EP0256008A1 - Process for the manufacture of facing building blocks - Google Patents

Abstract

In the process described above, we first prepare a gravelly mixture having a consistency either wet or plastic and consisting of marble dust, high-strength cement, water, gem flakes and, if there is place, a dye. The mixture is poured into appropriate molds and subjected at the same time to vibrations, to make bricks or blocks which, after drying, are cut or bush hammered on one or more surfaces in order to obtain the desired products.

Description

Process for the manufacture of facing building blocks

The present invention provides for a process for produc¬ ing facing blocks and bricks, to be used in the bearing and curtain walls of civil and industrial buildings.

The invention relates as well to the manufacture obtain¬ ed by this method.

More particularly, the bricks and blocks according to the invention may be advantageously employed when the walls do not get plastered, as it is often the case in the construction of industrial sheds.

Bricks or concrete blocks of expanded clay are being currently employed for the outer walls of buildings.

These masonries are generally plastered in three sub¬ sequent steps: a layer of rough cast plastering consist¬ ing of lime-cement mortar is first laid, on top of which is later put a layer of fine mortar and cement; then a plastic wall facing is applied (e.g. synthetic material or the like).

It is not possible to carry out the different process phases one right after the other, as it «is necessary, 5 before laying the following layer, to wait until the underlying layer has set and dried. This involves, as a consequence, remarkable time losses and an increase in the manufacture costs.

0 To obviate the described inconvenience, the present invention provides for blocks and bricks made of dress¬ ed or bushhammered grit, suitable to have one or more decorative faces, and to form thus walls that are pretty to look at, without the need to apply subsequent- 5 ly any plasters or facings, this resulting in obvious advantages.

In particular, the blocks according to the invention may be advantageously used in the manufacture of walls ²⁰ .of industrial sheds or the like (that often do not undergo plastering) ; said blocks would thus replace the generally used cement or expanded clay blocks, allowing thus to build up - without any additional costs - manufacture much prettier from an aesthetic point of

The present invention will be now described in detail, with special reference to the attached drawings, in which: ³⁰ - Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 show different kinds of solid or perforated bricks, having one or more facing surfaces, obtained by the process of the invention; - Figures 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 show blocks having one or more facing surfaces, obtained by the process of the invention.

The process (to which there may be used automatic apparatuses of known type producing more than one piece at a time) provides first for the preparation, in suitable concrete mixers, of a grit mixture with damp or plastic consistency, comprising - in various propor¬ tions - marble powder, white or gray cement preferably of the high resistance kind, water, small gem scales and, if necessary, dye powder.

The employ of sand, instead, is not provided for, as the grit making up the mixture contains generally small size particles in an amount suitable for obtaining the right grading required for the mixture itself.

Once the grit mixture is ready, it is poured in suit¬ able metal moulds, and vibrated at the same time; the manufacture are then subjected to hydraulic pressing, after which they can be removed from the apparatus and be taken to the seasoning place.

After about 7 to 10 days, the building blocks or bricks made in this way are sufficiently consistent and resi¬ stant to undergo subsequent working; at this stage, the surfaces of said materials may be finished by dressing, bushhammering or the like.

These operations may be carried out on more than one side, so that the working may show, if required, on two parallel faces; it is thus possible to employ said blocks for the curtain walls of industrial or livestock sheds, in order to obtain washable facing surfaces, in accordance with the requirements of the activities car¬ ried out in those buildings.

Figures 2 and 7 to 12 show, by way of example, diffe¬ rent types of manufacture dressed on more than one surface, while the remaining figures show, always by way of example, manufacture having just one facing surface.

Thanks to the materials employed in their manufacture, these products are resistant enough to be used even in the making of supporting structures. They may be realiz- ed in different hues, thanks to the use of dyes powder scattered in the mixture, and keep in the course of time their original colour.

A person skilled in the art could provide for several changes and/or variations, that should all fall, how¬ ever, within the ambit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A process for the manufacture of facing building blocks and bricks with surfaces made -of dressed or

5 bushhammered grit, wherein there is first provided the forming of the product, and then, after seasoning, the finishing of one or more surfaces.

2. A process for the manufacture of facing blocks and 10 bricks wherein the following steps are provided: a) preparing a mixture of grit having damp or plastic consistency; b) casting in suitable moulds and contemporary vibra¬ tion;

15 c) hydraulic pressing; d) seasoning; e) dressing or bushhammering of one or more surfaces of products .

20 3. Building manufacture, blocks and bricks produced by the process according to claims 1 and 2, having at least one dressed surface.

4. Building manufacture, blocks and bricks produced by 25 the process according to claims 1 and 2, having at least one bushhammered surface.

5. Building facing manufacture, blocks and bricks produ¬ ced by the process according to claims 1 and 2, charac- 30 terized by the fact of having at least two dressed or bushhammered parallel surfaces