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US 5,310,071 AGranted
Dual-purpose food container/building block element
OwnerEitan Rivlin, Yossi Walkerinventors
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OwnerEitan Rivlin, Yossi Walkerinventors
Estimating the term…
A dual-purpose sealable food container / building block element comprising an upper portion and a bottom portion, the upper portion being open, characterized in that at least one of the upper portion and the bottom portion is provided with at least one connecting member, such that a plurality of the container/elements are connectable to one another by engaging the connecting members and sliding toward each other along the connecting members, for use of the container/elements as a toy after completing original use as a food container. By assembling a plurality of food containers in the play mode, three-dimensional structures may be created. In order to enable such large constructions to be firm and steady, the connecting members are of the slide type, engageable by insertion of rails at the open ends of sockets and sliding longitudinally into each other, perpendicular to the forces acting on assembled building blocks. This type of connection does not depend on friction as the main holding force, and is not easily separated.
A dual-purpose sealable food container/building block element comprising an upper portion extending along a longitudinal axis and a bottom portion, said upper portion being open and having a lip protruding outwardly therefrom for sealing purposes when said container element is used as a food container, characterized in that each of said upper portion and said bottom portion has mounted thereon at least one set of engageable rails and sockets, said upper portion rails and sockets extending parallel to said longitudinal axis and said bottom portion rails and sockets extending perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, such that a plurality of said container/block elements are directly connectable to one another in proximate fashion without interstitial gaps therebetween by engaging said sets of rails and sockets and sliding toward each other to a stop engagement position defined by said lip, for use of said container/block elements as a toy after completing original use as a food container.
A method of assembling a plurality of sealable food containers as a construction of building block elements, said method comprising the steps of:
A dual-purpose sealable food container/building block element comprising an upper portion extending along a longitudinal axis and a bottom portion, said upper portion being open and having formed around its perimeter a lip protruding outwardly therefrom for sealing purposes when said container element is used as a food container, characterized in that each of said upper portion and said bottom portion has mounted thereon engageable rails and sockets, said upper portion having two pairs of two rails and sockets extending parallel to said longitudinal axis in equal division on said container perimeter and said bottom portion having two rails and sockets extending in a plane perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and being perpendicular to each other in said plane, such that a plurality of said container/block elements are directly connectable to one another in proximate fashion without interstitial gaps therebetween by engaging said sets of rails and sockets and sliding toward each other to a stop engagement position defined by said lip, for use of said container/block elements as a toy after completing original use as a food container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.