GB2088433A

GB2088433A - Hollow Building Block

Info

Publication number: GB2088433A
Application number: GB8135585A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: NEWLAY CONCRETES Ltd
Current assignee: NEWLAY CONCRETES Ltd
Priority date: 1980-11-25
Filing date: 1981-11-25
Publication date: 1982-06-09

Abstract

There is disclosed hollow building blocks for use in the construction of a wall, the blocks being dry-laid along the length of the wall to be constructed, and then a pourable, hardenable composition being poured into the hollows in the blocks and allowed to set in order to complete the construction of the wall. Each block comprises a main portion which is rectangular in cross-section, as seen in plan, and has a pair of opposed side walls 11, and a pair of opposed transverse walls 12, 13 interconnecting the side walls. Side limbs 14 form extensions of the side walls 11 so as to define a generally U- shaped pocket 16 with an adjacent one of the transverse walls 12, the transverse wall being arranged to permit communication between the main portion and the U-shaped pocket. The leading end of each side limb 14 has a stepped configuration 19 or 20, for engagement with a complementary stepped configuration of a further block to provide mutual lateral restraint to the block and the further block when they are dry-laid adjacent to each other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Building Blocks This invention relates to hollow building blocks for use in the construction of a wall, the blocks being dry-laid along the length of the wall to be constructed, and then a pourable, hardenable composition (usuaily mortar or concrete) being poured into the hollows in the blocks and allowed to set in order to complete the construction of the wall.

It is known to provide hollow building blocks of the above type which have a rectangular box-like main portion (open at top and bottom) and a pair of spaced and parallel limbs which form extensions of two opposite sides of the main portion so as to form a U-shaped portion adjacent to the main portion.

The base of the U-shaped portion is formed by one of the two remaining sides of the main portion, and this side also is formed with a cut-out portion in order to allow the pourable composition to flow from the main portion to the U-shaped portion and vice-versa. The limbs of each U-shaped portion (which are shorter than the related sides of the main portion) usually engage at their ends (which are plain) with an end wall of the main portion of an adjacent block so as to define with the end wall an auxiliary pocket adjacent to the main pocket provided by the box-like main portion.

In one of the forms of known construction, the limbs of each U-shaped portion merely butt against the end wall of the adjacent block, so that there is no provision for lateral restraint of a row of such blocks when dry-laid. This gives rise to the risk of unintentional lateral movement of the blocks, and particularly during the filling stage, when a concrete filling pipe is applied to the top of a dry-laid wall formed by the blocks. This is an evident inconvenience, in that corrective re-alignment may be required, or else special care must be taken to avoid this problem occurring.

In another form of the known construction, there is a minimal provision for lateral restraint of adjacent blocks, in that two small rebates of shallow depth are provided in an end wall of each main portion, into which engage the leading ends of the limbs of the U-shaped portion of the adjacent block.

These rebates are formed opposite edges of the end wall by providing localised thickening of the end wall in its portion intermediate the opposite edges, but necessarily in practice this makes the rebates relatively shallow so that only a small amount of relative longitudinal displacement may be sufficient for there to be no lateral restraint between adjacent blocks. Also, insofar as the blocks are usually made of concrete or cementitious castable material, manufacturing tolerances are such that proper interengagement cannot always be guaranteed between the ends of the limbs and the rebates.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved lateral interlock between adjacent hollow building blocks when the latter are dry-laid.

According to the invention there is provided a hollow building block which comprises: a main portion which is rectangular in cross-section as seen in plan and has a pair of opposed side walls, and a pair,of opposed transverse walls interconnecting the side walls; and side limbs forming extensions of said side walls so as to define a generally U-shaped pocket with an adjacent one of said transverse walls, said one transverse wall being arranged to permit communication between said main portion and said pocket; in which the leading end of each of said limbs has a stepped configuration for engagement with a complementary stepped configuration of a further block to provide mutual lateral restraint to the block and the further block when they are dry-laid adjacent to each other.

When the side limbs are extended to define a U-shaped pocket with one of said transverse walls and their leading ends form one end of the block, the other transverse wall may form the opposite end of the block. The block may then serve as an "end block" i.e. a block, having a plain end, which defines the end of a wall. This may be required when, for example, the wall terminates at a doorway, window, or meets a further wall e.g. at a corner of a room.

Alternatively, the side walls may be extended in both directions so that a further pair of side limbs cooperate with said other transverse wall in order to define another U-shaped pocket adjacent to the main portion.

Preferably, the leading ends of the further limbs have complementary stepped configurations to the stepped configuration on the leading ends of the first mentioned side limbs. The block may then comprise a "standard block" which can interfit with adjacent standard blocks so as to form a course of blocks. Either end of the course may then be terminated by a respective "end block".

A further "end block" may be provided by a half size block having one transverse wall forming a plain end, and a U-shaped pocket adjacent to the other transverse wall. The inclusion of the half block in a source of blocks will enable successive courses of blocks to be laid in the usual lapped manner while still having plain ends.

The ability to dry-lay courses of blocks with plain ends avoids the necessity to use any shuttering at the ends of the courses. This represents a significant improvement over the known constructions in which the ends of a course of blocks will be constituted by a U-shaped portion, so that it is necessary to erect shuttering at the ends of the courses. This increases the labour content in the construction of a wall, and involves additional skills, so as to increase the costing of the construction.

Preferably, an "end block" as referred to above may be formed to have a length substantially equal to the length of a "standard block" so as to form a "corner block" i.e. a block which will intersect at right angies with a further wall of hollow blocks. To enable interfitting to take place between a drylaid corner block of one wall with a dry-laid block e.g. a standard block of an adjacent perpendicular wall, the corner block may have locating grooves formed in one of its side walls, at a spacing corresponding to the spacing apart of the side limbs of a standard block, in order to receive the leading ends of the side limbs.

The complementary stepped configurations referred to above may be considered as being "male" and "female", and the location of the grooves will be dependent upon which type of end is to be received. Conveniently, the corner block will have locating grooves with a given spacing in one of its side walls to receive one type of end, and its other side wall will have locating grooves at a different spacing to receive the other type of end.

In order to provide ready communication between each main portion of a block and an adjacent pocket, it is preferred that a transverse wall separating them is formed with a curved weir over which the pourable composition can flow.

The hollow building blocks can be manufactured from any convenient building material which will preferably be a cementitious castable material.

Hollow building blocks according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a standard block; Figure 2 is a plan view of a corner block; Figure 3 is a plan view of a half block, which is similar in shape to the corner block shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of an in-fill block; Figure 5 is a cross-section through a transverse wall of any one of the types of block; and Figure 6 is a side view of a wall constructed from the blocks shown in the preceding Figures.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a standard hollow building block for use in the construction of a wall, the blocks being dry-laid along the length of the wall to be constructed and then a pourable, hardenable composition (usually mortar or concrete) being poured into the hollows in the blocks and allowed to set in order to complete the construction of the wall.The "standard" block will form the major constituent of the wall and comprises a rectangular box-like main portion 10 having a pair of opposed side walls 11 and a pair of opposed transverse walls 1 2 and 13 which interconnect the side walls 11. Each side wall 11 has side limbs 14 and 1 5 which form extensions of the side wall, and the limbs 14 define with the transverse wall 1 2 a generally U-shaped pocket 1 6 adjacent one side of the main portion, and the side limbs 1 5 define with the transverse wall 1 3 a gerierally U-shaped pocket 17 adjacent the other side of the main portion.

As shown in Figure 5, each transverse wall is arranged to permit communication between the main portion and each pocket, in that a curved weir 1 8 is formed in the wall through which the pourable composition can flow. The hollow block may be arranged so that the curved weir 1 8 is in the upper edge of each transverse wall so that the pourable composition can flow over the edge of the weir, or the block may be inverted so that the curved weir is located lowermost, in which case it will still be possible for communication to be established between the main portion and the corresponding pocket.

The lea'ding ends of the side limbs 14 have a stepped configuration 1 9 for engagement with a complementary stepped configuration of a further block to provide mutual lateral restraint to the block and the further block when they are dry-laid adjacent to each other. In the illustrated arrangement of standard block, a complementary configuration 20 is provided at the leading ends of the side limbs 1 5.

Thus, a succession of standard blocks may be arranged so as to form one course of a wall. Mutual lateral restraint will be provided between the interengaging ends of each adjacent pair of blocks. This will enable accurate positioning of the blocks to be carried out in simple and speedy manner. Moreover, by virtue of the substantial depth (in the longitudinal sense) of the interengagement, there will be a strong resistance to any unintentional lateral displacement of the blocks which might tend to occur during filling the hollows of the blocks with a pourable composition.

The standard block construction described above has a pair of generally U-shaped pockets (1 6 and 17) provided one at each side of a main box-like hollow pocket. However, other constructions of the hollow building block may have only a single U-shaped pocket adjacent the main rectangular pocket. Thus, as shown in Figure 2, there is a construction of "corner block" 1 Oa, and parts corresponding with the preceding construction are designated by the same reference numerals.

The corner block has opposed side walls 11, and transverse wall 12 adjacent to the pocket 1 6.

However, the transverse wall opposed to transverse wall 12, designated by reference numeral 1 3a, constitutes a plain face for an end of the block remote from the side limbs 1 4. This enables the corner block to constitute the end of a course of blocks, without the necessity to provide any shuttering at that end. In the case of the corner block, only the transverse wall 12 will be provided with the curved weir 18, and the transverse wall 1 3a will extend the full height of the block.

The corner block is able to interfit with hollow blocks of adjacent perpendicular walls in a satisfactory manner, somewhat similar to the manner by which the standard blocks interengage. To this end, the side walls 11 are formed with locating grooves, which are spaced apart according as to whether the side wall is intended to receive the stepped configuration 1 9 or 20. In the illustrated example, the locating grooves 21 will serve to receive the projecting ribs of a stepped configuration 19, and the locating grooves 22 will serve to receive the projecting ribs of stepped configurations 20.

In the construction of corner block shown in Figure 2, the side limbs 14 have, at their leading ends, a stepped configuration 19, but it should be understood that other constructions may be provided in which the stepped configuration 20 is provided at the leading ends of the side limbs 14.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings, there is shown a further construction of hollow building block 1 Ob, in which only a single U-shaped pocket 1 6 is provided adjacent to the main hollow box-like portion 1 Ob. The block comprises an "end block" which may be used to form the end of a course of blocks, and has an end transverse wall 1 3b which forms a plain end for the block. This avoids the necessity to provide shuttering at the end of the wall of blocks.

The block 1 Ob is generally similar to block 1 Oa, but is approximately half its length. The side limbs 14, as illustrated, have a stepped configuration 20 at each end, but block 1 Ob can also be formed with stepped configurations 19. Also, the transverse wall 1 3b has rebates 23 which form configurations equivalent to configurations 19, so that half blocks 1 Ob may interlock with blocks 10 or 1 Oa, when blocks 1 Ob are used away from the ends of walls for infilipurposes. Although not shown, if desired end wall 1 3b may be shaped to have a configuration equivalent to configuration 20.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings, there is shown a wall built-up from dry-laid concrete blocks (standard, corner and half blocks) as shown in Figures 1,2 and 3. The bottom course is made up of a series of standard blocks 40 (only one of which is shown), and a corner block 41 at one end (the right hand end) of the bottom course, and a half block 42 at the opposite end of the course. It will be understood that only one standard block 40 is shown for illustration purposes. The next course has the standard block 40 arranged in usual staggered or lapped relationship to the standard block in the lower course, and the half block 42 is arranged at the right hand end of the course and the corner block 41 at the left hand end of the course.By the arrangement illustrated, a wall is provided having plain end faces provided by the end blocks 41 and 42, so that there is no need to provide shuttering at the ends of the wall.

After the wall has been dry-laid, as illustrated, a pourable and hardenable composition, usually mortar or concrete, is poured into the hollows in the blocks and is then allowed to set in order to complete the construction of the wall. The filling will usually be carried out by means of pumped discharge through a pipe or pipes, and falls under gravity through the top course of the wall so as to fill all of the hollows in the wall. The composition can readily flow both downwards, and also laterally, by virtue of the communication which is permitted between the U-shaped pockets (16 and 17) and the main box like portions.

In order to allow for variation in lengths of courses, beyond multiples of standard dimensions, a hollow infill block 1 0c may be provided as shown in Figure 4. This may be supplied in any required length, or in a range of lengths.

The infill block 1 0c has side walls 11, and transverse walls 1 2c and 13c. One or both of the transverse walls may have a weir 18, to allow lateral flow of concrete between the main rectangular hollow in the block 1 0c and an adjacent block or blocks. The preferred length of the infill block, 135 mm, enables the block to be used with standard blocks in the construction of pillars or piers for window and/or door frames. The transverse walls have interlocking configurations 24 and 25, which function in similar manner to the configurations 20 and 1 9 respectively.

The hollow building blocks may be provided in any required dimensions, but a preferred range of sizes as follows:- Standard block (Figure 1) length 460 mm and width 200 mm Corner block (Figure 2) length 430 mm and width 200 mm End block (Figure 3) length 235 mm and width 200 mm Infill block (Figure 4) length 135 mm and width 200 mm Height of blocks 225 mm.

It is also envisaged that the blocks may be constructed in a width of 300 mm, and also in the range 125 to 150 mm.

In order to provide vertical guidance, and support, during the erection of successive courses ot dry-laid blocks, the side walls 11 of the blocks may have four registering holes in their upper and lower horizontal edge surfaces.

Plastics plugs may be partly inserted into the registering holes in the upper surfaces of the blocks of an already laid course of blocks, and the next course can be laid with their appropriate registering holes fitting over the upwardly projecting ends of the plugs, to provide alignment and lateral support between successive course.

Alternatively, holes may be provided in the upper horizontal surface only of a block, and stepped plugs are inserted in the holes which extend upwardly, then perpendicularly towards the hollow inside of the block, and then upwardly so as to engage with the inside wall surface of a superposed block.

Grooves may also be provided in the upper horizontal surface to seat the perpendicularly extending portions of the plugs.

Claims

1. A hollow building block which comprises: a main portion which is rectangular in cross-section as seen in plan and has a pair of opposed side walls, and a pair of opposed transverse walls interconnecting the side walls; and said limbs forming extensions of said side walls so as to define a generally U-shaped pocket with an adjacent one of said transverse walls, said one transverse wall being arranged to permit communication between said main portion and said pocket; in which the leading end of each of said limbs has a stepped configuration for engagement with a complementary stepped configuration of a further block to provide mutual lateral restraint to the block and the further block when they are dry-laid adjacent to each other.

2. A block according to claim 1, in which the other transverse wall forms an opposite end of the block.

3. A block according to claim 1, in which the side walls are extended in both directions so that a further pair of side limbs cooperate with the other transverse wall in order to define another U-shaped pocket adjacent to said main portion.

4. A block according to claim 3, in which the leading ends of the further limbs have complementary stepped configurations to the stepped configurations on the leading ends of the first mentioned side limbs.

5. A block according to claim 2, in which at least one of the side walls has locating grooves formed therein, at a spacing corresponding to the spacing apart of the side limbs, in order to receive the leading ends of the side limbs of a perpendicularly arranged further block.

6. A block according to claim 5, in which one side wall has locating grooves with a given spacing to receive one type of stepped configuration on the ends of side limbs of a further block, and the other side wall has locating grooves at a different spacing to receive a complementary type of stepped configuration on the ends of side limbs of another block.

7. A block according to any one of the preceding claims, in which said one transverse wall has a curved weir over which the pourable composition can flow between the main portion and an adjacent pocket.

8. A block according to any one of the preceding claims, in which one or both of said side walls has, in its upper and/or lower edge surfaces, one or more register holes into which a locating plug can be taken to align a superimposed block.

9. A wall constructed from one or more blocks according to any one of the preceding claims.

10. A wall according to claim 9, including a first type-of block according to claim 3, a second type of block according to claim 2, said first and second types of block being of approximately the same length, and a third type of block according to claim 2 but approximately one half of the length of the first and second type of blocks.

11. A wall according to claim 9 or 10, including a hollow infill block which is rectangular in crosssection and has a pair of opposed side walls, and a pair of opposed transverse walls interconnecting the side walls.

12. A block according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13. A wall including one or more blocks according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or 12.