Toy-Building Unit

Abstract

A toy-building unit. The building unit includes a six armed structure having a ball portion at a distal end of each arm. The arms are arranged about a central body formed by their intersections and each arm extends from the central body perpendicularly to adjacent arms. A socket is formed by each set of three adjacent arms. The ball portion of a first building unit is inserted into the socket of a second building unit to removeably, rotatably, and pivotally engage the two building units.

1 . A toy-building unit comprising:
 six arms that extend from a central body at perpendicular angles to adjacent arms, wherein the central body is formed by an intersection of first ends of the six arms;   a substantially spherical second end of each of the six arms, the second end being distal to the central body; and   a cavity formed by an intersection of three adjacent arms of the six arms and the central body, wherein the cavity comprises at least a portion void that is dimensioned to engage the second end of one of the six arms of another toy-building unit.   
     
     
         2 . The toy-building unit of  claim 1 , wherein each of the three adjacent arms and the central body include a concave portion, and the concave portions together form the cavity, and wherein the cavity is substantially spherical. 
     
     
         3 . The toy-building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the second end of an arm of a first toy-building unit engages the cavity of a second toy-building unit to removeably and rotatably couple the first and second toy-building units. 
     
     
         4 . The toy-building unit of  claim 3 , wherein the coupling of the first and second toy-building units is maintained by one or more of friction between surfaces of the first and second toy-building units and mechanical engagement between the first and second toy-building units. 
     
     
         5 . The toy-building unit of  claim 4 , wherein the second end of each of the arms provides a ball for a ball-and-socket style joint and the cavity provides a socket for a ball-and-socket style joint. 
     
     
         6 . The toy-building unit of  claim 3 , wherein the second end of the arm of the first toy-building unit engages the cavity of the second toy-building unit via a snap-fit connection. 
     
     
         7 . The toy-building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the toy-building unit is composed of one or more of a rubber, a plastic, and a metal. 
     
     
         8 . The toy-building unit of  claim 7 , wherein a coating is applied to an exterior surface of the toy-building unit. 
     
     
         9 . The toy-building unit of  claim 8 , wherein the coating is applied to an internal skeleton of the toy-building unit. 
     
     
         10 . The toy-building unit of  claim 1 , wherein one or more accessory components are attached to the toy-building unit. 
     
     
         11 . The toy-building unit of  claim 3 , wherein the first and second toy-building units include one or more of a magnet and a magnetic material. 
     
     
         12 . The toy-building unit of  claim 3 , wherein the engagement between the first and second toy-building units is self-guiding. 
     
     
         13 . A toy-building unit comprising:
 six arms of equal length that extend from a central body, wherein four of the six arms lie in substantially a single plane and the remaining two of the six arms extend from the central body perpendicularly to the plane and in opposite directions to one another, and wherein the central body is formed by an intersection of proximate ends of the six arms;   a substantially spherical ball located at a distal end of each of the six arms; and   a socket formed by an intersection of any three adjacent arms and the central body, wherein each of the three adjacent arms and the central body include a scalloped portion that is dimensioned to form the socket, and wherein the socket comprises a portion of a substantially spherical void that is dimensioned to engage the ball of another toy-building unit.   
     
     
         14 . The toy-building unit of  claim 13 , wherein a first toy-building unit is coupled to a second toy-building unit by inserting at least one first ball of the first toy-building unit into an equal number of cavities of the second toy-building unit, the first ball of the first toy-building unit contacting a second ball of at least one of three adjacent arms of the second toy-building unit, at least one of the three adjacent arms at least partially flexing to allow the first ball of the first toy-building unit to pass between the second balls of the three adjacent arms and to engage the socket. 
     
     
         15 . The toy-building unit of  claim 14 , wherein three first balls of the first toy-building unit engage three sockets of the second toy-building unit. 
     
     
         16 . The toy-building unit of  claim 14 , wherein the diameter of the void is one of larger than the diameter of the ball, the same as the diameter of the ball, or smaller than the diameter of the ball. 
     
     
         17 . The toy-building unit of  claim 14 , wherein the coupling between the first ball of a first toy-building unit and the socket of a second toy-building unit is maintained by one or more of friction between surfaces of the first and second toy-building units and a mechanical interaction between the first ball of the first toy-building unit and one or more of the socket and the second balls of the second toy-building unit. 
     
     
         18 . A method for constructing a structure comprising:
 providing a plurality of toy-building units that each include six arms that extend from a central body at perpendicular angles to adjacent arms the central body being formed by an intersection of first ends of the six arms, a substantially spherical ball located at a second end of each of the six arms, and a cavity formed by an intersection of three adjacent arms of the six arms and the central body, wherein the cavity comprises at least a portion of a substantially spherical void that is dimensioned to engage the ball of one of the six arms;   inserting at least one first ball of a first toy-building unit of the plurality of toy-building units into an equal number of cavities of a second toy-building unit of the plurality of toy-building units, the first ball contacting a second ball of at least one of three adjacent arms of the second toy-building unit, at least one of the three adjacent arms at least partially flexing to allow the first ball to pass between the second balls of the three adjacent arms and to engage the socket.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 attaching one or more accessory components to one or more of the plurality of toy-building units.   
     
     
         20 . The toy-building unit of  18 , wherein inserting the at least one first ball of the first toy-building unit of the plurality of toy-building units into an equal number of cavities of the second toy-building unit of the plurality of toy-building units is self-guiding to allow the insertion without precise alignment between the first and second toy-building units.