The Lego Group began in the carpent

The Lego Group began in the carpentry workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, inBillund, Denmark. In 1916, Christiansen purchased a woodworking shop in Billund which had been in business since 1895.[1]:8 The shop mostly helped construct houses and furniture, and had a small staff of apprentices. The workshop burned down in 1924 when a fire ignited some wood shavings.[2]:37Ole Kirk constructed a larger workshop, and worked towards expanding his business even further. When the Great Depression hit, Ole Kirk had fewer customers and had to focus on smaller projects. He began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. It was these miniature models of stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him to begin producing toys.[2]:39

In 1932, Ole Kirk's shop started making wooden toys such as piggy banks, pull toys, cars and trucks and houses. The business was not profitable because of the Great Depression. Farmers in the area sometimes traded food in exchange for his toys; Ole Kirk continued producing practical furniture in addition to toys to stay in business. In the mid-1930s, the yo-yo toy fad gave him a brief period of increased activity until it suddenly collapsed. To reduce waste, Ole Kirk used the leftover yo-yo parts as wheels for toy trucks.[1]:15 His son Godtfred began working for him, taking an active role in the company.[1]:15

In 1934, Ole Kirk held a contest among his staff to name the company, offering a bottle of homemade wine as a prize.[1]:17 Christiansen was considering two names himself, "Legio" (with the implication of a "Legion of toys") and "Lego", a self-made contraction from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well." Later the Lego Group discovered that "Lego" can be loosely interpreted as "I put together" or "I assemble" in Latin.[3] Ole Kirk selected his own name, Lego, and the company began using it on their products.

Following World War II, plastics became available in Denmark, and Lego purchased a plastic injection molding machine in 1947.[1]:25 One of the first modular toys to be produced was a truck that could be taken apart and re-assembled. In 1947, Ole Kirk and Godtfred obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft. These "Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks"[4] were designed by Hilary Page.[5] In 1939, Page had applied for a patent on hollow plastic cubes with four studs on top (British Patent Nº.529,580) that allowed their positioning atop one another without lateral movement.[6][7] In 1944, Page applied an "Improvement to Toy Building Blocks" as an addition to the previous patent, in which he describes a building system based on rectangular hollow blocks with 2X4 studs on top enabling the construction of walls with staggered rows and window openings. The addition was granted in 1947 as British Patent Nº 587,206. In 1949, the Lego Group began producing similar bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks." Lego bricks, then manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another but could be "locked" together. They had several round "studs" on top, and a hollow rectangular bottom. They would stick together, but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart. In 1953, the bricks were given a new name: Lego Mursten, or "Lego Bricks."

Plastic products were not well received by customers initially, who preferred wooden or metal toys. Many of Lego's shipments were returned, following poor sales. In 1954, Godtfred had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. Godtfred's conversation with an overseas buyer struck the idea of a toy "system", with many toys in a line of related products. Godtfred evaluated their available products, and saw the plastic bricks as the best candidate for such a "system". In 1955, Lego released the "Town Plan" as such a system, using the building bricks.

The building bricks were moderately received, but had some problems from a technical standpoint: their "locking" ability was limited, and they were not versatile. In 1958 the bricks were improved with hollow tubes in the underside of the brick. This added support in the base, enabling much better locking ability and improved versatility. The company patented the new design, as well as several similar designs to avoid competition. Ole Kirk Christiansen died that same year, and Godtfred inherited leadership of the company.

結果 (繁體中文) 2:

樂高集團開始奧萊柯克克里斯琴森，inBillund，丹麥的木工車間。1916年，克里斯蒂安森購買比隆木工車間自1895年以來[1]，它已經在業務：8店鋪大多是幫助建造房屋和家具，並有學徒的小職員。研討會於1924年被燒毀時，一把火點燃了一些木屑[2]。37Ole柯克構建一個更大的廠房，用於擴大其業務甚至進一步加工。當大蕭條襲來，好極了柯克有較少的客戶，不得不專注於較小的項目。他開始生產自己的產品作為設計輔助微型版本。這是階梯和燙衣板啟發他開始生產的玩具，這些微縮模型[2]：39在1932年，奧柯克店開始做木製玩具，如撲滿，拖拉玩具，汽車和卡車和房屋。該業務是因為大蕭條不賺錢。在該地區的農民有時換糧食，以換取他的玩具; 奧萊柯克繼續，除了玩具生產實用的家具留在企業。在30年代中期，溜溜球玩具時尚給他增加活動的一個短暫的時期，直到它突然暈倒。為了減少浪費，奧柯克用剩的溜溜球的部分為車輪的玩具卡車[1]：15他的兒子Godtfred開始為他工作，同時在公司中發揮積極作用[1]：15在1934年，奧柯克舉行了一場比賽當中他的員工名字命名的公司，提供一瓶國產葡萄酒作為獎品[1]：17克里斯琴森在考慮兩個名字他自己，“軍團”（有一個“軍團玩具”的寓意）和“樂高“，來自丹麥的短語腿godt自製收縮，意思是”打得好。“ 後來，樂高集團發現，“樂高”可以籠統地解釋為“我放在一起”或“我組裝”的拉丁文。[3]奧萊柯克選擇了他自己的名字，樂高，該公司開始使用它自己的產品。繼二戰後，塑料丹麥成為可用，樂高購買了一台注塑機於1947年[1]：25一的第一個模塊化的玩具生產是可以拆開並重新組裝一輛卡車。1947年，奧Kirk和Godtfred獲得環環相扣的塑料磚由該公司生產的Kiddicraft樣品。這些“Kiddicraft自鎖建築用磚”[4]希拉里頁面設計。[5] 1939年，頁已經申請了塑料中空立方體的專利有四個螺栓頂部（英國專利Nº.529,580），允許它們的定位頂上彼此沒有橫向運動。[6] [7]在1944年，第施加一個“的改進的玩具積木”作為除了先前的專利，其中他描述了基於與2X4螺柱上的矩形空心砌塊建築系統頂端啟用的交錯行及窗口牆施工。加入被授予1947年英國專利Nº587.206。1949年，樂高集團開始生產類似的磚，稱他們為“自動綁定磚。” 樂高積木，然後從醋酸纖維素製造的，在傳統的木塊可以堆疊在彼此之上，但可以“鎖定”在一起的精神被開發。他們對上面幾個回合“釘”，和一個中空的矩形底部。他們將粘在一起，但並非如此緊密，他們不能被拉開。1953年，該磚被賦予了新的名字：“樂高積木”樂高Mursten，或塑料製品最初並未深受客戶好評，誰的首選木製或金屬玩具。很多樂高的貨物被退回，以下滯銷。1954年，Godtfred已成為樂高集團的大三董事總經理。Godtfred的對話與國外買家達成了玩具“系統”的理念，與眾多玩具中的行相關產品。Godtfred評估其現有的產品，並看到了塑料磚的最佳人選對於這樣一個“系統”。1955年，樂高發布的“城市規劃”作為這樣一個系統，用建築用磚。為中度收到的建築用磚，但不得不從技術的角度來看一些問題：他們的“鎖定”的能力是有限的，他們並不通用。在1958年的磚塊，並使用了磚的下面空心管的提高。這在加鹼支持，使更好的鎖定能力和改進的多功能性。該公司獲得專利的新的設計，以及一些類似的設計，以避免同業競爭。奧萊柯克克里斯蒂安森去世，同年，和Godtfred繼承了公司的領導層。