K'NEX
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
K'NEX is a brand name of a toy construction system invented by Joel Glickman, designed and produced by K'NEX Industries, Inc. of Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Currently Michael Araten is the president of the organization. The toy consists of interconnecting plastic rods and connectors. It improved upon, and was inspired by, an earlier construction toy made of colored wooden dowels and connecting nodes called Tinkertoys. It is a construction toy in the same genre as LEGO and Meccano, although it uses rods, not bricks or metal strips. Until recently, K'NEX had not introduced sets containing brand constructions (as LEGO does with Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.), but often based its sets around popular fads (such as mech warriors and RC cars). However, in 2001, K'NEX broke from this trend and introduced a line of toys using the BattleTech/MechWarrior label. [1]
K'NEX connectors and rods are colour coded: K'NEX rods come in a range of lengths, each length being a distinct color. When the additional length of connections is taken into account, the ratio between successive lengths of rods is 1/√2. This makes the construction of right-angle isosceles triangles simple, and these triangles provide the structural strength in models. Most types of K'NEX rods are only very slightly flexible, but there are extra rigid and very flexible versions of some of the longer rods. K'NEX connectors connect rods at angles which are multiples of 45 degrees.
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[edit] Roller Coasters
Knex has made several K'NEX roller coaster products. Including Screamin' Serpent, Rippin' Rocket, Vertical Vengance, Storm Runner, and one Original Roller Coaster.
Most people find some of these roller coasters "Too easy" or "I'm tired of building the same thing". So they will buy several sets (usually Screamin' Serpents) and build their own "Custom Coasters".
[edit] Connections
There are three primary ways in which a rod may be joined to a connector:
- Most commonly, the rod's head is inserted into a connector's slot.
- A rod may also be "snapped in" perpendicular to a connector. It is harder to insert and remove rods this way, but they are for the most part immobile. There are four grooves on rods which allow for rods to be attached in this method in four different directions. They can be slid in the slot, but the heads on the rods stop from further sliding.
- Most connectors have an eye through which a rod may be threaded. The rod will slide out unless a connection is made using one or both of the previously mentioned methods.
Special pieces, commonly called 3-D connectors, connect differently.
- They connect using the first and second ways mentioned.
- Their hole has been removed and instead, a special locking system is put in.
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- This locking system allows two 3-D connectors to be directly attached and kept in place.
- The locking system is the basis for all 3-D creations
[edit] Rods
The rods come in many sizes. From smallest to largest:
- Dark Green
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- By far the shortest, with no room to snap anything in
- Used only to connect two connectors end to end; It is too small to be used for anything else
- Alternate colors: black
- White
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- Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of green rods
- If nothing is attached to the end, three connectors can be snapped on. If there is a piece on either end, only two can snap on
- Alternate colors: silver, gold, black, teal, purple and blue (used for Lost Mines figures)
- Blue
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- Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of white rods
- Six connectors can be snapped on
- Alternate colors: metallic blue
- Yellow
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- Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of dark blue rods
- "Metallic version" is dark gray
- Alternate colors: gold (used for Lost Mines sets)
- Red
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- Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of yellow rods
- Alternate colors: metallic green, tan (a stronger version), golden yellow (the heads on this rod are longer because they are special to the K'NEX Roller Coaster)
- Gray
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- Longest of the rods
- Can form a the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of red rods
- Alternate colors: Black (made of carbon; a stronger version), neon orange
- Flexi-rods
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- Come in 4 sizes
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- A size comparable to a gray rod
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- This rod comes in lime green, a dull yellow, a neon yellow, a dark purple and a light purple
- A size comparable to a yellow rod
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- This rod comes in a bright and normal orange and a neon red
- A size comparable to a blue rod
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- This rod comes in a sky blue color only
- A size comparable to a white rod
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- This rod comes in a dark purple color only (same dark purple as the gray-sized flexi-rod)
Also note that rods can be combined with connectors to take the place of longer rods. For example:
- A connector with green or black rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a blue or metallic blue rod.
- A connector with white, silver, or black rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a yellow, granite, or gold rod.
- A connector with blue or metallic blue rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a red, metallic green, tan, or golden-orange rod.
- A connector with yellow, granite, or gold rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a gray, black, or orange rod.
[edit] List of Connectors
- Dark Gray (no alternate colors)
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- one slot for a rod and one hole
- Orange (Alternate color: dark brown)
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- Two opposite slots for rods and one hole
- Light Gray-45 degrees (Alternate colors: light gray with blue speckles, neon orange)
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- Two adjacent slots for rods and one hole
- Red-90 degrees (Alternate colors: dark gray with black speckles, neon red)
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- Three adjacent slots for rods and one hole
- Green-135 degrees (Alternate colors: metallic grey-green, neon yellow, neon green)
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- Four adjacent slots for rods and one hole
- Yellow-180 degrees (a.k.a. half-moon) (Alternate colors: light gray, gold)
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- Five adjacent slots for rods and one hole
- Orange tabbed (No Alternate Colors)
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- This connector is the same as the yellow connector except for the tab on the flat side
- The tab is used to connect tubing on the K'NEX Roller Coaster
- White (Alternate color: black)
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- Eight adjacent slots for rods and one hole
- 3-D Connectors
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- Dark blue (Alternate color: metallic blue)
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- Seven adjacent slots for rods and one slot to slide another 3-D connector into
- Purple (Alternate color: metallic silver)
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- Four adjacent slots for rods and one slot to slide another 3-D connector into
[edit] Other
- Gears
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- These pieces slide over a rod's hole and may be stabilized by a tan lock.
- Four distinct sizes
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- Yellow (alternate color: black)
- Red (Alternate colors: yellow, metallic gray)
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- The yellow and metallic gray gears have larger teeth which allow for 90 degree angles to be made
- Blue (Alternate colors: Gold, dark gray)
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- Black and light gray variations connect to the very tips of rod heads, but are used for stablization rather than gearing
- White worm gear
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- This gear only works with the electric motor which can be bought from K'NEX or found in numerous older sets
- Tan Locks
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- These pieces have on slot a rod may be connected into, but no hole
- A protrusion is used to lock into gears, connectors, or wheels to prevent them from spinning on a rod.
- Hinge
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- This is actually two pieces: A blue piece and a black (or green) piece
- Both pieces are similar to the gray connectors, but the hole and the area around it is half the width
- One slot on each for a total of two
- Can be interlocked to form a hinge which can produce angles from 45 to 315 degrees
- Motors
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- Battery Pack (2 piece) -most common
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- Comes in an older, square version, an old version with an extended cord, and a new version with rounded sides
- Pull-back motor
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- Uses rubber bands inside to power vehicles or rotating pieces without batteries
- Remote control
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- Most commonly seen in Cyber K'NEX, but also found in an old robot set
- Utilizes a remote to control multiple motors for complex movements
- Electric Motors
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- These motors use an adapter to plug into the wall
- Quiter and more torque than a battery pack
- Battery pack (1 piece)
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- This is K'NEX's newest motor
- These motors are high in torque and can be found in new sets like Storm Mountain, Shark Run, and Loopin' Lizard
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- Solar Motor
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- Only one set ever contained this motor
- Utilizes sunlight and is sent to a unique motor which drives lightweight vehicles
- Roller coaster pieces
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- Special track pieces called track-ties are used for the construction of the newer roller coasters.
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- These pieces have two extended slots, one recessed slot, a hole, one 1/4" tab and two 1/2" tabs.
- These pieces are normally placed on two flexi rods via the extended slots, and two rails of tubing are added on the 1/2" tabs. Occasionally, a rail of tubing may be added to the 1/4" slot or a flexi may be added to the recessed slot to increase track stablity.
- Tubing is a long, flexible piece of plastic.
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- It currently comes in purple, red, light red, blue, and yellow colors
- Boosters
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- Only found in Rippin' Rocket Roller Coaster
- Propels the car forward via two black, rotating fins
- A variant can be found on the Pirate Ship Park which only has one rotating fin
- Trains
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- The train from the Screamin' Serpent had a front car, a middle car, and a back car (All were orange)
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- If one buys more middle cars, they may be added to create a longer train.
- Rippin' Rocket cars were lightweight and designed for boosters
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- Could not be joined to make a train
- Storm Mountain car was the same as the Screamin' Serpent front car, but it was blue
- Shark run car was made to look like a surfer dude catching a wave
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- Could not be joined to make a train
- Pulleys, Tires, and Wheels
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- Pulleys come in a large and small size
- Tires come in three standard sizes, as well as multiple other sizes for special wheels
- Wider wheels have been produced for racier-looking cars, but are not common in today's sets.
The company also offers a variant brand, Kid K'NEX, which is made of a softer injection-molded plastic and is twice the scale of the original K'NEX. It is intended for children ages 3 to 5. Kid K'NEX is incompatible with K'NEX. (Because of the small parts, both K'NEX and Kid K'NEX are not recommended for children under age 3).
Two newer variants are Micro K'Nex, which are (as the name implies) smaller than standard K'Nex, and K'Nex Bricks, which provide building blocks similar to Lego brand blocks[2]. Unlike Kid K'Nex, both Micro K'Nex and K'Nex Bricks have adapter pieces to let them interconnect to standard K'Nex pieces. Micro K'Nex are in different colors from standard K'Nex, generallly much more subdued than the bright primary colors used for standard K'Nex.
K'NEX Industries also manufactures and distributes Lincoln Logs under license from Hasbro, Inc.
The current record holder for tallest K'Nex roller coaster is Aussam at a height of 32'8".[3] A previous record holder, Colossus, was 28 feet tall and modeled after Kingda Ka. [4] [5]
KEYWORDS for extra info:
[edit] External links
