide out from the recesses), which may be used for building engineering models.

In the exemplary aspect described here for, respective building block recessesmay also have tapered width (not shown) similar to the elongated connector. Further, althoughdepicts the elongated connectoras having an elongated ridge at an elongated wall center portion, in some aspects (not shown), the elongated connectormay not include the elongated ridge. In this case, the elongated wall may be a flat surface.

Other elongated connectorstructural details are similar to elongated connectorstructural details, and hence are not described again here for the sake of simplicity and conciseness.

depicts an isometric view of an elongated connectorin accordance with the present disclosure. The elongated connectormay be similar to the elongated connector; however, the elongated connectormay have a curved wall (e.g., shaped as a banana). Specifically, the elongated connectormay include an elongated wallthat may be shaped as an elongated arc along an elongated wall length, as shown in. When the user inserts the elongated connectorinto the recesses, the elongated arc “locks” against the side wallsto securely connect the first and second building blocks,. In this case as well, the elongated wall center portion may (as shown in) or may not include the elongated ridge, as described above.

Other elongated connectorstructural details are similar to elongated connectorstructural details, and hence are not described again here for the sake of simplicity and conciseness.

depicts an isometric view of an elongated connectorin accordance with the present disclosure. The elongated connectormay be made of same material as the elongated connector; however, the elongated connectormay have a variable cross section or variable width along an elongated connector length. Specifically, the elongated connectormay include a proximal portion, a distal portionand a middle portionhaving variable widths. In an exemplary aspect, the widths of the proximal portionand the distal portionmay be same, and equivalent to width “W” as shown in. In other aspects (not shown), the proximal portionand the distal portionmay have different respective widths.

Width “W” of the middle portionmay be less than the width “W”. Such variable cross section or width structure of the elongated connectorenables the user to build robust model structures. In this case, respective building block recessesmay have shapes complementary to the shape of the elongated connectorto enable stable connection. In further aspects, the proximal portionand the distal portionmay have equivalent respective heights “H”, which may be greater than a height “H” of the middle portion.