Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7371147 | System for realising complex assemblies The invention concerns a system for realizing complex constructions, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of basic elements, and a plurality of constructive and/or figurative elements, that can be coupled with said basic elements, each basic element being ... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7340868 | Universal structural element The invention describes a universal structural element (1) for the purpose of forming in particular, three-dimensional structures, which structural element can be manufactured in a convenient manner efficiently, cost-effectively from the most varied materials... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7192328 | Toy for simulating character motion A method of simulating real-life motion of a character includes providing a toy having a plurality of interconnected links. The links are rotatably attached to one another and the character is attached to one of the links. The method also includes grasping the toy b... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7052437 | Rope game device Known climbing frames having a support frame, in which a rope net is rigged, are not very attractive as individual playing devices, as no considerable 3-dimensional net volume is provided and on the other hand as the device cannot be combined by modular elements to ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7044465 | Strategy game with geometrical structure The present invention is an educational and recreational apparatus having a geometrical structure game device comprising a framework of tubes and connector wires characterized by a plurality of nodes on which game pieces can be embedded. Each node comprises a cluste... | 05/16/2006 |
| 6917175 | Robot and joint device for the same A humanoid robot including upper limbs, lower limbs, and a trunk. Hip joints which connect the lower limbs and the trunk each possess degrees of freedom provided in correspondence with a hip joint yaw axis, a hip joint roll axis, and a hip joint pitch axis. The huma... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6874291 | Universal structural element The invention describes a universal structural element (1) for the purpose of forming in particular, three-dimensional structures, which structural element can be manufactured in a convenient manner efficiently, cost-effectively from the most varied materials... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6739937 | Space frame structure made by 3-D weaving of rod members The invention relates to a toy construction kit comprising a plurality of elongated rod members of different lengths; and a plurality of joining members. Each joining member is configured and dimensioned to be capable of connecting at least three rod members togethe... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6672931 | Interconnectable model construction elements A system of interconnectable construction elements created from molded plastic, and which include planar and cylindrical strut members of varying lengths and thicknesses which can be coupled together and to various construction elements of varying geometr... | 01/06/2004 |
| 6482063 | Articulating blocks toy The present invention is a toy that can be manipulated to form various configurations. The toy include a plurality of blocks, many of which have a combination of slots with or without holes and are held together by an elastic cord. The combination of slot... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6241572 | Manipulable beaded string A manipulatable beaded string toy device comprising of a plurality of interconnectable elements, each element including a number of beads disposed on a cord. When the plurality of interconnectable elements are interconnected, a junction formed comprises a... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6190228 | Toddler toy system and method An educational and recreational toy system for toddlers including a plurality of toy components having various shapes and sizes. The various shapes and sizes of the components are based upon a unit measurement. Toy structures are provided, including a bal... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6179681 | Universal connector toy The present invention provides a versatile construction kit which can be used to easily form models of virtually any conceivable person, place or thing including a variety of vehicles, buildings, people, animals, weapons, machinery, caricatures, objects a... | 01/30/2001 |
| 6000984 | Toy building set with pull elements The element to be protected hereby is an element consisting of a pull string (2), chain, wire or the like having at each end a coupling device (3) which may be coupled onto a coupling stud (6). The element is characterised in that the string (2), the chai... | 12/14/1999 |
| 5993326 | Golf practice device A golf practice device consisting of a series of interlocking tubes (13a through 13d) which are supported and raised by end stands. The end stands consist of an anchor ball (11a and 11b) supported by two supporting legs (10a through 10d). The tubes are co... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5667326 | Flexible tie strut A flexible tie strut for supporting both compressive and tensile forces, the flexible tie strut includes a tension member and a coaxially mounted compression member, the compression member and the tensile member are interconnected at their respective ends... | 09/16/1997 |
| 5525089 | Rotatable, demountable blocks of several shapes on a central elastic anchor An educational toy that lets the user experiment with assembling hollow polyhedral building block in a variety of different ways. The toy includes new polyhedral building blocks which can be assembled in different ways to form a multiplicity of configurat... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5433549 | Flexible tie strut A flexible tie strut for supporting both compressive and tensile forces, the flexible tie strut including a tension member and a coaxially mounted compression member, the compression member and the tensile member being interconnected at their respective e... | 07/18/1995 |
| 5302148 | Rotatable demountable blocks of several shapes on a central elastic anchor An educational toy that lets the user experiment with assembling components of different shapes in a variety of ways. The toy introduces new methods and means for assembling building blocks allowing the user to assemble them to one configuration and then ... | 04/12/1994 |
| 4997375 | Elastically interconnected articulated blocks Elastic cord interconnected blocks in which each block contains a plurality of deep slots cut to a centrally positioned interior washer-like connecting element having a hole coaxial that can freely pass the elastic cord. The element hole is coaxial with a... | 03/05/1991 |
| 4927402 | Reconfigurable loop apparatus Apparatus having at least three members joined by couplings to form a closed loop, each coupling being twistable and bendable such as to allow bending through an angle of substantially 360° in substantially all directions, whereby the loop can be made to... | 05/22/1990 |
| 4875681 | Hingedly connected cubical prisms amusement and display device The invention provides an amusement and display device comprising at least eight distinct elements each of the elements being of regular prismatic shape and having sides, edges and corners wherein each of the elements is interconnected to an adjacent elem... | 10/24/1989 |
| 4731962 | Compression-tension strut-cord units for tensile-integrity structures A compression-tension unit for use in a tensile-integrity structure wherein end portions of an elastic cord are passed through slots in the opposite ends of a strut with a stretched intermediate cord portion therebetween, and opposite tips of the cord are... | 03/22/1988 |
| 4614502 | Telescoping strut members and tendons for constructing tensile integrity structures A construction kit consisting of telescoping strut members and pre-measured elastic or inelastic tendons, for the purpose of constructing tensile-integrity structures. The invention is made of reusable elements. By introducing struts which can be adjusted... | 09/30/1986 |
| 4583956 | Rigid and telescoping strut members connected by flexible tendons A construction kit consisting of rigid or telescoping elongate strut members which may be attached together by flexible tendons to form a variety of designs and model structures. The invention places no limits on the number of struts which can be attached... | 04/22/1986 |
| 4398888 | Molecular model for chemistry A molecular model building set for the formation of models of molecules and compounds primarily in the field of organic chemistry is disclosed. The set includes dimensionally accurate model building members (10, 60) that are rotatable about their axes, an... | 08/16/1983 |
| 4343117 | Assemblable structures Structures including buildings, furniture items or room partitions are formed by assembling panels and releasably connecting the panels together with a support system comprising collars on the corners of the panels and elastic members interconnecting thes... | 08/10/1982 |
| 4309851 | Structure of inflatable tubes with closed loop connectors The modular construction elements are formed of flexible airtight material of common cross-sectional diameter and varied tubular lengths sealed to provide an inflatable chamber. Each chamber is adapted with an air valve for inflation or deflation. The var... | 01/12/1982 |
| 4299050 | Construction toy and container A constuction toy comprises a plurality of rods and flexible linking rings. A variety of structural or decorative three-dimensional constructions can be made by interlocking a multiplicity of rods with the flexible linking rings. The rods can be joined at... | 11/10/1981 |
| 4232473 | Reconfigurable loop of tubular elements A novelty toy device for forming a variety of geometric configurations. The device is constructed of a series of uniquely shaped members which form at least one closed loop. The members are joined together such that each member is axially rotatable with r... | 11/11/1980 |
| 4163303 | Hinge structure A novel hinge of flexible material is provided which comprises a pair of end sections and an intermediate connecting section. The end sections are securable through various means including hook and loop filament material to one face of a structural elemen... | 08/07/1979 |
| 4096658 | Toy model vehicle track support system A support system for track for toy model vehicles comprises paired pylons for positioning one on each side of the track and connected together through means for supporting the track where it passes between the paired pylons. The pylons are formed from a p... | 06/27/1978 |
| 3998003 | Construction toy device The present invention is directed to an educational toy device adapted to the building of three dimensional constructions, which constructions, as a principal sub-component, are based upon the configuration of an equilateral triangle. The device is charac... | 12/21/1976 |
