TOY SYSTEM FOR DEMOLISHING A TOY STRUCTURE, AND RELATED METHODS
A toy system for demolishing a toy structure comprises a plurality of panels combinable to form a toy structure, a device for displacing one or more of the panels that have been combined to form a toy structure, and a controller for triggering the device. The device of the toy system is positionable anywhere relative to the toy structure, and includes a ram that is forced against a panel to displace the panel. The ram may be a variety of different sizes, and the device may include any number of rams. The toy system allows a user to knock down an assembled toy structure in many different ways by varying the number of devices used, the number of rams per device engaged, the velocity of each ram, and the position of the device, as well as other factors.
This application claims priority from commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/798,814, filed 15 Mar. 2013, and titled Demolition Lab, presently pending, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUNDPeople learn new concepts faster and more efficiently by doing, rather than passively reading or observing. This is especially true for science, where abstract concepts can be hard to grasp. One way to stimulate interest and comprehension of scientific concepts, especially in regards to children and young adults, is to couple the science with fun visual experiments. Children more easily understand an abstract principle such as force or gravity when they can use the principle to achieve an exciting result—such as constructing and destroying a toy building. Although a book can teach about construction and the forces that support walls, ceilings and floors, interactive learning allows a user to manipulate those forces by actually assembling a model building to determine through trial and error what arrangements of parts will be able to withstand gravity. Similarly, once a user has assembled a model building, the same scientific concepts used to construct can be used to demolish the building.
Toys exist for constructing buildings and knocking them down. Many of these toys have fixed parameters. The buildings must be consistently built in the same way, or the mechanism to knock the building down must be employed consistently in the same manner. Unfortunately, repeating the same method over and over does little to elucidate the scientific principles such as force or gravity because the results are necessarily the same.
SUMMARYIn one aspect of the invention, a toy system for demolishing a toy structure comprises a plurality of panels combinable to form a toy structure, a device for displacing one or more of the panels that have been combined to form a toy structure, and a controller for triggering the device. The device of the toy is positionable anywhere relative to the toy structure, and includes a ram that is forced against a panel to displace the panel. The ram may be a variety of different sizes, and the device may include any number of rams, allowing a user to knock down a toy structure in many different ways. A user may desire to knock down a toy building by positioning a device within an assembled toy structure, sometimes positioning the device on a first, second, or third story of a building. Other times, a user may desire to use several devices positioned around the periphery of a building to cause the building to collapse. The toy system allows a user to knock down an assembled toy structure in many different ways by varying the number of devices used, the number of rams per device engaged, the velocity of each ram, and the position of the device, as well as other factors. Each new combination of devices and positions creates a new experience for the user.
In an aspect of the invention a toy system includes a plurality of panels that one can combine to construct a toy structure, a device for displacing one or more of the panels of the toy structure to demolish the structure, and a controller to trigger the device. The invention also comprises a method for demolishing such a toy structure. The toy structure to be demolished can be any size or shape, such as a small single-story building, or a complex multi-level tower. The toy structure may be demolished by triggering a single device against a wall of the structure, thus compromising the integrity of the structure and causing its collapse. Or, the toy structure may be demolished by triggering several devices against a wall, floor, or ceiling of the structure, either simultaneously or sequentially. The position of the one or more devices is up to the user, thus allowing the user to experiment with different demolition conditions.
In some embodiments, a controller 14 triggers a first device 20 and a second device 20 sequentially by sending an electric signal through a wire 15, the first device being connected to the second device by the wire 15 in a daisy chain arrangement (not shown).
Because the devices 20 are positionable anywhere relative to the toy structure 12, the toy structure may be demolished in many different ways, and thus teach a user the strengths and weaknesses of the specific structure. And, because the toy structure may be any desired structure, one can learn the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of different structural designs. Each new combination of devices, positions and structures creates a new experience for the user.
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In this and certain other embodiments, the toy system 10 also includes a footing 13 (22 shown but only two labeled for clarity) coupleable with a panel to provide the panel extra stability. The footing 13 may be configured as desired. For example, in this and certain other embodiments, the footing 13 includes a clamp 17 that includes a slot (not shown) configured to releasably and frictionally hold a panel 11 anywhere along an edge of the panel 11. By releasably holding the panel 11, one may locate the footing 13 anywhere along an edge of a panel, and thus support the panel at a variety of different locations along the panel's edge. This allows one to construct toy structures that are similar in their overall shape but configured differently, and thus allows one to observe the benefits and detriments of a specific configuration relative to other configurations for the same, general toy structure. The footing 13 also includes a base 18 that rests on a surface such as a top of a table, a floor, or another panel to increase the stability of the panel coupled to it. The footings 13 can be any size and shape to hold the panels, and can be constructed of any desired materials, such as plastic, cardboard, or moldable clay.
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The first and second positions may be any desired positions. For example in this and certain other embodiments, the first and second positions for each ram 21 are collinear and approximately one inch apart. In other embodiments, the first and second positions may be collinear and more than or less than one inch apart. In still other embodiments, the first and second positions may not be collinear but rather different locations along a curved line, such as the end points of a half circle's perimeter.
Other embodiments of the device 20 are possible. For example, the device 20 may include one or more than two rams 21. For another example, the device 20 may include two rams 21 that are not opposite each other. In other words, a first ram 21 may move in a first direction toward its respective second position, and a second ram 21 may move in a second direction, that is not opposite the first direction, toward its respective second position. For another example, the device 20 may include an elastic that is stretched when the ram 21 is set in its first position, and contracts when the ram 21 is released from its first position. For another example, the device 20 may include any other desired mechanism for holding the ram 21 in its first position and for releasing the ram 21 from its first position.
The controller 14 may be configured as desired to trigger a device 20. For example, in this and other embodiments, the controller 14 includes an infrared signal transmitter, and triggers a device 20 by generating and transmitting an infrared signal to a receiver of a device 20. When the device 20 receives the infrared signal, the device's receiver converts the infrared signal into an electrical signal that in turn causes electric current from a battery to charge an electro magnet to generate a magnetic field (as discussed in conjunction with
Other embodiments are possible. For example, a controller 14 may trigger a device 20 via a signal whose frequency is greater than or less than an infrared signal's frequency, such as a radio signal. In such embodiments, the device 20 is configured to receive a radio signal and convert the signal into an electrical signal. A radio signal may be desired when one wants to trigger a device 20 while the controller 14 is hidden from the device 20, or does not lie in a line of sight with the device 20.
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Other embodiments are possible. For example, a controller 14 may include a detonator button that triggers a device 20 to accelerate one of the device's two rams 21, but not the other ram 21. Additionally or alternatively, the controller 14 may include a detonator button that triggers a device 20 to accelerate the device's two rams 21, sequentially. For another example, a controller may include a timer coupled to a device. In such embodiments, one may set the timer to track a desired amount of time. When the desired amount of time expires, the controller 14 triggers the device 20 to accelerate a ram 21 toward a second position.
When the balloon 51 is not inflated, one may position the device 50 adjacent a panel 11 (
The device 82 may be configured as desired to cause the rams 86 to vibrate. For example, in this and other embodiments, the device 82 includes a cam (not shown) coupled to a respective one of the rams 86. When the device 80 is triggered, the cam rotates causing the ram 86 to move from the first position to the second position and then back to the first position, repeatedly.
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Other embodiments are possible. For example, the controller 80 may include a rheostat 83 that can modify the amount of current to any of the rams 86 without modifying the amount of current to the remaining rams 86 to allow one to modify the vibration of the device 82 as a whole.
The preceding discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
Claims
1. A toy system comprising:
- a plurality of panels combinable to form a toy structure;
- a device including a ram and operable to force the ram against one or more of the plurality of panels to demolish a toy structure formed by two or more of the plurality of panels, wherein the device is separate from the toy structure to be demolished; and
- a controller operable to trigger the device to force the ram against a panel of a toy structure formed by two or more of the plurality of panels.
2. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of panels are combinable to form a toy structure having four stories, each story having four walls and a floor.
3. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device includes a spring operable to force the ram against one or more of the plurality of panels.
4. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the ram does not separate from the device when forced against one or more of the plurality of panels.
6. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device:
- includes a first ram and a second ram, and
- is operable to force the first ram in a first direction, and to force the second ram in a second direction.
5. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device:
- includes a first ram and a second ram, and
- is operable to force the first ram in a first direction and to force the second ram in a second direction opposite the first direction.
6. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device:
- includes a first ram and a second ram, and
- is operable to force the first ram in a first direction and to force the second ram in a second direction, sequentially.
7. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device:
- includes a first ram and a second ram, and
- is operable to force the first ram in a first direction and to force the second ram in a second direction, simultaneously.
8. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the device is operable to repeatedly force the ram against one or more of the plurality of panels to demolish a toy structure formed by two or more of the plurality of panels.
9. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to generate an infrared signal to cause the device to force the ram against a panel of a toy structure formed by two or more of the plurality of panels.
10. The toy system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a timer.
11. The toy system of claim 1, wherein:
- the device includes a first ram and a second ram, and is operable to force the first ram in a first direction, and to force the second ram in a second direction, and
- the controller is operable to trigger the device to force at least one of the first ram and the second ram against a panel of the toy structure.
12. A method for demolishing a toy structure, the method comprising:
- positioning a ram of a device adjacent to one or more panels of a toy structure, wherein the device is separate from the toy structure to be demolished; and
- forcing the ram of the device against a panel of the toy structure.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein positioning the ram includes positioning the ram outside the toy structure.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein forcing the ram of the device includes a spring that forces the ram.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein forcing the ram includes accelerating the ram at ten ft/s2 against the panel.
16. The method of claim 12 wherein:
- positioning the ram of a device includes positioning two rams of a device, and
- forcing the ram of the device includes sequentially forcing both rams.
17. The method of claim 12 wherein:
- positioning the ram of a device includes positioning a second ram of a second device, and
- forcing the ram of the device includes sequentially forcing both rams.
18. The method of claim 12 further comprising combining a plurality of panels to form the toy structure.
19. The method of claim 12 further comprising triggering the device to force the ram against the panel of the toy structure.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 20, 2014
Publication Date: Sep 18, 2014
Inventors: James F. Becker (Bellevue, WA), Andrew D. Barr (Seattle, WA)
Application Number: 14/185,064
International Classification: A63H 33/00 (20060101);