US1671505A - Toy building - Google Patents

Description

May 29, 1928.. 1

A. F. BEMIS TOY BUILDING Filed'nec. 2, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheetl l Eiwei May 29, 1928. l A. F.` BEMIS v TOY BUILDING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1925 i N j M Patented May 29, 192s.

UNITED sTfATEs PATENT oFFicE.

ALBERT F. BEMIS, F EWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BEMIS INDUSTRIES,

` INC., OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, .A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE,

TOY BUILDING.

Application nled December 2, 19275. Serial No. 72,677.

This invention relates to improvements. in'

- miniature buildings such as dog houses or houses of the type used for models and displays by architects or builders,but more particularly to toy houses of different sizes anddesigns. m'

For this purpose I propose to provide a system of structural blocks or units which lmay be used with a series of plans having Wall outlines printed thereon, and if desired, rugs, floors and other details of furniture or` the like. Toy houses built in accordance with my invention may be of a semi-permanent nature and adapted to endure a considerable exposure to the elements, the parts being designed so th-at they maybe bound with cementitious material to render the structure more solid and Weather-tight.

A salient feature of the invention is the provision of interchangeable means Which may be combined .in various Ways to permit the erection of houses of different dimensions and shapes, and to suit various floor4 Fig. 1 is a vertical section-through a Wall and a portion of a building;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of' a portion floor and base shown in Fig.` 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portionv of a Wall assembly; Y l

Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8y are perspective views of structural components; v

Fig. V-9 is aside elevation of a completed floor and roof of a toy of, the

toy building; and

Fig. 10 is an end elevation ofthe same; and

Figs. 11 and 12 are perspective views of component parts.

In the construction of a house or other building, in accordance with my invention, a

base 1 is first provided to hold courses of blocks at varying locations and distances.

upon which is a layer 2, which may preferably be of laminated Wood With the holes 3 therein at modular distances. Holes 3 correspond Wlth the holes 7 which are spaced from .each other at modular distances in the building blocks 5 shown in Fig. 4. The blocks are preferably one module in width '1n eachcase, and of varying lengths, but the length in each case is a certain definite number of modules. In certain eases the blocks mayY be only one module in length (Fig. 5), While in other cases they are multiples of this length. i

'.Ihe base 1 constitutes a floor for the toy building and a base for carrying it from place toplace; incertain installations, however, basc 1 may be omitted and the Atoy structure built directly upon a floor, table or the like.

To erect a buil-ding upon `the base 1, ties 4 'are set up to mark the corners or intersections ot' Walls. These ties are-preferably of a length which will approximate the height of the Wall of a toy building and they tit into holes at the ends of blocks set up to define the intersecting Walls, blocks ini alternatecourses of whichl overlap each other as shown in Figs. 4 and 9. Intermediate the cornersthe blocks may be assembled in any desired manner, as in broken courses like -ordinary briclrwork, and they' Aare preferably fastened together by short ties 8, each having a length approximately equaltotwo courses of blocks. The holes 7 in the blocks have a rough surface and the ties 4 and 8 similarly have rough surfaces, the ties fitting into the holes with a fairly -tirm fit, but being designed to permit the application of an adhesive, such as plaster ot' Paris or gypsum, to cement the units rather firmly together when a semi-permanent construct-ion is desired. The door frames 10 and window frames 11 are preformed and are eachadapted to be installed in the Walls at the desired points.

. At the top of each side wall preferably is provided a'. course of girtblocks 12 which l' are rabbeted at 13 to engage thefedges of floor slabs 19, while similar blocks may or may not be used for the girt, course at the ends of the building. Holes in the girt blocks have semi-circular continuations 6 along the side of the rabbets 13, which are adapted to register `with semi-circular notches 9 in floor slabs 19, thus forming recesses for ties` 8. Blocks 12 are 'suitably 'in Fig. 12,l certam of the slabs having notches at their sides to engage ties` 8 and others having longer sides without notches.

At the corner of the girt course of blocks is disposed a square unit 14, the floor slabs at the. corners being suitably notched to engage this block. In order to permit the construction of buildings of different widths the Afloor beam 33 may be formed of separate parts, as illustrated more particularly in Fig. 8, in which the two similar parts 2() and 21 are shown connected by a tie 22,y which is slidably engaged in an opening in the end of one of the members, as member 20, and is firmly inset in the end of the other member. The provision of parts 20, 21 of' a few different lengths permits the forming of beams having a Wide variety of lengths.

Girt strips 23 of celluloid or thin fibre board are'provided with holes spaced to coordinate with the holes in the blocks 12. These strips may be laid along above the girt blocks to tie them firmly together .and they may also be placed yupon the beams 33 to hold the arts thereof firmly together, the holes in strips 23 being engaged by the ends of ties 8 or 17.

The rafters 30 are quite similar to the oor Vbeams except that their ends `are bevelled to fit upon the girt course of blocksv and edges of the' floor, these bevelled surfaces being recessed to engage ties 4 or 8 extending upwardly from the Wall Vstructure.`

Rafters 30 may be variable in length, in the manner above described with reference to the floor beams, inorder to permit the construction of vroofs of different dimensions.

- In order to reduce the number of different parts required to the minimum, I prefer to have the pitch o f the roof standardized at one or two different angles. I am thus able vto provide sets of blocks 32 with their ends suitably bevelled to fit the lower surface of the roof upon either end of the building and likewise it is necessary to provide only one or two sets of rafters 3 0. The rafters 30 at their upper'ends engage a ridge 35 of the cross-sectional form shown in Fig. 1, which has the inclined surfaces 36 and 37 to engage the bottoms and ends of rafters 30.

'various types.

The ridge may be solid, or it may be variable in length similarly to the floor beams. If desired, the ends of the vridge may be extended in the form shown in Fig. 10 at the i tops of the end walls, or blocks of the form there shown may be used at this point. 38 extending for aportion of the depth of the rafters are provided for engagement with ties 39 which pass through openings formed by registering semi-circular recesses in the roof slabs 40 and into recesses 41 in the outer rafters or rib members 45. The roof slabs 40 are provided with interengaging rabbeted longitudinal edges to provide approximately weather-tight construction kfor joints between 'consecutive rows of/roof slabs are covered by the rib.members 45 which may be variable in length as described above withreference to the floor beams and main rafters, but which preferably are provided in various lengths to suit different sizes of roofs.' The upper ends of rib members 45 are bevelled at a suitable angle to enable the? to form a firm joint at the ridge of the roo If desired to erect a semi-permanent construction of this nature such as a dog house, birdl house or the like, such a material as plaster of Paris or gypsum may be applied to the various pegs or ties, to the edges of the roof slabs, and to the rib members etc. to seal the parts firmly together in order to form a semi-permanent weather tight structure.

Obviousl the various units which have been descri ed may be combined in a wide variety of ways to provide buildings of If desired, buildings of more than one story may be erected, and additions or modifications such as ells, flatroofs, stairways, chimneys, steps and many other accessories may be readily incorporated in the structure or added thereto to suit the individual wishes and fancies of the user. Paper floor plans to be placed upon the basev 1 may be provided with indications of the locations of walls, ties etc. and may have representations of rugs etc. thereon, if desired.

I claim:

1. A system of units for the construction of toy buildings, including a series of vblocks having holes therein at modular distances, slabs -having semi-circular notches in their edges .at modular distances or multiples of the same, beams having holes at distances corresponding to the distances of the notches in the `slabs and holes at their ends and pins designed to tie the blocks together andto tie the slabs to the holes in Holes the, roof. These slabs are nominally designed to extend between two rafters and the the beams land to tie the ends of the beams to the blocks.

2. In a system of units for the construea series of blocks ada ted to be combined to v provide buildings o dilerent dimensions,

slabs having semi-circular notches at their edges, beams of variable length with holes' spaced to correspond with the notches and with holes at their ends, pins for engaging the notches in the lslabs'and the holes in the beams whereby a floor or the like may be provided for buildings of dileren't sizes and pins for the holes in the ends of the beams to secure them to walls formed by the blocks.

v 3. In a system of structural units for a toy house or the like, rabbeted blocks designed to :term a girt strip, holes-in the blocks with semi-circular continuations along the sides of the rabbets`,zfloor slabs enaging in the rabbets, semi-circular notches m the floor slabs, ties engaging the holes and 4the semi-circular notches to hold the slabs and girt blocks'together.

4. In a system of structural units for a toy house or the like, rabbeted blocks de-` signed to form a girt strip, holes in the blocks with semi-circular continuations along the side of the rabbets, floor slabs engaging in the rabbets, semi-circular notches 1n the floor slabs,4ties en aging the holes and the semi-circular notc les to hold the slabsv and girt blocks together, and a girt strip enga ing the` tops of the ties.

Signed me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 30th day of October, 1925.

ALBERT F. BEMIS.

Images