Mathematical learning rods

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a learning rod educational toy set comprising a plurality of hollow rod elements, each rod element having an indication of its length on an outer surface thereof, such as by a number or a symbol indicating total length in increments, such as inches or centimetres, each rod element being releasably connectable to another such rod element by a respective coupling element, the coupling element including a flanged region having an outer perimeter contiguous with the outer perimeter of the or each rod section, the method including the steps of, in any convenient order, extruding or otherwise forming a continuous tube of sectional shape corresponding to the required sectional shape of the rod elements, cutting the continuous tube into discrete lengths corresponding to chosen increments, such as inches or centimetres, providing an indication of the length of each rod element on an externally visible surface thereof, forming flanged coupling elements, each for insertion into an end of a respective rod element tube for connecting selected pairs of rod elements end-on-end to form a continuous rod, the flange of each coupling element being of a colour visibly distinct from the colour of the rod elements, thereby to provide a visible indication of the number of rod elements in a learning rod formed therewith. The invention also extends to a learning rod set made in accordance with the method.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.