AU2011101173A4 - Improved Masonry Block - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract Improved masonry Block A block for the construction of a retaining wall and a method of constructing a retaining wall from a series of blocks each block including: a pair of longitudinal walls; at least one web disposed between said longitudinal walls surface; wherein each longitudinal wall includes a pair of recesses disposed at opposing end and on opposing sides of the longitudinal walls said recesses forming a pair of tongues for cooperation with the tongues horizontally adjacent block, said tongues disposed at opposing ends and opposing sides of said longitudinal walls. 1 04, Figl 103 1041F ig 2

Description

1 TITLE Improved Masonry Block BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to an improved masonry block. In particular although not exclusively the present invention relates to an improved masonry block which reduces the need for the use of a bonding 10 material along the perp. Discussion of the Background Art In bricklaying terms, perp is the term given to the gap between the bricks in 15 which mortar runs in the vertical direction, perpendicular to the ends. Lines by contrast run in the horizontal direction. Generally in most forms of construction the perp is filled with mortar to enhance the bond between the blocks. That is the perp is usually filled, and 20 filler allowed to cure before further work is carried out in relation to the wall. Often the filler is a contrasting colour to the masonry work to provided a decorative effect. During the construction of the wall the brick layer is required to butter the ends of the block with the filler before laying the block into position. Time taken to butter each block before laying adds to the 25 construction time which can increase costs as other trades etc can be delayed leading to cost overrun etc. In retaining wall applications the use of a perp is not always desirable. In such cases as the wall is usually backed filled during construction or shortly 30 thereafter the backfill can in some cases can spill out through the perp over time causing subsidence. Moreover if a filler material is utilised to seal perp the pressure exerted on the filler by the backfill can cause it to blow out requiring re-pointing of the joins etc.

2 Clearly it would be advantageous to provide an improved masonry block which reduces the time require to lay the block while maintaining a bond between adjacent blocks. It would also be advantageous to provide a block which reduces the potential for the loss of material through the perp 5 particularly in applications where the wall is backfilled or core filled. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosure of the Invention 10 Accordingly in one aspect of the invention there is provided a block for the construction of a retaining wall, the block including: a pair of longitudinal walls; at least one web disposed between said longitudinal walls surface; wherein each longitudinal wall includes a pair of recesses disposed at 15 opposing end and on opposing sides of the longitudinal walls said recesses forming a pair of tongues for cooperation with the tongues horizontally adjacent block, said tongues disposed at opposing ends and opposing sides of said longitudinal walls. 20 The web may be tapered such that it is thicker at the base of the block. Alternatively the web may include a flared section disposed adjacent the top of the block, the flared section having a greater thickness than the remaining portion of the web. A recess may be provided in the lower section of the web to allow for the passage of reinforcing when the block is positioned onto a 25 preceding course of blocks. The block may include at least one lateral wall, the lateral wall includes one or more channels for receipt of reinforcing. Additionally each of the longitudinal walls may include one or more channels for receipt of reinforcing the channels 30 disposed adjacent the lateral wall. The longitudinal walls may each include one or more grooves positioned at predetermined distance along the block's length to enable the block to be cut to size by fracturing the longitudinal walls down the length of the grooves.

3 Suitably the tongues of adjacent blocks co-operate in an overlapping relation such that the front faces of the longitudinal walls of adjacent blocks are aligned to form a substantially continuous surface. 5 In yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided A method of constructing a retaining wall from a series of blocks each block having a pair of longitudinal walls at least one web disposed between said longitudinal walls surface wherein each longitudinal wall includes a pair of recesses disposed at 10 opposing end and on opposing sides of the longitudinal walls said recesses forming a pair of tongues for cooperation with the tongues horizontally adjacent block, said tongues disposed at opposing ends and opposing sides of said longitudinal walls said method including the steps of: arranging first row of blocks along a desired path; 15 stacking successive rows of blocks onto the first row of blocks until the desired height of the wall is reached; wherein the blocks in each row of the wall are laid such that the tongues of adjacent blocks co-operate in an overlapping relation such that the front faces of the longitudinal walls of adjacent blocks are aligned to form a 20 substantially continuous surface. BRIEF DETAILS OF THE DRAWINGS In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into 25 practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a top view of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention; 30 FIG. 2 is a front view of a perp free block of Fig 1; FIG. 3 is a an end view of a perp free block of Fig 1; FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the construction of the central web of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention; 4 FIG. 5 is a top view of a section of a wall constructed using the block of Fig 1; Fig 6 is a top view of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention; 5 FIG. 7 is a top view of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 8 is a top view of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention. 10 DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION With the reference to Fig 1 there is illustrated one embodiment 100 of a perp free block according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown the block includes a pair of longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 separated by a 15 central web 102. The lateral walls 1013,1014 of the block in this case are of an open construction such that the core sections 103 of the block are exposed. The ends of each of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 include recessed 20 sections 1041, 1042. As shown recessed sections 1041 in this case are disposed in the exterior face of the of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 while recesses 1042 are disposed in the interior face of the of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012. The recess sections 1041, 1042 form tongues 1051, 1052 disposed adjacent the lateral ends of each of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 of the 25 block. As shown the tongues 1051 and 1052 are offset form one another, more specifically tongues 1051 align with the exterior faces of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 (i.e. tongue is formed by recess 1042) while tongues 1052 align 30 with the interior faces of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012. As can be seen in this example tongues 1051 are disposed at opposing ends of the block with respect to one another. Likewise tongues 1052 are disposed at opposing ends of the block with respect to one another. The positioning of the tongues 5 in this manner allows the blocks to be keyed together when laid in courses to form a wall. The keying of the block is discussed in further detail below. Fig 2 depicts a front view of the block 100, and illustrates in further detail the 5 construction of the block and more specifically the central web 102. As shown the recess 1041 and tongues 1052, 1051 are visible from the front face of longitudinal wall 102 while recess 1042 is disposed behind the front face. Web 102 in this case is shown in phantom and as can be seen the web tapers such that the web 102 is thicker at the top of the block. Tapering the web 102 10 in this manner maintains engineered strength while enabling the block to be easily gripped and handled during construction. In addition the tapering the web in this manner also decreases the volume of mortar needed and prevents mortar falling down inside the block during construction. 15 A recess 106 may be provided in the base of the web 102 as shown in Fig 3. As can be seen the recess 106 is positioned in the bottom face of the web 102, and extends across almost the entire length of the web 102. The recess 106 in this instance provides a channel for the passage of reinforcing when the block is position onto a block in a lower course. As can be seen small 20 section of the web 102 extend up from the base of the recess 106, these remaining sections of web 102 provide a surface which can be bonded to the upper edge of the tongues 1051,1052 of adjacent blocks in the preceding course where a running bond is utilised. 25 Fig 4 shows an alternate construction for the central web 102. As can be seen in this example the web 102 is provided with a flared 107 upper section as opposed to the taper discussed above. The advantage to this construction is that the thickness of the web 102 can be reduce while maintaining engineered strength. The flared section 107 in this case includes a 10mm 30 return to enable gripping of the block during construction. Fig 5 depicts the use of the block of Fig 1 to 3 in the construction of a section of wall. In this particular example only two blocks of the course are shown, for the purposes of clarity of description it will of course be appreciated by those 6 of skill in that art that the interconnection of the remaining blocks in the course forming the wall are interconnected in the same manner as discussed below. The blocks 501, 502 have been laid with the tongue 1051 and recess 1042 co 5 operating with tongue 1052 and recess 1041 of the adjacent block to form an over lapping vertical join. More specifically the recess 1041 and 1042 are sized to fit the respective tongue 1051, 1052 i.e. the tongues key with the recesses to permit the tongues to overlap. Overlapping the tongues in this manner allows the lateral ends of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 to be brought into 10 abutting relation, which results in the wall being provided with substantially continuous front and rear faces. Moreover with the keyed arrangement of the tongues there is no need to mortar the vertical join between the blocks which speeds up construction. In addition the interlocking of the blocks allows for them to be stack bonded allowing for the large voids 503 (i.e. void formed by 15 interconnection of adjacent blocks) to align providing an increase in engineered strength of the wall. With reference to Fig 6 there is illustrated a masonry block according to one embodiment of the present invention. The block in this example as with the 20 block discussed in relation to Fig 1 above is an open core 103 construction and includes a pair of longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 separated by a central web 102. Again the ends of each longitudinal wall 1011, 1012 recessed sections 1041, 104 2 forming tongues 1051, 1052. 25 The main difference in the construction of the block of Fig 1 and that of the block in this example is that the block includes a series of grooves 601 disposed on the internal faces of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012. The grooves 601 in this case are provided to enable each of the blocks wings to be cut by fracturing the block with a bolster or the like along the groove. As 30 shown the groves 601 are position at a predetermined distances from the lateral ends 1013,1014 of the block. In this case the grooves are position such that the provide for the removal of % or % of the block length as measured form one end of the block.

7 Fig 7 depicts the construction of a masonry block according to one embodiment of the present invention. The block as shown in this instance is a half length block. In this example the block includes longitudinal walls 1011 and 1012 separated by lateral wall 1013. Again the block is of an open core 5 construction via the omission of lateral side 1014 i.e. the side on which the vertical join between adjacent blocks is formed. As in the above examples the to permit joining of the block to adjacent block ends of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 are provided with recesses 1041, 10 1042 to form tongues 1051, 1052 for overlapping and complementary engagement with the tongues of the adjacent block. As can be seen the interior face of the lateral side 1013 in this case includes a pair of grooves 701 which allow for the penetration of horizontal reinforcing steel bars. 15 Fig 8 depicts yet another possible arrangement of a block according to the present invention. The block in this instance is of a similar construction to that of Fig 1 and includes a pair of longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 separated by a central web 102. However unlike the block of Fig 1 the block of the present example is of a partially open construction having one blank end in this case 20 lateral wall 1013 is provided to form the blank end of the block. As in the above examples the open end of the block is provided with tongues 1051, 1052. Again the tongues 1051, 1052 are formed via recesses 1041, 1042 positioned 25 in the exterior and interior faces of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 respectively . The blank end in this instance includes a set of grooves 801 disposed on the interior face of lateral wall 1013 which allow for the penetration of horizontal reinforcing steel bars. In addition to groove 801 the blank end also includes a number of knock out grooves 802 disposed on the 30 interior faces of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012. The grooves 802 allow for a section of the longitudinal walls 1011, 1012 allowing steel reinforcing bars to tie into an adjacent section of wall (e.g.. at the transition between walls i.e. corners).

8 While the above discussed examples have utilised a single web construction it will of course be appreciated by those of skill in the art that other web configurations are possible. For example double web construction could be utilised. In such cases the web could be provided with a channel to 5 accommodate reinforcing bars etc. In one form such a design could accommodate a larger channel to facilitate a thicker cross-sectional concrete core when the block core filled. One advantage to the double web design is that it provides for a continuos vertical void when the block is core filled given greater engineering strength. In cases where the block is not core filled the 10 continuous vertical void could be utilised to carry services such as water, electricity and data cabling etc As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art the configuration of the tongues 1051, 1052 enables the block can be laid in any 1800 direction. Another 15 advantage with utilising the configuration of the block of the present invention is that the block has a greater tolerance for warping due to variation during moulding of the block. That is blocks with warped ends can still be utilised within the construction of the wall with out adversely impacting on the join between blocks and the overall appearance of the surface of the wall. 20 It is to be understood that the above embodiments have been provided only by way of exemplification of this invention, and that further modifications and improvements thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the present 25 invention described herein.

Claims (5)

1. A block for the construction of a retaining wall, the block including: 5 a pair of longitudinal walls; at least one web disposed between said longitudinal walls surface; wherein each longitudinal wall includes a pair of recesses disposed at opposing end and on opposing sides of the longitudinal walls said recesses forming a pair of tongues for cooperation with the tongues horizontally 10 adjacent block, said tongues disposed at opposing ends and opposing sides of said longitudinal walls.

2. The block of claim 1 wherein the web has a greater thickness at the block's base. 15

3. The block of claim 1 or 2 wherein the block includes at least one lateral wall and wherein the lateral wall includes one or more channels for receipt of reinforcing. 20

4. The block of claim 3 wherein each longitudinal wall includes one or more channels for receipt of reinforcing said channels disposed adjacent the lateral wall.

5. The block of any one of the preceding claims wherein the longitudinal 25 wall each includes one or more grooves positioned at predetermined distance along the block's length to enable the block to be cut to size by fracturing the longitudinal walls don the length of the grooves.