Stackable plastic toy building blocks

Abstract

The present disclosure provides toy building blocks that easily stack and break apart. The blocks may include posts that nest inside receptacles to facilitate stacking of the blocks. The blocks may be figure 8-shaped, and may include bevels and/or protrusions to facilitate decoupling of stacked blocks without any tools.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A set comprising a plurality of stackable plastic toy building blocks, each stackable plastic toy building block comprising:
 a top comprising a plurality of posts;   a bottom;   a height extending from the top to the bottom;   a left face;   a right face;   a length extending from the left face to the right face and perpendicular to the height;   a front face;   a rear face;   a width extending from the front face to the rear face and perpendicular to the height and length;   a plurality of receptacles located below the top,   wherein the stackable plastic toy building blocks are configured to removably attach by placing the posts of an upper plastic toy building block in the receptacles of a lower stackable plastic toy building block located below the upper plastic toy building block, and   
       further wherein each stackable toy building block is in the shape of a figure 8 comprising a left lobe and a right lobe, said left lobe and right lobe separated by arc-shaped recesses located in the front face and rear face, each of the arc-shaped recesses in a stackable toy building block configured to receive at least a portion of a left lobe or a right lobe from another stackable toy building block. 
     
     
         2 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the left lobe of a stackable toy building block is the same size and shape as the right lobe of the same stackable toy building block, and further wherein the arc-shaped recess in the front face of one stackable toy building block is the same size and shape as the arc-shaped recess in the rear face of the same stackable toy building block. 
     
     
         3 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the arc-shaped recesses are located in approximately the lengthwise center of the front face and the lengthwise center of the rear face. 
     
     
         4 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the each stackable plastic toy building block comprises a beveled top left edge and/or a beveled top right edge. 
     
     
         5 . The set of  claim 4  wherein the beveled top ledge and/or beveled top right edge comprises an arc-shaped recess. 
     
     
         6 . The set of  claim 5  wherein the recess has a width parallel to the block width of at least 0.25 inches. 
     
     
         7 . The set of  claim 4 , wherein due to the beveled top ledge and/or beveled top right edge, when the upper stackable toy plastic building block is stacked on the lower stackable plastic toy building block, at least a portion of the top left edge of the lower stackable toy plastic building block does not contact the bottom left edge of the upper stackable toy plastic building block and/or at least a portion of the top right edge of the lower stackable toy plastic building block does not contact the bottom right edge of the upper stackable toy plastic building block such that a gap is present between at least a portion of the top edge of the lower stackable building block and the bottom edge of the upper stackable building block at the left faces and/or right faces of the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks to allow a user to separate the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks using his fingertips. 
     
     
         8 . The set of  claim 7 , wherein the gap has a height of from about 0.01 inches to about 0.1 inches. 
     
     
         9 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the beveled top left edge and/or the beveled top right edge is configured to allow a user to detach a stack of the stackable plastic toy building blocks with the user's fingers alone (without any tools). 
     
     
         10 . The set of  claim 1  wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is rigid. 
     
     
         11 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the plastic comprising the stackable plastic toy building block has a Rockwell R hardness of 70-120. 
     
     
         12 . The set of  claim 1  wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is manufactured by injection molding. 
     
     
         13 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the posts and receptacles are cylindrical. 
     
     
         14 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the length is greater than the width. 
     
     
         15 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the length of the top of each stackable plastic toy building block is less than the length of the bottom of the stackable plastic toy building block. 
     
     
         16 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the width of the top of each stackable plastic toy building block is less than the width of the bottom of the stackable plastic toy building block. 
     
     
         17 . The set of  claim 1  wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is symmetrical about a center of the stackable plastic toy building block length and/or width. 
     
     
         18 . The set of  claim 1  wherein each stackable plastic toy building block comprises a substantially hollow interior and substantially open bottom. 
     
     
         19 . The set of  claim 1  wherein the posts and receptacles of each stackable plastic toy building block in the set are substantially the same size and shape. 
     
     
         20 . A method of using a set comprising a plurality of stackable plastic toy building blocks comprising:
 a) providing the set of  claim 1 ;   b) coupling at least two stackable plastic toy building blocks by placing the posts of the lower stackable plastic toy building block in the receptacles of the upper stackable plastic toy building block; and   c) decoupling the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks without using any tools.