Expanded Plastic Foam Construction Toy

Abstract

The disclosed technology relates to a construction toy made of expanded plastic foam extrusions. These extrusions are assembled with or without fasteners into a wide variety of configurations and optionally the extrusions are cut safely to a desired size.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A toy building set having a hollow plastic extrusion log and said hollow plastic extrusion log comprising;
 a front side and a back side;   a first end and a second end;   a top side and a bottom side;   each top and bottom side having a substantially flat planar surface;   a plurality of apertures in the substantially flat planar surface and the apertures extending from an outer surface of the log to an inner hollow surface of the log;   said plurality of apertures extending the length of the top and bottom sides substantially flat planar surface;   wherein the log is stackable by aligning the bottom side of said log with an adjacent top side of a log to thereby construct the desired lightweight self-supporting structure.   
     
     
         2 . A toy building set having a hollow plastic extrusion log of  claim 1 , wherein the log front side is curved and the back side is a substantially flat planer surface having a plurality of apertures extending from the outer surface of the log to the inner hollow surface of the log; and
 the plurality of apertures extend the length of the back side of said log.   
     
     
         3 . A toy building set of  claim 1  wherein at least two adjacent logs are removably attached to a connector; and
 the connector is multidirectional thus enabling the adjacent log to be rotated toward a specific direction and configured to interchangeably attach to each log; 
 wherein the log is stackable with adjacent logs and connectors are placed between and inside apertures adjacent logs to thereby construct the desired lightweight self-supporting structure. 
 
     
     
         4 . The toy building set of  claim 3  wherein the connector is removably attached to at least two adjacent logs through the apertures of the logs. 
     
     
         5 . The toy building set of  claim 4 , wherein the connector comprises a central planar disk having two opposite ends from central planar disk;
 and opposite ends further comprise distal planar disks;   wherein the distal planar disks pass through the apertures and into the hollow area of the logs to form an interference fit in the apertures with the central disk remaining outside of the apertures of the logs; thus the connector remains removably attached to the logs until desired removal.   
     
     
         6 . The connector of  claim 5 , wherein the two opposite end from a central planar disk comprises a shaft shaped as a straight line S. 
     
     
         7 . The connector of  claim 5 , wherein the distal planer disks have an oval shape and the plurality of apertures in the log are circle shapes; and wherein passing of the distal planer disk through an aperture requires pressure and angling the distal planar disk through the aperture such that the distal planar disk overlaps a portion of the hollow inside of the log and thus secured until desired removal. 
     
     
         8 . The connector of  claim 5 , wherein the distal planer disks have an oval shape and the plurality of apertures in the log have a matching oval shape; and wherein passing of the distal planer disk through an aperture requires positioning the distal planar disk shape to match the aperture shape; whereby after the planar disk is through said aperture the connector is turned ninety degrees around an axis perpendicular to the distal planar disk such that the connector overlaps a portion of the hollow inside of the log and thus secured until desired removal. 
     
     
         9 . The log of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of apertures are at fixed measurable intervals to each other, and the interval apertures determine a length by counting the apertures. 
     
     
         10 . A log of  claim 1 , wherein a log is sawed into a plurality of smaller logs when a cutting edge provides tension onto the log such that bubbles of the plastic extrusion burst as the cutting edge goes through the log. 
     
     
         11 . A saw having support for a dull cutting edge for cutting a log of  claim 1 , wherein
 a. the dull cutting edge provides tension such that when the cutting edge is passed through the log, bubbles of the plastic extrusion burst as the saw passes through the plastic extrusion;   b. wherein the cutting edge comprises one of the following: plastic, metal, string, or wire.   
     
     
         12 . The saw of  claim 11  further comprising a miter having vertical miter protrusions for placement of the log and a perpendicular slot in the vertical miter protrusions for placement of the dull cutting edge of the saw, such that the cutting edge and the log are very stable for cutting the log. 
     
     
         13 . A toy building set having a hollow plastic extrusion log of  claim 1 , wherein the log front side and back side are both curved. 
     
     
         14 . A toy building set having a hollow plastic extrusion log of  claim 1 , wherein the front side and back side are substantially flat planer surfaces having a plurality of apertures extending from the outer surface of the log to the inner hollow surface of the log;
 wherein the plurality of apertures extend the length of the back side and the front side of the log.   
     
     
         15 . A toy building set of  claim 1  wherein at least two adjacent logs are removably attached by a U connector; wherein a log is stackable with an adjacent log and a U connector is placed on a portion of at least one end of a log and an adjacent log such that the U connector utilizes spring tension on the two adjacent logs and remains removably attached to the logs until desired removal. 
     
     
         16 . The toy building set of  claim 15 , wherein the connector is U shaped and has two ends;
 the two ends of the U connector further comprise protrusion that face each other such that the two ends are placed in the hollow of two adjacent logs and the two protrusions are placed in the apertures of the two adjacent logs;   whereby the U connector utilizes spring tension on the two adjacent logs and remains removably attached to the logs until desired removal.   
     
     
         17 . The log of  claim 2  wherein the log is made of expanded polyethylene foam. 
     
     
         18 . The connector of  claim 5  wherein the connector is made with injection molded plastic 
     
     
         19 . The log of  claim 2  wherein the log apertures are shaped as one of the following:
 a. circle; 
 b. two slits forming a plus sign; 
 c. center circle superimposed on two slits; 
 d. an oval; 
 e. or an ellipse. 
 
     
     
         20 . The toy building set of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a. a spike having a first end with a flat head and a second end with a bulbous detail; 
 b. the bulbous detail of a spike passing through a log aperture or a plurality of log apertures to the hollow area of a log such that the bulbous detail of the spike forms an interference fit in the aperture of a log and said spike flat head is sized to remain outside of a log. 
 
     
     
         21 . The toy building set of  claim 20  further comprising:
 a. flat plate fastener having an elongated oval planar shape with a first end having a portal there through and a second end having a portal there through; 
 b. a spike is passed through a portal of the flat plate fastener and a log apertures to the hollow area of a log such that the bulbous detail of the spike forms an interference fit in the aperture of the log and said spike flat head is sized to remain outside of the portal of the flat plate connector and of the log such that two adjacent logs are connected with apertures not facing each other. 
 
     
     
         22 . A toy building set having a hollow plastic extrusion log and said hollow plastic extrusion log comprising;
 a front side and a back side;   a first end and a second end;   a top side and a bottom side;   each top and bottom side having a plurality of apertures in the extending from an outer surface of the log to an inner hollow surface of the log;   wherein the log is stackable by aligning the bottom side of said log with an adjacent top side of a log to thereby construct the desired lightweight self-supporting structure.   
     
     
         23 . A toy building set of  claim 3  further comprising a fabric having apertures to accept and attach the fabric to a log or plurality of logs. 
     
     
         24 . A method of using a toy building set to build play sets comprising the following steps:
 a. selecting a plurality of logs, each log comprising; a front side and a back side; a first end and a second end; a top side and a bottom side; each top and bottom side having a substantially flat planar surface; a plurality of apertures in the substantially flat planar surface and the apertures extending from an outer surface of the log to an inner hollow surface of the log; said plurality of apertures extending the length of the top and bottom sides substantially flat planar surface;   b. determining the length of the logs needed for building a toy structure;   c. determining what logs need to be cut;   d. counting the number of apertures on the logs needing to be cut to determine where to cut the logs and sawing the logs to appropriate sizes;   e. placing one of the plurality of logs on the ground or on a support horizontally with on of the substantially flat planar surfaces facing the ground or support;   f. placing a connector or plurality of connectors into the apertures of the log placed on the ground or support;   g. determining which of the plurality of logs is a second log to be placed on top of the log already placed;   h. placing the second log, wherein the second log is stackable on the log already place and connectors are between and inside apertures of adjacent apertures of the logs;   i. wherein this method continues with a plurality of adjacent logs and connectors are placed between and inside apertures of adjacent logs to thereby construct the desired lightweight self-supporting structure.   
     
     
         25 . A method of using a toy building set of  claim 24  further comprising the following steps:
 a. selecting a log and determining the length of the log needed; 
 b. placing a miter on a flat surface; 
 c. counting the apertures of the log; 
 d. placing the log in the miter the correct distance from the end to cut the log; 
 e. placing a saw in a slot of the miter to accept the saw; 
 f. saw the log.