Magnetic construction toy
The invention relates to a geometric construction toy for building geometrical structures and consists of a multiplicity of spherical magnetizable bodies which may be magnetically coupled to a connecting member. The connecting member has an upper boundary surface which is a concave surface of revolution and a lower boundary surface which is also a concave surface of revolution. The lower boundary surface is the mirror image of the upper boundary surface. A permanent magnet is captively carried by the connecting member and so disposed therein such that the poles of the magnet are located adjacent to or interiorly of the respective boundary surface thereby permitting a stable coupling of magnetizable bodies to each pole of the permanent magnet.
This invention relates to a magnetic construction toy for building geometrical structures consisting of spherical magnetizable bodies and magnetic connecting members for magnetically coupling with the spherical magnetizable bodies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONConnecting members for magnetic construction toys typically consist of arm like structures having a permanent magnet carried captively at each end of the arm extremeties. In building a geometrical structure, a magnetizable body of generally spherical shape magnetically couples to the pole of the magnet located at the arm extremety; the other pole of the magnet, which is of opposite polarity and capable of magnetically coupling with a magnetizable body is located near the same extremity but within the arm and consequently one of the magnet poles is unusable for magnetically coupling with a second magnetizable body to form a module of the geometrical structure. Thus, in the module building of the toy structure, only one pole of the permanent magnet can be used to magnetically couple. To facilitate omnidirectional coupling with the magnetizable body, a permanent magnet is captively held within the connecting arm a sufficient recessed distance from the extreme or terminal end of the arm. This precludes a single point contact and permits a more stable omnidirectional coupling.
It is desirable, therefore, to have a connecting member that provides a stable omnidirectional coupling with magnetizable bodies utilizing both poles of the magnet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide a construction toy where the connecting arm between magnetizable bodies utilizes each pole of the connecting arm magnet to form a magnetic coupling with a respective magnetizable body.
The present invention is directed to a magnetic construction toy that consists of magnetizable bodies and connecting members that magnetically couple to form modules that are used to construct various geometrical shapes. The magnetizable body preferably is a thin walled sphere whose surface is a surface of revolution generated by rotating an arcuate segment about an axis passing through the geometrical center of the sphere. A connecting member has a vertical axis and an upper boundary surface extending laterally of the vertical axis and a lower boundary surface extending laterally of the vertical axis. The upper boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature substantially of like dimension as the radius of curvature of the surface of revolution of the magnetizable body. The lower boundary surface in the preferred embodiment is the mirror image of the upper boundary surface, namely a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature substantially of like dimension as the radius of the curvature of the surface of revolution of the magnetizable body coupled to it.
A permanent magnet is captively carried by the connecting member and extends axially within the connecting member and is so disposed therein such that the terminal end of the first end of the magnet is located adjacent to or interiorly of the upper concave boundary surface of revolution and the terminal second end of the magnet is located adjacent to or interiorly of the lower concave boundary surface of revolution. Thus the magnetic field associated with the first terminal end extends above and substantially across the upper concave boundary surface. Likewise, at the terminal second end of the magnet, the magnetic field extends above and substantially across the lower concave boundary surface of revolution. Both the upper and lower boundary surfaces having substantially the same radius of curvature as the spherical magnetizable body thereby providing a stable magnetic coupling between the connecting member and the magnetizable body.
These and other features and advantages will become appreciated as the same become better understood with reference to the following specification, claims and drawings wherein:
As can further be seen by reference to
By reference to
An example of one of a myriad of geometrical structures constructed by magnetically coupling modules 1 comprised of magnetizable bodies 2 and connecting members 6 is shown in
While I have shown and described a magnetic construction toy having a connecting member with concave boundary surfaces of revolution, it is to be understood that the invention is subject to many modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the claims recited herein
Claims
1. A magnetic construction toy, comprising:
- a) a magnetizable body having a surface which is at least in part a surface of revolution;
- b) a connection member for magnetically coupling to said surface of revolution, said connecting member having a vertical axis, a laterally extending upper boundary surface and a laterally extending lower boundary surface where said upper boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature substantially of like dimension as said surface of revolution of said magnetizable body; and
- c) a magnet captively carried by said connecting member, said magnet having a first and a second end where said first end is so disposed within said connecting member such that said first end is located adjacent to or interiorly of said upper boundary surface.
2. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 1 where said lower boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature substantially of like dimension as said surface of revolution of said magnetizable body.
3. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 1 where said magnetizable body is spherically shaped.
4. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 1 further comprising a second magnetizable body having a surface which is at least in part a surface of revolution where said lower boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature substantially of like dimension as said surface of revolution of said second magnetizable body.
5. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 4 where said second magnetizable body is spherically shaped.
6. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 2 where said second end of said magnet is so disposed within said connecting member such that said second end is located adjacent to or interiorly of said lower boundary surface.
7. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 6 further comprising a second magnetizable body having a surface which is at least in part a surface of revolution having a radius of curvature of like dimension as said concave surface of revolution of said lower boundary surface.
8. The magnetic construction toy recited in claim 7 where said magnetizable body is spherically shaped and where said second magnetizable body is spherically shaped.
9. A connecting member for magnetically coupling, with a magnetizable body said magnetizable body having at least in part a surface of revolution, where said connecting member comprises a vertical axis, a laterally extending upper boundary surface and a laterally extending lower boundary surface where said upper boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature of substantially like dimension as said surface of revolution of said magnetizable member, and a magnet captively carried within said connecting member where said said magnet has a first end and a second end and said first end is so disposed within said connecting member such that said first end is located adjacent to or interiorly of said upper boundary surface.
10. The connecting member recited in claim 9 where said lower boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution having a radius of curvature of substantially like dimension as said surface of revolution of said magnetizable body, and where said second end of said magnet is located adjacent to or interiorly of said lower boundary surface.
11. The connecting member recited in claim 9 where said lower boundary surface is a concave surface of revolution and where said second end of said magnet is located adjacent to or interiorly of said lower boundary surface.
12. The connecting member recited in claim 10 where said radius of curvature of said upper boundary surface is substantially equal to said radius of curvature of said lower boundary surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 21, 2007
Publication Date: Aug 21, 2008
Inventor: Steven H. Balanchi (Altadena, CA)
Application Number: 11/710,000
International Classification: A63H 33/04 (20060101);