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K'Nex

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A bridge made from K’Nex.

K’Nex (trademarked as K'NEX) is a brand name of a construction toy system invented by Joel Glickman, designed and produced by K'Nex Industries of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, USA. Currently Michael Araten is the president of the organization. The name is, presumably, a phonetic variation of connects, and is pronounced the same way. The toy's building system consists of interconnecting plastic rods and connectors, which can connect together to form all kinds of contraptions. K’Nex is a construction toy, and therefore in the same genre asLego, Fischertechnik and Meccano.

Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Today 2 K’Nex Pieces 2.1 Basic Pieces 2.2 Other Pieces 3 Display Models and Exhibits 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit]History

[edit]Early years

The concept behind K’Nex was originally conceived by Joel Glickman. While he was at a wedding, he started thinking of what he could do with his straw if he could connect it with other straws. He and his brother Bob Glickman discussed the idea and started the K’Nex company.^[1] The original building system kept very closely to the idea that Joel Glickman had: The K’Nex building system was simply Rods and Connectors which could be easily attached together to make different things. Other parts such as wheels and pulleys were also included to allow more flexibility in construction. The first K’Nex Box was launched in the U.S. market in 1993. Original models with moving parts had a handcrank to make things move. But soongears and motors allowed models to move on their own.^[2]

When K’Nex went to the big toy companies, such as Hasbro, and others, their idea was turned down, but they were referred to giant construction toy producer Lego. However Lego refused to even see their new toy. K’Nex is now distributed in Europe by TOMY.

[edit]Today

Until 2001, K’Nex did not make sets containing brand constructions (as Lego had with Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.), but often based its sets around popular fads (such as mech warriors and RC cars). In 2001, K’Nex broke from this trend and introduced a line of toys using the BattleTech/MechWarrior ^[3] label, and later launched the OCC (Orange County Chopper)^[4] line of toys in 2006 and a line of Sesame Street^[5] building sets in 2008.

[edit]K’Nex Pieces

For a more complete listing of pieces, see Main Article: K'Nex pieces.

[edit]Basic Pieces

The basic K’Nex pieces used to make models are Rods and Connectors. When both of these are used together, they can create a wide variety of 3D objects and contraptions. All K’Nex Connectors and Rods are color coded.

• K’Nex Rods come in a range of lengths, each length having a distinct color. When the additional length of connections is taken into account, the ratio between successive lengths of rods is 1/√2^[6]. This simplifies the construction of right-angle isosceles triangles, and these triangles provide 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 also come in a range of types, each having a different number of slots. They can link the rods together in different ways. The first way is to insert the end of a rod into a slot on the connector, where it snaps firmly into place. Rods connect at angles which are multiples of 45 degrees. The second method is to snap the rod into one of the connector slots perpendicular to first method. The rods cannot rotate and will not move without deliberate force. The third way is to slip the rod through a round hole in the connector. The rod can slide and rotate freely while in the hole.

[edit]Other Pieces

There are many other K’Nex pieces, such as Wheels, Pulleys, Panels, Spacers, Gears, Bricks, and "Flexi-Rods" to name some. These give greater variety to what can be realized when being creative with K’Nex. There are various Motors that can make the models move. New K’Nex bricks were added into the K’Nex matrix in 2008 as part of K’Nex's 15th Anniversary celebration.

[edit]Display Models and Exhibits

Colossus is a former record holder for tallest K’Nex roller coaster. Not only was it the tallest, but it was also the fastest, reaching speeds of up to 65 MPH. However, it is still the tallest free-standing coaster.

K’Nex has toured the United States with exhibitions which have large displays of K’Nex. Many of these models are ones that sell or have sold, but there are many unique professionally made K’Nex models. These can can be quite large and built from tens of thousands of pieces. For example an 8 foot model of the United States Capitol building took 514,000 pieces to build, and is the biggest K’Nex model ever made.^[7]Unlike Lego bricks which can come in any color, K’Nex pieces are color-coded and therefore come in certain colors based on their shape. This fact presents a challenge when to make a model a specific color. In March 2009, Concordia University^[which?] engineering students erected a 43'3" model of the Eiffel Tower out of K’Nex.