Toy building unit

Abstract

Disclosed herein are toy building units of a toy building set. The building units comprise a sheet of a material that defines a net of a polyhedron, the sheet having a plurality of sections, each section being connected to another section with a hinge. The building units are configured to fold at the hinges from a flat configuration into a polyhedron with a hollow interior. The building units also comprise a plurality of joins on outer edges of the building unit, each join comprising one or more teeth configured to interleave with teeth of another join and releasably connect the sections of the building unit to form edges of the polyhedron. The sections, hinges and joins are all provided on one piece of the same material.

1 . A building unit of a toy building set, the building unit comprising:
 at least four polygonal sections, each comprising a plurality of edges;   a first portion of the plurality of edges comprising a plurality of integral hinges connecting the at least four polygonal sections, the building unit configured to fold and unfold over multiple cycles at the plurality of integral hinges from a flat position into a closed position which is a polyhedron with a hollow interior; and   a second portion of the plurality of edges comprising integral teeth and recesses, the integral teeth comprising a tip and at least one recess-adjacent surface, the integral teeth of a first of the plurality of edges configured to friction fit with the recesses of a second of the plurality of edges in the closed position;   wherein at least one recess-adjacent surface of integral teeth is configured to deform in the closed position; and   wherein friction between two integral teeth hold the building unit in the closed position.   
     
     
         2 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein a tip of the integral teeth is visible on an exterior of the building unit in the closed position. 
     
     
         3 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein in both the flat and closed positions of the building unit, a tip of the integral teeth is configured to retain a fixed orientation relative to their polygonal section. 
     
     
         4 . The building unit of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an exterior surface visible in the closed position and comprising a material receptive to marking;   an interior surface; and   an outer edge.   
     
     
         5 . The building unit of  claim 4 , wherein the marking comprises pencil, crayon, chalk, paint, or ink drawing. 
     
     
         6 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein a tip of the integral teeth is wider than the recesses. 
     
     
         7 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the integral teeth are rounded along two opposing sides, wherein the integral teeth are wider, at a widest point, than an interlocking portion of the recesses. 
     
     
         8 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of integral hinges are configured as a groove on one surface of the building unit in the flat position. 
     
     
         9 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the building unit comprises cardstock, cardboard, bagasse, wood, laminate, plastic, vellum, rubber, foam, plasticized pulp, or pulp, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the integral teeth are polygonal. 
     
     
         11 . The building unit of  claim 10 , wherein the integral teeth are rectangular. 
     
     
         12 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the integral teeth comprise one or more compressible projections. 
     
     
         13 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the building unit is manufactured using a cutting process, a molded process, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the integral teeth are an extension of a same material as the at least four polygonal sections; wherein the integral teeth and at least four polygonal sections have a same thickness and are configured so that the building unit in the flat position is formed from a single sheet of material. 
     
     
         15 . The building unit of  claim 1 , wherein the friction is based on at least one of a decompressive force generated by the deformation.