US20140045403A1

US20140045403A1 - Construction toy system with universal hub

Info

Publication number: US20140045403A1
Application number: US13/756,969
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard Michael Murphy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-02-02
Filing date: 2013-02-01
Publication date: 2014-02-13

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a connector element for a space structure as well as a kit of parts to produce such a structure ideally suited to a construction toy of the type comprising a plurality of hub-like connector elements and a plurality of structural elements, struts, adapted to be removably engaged with the connector elements. The connector elements include first, second or more subparts having zero, one or more strut-receiving sockets emanating from each of the subparts, the subparts being rotatable with respect to one another along one or multiple common axis axes.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present invention relies upon and relates back to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/594,280, filed on Feb. 2, 2012.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed toward providing further improved structural elements useful in construction of space structures such as toy systems of the type that employs struts and connector hubs. The present invention proposes the use of hubs having subparts which are capable of being articulated with respect to one another allowing struts emanating therefrom to do so with enhanced degrees of freedom allowing the construction of multiple and new spatial constructs heretofore unavailable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are a wide variety of kits for hub and strut construction toy sets, the majority of which are designed such that receptor slots on the hubs are fixed allowing only discreet angular placement of the various struts emanating therefrom.
The present invention is ideally suited to enhance the construction toy art, and in particular construction toy systems made the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,219, 5,137,486, and 7,588,476, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. A construction toy system as disclosed in the above-referenced patents is marketed under the trademark K'NEX®.
In this regard, reference is made to FIG. 1 which relates to FIG. 1 of the '486 patent illustrating the hub-like connector element of the K'NEX® system. Shown are two planar connector sub elements 10 connected at a fixed right angle to each other. Each sub element exhibits an array of 7 gripping arm based strut receiving socket or slots radially disposed at fixed angularly spaced locations about the perimeter of their respective sub element. In this fashion, struts may be attached to the composite hub whereby all struts radiate at fixed equal angles in each of only two planes, whereby the longitudinal axes of each attached strut intersect at a common location in the core of the composite hub.
Reference is next made to FIG. 2 which relates to FIG. 3 of the '476 patent. Shown are two planar connector sub elements 10 connected via a two part hinge 33 to each other. Each sub element exhibits an array of 4 radially disposed gripping arm based strut connectors at fixed angularly spaced locations about the half arc perimeter of their respective sub element. In this fashion, struts may be attached to the composite hub whereby all struts radiate at equal angles in each of only half two planes, where the half planes rotate relative to each other about the hinge axis to approximately +/−90 degrees. That is, the angle between the two hinged connector planes do not appreciably form an acute angle, a requirement of for example, the edge of a equilateral tetrahedron.
To delineate the specific limitations of these inventions, 1) current art does not provide for the arbitrary angular positioning of strut receiving sockets about the perimeter of a planar sub elements in either hinged or non-hinged embodiments, 2) current art does not provide that hinged intersecting planar connector sub elements may revolve or bend about their common hinge relative to each other by more than +/−90 degrees, and 3) current art of hinged multi-planar connectors are limited in that the sub-elements provide that the array of attached struts fan out over no more than a 180 degree area (half plane).
In addition to the K'NEX® toy construction kits, there is an array of prior art for rod and hub construction toy sets which are generally designed such that receptor slots on the hubs are fixedly placed allowing only discreet angular placement of the axes of various struts attached to a given hub in relation to each other. This limitation generally dictates that a set of struts and hubs that allows the end user to construct octagonal based structures cannot be used to construct pentagonal or hexagonal based structures and vice versa.
There is a handful of construction sets that exhibit one or two degrees of angular freedom when the struts are attached to their respective hubs. In general, the prior art is restricted to the production of space structures with component parts exhibiting, at most, only two degrees of angular freedom.
In addition to the K'NEX® structure described above, there are several other configurations in which hubs are constructed either as spheres or multi-sided polygons. Such structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,975. Constructs disclosed by the '975 patent enable struts to emanate from slots or receptors radially in an equatorial plane and can include the ability to enable struts to emanate normal to that plane if desired.
A product competitive to the K'NEX® toy construction kit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,131 and sold under the trademark ZOME®. This product is characterized by the use of a plethora of strut receptors, some 63 in number, to increase flexibility in employing this toy by greatly increasing the number of angles that a strut can emanate from any one hub. Nevertheless, hubs, once configured, support slots in a preconfigured orientation and even with 63 such slots at any one hub, one is not able to construct a simple equilateral tetrahedron employing the ZOME® toy until “bent” struts were introduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,092,217 teaches the bending of strut sockets within lines of fixed longitude above or below the primary plane of the hub disk. The hub, being constructed of sheet metal, would fail in response to repeated bending resulting in ultimate breakage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,846,809 describes a toy system in which a “ping pong ball” like hub provides a substrate for the attachment of struts using suction cups for adhesion, the limitations of which should be obvious.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,391 utilizes struts with “mushroom head” like configurations interconnected by semi-resilient plastic-filled spherical hubs. The semi-resilient hub material acts to grip the head of each strut enabling the strut to be held within the hub at arbitrary angles. This configuration is limited by the number of defined entry slots found within the hub and, as such, there is a discreet number of angles where the central axis lines of the struts intersect with one another at the center of the hub. When axes of the struts are not normal to the surface of the hub, the central axes of the struts do not intersect each other at a common (hub internal) vertex as they should, nor do they terminate at the center of the hub. Thus, polyhedral constructs requiring internal angles not allowed by the said affixed slot locations do not exhibit true single point vertices.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,421 teaches the use of individual hubs as a collection of two-leaf hinges bolted to one another with struts extending from the hinge pins of the hubs. Additional struts may be added to enhance the versatility of this kit by disconnecting hinged struts from their hubs and bolting new struts onto the hub configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,832 teaches a kit of parts composed of fixed hubs and bent struts as well as inflexible struts with multi-hinged hubs. One using this kit is forced to employ a large number of distinguishable hub pieces and, in doing so, is unable to create a system having three degrees of angular freedom for struts radiating from their slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,900 describes a system having a spherical hub with longitudinally extending slots in which the slots radiate at arbitrary angles above and below the equatorial plane of the hub. It is noted, however, that the struts radiate only from fixed angular displacements as viewed from above or below the hub.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,216 provides the basis for the MAGNETIX® and similar toy systems. A user is able to attach struts to hubs through the use of magnets. While large or complex structures may be created with these magnetic based systems, the resulting structures are generally fragile.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,667,479, 2,303,294, 3,077,282, 3,243,838 and 5,172,534 teach, in one form or another, the use of hinge pins or pintles to hinge subparts for rotation about a primary hinge axis. For example, the '294 patent allows lateral entrance of the hinge pin into the surrounding hinge knuckle via a gap cut in the side of a second hinge leaf's knuckle. The opening of this gap is slightly narrower than the diameter of the hinge pin, requiring deformation of the knuckles during assembly. In this fashion, the hinge element of the second body is releasable held by the hinge element of the first. The '480 patent discloses a similar narrow-throated radial axis noting that repeated insertion and removal of the hinge pin into its gripping member is required. The '282 patent teaches a pintle captive to a first hinge member and held by a second member along the hinge axis at the end of the pintle. As to the '282 patent, the pintle is a sphere captive to one member held in place by two axially located concave knuckles captive to the second member. The '838 patent describes the use of a small cylinder as its pintle with concave ends held on each end by convex members, such as spheres. Finally, the '534 patent employs hinge knuckles as disks with convex portions that effectively grip the disk-shaped pintle, the pintle having a concave structure on each axial end. In each instance, the hinges of the prior art are created by deforming the hinge material while the members snap together.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a connector element and particularly one for use for creating a space structure, such as a toy system of the prior art which can be articulated along one or more orthogonal axes allowing struts to emanate therefrom allowing the construction of a multitude of new spatial constructs generally heretofore unavailable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a connector element for a space structure, such as the type shown in the '219 patent having the ability to enable strut elements to radiate in a number of diverse and selectable angles to one another thus enhancing the geometric shapes and configurations achievable by the prior art.
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a connector element for a space structure as well as a kit of parts to produce such a structure ideally suited to a construction toy of the type comprising a plurality of hub-like connector elements and a plurality of structural elements, struts, adapted to be removably engaged with the connector elements. The connector elements are comprised of first, second or more subparts having zero, one or more strut-receiving sockets emanating from each of the subparts, the subparts being rotatable with respect to one another along one or multiple common axis axes.
The present invention provides for the arbitrary angular positioning of strut receiving sockets about the perimeter of the planar sub elements in either hinged or non-hinged solutions; provides that hinged intersecting planar connector sub elements may revolve or bend about their common hinge relative to each other by more than +/−150 degrees enabling the construction of space structures previously unobtainable from an articulated construction toy hub; provides that hinged multi-planar connectors are not limited in that at least two sub-elements making up a multi-planar hub provide that the array of attached struts fan out over a 360 degree.
Additionally, in all aspects of this invention, multi-planar connection hubs are not limited to providing strut arrays in only two planes; particular embodiments of this invention provide that connected struts may lie on up to five differing planes intersecting along a single common hinge axis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hub-like connector element constructed according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,486 representing prior art to which the present invention is an improvement.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hub-like connector element constructed according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,588,476 representing prior art to which the present invention is an improvement.

FIG. 3 is perspective view related to the of art of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/849,643 to which the inventive matter presented here is a progression of.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a fixed plane-angle semi-toroidal hub element with attached strut receiving slots with strut in proximity.

FIGS. 4B through 4D are of a fixed plane-angle toroidal hub in plan, front and cross-sectional views, respectively.

FIGS. 4E through 4G are of a strut receiving slot sequentially in plan, front and cross-sectional views, respectively.

FIG. 4H is a front view of a fixed plane-angle toroidal hub element with attached strut receiving slot.

FIGS. 5A through 5D are views of the steps to assemble a composite fixed plane-angle hub.

FIGS. 5E and 5F are plan and right side views, respectively, of an assembled toroidal fixed plane-angle hub.

FIG. 6A is a front view of a fixed plane-angle toroidal hub element

FIG. 6B is a front view of a fixed plane-angle fixed hub element placed orthogonal to that hub in 6A.

FIG. 6C is a front view of a composite fixed plane-angle hub comprised of one toroidal hub element and one fixed position hub element.

FIGS. 6D and 6E are plan views of alternate fixed plane-angle toroidal hub embodiments.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are plan and sectional front views, respectively, of the primary hinged hub element with fixed slot placement.

FIGS. 7C and 7D are plan and front views, respectively, of the secondary hinged hub element.

FIGS. 7E and 7F are sectional and front views, respectively, of the composite hinged hub.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan and sectional front views, respectively, of the primary hinged hub element with toroidal slot placement.

FIG. 8C is a plan view of a hinged hub element with toroidal slot placement with slider slot attached.

FIGS. 8D and 8E are plan and sectional front views, respectively, of the primary hinged hub element with toroidal slot placement and fixed primary slot.

FIGS. 8F and 8G are plan views of alternate embodiments of the hinged hub.

FIGS. 9A through 9F are plan views of alternate embodiments of the secondary slot.

FIGS. 10A through 10D are views of the hinged scissor hub shown in plan view, two sectional front views, and side view, respectively.

FIG. 10E is a front view showing a composite scissor hub positioned at an acute angle.

FIGS. 11A through 11E demonstrate the assembly steps and respective material clearances of first and secondary scissor elements being assembled into a composite scissor hub.

FIG. 12A is a half scissor hub in plan view.

FIGS. 12B through 12E demonstrate the assembly of a first scissor hub element and a half scissor hub element being assemble to form a composite scissor hub

FIGS. 13A through 13C are various embodiments of assembled scissor hubs.

FIG. 13D is an assembled scissor hub with the addition of two secondary slots at random angle.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are plan and sectional front views, respectively, of a toroidal scissor hub element with corresponding slider slot element adjacent to it.

FIG. 14C is a plan view of a toroidal scissor hub element two attached slider slot elements.

FIGS. 14D and 14E are plan and sectional front views, respectively, of a toroidal scissor hub element with and fixed primary slot.

FIG. 14F is a plan view of a secondary connector element.

FIG. 14G is a front view of a composite toroidal scissor hub with slider slots and secondary slots attached.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Novel features which are characteristic of the invention, as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments in the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration description only and are not intended as definitions of the limits of the invention. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are recited with particularity in the claims.
There has been broadly outlined the more important features of the invention in the summary above in order that the detailed description which follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form additional subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based readily may be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Certain terminology and derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left,” and “right” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as “inward” and “outward” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. The plane of the hub refers to the plane the generally disc-like geometry of a connecting sub element or element of this invention resides in as it may be when lying on a sheet or table. Mid-plane refers to a geometric plane mid-way between upper and lower planar surfaces of an otherwise ‘flat’ element comprising some thickness. Reference in the singular tense include the plural and vice versa, unless otherwise noted.
The invention relates to a class of construction toys principally made up of sets of rods (struts) and connectors (hubs). More specifically, this invention relates to the assemblage of the elements, resulting in the formation of space structures for entertainment and education. These space structures may take the form of simple to complex polyhedra, as well as any of a wide range of spatial structures (buildings, vehicles, atomic lattice structures, civil engineering models, etc.).
Generally provided as a kit, the invention consists of hubs and struts. The struts are generally fastened to each other through the use of connecting elements, generally referred to as hubs. In the context of polyhedral or space structures, the struts comprise the edges of said structures, and the connectors or hubs make up the vertices of the structures. In kit form, other elements may be provided, such as planar surfaces, mechanical elements, and so forth.
As embodied, generally rigid or semi-rigid struts have a profile generally similar to that of elongated cylinders, where the axial length of the cylinder is proportionally longer than that of the cross section or diameter of the cylinder. Defined is the longitudinal axis of the strut as extending along its axial length. The cross section of the strut is not specifically circular, but generally has a perimeter contained within a circular or oval envelope-with the understanding that this may include cross-sections having square, rectangular, or other polygonal shape, for example, an “x” shaped cross section.
The present inventive hubs generally have some number of regions which receive the struts and are mated to them. In the specific case and embodiment of the invention detailed below, that portion of the hub attaching the strut to it is often referred to as a slot or socket, but more generally, could be any of a range of attaching mechanisms. However, it is the intent of this invention that the attaching mechanism not be limited to a specific mechanical design, but could be of a range of designs, some of which have been previously disclosed in prior patents, such as for Tinkertoy®, first described by U.S. Pat. No. 1,113,371 utilizing a compression/friction grip or for K'NEX® first described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,219 utilizing a pair of strut gripping arms for releasable strut capture.
Regarding the hubs, while it is the case that many of the angularly fixed hub and strut space structure building sets disclosed in prior art can build a myriad array of space structures, those designs are generally limited to space structures with discrete, fixed angular strut orientations such as 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° to each other.
Allowing for variation in strut design and the design of the strut to hub mating configurations, the essence of this invention is that of allowing continuous ranges of positioning and relative angular orientations of the struts attached to a given hub employed to define a wide range of polyhedral or other space constructs. This invention provides for multiple orthogonal rotational axes within the construct of the hub elements, whereby the strut receiving slots of the hub can rotate about those axes.
The hub mechanism of this invention allows that the use of identical hub elements in differing configurations to place strut elements at differing angular orientations (to each other) in a given structure, or to re-employ these elements in an altogether different polyhedral space structure at differing angular orientations at some later time.
Examples of differing angles that may be selected by a user constructing desire polyhedral structures oftentimes cannot be selected using existing art. For example, in constructing Platonic and Archimedean solids, often of importance is the dihedral angle (the angle between two adjacent surfaces of the solid). These angles include 70.53° for the tetrahedron, 116.57° for the dodecahedron, and 138.19° between the hexagonal surfaces of the truncated icosahedrons, this latter solid often known as a buckyball after Buckminster Fuller, the angles of which define the soccer ball, as well as that of C₆₀, the carbon molecule fullerene. The dodecahedron consists of pentagons, with struts meeting at 108°, not simple multiples of 30° or 45°. The inner angles of the rhombic faces of the rhombic dodecahedron are 70.53° and 109.47°, with a dihedral angle of 120°. The dihedral angles between the hexagonal surfaces comprising carbon nanotubes designated in form by (n,m) are 150°, 152.3°, 158.8° for m=0, n=12, 13 and 17, respectively. For other values of m and n, the required dihedral angles are different.
Fortunately, for the casual user, knowledge of these values is generally not required. Users playing with, for example, magnetic hub and strut toys, arrange struts at no pre-set angular orientations, and do not know the inner angular values when they construct, for instance, an octahedron; the relative angular placement of the struts in an octahedron are forced by set geometric constraints. By providing this flexibility in angular strut relationships while simultaneously providing a structurally robust system of connectors, it should be clear the advantages the invention disclosed here provide over prior inventions of similar art.
Turning to FIG. 3, shown is the subject matter of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/849,643 to which the inventive matter presented here is a progression of. In detail, shown is a composite hinge-hub 50 comprised of half-planar connector elements 51 a and 51 b, where each is releasbly attached to each other via symmetric hinge elements. Attached to composite hinge-hub 50 is an array of struts represented by strut 52.
Now turning to FIG. 4A, a plan view, shown is a first connector element 100, one of two connector elements that comprise a multi-planar composite connector element, that when combined in a quantity greater than one with a plurality of struts, make up a hub and strut based construction toy set.
Continuing to refer to FIG. 4A, first connector element 100 is made up of connector element 101 and slider slots 102 a and 102 b. Less or more slider slots 102 may be attached to connector element 101. Connector element 101 includes semi-toroidal ring 103 where the central axis of the toroid is perpendicular to the connector element, collinear with orthogonal axis 104 extending vertical off the printed view.
To advantage, slider slots are releasably attached to the first connector element at the semi-toroidal hub 103 (FIG. 4A) via the use of open knuckles 105, where 105 is shown in FIG. 4F. For substantial advantage, the slider slots are variably positionable across any angular range 106, about the available circumference of the semi-toroidal ring.
When attached to connector element 101, slider slots 102 accommodate struts 107 such that the longitudinal axes of the struts 108 intersect orthogonal axis 104 of the connector element at a common point, regardless of angular positioning of the slider slots. This is shown by example in FIG. 4A, where slider slot 102 b is open to accept strut 107, such that the longitudinal axis 108 a of that strut intersects the orthogonal axis 104 of the connector element 101 at the same location along the orthogonal axis that longitudinal axis 108 b of an additional strut 107, were it connected. In this preferred embodiment, all struts attached to the connector element 101, lie in the same plane.
FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D provide a plan view, front view, and cross-sectional views respectively of the connector element 101, where the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4D is taken at 110 in FIG. 4B. Similarly, FIGS. 4E, 4F, and 4G provide a plan view, front view, and cross-sectional views respectively of the slider slot 102, where the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4G is taken at 111 in FIG. 4C.
To provide an advantage in the building of hub and strut structures, open knuckle 105 of the slider slot 102, FIG. 4F, is designed to provide a snug fit on the semi-toroidal ring 103, shown in FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D, ensuring a smooth but resistive translation about the ring when the slider slot 102 is re-positioned on the semi-toroidal ring 103. This is accomplished by designing the interior dimension 113, FIG. 4G of the hinge knuckle 112 to be marginally smaller than the exterior dimension 114 of the semi-toroidal ring 103 shown in FIG. 4D.
While slider slot 102 is designed to be repeatedly removable from connector element 101 FIG. 4A, to ensure that slider slot 102 does not ‘fall off’, but remains attached to the connector element 101 unless a user wishes to remove such, the opening 115 to the knuckle interior 113 is dimensioned marginally smaller than that of the knuckle interior. Selection of suitable materials insures that repeated minor deformations in the knuckle 105 in the attachment and removal process does not otherwise reduce the lifetime use of the invention.
While the invention envisions alternate approaches to maintaining a connection between slider slots 102 and struts 107, FIG. 4A, such as but not limited to friction fittings, the preferred embodiment utilizes a releasable snap fit. This is enabled through the use of a circumferential flange 116 on strut 107 held against removal from the slider socket cavity 117 by inclusion of a corresponding snap 118 on slider slot 103, which may be seen in FIGS. 4E, 4F and 4G.
For further appreciation of the construction, FIG. 4H provides a front view of single slider slot 102 attached to connector element 101.
To facilitate the construction of a multi-planar composite connector element 125 (FIG. 5E) connector element 101 includes an elongated open sided recess 126, shown in FIG. 4B, where this recess extends from orthogonal axis 104 of connector element 101, breaking semi-toroidal ring 103, to the exterior of the connector element. Recess 126 demonstrates width 127 (FIG. 4B) essentially equal to thickness 128 (FIG. 4C) of the connector element.
Turning now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, shown are plan views of first connector element 100 a and second connector element 100 b, situated at right angles to each other, in such a fashion that their respective open sided recesses 126 are open towards the other. FIGS. 5C and 5D show these same two connector elements from a front view, where FIG. 5C shows the front view of first connector element 100 a shown in plan view in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5D shows the front view of first connector element 100 b shown in plan view in FIG. 5B.
FIG. 5E shows the plan view of a multi-planar composite connector element 125 comprised of first and second connector elements, 100 a and 100 b, respectively, and FIG. 5F shows the same composite connector element 125 from a side view. Note that in the composite connector, there is no hindrance of angular placement of the slider slots 102. Note in particular advantage clearance 130 (FIG. 5E) providing that slider slot 102 f reside at any angular position about the semi-toroidal ring 103 where its positioning is not impeded by the proximity of the mated first connector element 100 a.
Of additional advantage are design deformations 131 (FIG. 4B) of a first connector element that physically snap beyond the edge border 132 of a second connector element, when first and second connector elements are united to form a multi-planar composite connector 125 (FIG. 5E). Through temporary material deformations, this creates an interlocked pair of connectors that may be separated via the use of light user applied force.
While in the depiction of FIG. 5 the first and second connector elements shown are of essentially similar design, it should be appreciated that the scope of this invention is not limited to this. Following are but two examples of alternate constructions.
FIG. 6A shows slider slot based first connector element 100, while FIG. 6B shows fixed angle second connector element 140 in the same plan view adjacent to the first connector element, where the fixed angle connector may be that made by one or other suppliers of prior art. FIG. 6C shows a multi-planar connector element comprised of slider based first connector element 100 and fixed slot connector element 140.
Appreciate the indentations 133 in FIGS. 4B and 4D designed to provide compatibility to prior art yielding a releasable snap fit multi part connector.
Alternate preferred embodiments of the slider slot based connector elements that may be substituted for connector elements 101 include connector element 141 (FIG. 6D) which includes for advantage cut 142 in material providing reduced strain in material deformation during the connector mating process. A yet further alternate embodiment is that of 143 (FIG. 6E) with a reduced angular dimensioned semi-toroidal ring.
An examination of FIGS. 7A through 7F will show an increased advantage though the replacement of the fixed angle connection between first and second connector elements 100 presented in FIGS. 4 A-H to that of a connection where connector subparts residing in multiple planes which may rotate relative to each other along a common axis. The principal embodiment of this is in a composite multi-planar hinged connector employing a primary connector and one or more secondary connector elements attached to each other by use of a hinge mechanism. The first embodiment of this is shown in FIGS. 7A through 7F is that utilizing a fixed strut receiving socket (slot) positioning on the primary connector element, followed later with the inclusion of a second embodiment utilizing an angularly variably positionable slider slot.
FIG. 7A shows a plan view of generally planar primary connector element 200 comprised most notably of an array of angularly positioned strut receiving elements 201 and cylindrical hinge pintle 202. FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the primary connector element taken at cross section 203. FIG. 7E shows this same cross-sectional view of primary connector element 200 with secondary element 210 attached at an acute angle made possible by the use of beveling.
Defined here is primary axis 204, shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, where this axis lies in the defined mid-plane of the primary connector element 200. To assist in further understanding of the invention, orthogonal axis 205 is defined perpendicular to both primary axis 204 and the plane of the primary connector element 200.
Strut receiving socket or slot 201 is representative of a multiplicity of slots for attaching struts to primary connector 200 and other connector element embodiments. Slots 201 are distributed at pre-determined angles about orthogonal axis 205 in the plane of primary connector element 200, and are placed so that they have outwardly facing socket cavity 206 providing for the attachment of struts in a radial manner about the connector element, such that the longitudinal axes of connected struts intersect at a common point on orthogonal axis 205, mid-plane to the connector. In this preferred embodiment, all struts attached to primary connector element 200 lie in the same plane.
Focusing now on the design of the rotational advantages, cylindrical hinge pintle 202 is collinear with primary axis 204. Hinge pintle 202 is supported by closed hinge knuckles 207 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Closed hinge knuckle 206 exhibits radial dimension 208 (FIG. 7B) proportionally greater than its width 209 (FIG. 7A), thereby advantageously providing torsional stability to secondary connector elements attached adjacently thereto.
One of several preferred embodiments of a secondary connector element 210 is shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D, though it must be understood that the invention includes, but is not limited to, a range of differing secondary connector elements 275 to 279, as shown in FIGS. 9A through 9F. The fundamental attributes of secondary connector element 210 are the open hinge knuckles 211, utilized to attach the secondary connector element to the primary connector element 200 and strut receiving socket or slot 212 utilized to attach struts to it.
Open hinge knuckle 211 of secondary connector 210 exhibits radial dimension 213, shown in FIG. 7D, proportionally greater than its width 208 as seen in FIG. 7B, thereby advantageously providing torsional stability to secondary connector elements attached adjacently.
By providing increased torsional stability through the use of larger radial area of closed hinge knuckles 207 and open hinge knuckles 211, adjacently supporting one another, the hinge knuckles may be designed thinner than they otherwise could be. Doing so then allows an increase in the number of secondary connectors that may be attached along the pintle of the primary axis. This is shown in FIG. 7F, where four secondary elements are attached simultaneously, at arbitrary angles, to a single primary connector element.
It should be appreciated that the invention is such that while a multiplicity of struts attached via secondary connectors lie in differing planes, each plane described by the strut and the primary axis of the multi-planar connector, the longitudinal axes of the attached struts all intersect at a single point, common to the intersection of primary axis 204 and orthogonal axis 205.
For further advantage, the invention provides that open hinge knuckle 211 is designed to provide a snug fit on hinge pintle 202 ensuring the secondary connector element 210 a smooth but resistive rotation about the primary axis 204 when slider slot 102 (FIG. 4E) is re-positioned relative to the plane of the primary connector. This fit is accomplished by designing interior dimension 214 (FIG. 7D) of hinge knuckle 211 to be marginally smaller than the diameter 215 (FIG. 7B) of hinge pintle 202.
While secondary connector 210 is designed to be repeatedly attached and removed from primary connector element 200, to ensure that secondary connector 210 does not ‘fall off’ but remains attached to connector element 200 unless a user wishes to remove such, opening 216 is dimensioned marginally smaller than that of knuckle interior 214. Selection of suitable materials insures that repeated minor temporary deformations in the hinge knuckle 211 in the attachment and removal process does not otherwise reduce the lifetime use of the invention.
Note that in this preferred embodiment, strut receiving sockets 201 (FIG. 7A) and 212 (FIG. 7C) are generally identical to the strut receiving sockets of the slider slots 102 (FIG. 4G), inclusive of snap mechanisms 230 and 231 shown in FIGS. 7C and 7A respectively designed for releasably retaining attached struts.
To significant advantage is the beveling of planar surfaces of the connector elements to increase the rotational range of primary and secondary connector elements 200 and 210, respectively, relative to the other. Details of this can be seen in FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7D, and 7E. Specific is beveling (e.g., increasing reduction) of the planar thickness 220 of the primary connector element shown in FIGS. 7B and 216 of secondary connector element shown in FIG. 7D in those areas closer to the primary axis 204. In this preferred embodiment of primary connector element 200, this is done at hinge arms 221 and on the general body at multiple locations shown representatively at 222, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.
To advantage, similar beveling of planar material of secondary connector 210 is found on the hinge arms 223 and those areas of the body closer to the primary axis, represented by 224, shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D. FIG. 7E clearly demonstrates the inventive advantage of the beveling of the primary and secondary connector elements by graphically illustrating the acute inner angle about the primary axis 204 that these two elements may be set to each other.
FIGS. 8A through 8G explore alternate primary hub embodiments. All of the features and advantages shown in FIGS. 7A through 7F and in discussion about those figures directly apply to those elements shown in FIG. 8A through 8G.
In turning to FIG. 8A, primary slider connector 250, similar in functionality to that of primary connector element 200 shown in FIG. 7A, but replacing fixed slots 201 with inclusion of 360 degree semi-toroidal ring 251 with axis collinear to defined orthogonal axis 252. Semi-toroidal ring 251 provides variable placement of one or more slider slots 102 anywhere along its available perimeter allowing struts attached to it to radiate at user determined angles about orthogonal axis 252. The invention is such that the longitudinal axes of struts (e.g. strut 107, FIG. 4) attached thereto will intersect at the intersecting point of orthogonal axis 252 and mid-plane defined primary axis 253. Hinge pintle 254, collinear to primary axis 253 accepts but is not limited to secondary slot 210 (FIGS. 7C and 7D).
A cross-sectional view taken at 255 is shown in FIG. 8B to provide better appreciation of the invention. FIG. 8C shows primary slider connector 250 with a single slider slot 102 attached to it. Angular dimension line 256 indicates the angular range of the slider slot 102 on 250.
Also of advantage is primary connector 260, shown in FIG. 8D, where in addition to semi-toroidal ring 261 allowing moveable placement of the slider slot 102 along the connector's perimeter, the primary connector also includes fixed primary strut receiving slot 262. Hinge pintle 263 accepts but is not limited to secondary slot 102 as describe for FIGS. 7C and 7D. Both fixed primary strut receiving slot 262 and hinge pintle 263 are collinear to defined mid-plane primary axis 264. A cross-sectional view taken at 265 in FIG. 8D is presented in FIG. 8E to provide better appreciation of this embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 8F and 8G present two additional embodiments 270 and 271 of the primary connector element for the composite multi-planar hinged connector. To advantage, these maintain the feature set discussed above regarding attachment and angular rotation of secondary connector elements.
FIGS. 9A through 9F illustrate elements 275 through 279, providing examples of the range of possible secondary connector element embodiments. In detail, secondary connector 275 (FIG. 9A) provides attachment of a strut at a 60 degree angle relative to a primary axis of a given multi-planar hub. Secondary connector 275 is designed to attach to available space on a hinge pintle on furthest for the orthogonal axis. Secondary connector 276 (FIG. 9B) provides attachment of a strut at a 60 degree angle relative to a primary axis, whereby secondary connector 276 attaches to a section of hinge pintle adjacent to the orthogonal axis.
Secondary connector 277 (FIG. 9C) accommodates two physical connector slots on a single set of open hinge knuckles for attachment to a connector element. Similarly, secondary connector 278 (FIG. 9D) accommodates two physical connector slots but on two pair of open hinge knuckles for attachment to a connector element. This configuration provides increased structural strength that may be necessary in some space structures.
FIGS. 9E and 9F show views of slider secondary connector 279, where slider connector 279 includes a portion of semi-toroidal ring allowing user determined placement of slider slot 102.
It should be understood that this invention foresees an additional range of secondary elements that may be connected to the primary hub beyond these shown. Further, the various hinge pintles of primary connectors e.g. hinge pintle 202 (FIG. 7A), may accept other non-connector elements as well.
As a further enhancement to the present invention, FIGS. 10A through 10E describe one of two interlocking connector elements comprising the scissor hub, a multi-planar strut connector whereby struts lying on each of two planes radiate in a 360 degree fashion, where the planes may be set at arbitrary angles to each other. Additionally, multiple secondary connector elements may be attached to the scissor hub.
FIG. 10A provides a plan view of the generally planar first scissor hub sub element 300, where it should be readily appreciated that each sub-element contains many of the same features present in the connector elements discussed previously. These elements include defined primary axis 301 mid-plane to the scissor hub sub element 300, hinge pintle 302 to accept open hinge knuckle based components, e.g. secondary slots 210 as shown in FIG. 7C and open hinge knuckles 310 of second scissor hub sub elements, a defined orthogonal axis 303 perpendicular to the primary axis and the plane of element 300, in addition to fixed strut receiving sockets or slots 304 arranged radially about the orthogonal axis 303, which to advantage include strut retention clip 305. These elements may be viewed in the side view, FIG. 10D.
The scissor hub element also includes beveling on hinge knuckles 306 and those areas of the connector body represented by 307 closer to primary axis 301, both features to advantage provide attached second and secondary connector elements to form acute angles adjacent to this first sub element. These features can be more readily appreciated in FIG. 10C, a cross sectional view taken at 308 in FIG. 10A.
Of key advantage is the use of open hinge knuckles 310 shown in FIG. 10A, better appreciated in FIG. 10C, a cross-sectional view taken at 311 in FIG. 10A. Also note core opening 312 which is effectively equivalent to elongated open sided recess 126 a in FIG. 5A allowing similar sub elements to interlock. To further provide advantage, portions of closed hinge knuckle arms 313 are further reduced in dimension, best shown in FIG. 10C. The width of the remaining material of hinge knuckle arm 314 is designed such that it is dimensionally less than gap opening 315 adjacent to the open hinge knuckles 310.
Details of open hinge knuckle 310 are shown in FIG. 10C, where angled hinge knuckle opening 316 is visible. Overall, open knuckle 316 is designed utilizing methodology as detailed in prior open knuckles of this invention, e.g. open hinge knuckle 211 in FIG. 11D, to advantage, providing a resistive rotational fit to hinge pintles it may be attached, as well as releasable attachment thereof.
The sum of these inventive devices is such that two identical scissor hub sub elements 300, set at 180 degrees of each other and applied at roughly right angles, offset from each other, so that their respective core openings 312 ‘face’ each other, may be brought together and releasably interlocked completing the scissor hub, a multi-planar strut connector. A front view of a completed scissor hub 320, with the planar sub elements resting at an acute angle to each other is shown in FIG. 10E.
FIGS. 11A through 11E demonstrate the mating of a first and second scissor hub sub elements 300 a and 300 b being assembled to comprise composite scissor hub 320. In detail, FIG. 11A shows first sub element 300 a, adjacent to second sub element 300 b, where the second sub element is aligned orthogonal to and reversed from the first.
FIG. 11B demonstrates two sub units together, but not yet interlocked. FIG. 11C illustrates these same two elements, but in cross section taken at 325 in 11B. FIG. 11D shows them in their final interlocked position, comprising completed scissor hub 320. FIG. 11E shows the same completed hub, but in cross section taken at 326 in FIG. 11D.
FIGS. 12A through 12E show the assembly of a partial scissor hub. Of advantage is the use of half hub 330 of design similar to scissor hub sub element 300, but of only partial circumferential build, as shown in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12B shows this same element, 330, positioned orthogonal to scissor hub sub element 300 adjacent to it in FIG. 12C. FIGS. 12D and 12E provide two views of completed partial scissor hub 335, where partial scissor hubs 335 is comprised of scissor hub sub element 300 and half hub 330. In another embodiment, two half hubs 330 may be assembled to form a classic hinge hub, where due to beveling as described here, each half can revolve some 280 plus degrees, significantly more than the +/−90 angular range provided by other prior art.
Demonstrating the functionality of the scissor hub, several basic constructions are shown in FIG. 13A through 13D. FIG. 13A shows basic scissor hub configuration 320, similar to that shown in 11E, but from an edge view as opposed to a cross-sectional view.
FIG. 13B illustrates scissor hub 320, but with its respective sub elements fully revolved about the other. FIG. 13C provides a view of partial scissor hub 330 shown in FIG. 12E, but rotated to an acute minimum angle. FIG. 13D demonstrates the scissor hub 320 to full advantage with the inclusion of additional secondary hubs 210 a and 210 b.
Of significant advantage is the slider variation of the scissor hub, shown in FIG. 14A through 14G. All of the features and advantages presented in FIG. 10A through 13D and in discussion about those figures directly apply to those elements shown in FIG. 14A through 14G.
In turning to FIG. 14A, slider scissor hub sub element 350, similar in functionality to that of scissor hub sub element 300 shown in FIG. 10A, but replacing fixed slots 304 with the addition of semi-toroidal ring 351 with axis collinear to defined orthogonal axis 352. Semi-toroidal ring 351 provides variable placement of slider slot 102 anywhere along its available perimeter allowing struts attached to it to radiate at user determined angles about orthogonal axis 352. The invention is such that the longitudinal axes of struts (e.g. strut 107, FIG. 4) attached thereto will intersect at the intersecting point of orthogonal axis 352 and mid-plane defined primary axis 253. Hinge pintle 354, collinear to primary axis 353 accepts but is not limited to secondary slot 210 (FIGS. 7C and 7D).
Hinge pintle 354 also releasbly accepts but is not limited to open hinge knuckles of second scissor hub sub elements such as 310, 355, and 365 (FIGS. 10A, 14A. and 14D, respectively). The invention is such that the longitudinal axes of struts (e.g. strut 107 shown in FIG. 4) attached thereto will intersect at the intersecting point of orthogonal axis 252 and primary axis 254.
A cross-sectional view taken at 355 is shown in FIG. 14B to provide better appreciation of the invention. FIG. 14C shows primary slider connector 350 with slider slots 102 a and 102 b attached to it.
Also of advantage is slider scissor hub sub element 360, shown in FIG. 14D, but additionally includes fixed primary strut receiving slot 361. In common with slider scissor hub element 350 (FIG. 14A) are semi-toroidal ring 362 allowing placement of the slider slot 102 along the connector's perimeter, hinge pintle 363, open hinge knuckles 364, and additional elements, all functionally equivalent to their named counterparts in the slider scissor hub sub element 350. Both fixed primary strut receiving slot 361 and hinge pintle 363 are collinear to defined mid-plane primary axis 365.
A cross-sectional view of FIG. 14D taken at 366 is shown in FIG. 14E. FIG. 14G shows a composite slider based scissor hub consisting of slider scissor hubs 350 and 360, slider slots 102 a-d, and secondary slot 210.
The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best of mode practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensions, relationships, or operations as described. Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed as suitable, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like.
Therefore, the above description and illustration should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A composite connector for use in a construction toy of the type comprising a plurality of hubs and struts, said connector configured for releasably receiving ends of said struts, said composite connector comprising first and second connector elements;

said first and second connector elements being of generally planar configuration of a thickness and having a length and width;

first and second connector elements each with a defined axis orthogonal to said thickness;

an open-sided recess configured on one side of said first connector element extending to said orthogonal axis and having a width sized to receive said second connector element in a plane at a defined fixed angle to the plane of said first connector element forming a composite connector having strut receiving elements radiating in two planes at the said defined fixed angle to one another.

said first connector having a semi-toroidal substrate having an axis coincident to said orthogonal axis of said first connector element;

at least one strut receiving element attached to said semi-toroidal substrate;

said strut receiving element being positionable along said semi-toroidal substrate at a range of angles about said orthogonal axis;

wherein strut receiving element releasably receives said strut;

said second connector element having at least one strut receiving element;

said second connector element comprising an open-sided recess configured on one side of said second connector element extending to said orthogonal axis and having a width sized to receive said first connector element

2. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein the said strut receiving elements of said first connector element are releasably attachable to said semi-toroidal substrate.

3. The composite connector of claim 2 wherein said strut receiving elements comprise open knuckles each with an inner dimension less than that of said semi-toroidal substrate to which said strut receiving elements append providing a resistive positioning of said strut receiving elements about said orthogonal axis of said first connector.

4. The composite connector of claim 3 wherein said open knuckles comprise an opening of a dimension narrower than that of said inner dimension such that said open knuckles at said opening are temporarily deformed when said strut receiving elements are attached and removed from said semi-toroidal substrate so as to provide resistive attachment and release therefrom.

5. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein a plurality of strut receiving elements are concurrently attached to said semi-toroidal substrate at user selected angles radially extending about said orthogonal axis.

6. The composite connector of claim 5 wherein said struts received by said strut receiving elements, have longitudinal axes which intersect each other and said orthogonal axis of first connector element when said struts are attached to said multiple strut receiving elements.

7. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein said second connector element comprises a semi-toroidal substrate having an axis coincident to said orthogonal axis of said second connector element;

at least one strut receiving element attached to said semi-toroidal substrate;

wherein strut receiving element releasably receives said strut.

8. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein the said first connector element further comprises a gap configured within said semi-toroidal substrate radially positioned approximately opposite of said open-sided recess facilitating temporary deformation of said first connector sub element when forming said composite connector.

9. The composite connector of claim 8 wherein said gap is formed in said semi-toroidal substrate in both first and second connector elements.

10. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein said first and second connector elements comprise semi-toroidal substrates of dissimilar angular ranges.

11. The composite connector of claim 1 wherein said second connector element comprises at least one strut receiving element radiating in a fixed location from said orthogonal axis.

12. A composite connector for use in a construction toy of the type comprising a plurality of hubs and struts, said composite connector configured for releasably receiving ends of said struts, said composite connector comprising primary and secondary connector elements, each configured with at least one strut receiving element for releasably receiving struts,

said primary connector element being substantially of a singular plane having a thickness and further comprising an orthogonal axis perpendicular thereto and a primary axis configured in said plane thereof;

said strut receiving elements attached to said primary connector element generally arranged about the perimeter of said primary connector element radially about said orthogonal axis;

said primary axis comprising a hinge pintle comprising a cylindrical substrate of a length and diameter wherein a portion of said hinge pintle is captured by at least one closed hinge knuckle;

the length of said hinge pintle being such as to receive at least one secondary connector element releasably appended thereto by open knuckles configured within said secondary connector element;

said secondary connector element attached to said hinge pintle to enable it to revolve about said primary axis to vary the angular distance between it and the plane of the primary connector;

said primary and secondary connector elements being arranged radially about said primary axis.

13. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein said strut receiving elements are positioned on said primary connector element at any of 360 degree angle about said orthogonal axis of said primary connector element.

14. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein the said length of said hinge pintle being such as to receive a plurality of secondary connector elements.

15. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein said primary connector element is beveled reducing its thickness in areas proximate said primary axis for increasing the arc or rotation between said primary and secondary strut receiving elements.

16. The composite connector of claim 15 wherein said beveling provides that said primary and secondary connector elements maybe rotated about said primary axis relative to the other to within an acute angle between said planes of said primary and secondary connector elements.

17. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein said secondary connector element is beveled reducing its thickness in areas proximate said primary axis for increasing the arc of rotation between said primary and secondary strut receiving elements.

18. The composite connector of claim 17 wherein said strut receiving elements of the said primary connector element are oriented to receive struts in the plane of said primary connector element radially oriented relative to said orthogonal axis.

19. The composite connector of claim 17 wherein said attached struts are defined by having longitudinal axes, said longitudinal axes caused to intersect each other and with said orthogonal and primary axes when said struts are received by either said primary or secondary connector elements.

20. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein said strut receiving elements retain said struts via releasable snap in fittings.

21. The composite connector of claim 12 wherein said primary connector element comprises a semi-toroidal substrate sized to define the perimeter of said primary connector element and having an axis coincident with said orthogonal axis of said primary connector element.

22. The composite connector of claim 21 wherein at least one of said strut receiving elements is configured as having a subpart attachable to said semi-toroidal substrate and positionable along said semi-toroidal substrate at various angles about said orthogonal axis of said primary connector element.

23. The composite connector of claim 22 wherein said struts have longitudinal axes which lie in said plane of said primary connector element and wherein said longitudinal axes intersect the orthogonal axis of said primary connector element when received by said strut receiving elements attached to said semi-toroidal substrate.

24. The composite connector of claim 21 wherein said strut receiving elements include open knuckles each having an inner dimension smaller than said semi-toroidal substrate providing subtle resistance to repositioning of said secondary strut receiving elements about said orthogonal axis of said primary connector.

25. The composite connector of claim 24 wherein said open knuckles are configured with an opening narrower than that of their said inner dimension such that said open knuckles deform as they are attached and removed from said semi-toroidal substrate of said primary connector to provide resistive attachment and release therefrom.

26. A composite connector for a construction toy of the type comprising a plurality of struts, said composite connector configured for releasably receiving ends of said struts, said composite connector comprising first and second connector elements,

said first and second connector elements being of generally planar configuration of a thickness and having a length and width and orthogonal axis perpendicular to their respective planes;

said first and second connector elements being defined by primary axes in their planes;

said first and second connector elements each having at least one strut receiving element arranged radially about said orthogonal axis;

said first and second connector elements each comprising a hinge, said hinge having a hinge axis collinear with said primary axis and being of a length substantially that of said respective connector elements and being of a diameter less than said thickness;

said primary axes of said first and second connector elements being coincident;

said strut receiving elements being oriented to receive and retain struts in the plane of respective said first and second connector elements radially with respect to said orthogonal axis of respective first and second connector elements;

said struts being defined by having longitudinal axes wherein said longitudinal axes intersect each other at said orthogonal axis of said respective first and second connector elements when said struts are received by said strut receiving element.

27. The composite connector of claim 26 wherein said hinge comprises hinge pintle sections fixed relative to said first and second connector elements by at least one closed hinge knuckle

28. The composite connector of claim 27 wherein said hinge further comprises at least one open hinge knuckle sized for receiving said hinge pintle sections.

29. The composite connector of claim 28 wherein said open hinge knuckle of said second connector element is attached to said hinge pintle of said first connector element and said open hinge knuckle of said first connector element is attached to said hinge pintle of said second connector element such that said second connector element will revolve about said hinge knuckle such that the angular relationship between said planes of first and second connector elements can vary.

30. The composite connector of claim 29 wherein the length of said hinge pintle is such as to accommodate a plurality of open hinge knuckles supporting said first and second connector elements and at least one additional connector element.

31. The composite connector of claim 30 wherein said strut receiving elements releasably retain struts via a frictional fitting.

32. The composite connector of claim 30 wherein said strut receiving elements retain said struts via a releasable snap in fitting.

33. The composite connector of claim 28 wherein said closed hinge knuckle is of sufficient radial dimension so as to provide portional stability to other connector elements attached to said pintle through the use of open hinge knuckles adjacent to said closed hinge knuckle along said pintle.

34. The composite connector of claim 27 comprising first and second connector elements and a third connector element positionable about said primary axis and about said hinge pintle.

35. The composite connector of claim 29 wherein said first connector element is beveled to reduce its thickness in areas proximate said primary axis to facilitate the ability to select acute angles between the plane of said first connector element and the planes of said second connector element and other elements appended to said primary axis.

36. The composite connector of claim 35 wherein said hinge knuckles are supported with arms, said arms being of a thickness less than the thickness of said first connector element for facilitating a reduced angular dimension between the plane of said first connector element and the planes of said second connector element and other elements appended to said primary axis than would be possible without said reduced thickness.

37. The composite connector of claim 26 wherein said first connector element comprises a multiplicity of said strut receiving elements wherein said strut receiving elements can receive said struts radially over a 360 degree range about said orthogonal axis of said first connector element when said first connector element is paired with said second connector element.

38. The composite connector of claim 26 further providing connection of a first and second array of said struts, wherein each array is on an intersecting plane to that of the other where each said array extends over a 360 degree radial arc so that the longitudinal axes of all said attached struts intersect at a common point at the intersection of said primary and said orthogonal axes.

39. The composite connector of claim 38 wherein said planes intersect along said primary axis with user selected arbitrary angles between them.

40. The composite connector of claim 26 wherein said first and second connector elements are configured with an open-sided recess extending to said orthogonal axis thereof whereby the open-sided recess is parallel to but not collinear with said primary axis.

41. The composite connector of claim 40 wherein said open-sided recess is sized and configured to provide proximate location of said second connector element to the said first connector element enabling releasable attachment of same.

42. The composite connector of claim 41 wherein said second connector element is substantially identical to said first connector element such that open hinge knuckles of said second connector element are releasably attached to said hinge pintle of said first connector element and open hinge knuckles of said first connector element releasably attach to hinge pintles of said second connector element.

43. The composite connector of claim 42 wherein said first connector element and second connector element are attached to one another by means of hinge knuckles and hinge pintles such that each is characterized by having a primary axis, the primary axis of each being coincident to each other.

44. The composite connector of claim 43 further comprising struts, each having a longitudinal axis, said struts being attached to said first connector element and second connector element such that said longitudinal axes meet at the intersection of said orthogonal and primary axes of said connector elements.

45. The composite connector of claim 44 wherein said second connector element is oriented on a plane at a user selectable angle to the plane of said first connector element to form a composite connector element having struts attached thereto and radiating into said planes.

46. The composite connector of claim 26 wherein said first connector element is provided with a semi-toroidal substrate such that the axis of said semi-toroidal substrate is coincident with said orthogonal axis of said first connector element, said plurality of strut receiving elements being attached to said semi-toroidal substrate, each strut receiving element being positionable about said semi-toroidal substrate at a range of angles about said orthogonal axis of said first connector sub element.

47. The composite connector of claim 46 wherein said strut receiving elements are releasably attached to said semi-toroidal substrate and each include open knuckles with an inner dimension smaller than that of said semi-toroidal substrate for providing resistive repositioning of said strut receiving elements about said orthogonal axis.

48. The composite connector of claim 47 wherein opening in said open knuckles are narrower than that of said inner dimension such that said open knuckles are temporarily deformed as they are attached and removed from said semi-toroidal substrate so as to provide resistive attachment and release from said semi-toroidal substrate.