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1958
The Lego Brick |
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| In 1957 GKC, now president of Lego, made the first real modification to the
brick his father copied from Hilary Fisher Page. He removed the slits and added a tube underneath
and created what we now know as the Lego brick. |
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Detail, 1958 DE catalog |
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The Lego brick: |
The original 1958 patent application (1) shows the familiar design of a hollow rectangular brick with round studs on top and a round hollow tube underneath. The studs of one brick could fit between the hollow center tube and side wall of another brick and stay connected by friction. The tight tolerances in molding allow the stud and tube coupling to stay attached in virtually any arrangement, a property known as "clutch power", but still easily disassemble. |
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US patent 3,005,282: 87K |
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UK patent 866,557: 61K |
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FR patent 1,206,687: 139K |
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It would be difficult to overestimate how important this simple coupling would become. Bricks could now be assembled with a versatility that allowed Lego to create an entire system of play around these and, over the years, increasing more complicated interlocking elements, all based around this stud and tube coupling. | |||||
The Original Patent: |
Recognizing it's value, GKC patented this new stud and tube coupling. It was the first of many Lego utility patents. The original Danish patent is DK92683C. Legetøjsbyggeelement. Filed 28 Jan 1958 and granted 29 Jan 1962. This was also amended by patent DK98227C, 9 Mar 1964. The Lego brick was patented not only in Denmark, but in many European countries as well as the US and even some African countries. E.g.: AT211715B. 15 Mar 1960. Bauelement für Bauspielzeuge. CH362354. 31 May 1962. Bauelement für Bauspielzeuge. DE1076007. 15 Feb 1960. Bauelement fuer Bauspielzeuge. FR1208887. Feb 2, 1960.Elément pour jeu de construction. OA125A. 15 Jan 1966. Elément pour jeu de construction. UK866557. Apr 26, 1961. Improvements relating to Toy Building Sets. US3005282. Oct 24, 1961. Toy Building Brick. |
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