Toy Building Set for Building Tree-Like Models

The invention concerns a toy building set for building treelike models, e.g. of the type known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,091, and comprising elements having primary and secondary coupling means adapted for interconnection.

This known building set comprises some trunk portions and a plurality of leaf-like plates which can be coupled between the trunk portions.

The object of the invention is to provide a building set of the above-mentioned type which is considerably more flexible and allows more compact building of a tree-like model.

This is obtained in that the building set includes the elements stated in the characterizing portion of claim 1, which partly comprise some trunk elements with a plurality of coupling means spaced from the coupling means on the opposed ends of the trunk element, and partly comprise a plurality of branch elements each of which has a plurality of coupling means allowing the branch elements to be interconnected in many different ways.

Preferably, the coupling means are constructed as stated in claim 2, and the branch elements are plane in a preferred embodiment, as stated in claim 3. When the length of said bushings is slightly greater than the thickness of the rest of the branch element, several branch elements may be interconnected on top of each other with a relatively small mutual distance.

The additional branching portions mentioned in claim 4 results in a greater visual similarity between the branch element of the invention and an ordinary branch or leaf structure, and when the ends of the additional branching portions are provided with bushings which resemble the abovementioned coupling bushings, the coupling bushings are camouflaged so that the branch element as a whole has a great similarity to branches or leaves, while providing many mutual coupling possibilities.

The invention will be explained more fully by the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawing, in which

FIG. 1 shows a building element known per se, which may serve as a trunk element for the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a preferred trunk element belonging to the building set of the invention,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective top and bottom views, respectively, of a preferred embodiment of a branch element, while

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a model of a tree-like structure built by means of the building set of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a building element which is known per se and which is also useful in connection with the building set of the invention. This element is elongate, and its ends are formed with a coupling stud 1 and a recess to receive a coupling stud from an adjacent element, respectively.

The building element shown in FIG. 2 comprises a trunk portion 2 like the one shown in FIG. 1, said trunk portion being provided with some obliquely projecting branches 3, 4, whose ends are formed with coupling studs 5, 6 of the above-mentioned type. It will be appreciated that the projecting branches might also be provided with complementary coupling means corresponding to a recess in the bottom of the trunk portion 2, cf. the explanation of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a preferred embodiment for the building set of the invention. The explanation will mainly be given with reference to FIG. 3, as FIG. 4 shows the same as FIG. 3, seen from below. The branch element comprises a plurality of bars 7-11, whose ends are formed with both a primary and a secondary coupling means in the form of a coupling bushing 12-16. The axis of the bushings is perpendicular to a common plane for the bars 7-11 and has at one end 17 a coupling stud with an outside diameter which corresponds to the inside diameter of the opposite end 18 (FIG. 4). Since the length of the bushings is greater than the thickness of the bars, it will be appreciated that such branch elements may be mutually assembled in many different plane-parallel positions. Moreover, the primary and the secondary coupling means in the bushings correspond entirely to the coupling means mentioned in connection with FIG. 2, so that the branch element may be built together with the trunk element.

As appears from FIG. 3, the bars 7-11 include additional branching portions, such as the branching portions 19, 20, all of which have a bushing at the end, such as the bushings 21, 22 which substantially correspond to the portion of the coupling bushings 12-16 which serves as the coupling stud end 17. The additional branching portions are instrumental in giving the branch element greater similarity to a branch or a leaf, and the additional bushings contribute to the total impression of the leaf or the branch so that the primary and secondary coupling means are well camouflaged.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a model of a bush, built by means of the building set of the invention. The model comprises two trunk elements 23, 24 interconnected via a branch element 25. Branch elements 26, 27 are also provided at the ends of the branching portions from the trunk elements, and a pair of additional branch elements 28, 29 are secured to the branch element 26 via a building element like the one shown in FIG. 1. Additional branch elements 30, 31 are also shown.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the building set of the invention lends itself to building models of varied appearance regarding the shape and also with respect to whether it is to resemble a thick growth of shrubs or an open tree crown.