Modular Toy Construction System

This application is a Continuation Application and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 17/057,064, filed on Nov. 19, 2020, which is a U.S. National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2019/065123, filed on Jun. 11, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority to Danish Patent Application No. PA 201870361, filed on Jun. 12, 2018. The contents of each of the above referenced patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for any purpose whatsoever.

The present disclosure relates to a modular toy construction system comprising one or more interactive toy construction elements.

Toy construction systems have been known for decades. Over the years, simple box-shaped building blocks have been supplemented with toy construction elements that have a specific appearance or a mechanical or electrical function to enhance the play value of the system. Such functions include e.g. motors, switches, and lamps, but also programmable processors that accept input from sensors and can activate function elements in response to received sensor inputs.

Self-contained function construction elements exist which have a function device adapted to perform a preconfigured function, an energy source for providing energy to the function device for performing the function, and a trigger responsive to an external trigger event to trigger the function device to perform the function. Typically, such known function construction elements are designed for manual activation of a mechanical trigger and only provide a limited play value.

WO2007/137577 discloses a toy construction system comprising function elements and control elements. The function and control elements are electrically interconnectable via a system of wires and plugs, such that the function elements receive both electrical power and control signals from the control elements. Even though this system avoids the need for electrical energy storage in the function elements, it requires a certain level of abstract thinking and technical insight in order to correctly set up the wiring and to interconnect the construction elements so as to construct functional toy models from such a system. Moreover, the wires between the various elements limit the freedom to freely construct toy construction models and may affect the visual appearance of the models.

WO 2015/173246 discloses a toy construction system comprising a plurality of interactive toy construction elements each comprising coupling members configured for releasably interconnecting the interactive toy construction elements with each other. The system comprises function construction elements and input construction elements. Each input construction element comprises a wireless transmitter for transmitting a control signal to at least a subset of the function construction elements. Each function construction element comprises: a function device adapted to perform a controllable function; a wireless receiver for receiving the wireless control signal; and a control circuit connected to the wireless receiver and to the function device and adapted to control the controllable function responsive to the received control signal. Each interactive toy construction element comprises a user-operable selector allowing a user to select one of a predetermined set of group identifiers. The interactive toy construction elements further comprise a group indicator being configured to output an indication indicative of the selected group identifier.

While the need for wires between interactive toy construction elements is avoided in the above prior art system, the interactive toy construction elements are relatively complicated devices that include a user-controllable selector and an indicator as well as a battery. Accordingly, the interactive devices are relatively costly to manufacture and difficult to reduce in size, thus limiting the flexibility in freely designing toy construction models. In particular, when it is desirable to add multiple functions to a toy construction model, the size and shape of the toy construction elements restrict the freedom to design the toy construction model.

It is generally desirable to provide a modular toy construction system that provides enhanced educational activities and/or play activities.

It is further desirable to provide a modular toy construction system that provides a high degree of flexibility in designing different toy construction models with a rich functionality.

Moreover it is desirable to provide an interactive modular construction system that allows users, in particular children, to construct multiple interactive modular construction element models in a user-friendly, efficient, yet flexible and reliable manner without the need for a detailed knowledge of control structures, data communication, and how to connect electrical wires, conductors, etc. properly.

Various aspects of embodiments of a toy construction system disclosed herein address one or more of the above needs and/or other needs that exist in the field of toy construction systems.

Disclosed herein are aspects of a modular toy construction system. The modular toy construction system comprises a plurality of interactive toy construction elements, each interactive toy construction element comprising a sensor and/or a function device, the function device operable to perform a user-perceivable function; each interactive toy construction element further comprising a first communications circuit configured to wirelessly communicate signals and to wirelessly harvest energy for operating the function device and/or the sensor.

In some embodiments, the modular toy construction system further comprises at least one control toy construction element comprising a rechargeable energy storage device, a processing circuit and a second communications circuit; the second communications circuit being configured to communicate with one or more of the plurality of interactive toy construction elements and, optionally, to wirelessly transfer energy to said one or more interactive toy construction elements. The processing circuit may be configured to receive sensor data from one or more of the interactive toy construction elements and to generate control signals for controlling the user-perceivable function of one or more of the interactive toy construction elements.

The first and second communications circuits may be configured for contactless, ultra-short-range communication, such as near-field communication, and for contactless, e.g. inductive, energy transfer. Alternatively the communication circuits may be configured for other forms of contactless energy transfer, e.g. based on ultrasound.

Here the term contactless is intended to refer to data and/or energy transfer from one device to another device without a conductive coupling, i.e. without transfer of electrical energy by means of physical contact via a conductive medium that is conductive for a direct current. It will be appreciated that the term contactless merely characterises the communication and power transfer and does not exclude that the devices are otherwise physically connected with each other. In particular two toy construction elements may be in physical contact with each other, e.g. mechanically interconnected with each other by means of their respective coupling members, while the communication and energy transfer between them is contactless, i.e. does not rely on the physical contact as a carrier for the transfer of energy or data.

The term ultra-short-range communications is intended to refer to communications technologies for contactless and, in particular, wireless communication over a communications range of no more than 10 cm, such as no more than 5 cm, such as no more than 2 cm such as no more than 1 cm, such as less than 1 cm. Here and in the following, reference to communications ranges refers to communications ranges under normal operational conditions and in normal operational environment, e.g. inside a child's room.

In some embodiments, at least one, such as each, of the interactive toy construction elements is a passive interactive toy construction element, i.e. an interactive toy construction element that does not comprise its own battery or other energy storage. Instead, the passive interactive toy construction element uses, at its sole power supply, energy that is contactless received via the first communications circuit in order to drive the function device and the communications circuit. The passive interactive toy construction element is thus only operable to activate its function device while the passive interactive toy construction element is coupled for contactless receipt of energy from a control toy construction element. Accordingly, in a toy construction system only some of the toy construction elements and, in particular, the control toy construction elements, include their own energy storage device, thus reducing the number of components that require their own energy storage device. Accordingly, this reduces manufacturing costs, facilitates recycling and helps prolonging the overall lifetime of the system. In alternative embodiments, at least one, such as each, of the interactive toy construction elements includes its own energy storage device, e.g. its own battery. At least one, such as each, of the interactive toy construction elements may thus be self-powered or be an energy-assisted, passive toy construction element. An interactive toy construction element is operable to operate only when communicatively coupled to a control toy construction element but which includes its own energy storage device, e.g. its own battery.

A function device may be any suitable device for performing a function, such as a function that provides a user-perceptible effect, such as a visible and/or audible effect.

Examples of function devices may include any suitable mechanical and/or electrical device, arrangement, and/or circuitry adapted to perform one or more mechanical and/or electrical functions.

Examples of a mechanical function that some embodiments of the function device described herein can perform include driving a rotatable output shaft, winding-up a string or a chain which enables pulling an object closer to a toy construction element, moving a hinged part of the interactive toy construction element, etc. The mechanical function may thus enable opening or closing a door, ejecting an object, rotating a turntable, moving a linear actuator, etc. Such mechanical motions can be driven by an electric motor.

Examples of an electrical function that some embodiments of the function device described herein can perform include emitting constant or blinking light, activating several lamps in a predetermined sequence, emitting audible sound such as beep, alarm, bell, siren, voice message, music, synthetic sound, natural or imitated sound simulating and/or stimulating play activities, playback of a sound, and/or other audio content, etc.

Accordingly, the function device may be selected from a motor, a light source (e.g. one or more LEDs) and a sound source (e.g. a loudspeaker). In some embodiments the plurality of interactive toy construction elements includes:

Generally, a sensor may be any suitable device being responsive to a predetermined sensor input, such as to a physical quantity, and operable to generate a sensor signal corresponding to, representing, and/or reflecting the predetermined sensor input. One example of a sensor is a sound registering sensor for detecting presence of sound. The sensor may be a relatively simple sensor, e.g. a sensor that simply registers a sound when the sound is above a predetermined sound level or threshold. Other examples of sensors may be more advanced, e.g. a sensor for measuring a sound level of the registered sound.

The sensor may be selected from: a position or rotation sensor (e.g. a linear or rotary encoder), a light detector and a sound detector (e.g. a microphone). Other examples of sensors may be responsive to other sensor inputs such as mechanical forces, ultrasound, push, pull, rotation, tilt, human manipulation, touch, electrical signals, radio frequency signals, optical signals, visible light signals, infrared signals, magnetic signals, temperature, humidity, radiation, etc. For example, other examples of sensors include a proximity sensor, and accelerometer, a gyro, etc. The sensor may be configured to provide a binary signal, e.g. indicative of the presence or absence of an input. Alternatively or additionally, the sensor may be configured to generate a multi-level or even continuous signal indicative of multiple different inputs and/or indicative of a level or magnitude of activation. Accordingly, the generated sensor signal may be indicative of a property of the received sensor input, e.g. a direction of a rotation or tilt, or a degree of the detected quantity, e.g. the speed of a rotation or motion, a force, a sound pressure, a light intensity, a tilt angle, etc.

In some embodiments the plurality of interactive toy construction elements includes:

In some embodiments, at least one of the interactive toy construction elements comprises a function device configured to perform a user-perceivable function, the user-perceivable function being perceivable as a first physical quantity. The interactive toy construction element may further comprise a sensor operable to sense said first physical quantity. For example, the interactive toy construction element may comprise:

Generally, in some embodiments, each interactive toy construction element may include a single function device and/or a single sensor. Hence, the functionality of each interactive toy construction system is easy to understand by the user and may be combined in a modular fashion.

Embodiments of a toy construction system may comprise different types of interactive toy construction elements and, in particular, a plurality of interactive toy construction elements with respective sensors and/or respective function devices.

Each interactive toy construction element may comprise a housing. The function device and/or the sensor are accommodated within said housing and the first communications circuit is accommodated within said housing. The housing may be box-shaped, e.g. in the form of a relatively flat, plate-like box, e.g. a square or rectangular plate. The housing may define a top face and a bottom face, opposite the top face. At least some of the coupling members may extend from the top face. The housing may further comprise one or more side faces extending between the top and bottom faces. In some embodiments all interactive toy construction elements are configured to be interchangeably and detachably connectable to other toy construction elements of the toy construction system. In particular, the interactive toy construction elements may all have the same size and shape and corresponding coupling members, at least to an extent that they can be interchangeably connected within a toy construction model so as to selectively replace one another at any given position of the toy construction model to which at least one interactive toy construction element can be attached.

Similarly, the control toy construction element may comprise a housing; the energy storage device, the processing unit and the second communications circuit may be accommodated within said housing. The housing may be box-shaped as described in connection with the interactive toy construction elements. The housing may comprise one or more coupling members, also as described in connection with the interactive toy construction elements. In some embodiments, the control toy construction element has the same shape and size as the interactive toy construction elements, at least to an extent that they can be interchangeably connected within a toy construction model so as to selectively replace one another at any given position of the toy construction model.

Each interactive toy construction element and/or each control toy construction element may comprise one or more coupling members for detachably attaching the interactive toy construction element or control toy construction element to other toy construction elements of the toy construction system, e.g. to one or more other interactive toy construction elements and/or to one or more other control toy construction elements and/or to one or more non-interactive and non-control toy construction elements of the toy construction system, i.e. toy construction elements not including function devices, sensors or processing units. Accordingly, the toy construction system may include a plurality of toy construction elements, the plurality of toy construction elements including a plurality of interactive toy construction elements, one or more control toy construction elements, and one or more other toy construction elements, in particular, non-interactive and non-control toy construction elements, such as conventional toy construction elements, e.g. consisting of a moulded plastic element without any electronic components.

Generally, Each toy construction element of the toy construction system and, in particular, each interactive toy construction element and/or each control toy construction element, comprises coupling members for detachably interconnecting the toy construction elements with each other to create coherent spatial structures, also referred to as toy construction models. Hence, toy construction elements that have been interconnected with each other by means of the coupling members can again be disconnected from each other such that they can be interconnected again with each other or with other toy construction elements of the system, e.g. so as to form a different spatial structure. In some embodiments, the toy construction elements are provided with a first and a second type of coupling members, such as coupling pegs and peg-receiving recesses for frictionally engaging the pegs, or other pairs of mating or otherwise complementary coupling members configured to engage each other so as to form a physical connection. One type of coupling members may be located on one side, e.g. the top side, of the toy construction element while another, complementary type of coupling members may be located on an opposite side, e.g. the bottom side, of the toy construction element. In some embodiments, the toy construction elements include pegs extending from the top face of the toy construction element and corresponding peg-receiving cavities extending into the bottom face of the toy construction element for frictionally engaging the pegs by a suitable clamping force. The coupling members may be positioned on grid points of a regular grid; in particular, the coupling members of the toy construction elements may be arranged such that the coupling members of a set of mutually interconnected toy construction elements are positioned on grid points of a three-dimensional regular grid. The dimensions of the toy construction elements may be defined as integer multiples of a unit length defined by the regular grid. It will be understood that a three-dimensional grid may be defined by a single unit length, by two unit lengths, e.g. one unit length applicable in two spatial dimensions while the other unit length is applicable in the third spatial dimension. Yet alternatively, the three-dimensional grid may define three unit lengths, one for each spatial dimension.

When the coupling members are detachably interconnectable, the user may deconstruct previously built spatial structures and re-use the toy construction elements so as to build new spatial structures. For example, the toy construction elements may be interconnected each other by traction/friction or by an interlocking connection. The toy construction elements may be configured such that two toy construction elements can be connected to a toy construction model such that respective faces of the toy construction elements about each other or are at least in close proximity and facing each other. To this end, the two toy construction elements may be directly interconnected with each other by means of their respective coupling members or they may both be interconnected with a part of a toy construction model, each directly next to each other.

Embodiments of the toy construction system described herein provide a distributed control system where function devices and sensors are provided in interactive toy construction elements which may be separate from the control toy construction elements that include control electronics and power storage. The system further provides contactless communication and energy transfer between the different types of toy construction elements. Consequently, the individual toy construction elements may be made compact and relatively inexpensive. Moreover, in this way, a large variety of functional interactions may be created with only relatively few different types of toy construction elements. The compactness and modularity further increases the flexibility in which the interactive toy construction elements and control toy construction elements can be incorporated into even relatively small toy construction models. In some embodiments, the housing of an interactive toy construction element and/or of a control toy construction element has a height (excluding the protruding coupling members) of between 3 mm and 10 mm, such as between 3.2 mm and 9.6 mm, such as 3.2 mm or 6.4 mm or 9.6 mm. The length and width of the housing may each be between 5 mm and 35 mm, such as between 8 mm and 32 mm, such as 8 mm, 16 mm, 24 mm or 32 mm. For example the lateral dimensions may be 16 mm×16 mm or 16 mm×24 mm or 16 mm×32 mm. It will be appreciated, however, that other dimensions may be selected.

The control toy construction element may comprise an energy receiving circuit for charging the energy storage device. In some embodiments, the energy receiving circuit is configured to wirelessly receive energy, e.g. by harvesting energy from an electromagnetic field, e.g. from an RF communications signal. The control toy construction element may include a third communications circuit (e.g. integrated into or separate from the second communications circuit) operable for short-range, wireless communications, e.g. short-range RF communication, e.g. via Bluetooth, Wifi or a similar suitable short-range communications technology.

Here the term short-range communications is intended to refer to a communications technology having a communications range larger than the ultra-short-range communications, e.g. a communications range larger than 10 cm, such as larger than 50 cm, such as larger than 1 m. The short-range communications may have a communications range of no more than 100 m, such as no more than 10 m, such as no more than 5 m. In most situations, a communications range of less than 10 m and, in most cases even less than 5 m is sufficient, even though in some embodiments longer ranges may be acceptable or even desirable.

The control toy construction element may be configured to detect a presence of one or more other control toy construction elements in a proximity, e.g. within a communications range and/or within a predetermined range, of the control toy construction element. In some embodiments the control toy construction element may even be configured to detect a distance to one or more of the detected other control toy construction elements, e.g. based on signal strength of the short-range communication, based on a proximity sensor, and/or the like.

The control toy construction element may be manufactured with a default behaviour, e.g. with default executable instruction stored by the processing unit and executable by processing unit. To this end, the processing unit may comprise or be coupled to a suitable data storage device, e.g. a suitable memory. The default executable instructions may define a set of predetermined rules for creating control signals responsive to received sensor signals and/or other data input. For example, the set of rules may be representative of which control signals to create and forward to one or more interactive toy construction elements dependent on a variety of conditions and parameters. The conditions and parameters may e.g. be chosen from:

In some embodiments, one or more of the control toy construction elements are operable to be programmed or configured by the user, e.g. by receiving program data and/or configuration parameters. Accordingly, the user may be able to modify the behaviour of the control toy construction element.

The control toy construction element may be operable to receive the program data and/or configuration parameters from a computer or from another external electronic device. An external electronic device may e.g. a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a laptop computer, or another programmable computing device. To this end, the third communications circuit may be operable to provide a wireless communications interface for communicating program data and/or configuration parameters with one or more external electronic devices via a wireless communications protocol.

Other examples of external electronic devices include RFID tags or other data storage devices. For example, the control toy construction element may be operable to read out such data storage device in a contactless manner via the second communications circuit.

In some embodiments, when a control toy construction element and a set of one or more interactive toy construction elements are directly or indirectly interconnected, optionally with other toy construction elements of the toy construction system, so as to form a toy construction model, the processing unit of the control toy construction element is configured to determine, from data received from said set of interactive toy construction elements, a physical topology of said set of interactive toy construction elements in said toy construction model. The physical topology may represent a physical arrangement of the interactive toy construction elements relative to the control toy construction element.

To this end, the control toy construction element and the interactive toy construction elements of said set may be configured to form a network of communicating nodes and the processing unit may be configured to determine a network topology of said network. Moreover the toy construction system may be configured to impose structural rules for physically interconnecting the toy construction elements of the toy construction system. Yet further, the ultra-short-range communication between the control toy construction and interactive toy construction elements imposes further physical constraints on the positions of the control and interactive toy construction elements relative to each other. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the processing unit may be operable to determine the physical topology of the interactive toy construction elements of said set from the determined network topology.

For example, a control toy construction element and a set of interactive toy construction elements may be stacked along at least a first direction such that the control toy construction element and the set of interactive toy construction elements form a linear sequence of nodes, e.g. starting with the control toy construction element as a root node. The second communications circuit of the control toy construction element and the first communications circuits of the respective interactive toy construction elements may each be configured to only communicate with its respective nearest neighbours along said sequence. Moreover, each interactive toy construction element of the sequence may be operable to receive, from its respective downstream nearest neighbour, information about the downstream interactive toy construction elements of the sequence, and communicate the received information to its upstream nearest neighbour along the sequence, towards the control toy construction element. It will be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the control toy construction element may form a root of multiple sequences of nodes, e.g. extending along different directions. In yet further embodiments, the control toy construction element may form a root node of a more complex network structure, e.g. a tree structure, where the interactive toy construction elements form respective nodes of the network structure and are operable to communicate information from node to node along links between the nodes, e.g. between neighbouring nodes. In these embodiments, the processing unit of the control toy construction element may determine the network structure, including the position of the individual interactive toy construction elements within the network. When the communications circuits of the control toy construction element and the interactive toy construction elements employ near-field communication with a range limited to physically adjacent interactive toy construction elements or control toy construction elements, the processing unit of the control toy construction element may determine a physical topology of the interactive toy construction elements from the determined network topology. It will be appreciated that such a determination of a physical topology from a determined network topology may also be performed when other forms of communication are used, e.g. communication across electrical (galvanic) contacts between neighbouring toy construction elements. When the interactive toy construction elements and the control toy construction element are part of a coherent toy construction model constructed from toy construction elements of the toy construction system, the relative positions and/or orientations between interconnected toy construction elements adhere to the construction rules of the toy construction system, thus allowing the processing unit to determine an accurate model of the physical topology of the interactive toy construction elements with which it communicates.

This may be useful for allowing the processing unit to control the interactive toy construction elements of a model so as to provide the desired model behaviour. For example, when the model is a vehicle having multiple interactive toy construction elements comprising respective motors, each driving a respective wheel of the vehicle, the processing unit of the control toy construction element may determine the relative position and orientation of the motors and thus ensure coordinated operation of the motors so as to propel the vehicle.

In some embodiments at least two of the interactive toy construction elements are configured such that their respective function devices interact with each other when the interactive toy construction elements are interconnected with each other in a predetermined manner, e.g. stacked on top of each other or otherwise interconnected via their respective coupling members. The respective function devices may e.g. interact so as to provide a common function, e.g. at a strength, amplitude or other magnitude, or at a complexity, larger than the corresponding magnitude of the function provided by the individual function devices. For example, two interactive toy construction elements may each comprise a motor for imparting a torque onto a shaft. When the two interactive toy construction elements are interconnected with each other in a predetermined manner, e.g. stacked on top of each other, such that their respective motors can interact with a common shaft, together they can impart a larger torque onto the common shaft. Similarly, two interactive toy construction elements, each comprising a light source, may interact to provide a higher light intensity and/or more complicated light effects; yet similarly, two interactive toy construction elements, each comprising a sound source, may interact to provide a higher sound pressure and/or more complicated sound effects. Accordingly, the interconnected toy construction elements may be operable to supplement each other functions, e.g. under the control of a control toy construction element having detected the physical topology, namely that the two interactive toy construction elements are interconnected with each other.

As mentioned above, the processing unit of a control toy construction element may be pre-programmed to exhibit a predetermined behaviour, e.g. by selecting what function(s) should be carried out in response to what sensor input(s) are received, depending on what interactive toy construction element(s) is/are detected, and/or the like. Consequently, the interactive toy construction elements may be controlled to exhibit a relatively complex behaviour without requiring the user to have advanced technical or programming skills. In some embodiments, the processing unit may, alternatively or in addition, be user-programmable, e.g. via a wireless communications link.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is operable to implement a learning mode in which the processing unit is operable to infer one or more intended functions from one or more sensor inputs. During such a learning mode, the processing unit may, based on sensor signals received from respective interactive toy construction elements of a toy construction model, detect user-interaction with the toy construction model, e.g. light shown onto the model, sounds, motion/forces imparted on the model and/or the like. The processing unit may then infer corresponding actions, e.g. the output of light and/or sound and/or the activation of one or more motors responsive to the received sensor data. For example, the processing unit may be configured to mirror or match the physical interaction, e.g. by mirroring a detected rhythm or frequency of a clapping sound or blinking light, by activating a motor in response to a pushing force, and/or the like.

Hence, a simple way of adding functionality to a modular toy construction system or model, and of controlling such functionality, is provided. One or more interactive toy construction elements are simply added or used in the system or model.

In some embodiments, apart from the optional sensor, the data communications via the first communications circuit is the only input means of the interactive toy construction elements, i.e. the interactive toy construction element does not include any buttons, displays, switches, or other user-interface. Similarly, in some embodiments, the data communications via the second and, optionally, third communications circuit are the only input means of the control toy construction elements, i.e. the control toy construction element does not include any buttons, displays, switches, or other user-interface. Hence the size and manufacturing costs of the interactive toy construction elements and/or of the control toy construction elements may be kept small while still allowing for rich user interaction with the system of control and interactive toy construction elements.