EP4332318A2

EP4332318A2 - Stone veneered building block

Info

Publication number: EP4332318A2
Application number: EP23187880.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Viaene
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2022-06-24
Filing date: 2023-06-26
Publication date: 2024-03-06
Also published as: EP4332318A3; GB202209269D0; GB2620548A

Abstract

A building block comprises a cast concrete component and a stone component, and at least one attachment element. The attachment element is attached to the stone component and is secured to the stone component by adhesive, the stone component being bonded to the concrete component.

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to masonry building blocks, and in particular to a type of building block comprising a stone veneer.

Background of the Invention

The masonry wall is a very widely used wall construction. Typically, a masonry wall is constructed of a plurality of building blocks, laid in courses and joined together by mortar. Examples of building blocks include, but are not limited to: a stone, a cut stone having flat surfaces, a brick, a breeze block, a concrete block, a clay block and the like.
Many buildings are constructed using a cavity wall design, where the building comprises inner and outer leaves. In such construction, the inner leaf is the load carrying structure, with the outer leaf being specified for weather proofing and appearance. Where a masonry appearance is desired, the typical choices are stone, brick or rendered concrete block.
Stone is generally regarded as the most desirable material in terms of appearance and hence property value. However, stone is costly as a material, and building with stone is slower than with blocks or bricks due to the irregular shape of undressed stone.
Various systems for creating the appearance of a wall that is constructed of stone have been proposed. For example, US1070281 describes a system of blocks to which stone veneers may be attached using a dry mechanical connection.
It is well known that novel systems of construction are slow to be taken up by the building industry.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a building block which provides the appearance of a stone construction of a wall that is constructed of such building blocks, yet which does not require any new building techniques to be learned or adopted.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention there is provided a building block comprising a cast concrete component and a stone component, and at least one attachment element, wherein the at least one attachment element is attached to the stone component, and wherein the at least one attachment element is secured to the stone component by adhesive, and wherein the stone component is bonded to the concrete component.
The at least one attachment element may comprise a dowel and one end of the dowel may be located in a hole in the stone component.
The at least one dowel may be of metal, such as steel, or a plastics material for example.
The stone component may be bonded to the concrete component by a cement bond, or an adhesive bond.
The density of the cast concrete component may be in the range of 1900kg/m³ to 2100kg/ m³. The cast concrete component may have a density falling outwit the aforementioned range so long as the resulting cast concrete component is capable of being used to build a wall following the steps of the third aspect of the invention.
The stone component may be longer than the concrete component.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a process for forming a building block of the first aspect of the invention, the process comprising the steps of:

providing a mould;
positioning the stone component of the building block at the bottom of the mould, wherein the at least one attachment element is attached to the stone component and extends into the mould;
pouring concrete into the mould;
allowing the concrete to cure.

The mould may be shorter in length than the stone component.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a wall comprising:

a first plurality of building blocks according to the first aspect of the invention on a first bed of mortar with mortar between adjacent vertical faces of the plurality of building blocks; and
a second plurality of building blocks according to the first aspect of the invention on a second bed of mortar on an upper surface of the first plurality of building blocks with mortar between adjacent vertical faces of the plurality of building blocks.

Advantageously, the width of the bed of mortar corresponds to the width of the concrete component of the building block.
Advantageously, the mortar between the vertical faces of the building blocks is aligned substantially with end faces of the concrete components of the adjacent building block.
The mortar located between the concrete components of adjacent building blocks may be a sand cement mortar.
Preferably, the wall further comprises lime mortar in the spaces between the stone components of the building blocks forming the wall.
The wall may comprise a corner and the corner may include a building block having a stone component that is longer than the concrete component thereof. At such a corner, the stone component of one building block may overlap the stone component of an adjacent building block. Lime putty may be placed between the stone components of adjacent blocks where the stone components overlap.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the Drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a building block;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of a detail of the building block illustrated Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a plan view of the building bock illustrated in Figure 1;
Figure 4 is an end view of the building block illustrated in Figures 1 and 3;
Figure 5 is a plan view of another configuration of a building block;
Figure 6 is an end view of the building block illustrated in Figure 5;
Figure 7 is an end view of part of a wall constructed using the building blocks illustrated in Figures 1 to 4;
Figure 8 is a plan view of a wall constructed using the building block illustrated in Figures 5 and 6; and
Figure 9 presents plan and side views of a mould used to form the blocks illustrated in Figures 1 to 4; and
Figure 10 presents plan and side views of a mould used to form the blocks illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring now to Figures 1 to 4, a building block 1 comprises a concrete component 2 and a stone component 3. In the illustrated embodiment the concrete component is approximately 100mm deep and the stone component is approximately 20mm deep. The whole building block 1 is approximately 440mm in length, which is the length of a standard concrete building block.
The building block includes steel dowels 4. In the illustrated embodiment two steel dowels are provided. The steel dowels are situated inwardly of respective end faces 2a, 2b of the block 1. For the 440mm block illustrated the dowels are situated approximately 150mm inward from the respective end faces.
Referring specifically to Figure 2, it can be seen that the stone component 3 is provided with a hole 5 shaped and dimensioned to receive one end of the steel dowel 4. The steel dowel 4 is secured in the hole 5 with a stone adhesive.
The block 1 is formed by casting with a poured concrete mix. The stone component 3, with the steel dowels 4 glued in place in the holes 5, is placed in the bottom of a mould. Concrete is then poured into the mould to the required depth (100mm in the illustrated embodiment). The concrete bonds to the surface 3a of the stone component and to the steel dowels 4.
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a corner block 1' in which the stone component 3' extends beyond the end face 2a' of the concrete component 2'. This provides a rear face region 3a' of the stone component 3', the purpose of which is to cover the end face 2a of the block 1 in a wall construction. Figure 8 illustrates the corner block 1' in such a wall construction.
Figure 7 illustrates a wall comprising a first course of building blocks 1 and a second course of building blocks 1 with a layer of mortar 7 therebetween. The layer of mortar 7 covers only the concrete part of the building block. The mortar 7 is a sand and cement mortar, which is the appropriate type of mortar for bonding two concrete components together. However, a sand and cement mortar is not appropriate for use between the stone components 3 of the block 1. During initial construction of a wall from building blocks 1, the region 8 between the stone components of the building blocks 1 is left unfilled. When the wall is built, the regions 8 are pointed to give a weather proof and aesthetically pleasing finish. The regions 8 are pointed with a lime and sand mortar. A lime and sand mortar is more flexible than a sand and cement mortar. The lime and sand mortar allows differences in expansion and contraction with temperature (concrete and stone have different coefficients of thermal expansion and contraction) to be taken up. Furthermore, moisture taken up by the stone during rain events for example, may be dissipated through the lime and sand mortar, whereas sand and cement mortars tend to trap moisture.
Figure 8 illustrates a wall including a corner constructed of building blocks 1 of Figures 1 to 4 and building blocks 1' of Figures 5 and 6. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, to form the corner, part of the rear face 2c of the concrete component 2 of block 1 overlaps the end face 2a' of the concert part 2' of block 1'. A layer of mortar 8 is located between the end face 2a' and the rear face 2c. Typically, the mortar 8 would be placed on the end face 2a', with the rear face 2c being presented up to and pressed against the mortar 8 by the builder laying the blocks. The stone component 3' is shaped and dimensioned so that the whole end face of the block 1 is overlapped. A small amount of lime putty is placed between the rear face part 3a' and the end face 2a of block 1. The end face 3c of the stone component 3 is also covered by the stone component 3' of block 1'. Where stone overlaps stone, the stone is wetted prior to application of lime putty. The lime putty creates adhesion between the stone component 3' of block 1' and the both the concrete and stone components 2, 3 of the block 1.
The skilled person will appreciate that in alternate courses of a wall, the position of the blocks 1 and 1' will be exchanged to create an interlocked corner joint.
Figures 9 and 10 illustrate moulding equipment used for creating the building blocks 1, 1'.
The mould 11 of Figure 9 sits on top of the stone component 3, to which the dowels 4 have been attached. The mould 11 comprises side walls 11a and end walls 11b. The internal shape and dimensions of the mould 11 correspond to the external shape and dimensions of the stone component 3.
The mould 12 of Figure 10 sits on top of the stone component 3', to which the dowels 4' have been attached. The mould 12 comprises side walls 12a, a first end wall 12b and a second end wall 12b'. The side walls 12a are shorter than the stone component 3' so that concrete is poured in the mould over only a part of the stone component. The mould 12 sits over a part of the stone component 3'. The internal width of the mould corresponds to the external width of the stone component and the internal surface of the end wall 12 is aligned with the external edge of the stone component 3'.
With the stone component 3, 3' aligned with the mould 11, 12 respectively, concrete is poured into the mould and allowed to cure. The mould may be removed when the concrete has cured sufficiently to be stable.
The resulting building blocks 1, 1' provide a stone face with much reduced cost when compared to a solid stone block of the same size.

Claims

A building block comprising a cast concrete component and a stone component, and at least one attachment element, wherein the at least one attachment element is attached to the stone component, and wherein the at least one attachment element is secured to the stone component by adhesive, and wherein the stone component is bonded to the concrete component.
A building block according to Claim 1, wherein the at least one attachment element comprises a dowel and one end of the dowel is located in a hole in the stone component.
A building block according to Claim 2, wherein the at least one dowel is one of metal, such as steel, or a plastics material.
A building block according to any preceding claim, wherein the stone component is bonded to the concrete component by a cement bond, or an adhesive bond.
A building block according to any preceding claim, wherein the stone component is longer than the concrete component.
A process for forming a building block of the first aspect of the invention, the process comprising the steps of:
providing a mould;

positioning the stone component of the building block at the bottom of the mould, wherein the at least one attachment element is attached to the stone component and extends into the mould;

pouring concrete into the mould;

allowing the concrete to cure.
The process of Claim 6, wherein the mould is shorter in length than the stone component.
A wall comprising:
a first plurality of building blocks according to the first aspect of the invention on a first bed of mortar with mortar between adjacent vertical faces of the plurality of building blocks; and

a second plurality building blocks according to the first aspect of the invention on a second bed of mortar on an upper surface of the first plurality of building blocks with mortar between adjacent vertical faces of the plurality of building blocks.
A wall according to Claim 8, wherein the width of the bed of mortar corresponds to the width of the concrete component of the building block.
A wall according to Claim 8 or 9, wherein the mortar between the vertical faces of the building blocks is aligned substantially with end faces of the concrete components of the adjacent building block.
A wall according to any of Claims 8 to 10, wherein the mortar located between the concrete components of adjacent building blocks is a sand and cement mortar.
A wall according to any of Claims 8 to 11, wherein the wall further comprises lime mortar in the spaces between the stone components of the building blocks forming the wall.
A wall according to any of Claims 8 to 12, wherein the wall comprises a corner and the corner includes at least one building block of Claim 5, wherein the stone component of the at least one building block of Claim 5 overlaps at least the concrete component of another of the building blocks forming the corner.
A wall according to Claim 13, wherein the stone component of one building block overlaps the stone component of an adjacent building block forming the corner.
A wall according to Claim 14, comprising lime putty between the stone components of adjacent blocks where the stone components overlap.