Toy construction system with function construction elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10625173-B2
Application number	US-201515309746-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2015
Priority date	May 15, 2014
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

A toy construction system comprising a plurality of interactive construction elements each comprising coupling members configured for releasably interconnecting the interactive construction elements with each other, the plurality of interactive construction elements comprising a plurality of function construction elements, and one or more input construction elements, each input construction element comprising a wireless transmitter for transmitting a control signal to at least a subset of the function construction elements; each function construction element comprising: a function device adapted to perform a controllable function; a wireless receiver for receiving the wireless control signal; and a control circuit connected to the wireless receiver and to the function device and adapted to control the controllable function responsive to the received control signal; wherein each interactive construction element comprises a user-operable selector allowing a user to select one of a predetermined set of group identifiers; and a group indicator being configured to output, responsive to a selected group identifier, an indication indicative of the selected group identifier, and wherein each function construction element is configured to selectively control the function device of said function construction element responsive to a control signal received from an input construction element having a selected group identifier matching a selected group identifier of the function construction element.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A toy construction system comprising:
a plurality of interactive construction elements each comprising a wireless communications interface for communicating with one or more other interactive construction elements of the plurality of interactive construction elements;
the plurality of interactive construction elements comprising a plurality of function construction elements and one or more input construction elements, each input construction element comprising an input device operable to receive an input and being configured to transmit, responsive to the received input, a control signal to at least a subset of the function construction elements; and
each function construction element comprising a function device adapted to perform a controllable function;
wherein each interactive construction element comprises:
a user-operable selector allowing a user to change a first selected group identifier from a predetermined set of group identifiers to a second group identifier from said predetermined set of group identifiers based on a manual user input; and
a group indicator being configured to output, responsive to a selected group identifier, an indication indicative of the selected group identifier;
wherein each function construction element is configured to selectively control the function device of said function construction element responsive to a control signal received from an input construction element having a selected group identifier matching a selected group identifier of the function construction element; and
wherein the interactive construction element is configured, when in a deactivated mode and responsive to an activation of the user-operable selector, to change to an activated mode, and, when in the activated mode and responsive to an activation of the user-operable selector, to change the selected group identifier from a current to a subsequent group identifier; and when in the activated mode and responsive to an extended activation of the user-operable selector, longer than a predetermined threshold, to change to the deactivated mode.

2. A toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein the indication indicative of the selected group identifier comprises a visible indication.

3. A toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein each interactive construction element is configured, upon a change from a deactivated to an activated mode, to:
detect a presence of at least one other interactive construction element in a proximity of the interactive construction element; and
responsive to a detection of said presence, detect a group identifier of the detected other interactive construction element and to automatically set a group identifier of the interactive construction element to be equal to the detected group identifier of the detected other interactive construction element.

4. The toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein the group indicator is integrated within the user-operable selector.

5. The toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein each function construction element is configured to transmit an identification signal to at least a subset of the function construction elements, and to control the controllable function responsive to a control signal received from one or more of the input construction elements and/or responsive to one or more identification signals received from respective one or more other function construction elements of the plurality of function construction elements.

6. A toy construction system according to claim 5 , wherein the identification signal is indicative of one or more operational parameters of the function construction element transmitting the identification signal.

7. A toy construction system according to claim 5 , wherein the identification signal comprises a group identifier indicative of one of a set of predetermined groups of interactive construction elements.

8. A toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein each controllable function is a user-perceptible function.

9. A toy construction system according to claim 1 , wherein the input device comprises a sensor responsive to a predetermined sensor input; and
wherein the input construction element is adapted, in response to the predetermined sensor input, to output a control signal corresponding to the predetermined sensor input.

10. A toy construction system according to claim 9 comprising a plurality of input construction elements responsive to different predetermined sensor inputs.

11. A toy construction system according to claim 9 wherein each predetermined sensor input is chosen from a mechanical force, a push action, a tilt orientation, a pull action, a rotation, a human manipulation, a touch, a proximity of an object, an electrical signal, a radio frequency signal, an optical signal, a visible light signal, an infrared signal, a magnetic signal, a temperature, a humidity, a radiation.

12. A toy construction system comprising a plurality of interactive construction elements each configured to be selectively operable in each of a number of operational modes, each interactive construction element comprising:
a wireless communications interface for communicating with one or more other ones of the interactive construction elements;
a user-operable selector allowing a user to change a selected operational mode from a first operational mode to a second operational mode based on a manual input;
wherein each interactive construction element is configured, upon a change from a deactivated to an activated mode, to:
detect a presence of at least one other interactive construction element in a proximity of the interactive construction element;
responsive to a detection of said presence, detect a current operational mode of the detected other interactive construction element and to automatically set an operational mode of the interactive construction element to be equal to the detected current operational mode of the detected other interactive construction element; and
responsive to an activation of the user-operable selector, change the selected operational mode from a current operational mode to a subsequent operational mode.

13. A toy construction system according to claim 12 , wherein each interactive construction element comprises a group indicator configured to output, responsive to a selected operational mode, an indication indicative of the selected operational mode.

14. A toy construction system according to claim 13 , wherein the indication indicative of the selected operational mode comprises a visible indication.

15. A toy construction system according to claim 12 , wherein each operational mode has associated with it a respective group identifier indicative of one of a number of groups of interactive construction elements.

16. A toy construction system according to claim 12 , wherein the interactive construction element is configured, when in a deactivated mode and responsive to an activation of the user-operable selector, to change to one of the operational modes, and, when in an operational mode and responsive to an activation of the user-operable selector, to change the operational mode from a current operational mode to a subsequent operational mode, and when in an operational mode and responsive to an extended activation of the user-operable selector, longer than a predetermined threshold, to change to the deactivated mode.

17. A toy construction system according to claim 12 , wherein the interactive construction element is configured to detect a type and/or identity of one or more

Assignees

• Lego As

Inventors

• Kærsgaard Rasmus Bissenbakker
• Sørensen Henrik Colfach
• Hansen Erik
• Lund Henrik Hautop

Classifications

• A63H2200/00

  Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls · CPC title

• A63H33/042 Primary

  Mechanical, electrical, optical, pneumatic or hydraulic arrangements; Motors · CPC title

• A63H33/086

  with primary projections fitting by friction in complementary spaces between secondary projections, e.g. sidewalls · CPC title

• G06K19/0723

  the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title