CA2056001A1 - Building block - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a mortarless interlocking building block. The building block comprises a pair of opposed major side faces, a pair of opposed minor end faces and a pair of opposed major upper and lower faces, the upper or the lower face having a profile, when viewed in a direction normal to the end faces, with an outer semi-channel and an inner full channel alternating with an inner full projection and an outer semi-projection. The semi-channel and the semi-projection are half the width of the full channel and the full projection, and the channels and projections extend longitudinally between the opposed end faces of the block. The opposed lower or upper face of the block is symmetrical about an imaginary axis which extends transversely between opposed side faces to divide the lower or upper face into two equal halves. Each half has a profile, when viewed normal to the major side faces, comprising semi-projection and a full projection alternating with a full channel and a semi-channel, all of which extend transversely between opposed side faces, and which are complemental with the channels and projections on the opposed respective upper or lower face. A pair of apertures extends between the upper and the lower faces, the apertures being divided by an inner web which extends transversely between the opposed side walls of the block parallel to the end walls.

Description

2B5~
BAÇ~GROUND ~ ~N'II N

l~is imren~ion relates to ~ buildillg bIocl~

T~e pno~ art is replete with interlocldllg building Uocl$ of va~ious shapes which ~e used in the const}ucdon of housing. ~n sub econorn~c housiIIg, ~y st~g building blocks are ideaI, as ~ey e~iminate ~e need ~or ceme~t, and they c~n be quickly and easily assembled ~ u~led l~bour. ~ problem associated with dry sta~g blocks is that ~ose which ~terlock sllfficielltly gener~ r have rel~vely ~n~ic~te s~apes w~ich are ~ot readily replicated m le concrete ~ridc moulds. Tbose blocks w~ich ha~e rnore b~sic s~apes usually do not interlo~c sufEc~ently, aIld can o~ly be stacked up to a certai~
level wi~h sa~e'y.

SUl~ OF T~ ~VE~D

A~wr~g t~ the mvenlinn there is provided a buildîng ~Io~k co~prising pair of opposed ma30r slde f~ces, a pair of opposed minor end faces and a pair of opposed maJor upper and lower ~ces, ~e upper or the lower face h~:vin~ a I~rn~le, whe.n vie.wed ~n a direc~ion norm~l to ~he eud f~ces, ~th ~uter sen~T~Qn4~1 ~d a~ l~r ~ ~ol ~Qrn~ln~ ~R~tn ~ ~ inr~ fi~l~
proJe~oll and a~ ou~er se~-proJecdon, ~he semi channel and che semi-pro~ec~o~ being h~lf the width of the ~11 c~a~el a~d ~e filll proiecho~, and ~e c~nels and projec~ons e~tendi~ lo~tudi~ ~et Neen the n~ n~
~.n~ f~mR nf th~ ~iorl~; and ~he c~ et lower or upp~ f~ce of l~he bloclc being :~ymmetricaI abo It an imW a~ ich ~en~s ~nsver~elybe~veen opposed side faces to d~ide the lower or UppOE faoe imo two eq~al h~lves, each ha~ having a prof~:le, when ~Fiewed noImal to the major side faces~
com3?~.~g a semi-p~ojec~o~ d a fi~ll projec~o:~ alternati3~g with a fi~ll 2 ~

c~annel and a semi~ nnel, wllich e~end trallsve~sely between opposed ~ide faces, and which are compleme~al with the cha~els and projec~dons on the ~pposed re~pe~ve upper or lower face.

Prefe~ably, at leas~ one aperture e~tends between the uppe~ a~d lower ~aces, the apeIt~e being defî~ed by opposed side and end wa~s ~f the blo~lc Convenien~y, a pair of apert~es e2cten~1s be~een ~e 1J3?per aIId the lower filces1 the apertures bein~ divided by an inner web which extends traDsversely between the opposed side walls of the block parallel to the e~d ~s.

The we~ ~s located exac~y midw~y alon~ the sîde wal~s of tlle block, so as to def~ne two identic~l recta~g~ar aperhlles.

The one upper or lower face of the ~lo~k, when viewed no~al to one of the ~ide faces, preferably has transve~sely exte~dillg outer semi-projections adjaoellt ~he end ~ce ~;nd three i~er full ch~nels whîch alte~Date wi~h two i~mer full projec~ons so as to provide a crenelIated pro~le~, ~he uppermost port~ons of ~he projectio~ d t;be semi-p~oje~ions are conve~iemly co-pl~ar~ d the lowennost por~o~s of the chan~els are also co planar.

On the oppo~ed lower or ul~per face h~ g lo~gîtudî~lly exteIIdin~
proJe~oIls and c~aImels, the uppe~most portîon of the projection a~d the ~ppelmost por~on of the semi-p~ecdon are also preferably co-planar, and ~he lowermost por~on of the cha~el a:rld tihe lowelmnst portion of the serlu-c~n~el ale c~pl~n r.

2 ~ ~ ~ J ~ ~

A~l the lon~tudi~Iy exte~ding channe~s ~nd pro~e~ions on the one upper or lowe~ ~ace ~re adva~eously defi~ed solely by cu~ng ~es which mn noImal to the end faces of the block All the transversely e~endi~g cha~els arld proj~ons on the oppo~ed upper or lower face are also adv~t~eous~ defined solely by cu~g lines which run normal to the side f~ces of the ~lo~

T he long~tudinaIly extending projec~ons and cha~ne~s are preferabl~ def~ned ~y re~pec~ve castelIatio~s ~nd i:ade~ formed iII each o~ ehe e~d walls a~d the in~e~ web, and the traIlsversely e~tending p~ojectio~ d cha;nnels are def~ed by simila~ respect~ve castella~ons ~d inde~ ormed ~n the side wslls.

B~ ~ES~TP"I~ON O~ T~ DRA~

re 1 shows an iso33~etlic v~ew of a buildirlg block of the i~relltior~

,~ .
Fig~lre 2 shuw~ a side view of the block of Fgure 1 viewed iII ~e direction of aIrow A;

~igu~e 3 show~ end-on new of ~e bloc~c of Fi~e 1 v~ewed in the direction of ~row E~;

Fgure 4 show~ a top pla:~ view of the blodc of Figure l;

Fi~e 5 shows ~ iso~etric view of the block of Figure 1 in the imreIted positio~, and 2 ~ ?'~ ~1 Figure 5 shows a per~pective view ~ part of a wall befng built usin,~ the bl~:lcs illust~ated irl Fi~lres 1 to S.

S

The bu~ldi~ block 10 ~ ated ~n F gures 1 to 5 is in the basic form of arec~ar paralleIepiped~ having a pai~ of opposed m~jor side faces 12 ~nd 14 ~d a p3ir of opposed mi~or end faces 16 aIld 18. A p~ir of re~gul~r caYitie~ 20 and ~ extend tl~ough ~e bIock 10 from the llpper face 24 to the lower f~ thereo~. The cavi~es 20 and Z~ are di~rided by a centr~l web ~
aIld ale bou~ded ~r pa~aIlel side walls 30 and 32 a;~d parall~1 end walls 34 a~d 36. The web ~8 e~tends between ~he side walls 30 a~l~ 32 and i~ parallel to the end walls 34 ~n~ 36.

As ~n be see:~l more c3early i~ Figure 2, the uppe~ ~ace is ~reneLlated and is ~ymmetrical about an ~ 38 wbich extends transversely betwee~ the opposite side w~ls 30 a~d 3~, and whi~h bLse~ts the ce~tral web 2~. As is clear from ~ e ~, the upper i~ce ~4 has a prof~le whe~ viewed iD the direction of arrow A wit:h o~lter semi-proiec~ions or ~s 40 and ~2 extendin~ t~e width o~
the bloc~ Located between i he n~s 4~ and 4~ are side c~ els 44 and 4b arld a cent~l dlannel 48, the ~hanneLs alte~g with full projec~o~s ~0 and 5Z. l~oth the chalmels 44, 46 and 48 and the projectio~s 50 and 52 are ~us~o-triangular ~n ~orm.

The ~p~?e~most ~ees 5~ of t~e proJe~o~s 50 and 52 aI-d the semi-projections ~0 alld ~ are co pl~ and lie in a pla~e ~dicated m broken oudi~e at 5B.
The loweImost faces of the cha~nels 44,41S a~d 48 are also c~pla:llar and li~
in a plane indic~ted in b~okell uui~ne at 60 whi~h i~ ~paced ~om. aIId p~ lel to the plane 58. The w~dth W1 of e~ch fillL or major proje~tion SO and æ B

. : ~

2 ~

pr~ec~ioILs 40 and 4~ h~ve a pro~e which is idell~cal to the proi~e of one of ~e fulI projecdo~s sa ~nd S2 once it has bee~ pe~pendicularly bisected~ With ~e upper face ~ in view, ~s is show~ in Fi~ures 1 a~d 4, the fulI ~n~els 40, 4~ ~d 48 and the ~11 ~rojectio~s ~0 and 52 do not extend con~ously for ~e eIItire width of ~he Uoc~, due to the presence of the ca~ities ~0 atld æ.
~a~her, ~e chan~el 44 is defined ~ sep~rate ~de~ts 62 and ~4 ~ormed i~ the respe~ve side walls 3~ a~d 3æ La~ewise, the ce~ al chaDnel 4g is de~ed dems 66 an~ G8, with ~he ~pper sur~ce of ~e web 2~ a~so de~ning the lower surface of the cha~el 48. The char nel 4~ ons~ ed by illdents 70 aIld 7~. S~srly, ~e projec~oll 50 is defined by castèD~ions 74 and 76 aDd the projection 56 is c ed ~y castella~ions 7~ ~d 80.

T~ now to Fi~ure 3, ~e l~wer s~ce 26 of the block has a proi~le wit~
a~ outer semi ch~el 82 beiDg lo~ate~ adjacent the side f~ce 14 a~d an Ou~er sen~i-projection 84 beiIlg located ad~acent ~e side face 1~. ~ituated between aIId alternatîng ~i~ the semi~'nannel æ aIld the sen~i-projection 84 is ~
p~oje~on 8~ and ~ f~ll ch~nnel 8S. Refem~g now to FigureS, it carl be seen that the filll c~annel 88 is dP~ined by ind~vidual ~de~ts 9Q 9~ ~d 94 folmed in tl:le Imdersides of ~e ~e~pec~ve side wall 36, the web ~8 and the opposite w~ll 34. I~kewise the projection 86 is cons~tuted by indi~idual ~ellatio~s g69 ~8 and 100.

The traIlsverse ~ of ~ymmetry 38 dn~des the upper sur~c~ ~4 o~ the block 10 in~ two mirrored h~IYes 10~ and 104. The o:~e h~f 102 ~s foImed from the semi-projec~on 40, ~e fi~Il ch~nel 44, ~he klll projection S0 a~d haIf o~
the full ch~el 48, which is efFec~vely a serm-ch~eL Lik~wise the other hal~ 104 of l:he upper ~ce ~4 is made up o~ the ha~f projecdoIl 4~, the f~
ch~mlel 4~ ~11 projec~o~ 52 aIld the o~her ha~f o~ the filll cha~el 48.

2 ~

It is deal ~o:m ~he drawillgs ~at the lower ~face 2~ of ~e block has a pro:EEle which is co~lementaI wi~ the pro:f ile of o~e of the halves 10~ or 104 of ~he upper surface 24 of ~he block. ~is allows dle lower su~ce :~ of one ~locl~ to comp1eme~tally engage o~e h~lf of the upper sur~ce 24 o~ other subJa~eIlt block, wi~ the m~jor ase~ o~ ~e blocks be~ pe~pendiculal to one another, as is show~ am ou~ine at 106.

I~ Fi~ure 6, blocks idelltical to t~ose ~ ated i~ res 1 to 5 are ~sed to bu~ld two walls 110 and 11~ which meet at a co~er 114. The b~ic~cs are laid m ~ Sh~etching boIl~ The lower c~se 116 of bricks is laid in the upri~ht pos~on l~e supel3acen~ rse o~bricks 11g is l~id in the ~n~erted positio~, a~ld the follou~ng supe~acent coulse 1~0 of b~icks is laid once more i~ the upright pos~o~ In this m~nner, the sllrfaces of the bncks havi~g ~a~sve~ely e~tendin~ projections a;~d chamlels, (~efe~ed to in the spe~ifica~on as the ~per sur~ces) are complementally i~terengaged ~nth one another, as ~s shown at 122. The su~faces of t}~e bri~ks having lo~tudiIlally extending proje~io~s and channels (refe~Ted to in the specification as the lower surface) are complementa~Iy interen~aged with one aIIother duxi~g the laying of ~e ne~t course 120, as is sbown ~$124. The transverse interlo~g shown at lZ
prevents longitudinal movement of the bnc}~s in ~e direction of arrows 1~.
L~ewise, lhe longitudinal mterlocking shown at 124 p~e~rents transverse mo~eme~t o~the bri~ the direc~on of arrows 128. As a result, mort~rless walls c~n be bu~t higher thall is the usual prac~ce, as alte~nate co~rses provide interlocl;in~ fEerent dlrectio~s and serve to s~en~then ~he walls.

C~omplete ~llterloe~n~ of t~e blocks also takes p]~C~ a~ the ~rner 114. T~e t~ans~rersely extending cha~els a;nd projections on the lower sll~face of the ~pe~most block 1~0 form a s~mg co~pleInental flt ~n~ the tr~sversely extending ch~neIs aIld projectio~s on one half of the upper surface of the 2 ~

subja~ent bloc~ 1327 as well ~s Wit]l ~e lo~ dina~ e~endin~ channels and projec~o~s on one half of the the subjace:~t blo~c ~34, w~ich is perpendicl31ar to the ~lock 132.

~n orter to reinforce the co~er 114, reinfor~ rods 1~6 are located ~ the cavi~y ~38 wbich exte~ds throu~h the cor:ner, and a co~ner post is forme~ by pounn~ CQ~rete 140 into ~he cavity 138. As the ca~ ties 20 and ~2 in the bloc~ e ali~ed when they ~e asse~bled i~ et~i~g bon~ t:he ~ei~3forc~llg concrete posts Inay be foImed ~t ~y des~ed i~teIval alo~g the wa~L For instance, where a g~le wa;ll is being bll~lt, posts may be formed in every thirdor four~ cavi~.

As a~l the blocks a~e identical in ~orm. tbis speeds up the manufach~g process, alld ~er~es to simplit y the o~denll~ o~ biocks for building a house, for ~ce.

A filr~her advantage of ~he bll~d~g ~lock of the ~n~e~ion lies i~ its ease of ~are~ The bl~ are mOEq3f;~ctured from an ag~egate ill ~oups of four or s~c Movable paUets are located on a vibrati~ table and are fed from a pallet conveyor, wbich car~ies a drawshee~ ~e d~awsheet, which has a crellell~ted pro~e complement~l to the upper surface of each blo~k, is moved iDto position over the paUet aIId fou~ moul~Iboxes are lowered into position over the drawsheet~ The mouldboxes are filled with aggreg;ate which is then compacted usi~g aIl overhead tamping hea~ The tampiIIg head h compacto~ face which is shaped to fo~n the long~ al ~els and proiec~ons in the lower face of the blo~

Once ~mpac~on h~s ocalrred, the d~awsheet ~ thdrawn~ The mould~oxes are the~raised wi~ ~e taInping heads lowered to ~tain the newly fo~ned blocks in positio~ The t~nping he~às a~e therea~ter ra~sed, and the pallet is slid away to make room for a subseq~er~t p~llet.

By merely ~ltering t~e sh~pe of the tsmpin~ head and by lls~llg a sui~ably prof~ed dra.~fiheet~ d sli~h~y mod~ed mouldboxes, ~e blocks of the i~vent~on can be foImed usin~ ~elaff~ely basic bloc~ equipment.

The proje~io~s and channels may take on any shape. For inst~ce, they rr ~y be ~stellated or scalloped.

Fc~r the yulyoses of 1~s speci~c~tioD, the telms "siden~ nendr, "upper" and "lowe~" have been u~sed solel~r for the puIpose of cl~ing the onenta~on of the various faces of t~e bloclc, and should not be seen as limidng t~e scope o~
t!le cla~

':

Claims (11)

1. A building block comprising a pair of opposed major side faces a pair of opposed minor end faces and a pair of opposed major upper and lower faces characterised in that, the upper or the lower face has a profile, when viewed in a direction normal to the end faces, with an outer semi-channel and an inner full channel alternating with an inner full projection and an outer semi-projection the semi-channel and the semi-projection being half the width of the full channel and the full projection, and the channels and projections extending longitudinally between the opposed end faces of the block; and the opposed lower or upper face of the block being symmetrical about an imaginary axis which extends transversely between opposed side faces to divide the lower or upper face into two equal halves, each half having a profile, when viewed normal to the major side faces, comprising a semi-projection and a full projection alternating with a full channel and a semi-channel, which extend transversely between opposed side faces, and which are complemental with the channels and projections on the opposed respective upper or lower face.

2. A building block as claimed in claim 1 in which at lest one aperture extends between the upper and lower faces, the aperture being defined by opposed side and end walls of the block.

3. A building block as claimed in claim 2 in which a pair of apertures extends between the upper and the lower faces, the apertures being divided by an inner web which extends transversely between the opposed side walls of the block parallel to the end walls.

4. A building block as claimed in claim 3 in which the web is located exactly midway along the side walls of the block, so as to define two identical rectangular apertures.

5. A building block as claimed in claim 1 he one upper or lower face of the block, when viewed normal to one of the side faces, has transversely extending outer semi-projections adjacent the end face and three inner full channels which alternate with two inner full projections so as to provide a crenellated profile.

6. A building block as claimed in claim 5 in which the uppermost portions of the projections and the semi-projections are co-planar and the lowermost portions of the channels are also co-planar.

7. A building block as claimed in claim 6 in which, on the opposed lower or upper face having longitudinally extending projections and channels, the uppermost portion of the projection and the uppermost portion of the semi-projection is co-planar, and the lowermost portion of the channel and the lowermost portion of the semi-channel is co planar.

8. A building block as claimed in claim 1 in which all the longitudinally extending channels and projections on the one upper or lower face are defined solely by cutting lines which run normal to the end faces of the block.

9. A building block as claimed in claim 8 in which all the transversely extending channels and projections on the opposed upper or lower face are defined solely by cutting lines which run normal to the side faces of the block.

10. A building block as claimed in claim 3 in which the longitudinally extending projections and channels are defined by respective castellations and indents formed in each of the end walls and the inner web.

11. A building block as claimed in claim 3 in which the transversely extending projections and channels are defined by respective castellations and indents formed in the side walls.