Subject:
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Re: Relative and Absolute Measurement of the Lego Brick
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 9 Feb 2001 07:32:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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1539 times
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Umm ... How does this fit into lugnet.general?
--
Cheers ...
Geoffrey Hyde
"Jim Hughes" <hughesJ@one.net> wrote in message
news:G8H1F9.ErE@lugnet.com...
> Relative and Absolute Measurement of the Lego Brick
>
> Part I -- Inferring the size of the 2 x 4 brick from Filed Patents and
> Trial Testomony
>
> RELATIVE DIMENSIONS
>
> STUD PITCH
>
> A standard Lego brick is a rectangle consisting of a number of
> projections, or studs, on the top face and a number of hollow
> tubes on the bottom face.
>
> The distance from the center of a stud to the center of an
> adjacent stud is the *stud pitch*, which is the atomic dimension
> of all Lego elements. Most Lego elements are integer multiples of
> the stud pitch.
>
> The height of a brick is considered to be 1 and the length and width
> is the sum of their respective stud pitches. Dimensions are usually
> written as:
>
> length x width x height
>
> or, if height = 1, then simply length x width.
>
>
> ASPECT RATIO
>
> A 1 x 1 brick is not a perfect cube but a rectangle that is taller than it
> is wide
> (it is a parallelopiped!! (8))
> The aspect ratio of brick height to stud pitch is 6:5, and the ratio of a
> Lego plate is 2:5.
> Therefore 3 stacked plates are the same height as a brick.
> This can be demonstrated easily by building and comparing walls of Lego • bricks.
>
> Lego, in a 1998 Canadian trademark defense case (1)
> suggest that several Canadian patents(2-4) show a retationship between the
> stud height,
> stud diameter and stud pitch of approximately 2:5:8. Adjusting all of • these
> relative dimensions to the same scale gives:
>
> brick height = 6
> plate height = 2
> stud pitch = 5
> stud diameter = 3.125
> stud height = 1.25
>
> According to a 1973 Australian patent infringement case (5) The diameter • of
> the tube is
> and width of the lower hollow cavity is supposedly given in an early
> Australian patent (6),
> but I have been unable to review the document to determine if it is a
> relative or
> absolute measurement.
>
>
> ABSOLUTE DIMENSIONS
>
> Determining the measured distance of the stud pitch and brick height has
> proven to be somewhat problematic. Lego has never published a complete set
> of dimensions for the standard brick, although on occasion a single • measured
> dimension has been referenced. Lego's 1966 US patent for the flexible • towbar
> gives the measurement of the 4x4 plate as 16mm x 16mm x 1mm (7). Therefore
> the stud pitch
> is 8mm. And by extrapolation:
>
> brick height = 9.6 mm
> plate height = 3.2 mm
> stud pitch = 8.0 mm
> stud diameter = 5.0 mm
> stud height = 2.0 mm
>
> Which agrees pretty well with most peoples metric measurements by • micrometer or
> other means.
>
>
> REFERENCES
>
> (1) Kirkbi AG v. Ritvik Holdings Inc., (1998-02-25) FC T-2799-96
> http://www.fja.gc.ca/en/cf/2000/orig/html/2000fca27658.o.en.html
http://www.9netwave.com/trademarkcases/Kirkbi%20AG%20et%20al.%20v.%20Ritvik%
20Holdings%20Inc.%20et%20al%201998.htm
> Note the line wrap on the second URL!!
>
> (2) Canadian Patent 443,019, TOY BUILDING BLOCK, July 22, 1947, Harry
> Fischer Page.
> The infamous Kiddicraft patent. Page never patented the brick in the US.
>
> (3) Canadian Patent 629,732, TOY BUILDING SETS AND BUILDING BLOCKS, Oct. • 24,
> 1961, GKC
>
> (4) Canadian Patent 880,418, Toy Building Block Sept 7, 1971, GKC
> This patent, according to Ritvik lawyers gives the mathematical formulae • to
> determine
> the 2:5:8 ratio
>
> (5) INTERLEGO A.G. v. TOLTOYS PTY. LTD. (1973) 130 CLR 461
> http://www.austlii.edu.au//au/cases/cth/high_ct/130clr461.html
>
> (6)Australian Letters Patent No. 229,550 Improvements in and relating to • toy
> building sets and
> building blocks, GKC, 1958
>
> (7) US Patent 3,242,610. Flexible Connector for Toy Construction Sets. Mar
> 29, 1966.
> The tow bar is made of nylon, hence it flexibleness.
>
> (8) US Patent 3,005,282. Toy Building Brick. GKC, Oct 24, 1961
> The original US 2x4 brick patent
>
> --Jim
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Relative and Absolute Measurement of the Lego Brick
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| (...) lugnet.general– General community discussion of LEGO® sets, themes, promotions, characters, business units, parks, histories, future plans, catalogs, item pricing and availability, etc.; also, community-wide discussion of experiences and ideas (...) (26 years ago, 9-Feb-01, to lugnet.general)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Relative and Absolute Measurement of the Lego Brick
|
| Relative and Absolute Measurement of the Lego Brick Part I -- Inferring the size of the 2 x 4 brick from Filed Patents and Trial Testomony RELATIVE DIMENSIONS STUD PITCH A standard Lego brick is a rectangle consisting of a number of projections, or (...) (26 years ago, 9-Feb-01, to lugnet.general)
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