GB2216921A

GB2216921A - Building block

Info

Publication number: GB2216921A
Application number: GB8905479A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Roberts
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-03-15
Filing date: 1989-03-10
Publication date: 1989-10-18
Also published as: GB8806099D0; GB8905479D0

Abstract

Building blocks that may provide shuttering for concrete are preferably hollow and have openings (15) so that an assembly can be filled with interconnecting settable material. Blocks engage the blocks above and beneath them to restrain accidental separation. Thus lateral walls (12) may project upwardly and have intermittent outward abutments (58) (separated by gaps), while lower wall portions have complementary inward abutments (60). Thus the two blocks can be brought together (abutments in register with gaps), then longitudinally displaced so that abutments (58) overlie abutments (60). Alternatively ribbed projections 16 on the upper edge of one block may engage ribbed recesses 22 on the underside of an upper block. An assembly of blocks can then be filled, e.g. with concrete or insulating foam, or blocks can be formed about foam cores prior to assembly. <IMAGE>

Description

BUILDING BLOCK The present invention relates to a building block, some embodiments of which may serve to provide shuttering for concrete or other settable material. In further aspects it relates to an assembly of such blocks and to a method of producing such an assembly.

Temporary structures of shuttering for supporting concrete while it sets are known. These structures are erected prior to pouring the concrete and removed when the concrete has set. This is timerconsuming, particularly since it is necessary to wait until the concrete has set before the job can be completed.

According to a first aspect of the present invitation there is provided a building block having upper and lower portions for engaging upper and lower blocks, the upper and lower portions having complementary engagement formations such that the block is engageable with the complementary formations of an upper and/or a lower block, the engagement being such as to restrain relative vertical displacement.

Generally the block comprises outer wall portions defining an interior cavity, which may contain filling material, particularly a set material such as concrete or a foamed composition e.g. firerresistant phenolic foam.

Preferably the cavity is not wholly enclosed, there being openings so that, in use, the interior of each block may communicate with the interior of one or more blocks which lie adjacent to it.

A block may be hollow (e.g. for subsequent filling), or it may contain a core material. In the latter case the block preferably has openings through which the core material extends so that, in an assembly of like blocks, adjacent blocks have their core material substantially in mutual contact.

In a second aspect, the invention provides an assembly of interengaged blocks according to the first aspect.

Preferably all the blocks other than those which form the base, side or corners of the support structure are identical and cuboidal. Furthermore it is a preferred feature that the blocks interlock by means of projections from one block which engage detent members in an adjacent block. The blocks may be adapted to engage just those blocks above and below by this method, or alternatively all adjacent blocks.

A preferred form of interlock is such that blocks are releasably engageable by bringing upper and lower blocks into contact and then effecting horizontal displacement to cause engagement of locking formations.

Suitably the interlocking formations comprise longitudinal arrays of opposed projections separated by gaps, the projections of one block being engageable behind projections of another block by bringing the blocks together with projections aligning with gaps, then effecting longitudinal displacement.

An assembly may be rendered, for the sake of its appearance and also to hold it together.

A preferred form of block has four walls defining a hollow interior, at least one of the walls having a flange projecting above its upper edge; there being a complementary engagement means in or adjacent the base of the walls, the flange and engagement means being formed such that the flange may cooperably engage the engagement means of a like block when mounted thereon. The engagement means may be formations on the inner surface of the lower portion of the wall. Thus the wall portion and the flange may have complementary sawtooth ribs (extending horizontally).

Alternatively the flange and engagement means may have inwardly and outwardly projecting abutments, the abutment(s) of the flange of one block engaging in use above the abutment(s) of the engagement means of an upper block.

Preferably two opposite walls of the block will have such flanges and engagement means, and the other two walls will have holes to allow settable material to flow through them (or to allow a preformed core to extend to the exterior).

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of building comprising the steps of: assembling together a plurality of hollow blocks of the above type to form a support structure; and pouring settable material into the interior of the support structure.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a building method comprising the steps of: preforming a core member; casting material around the core member to produce a block according to the first aspect of the invention; assembling together a plurality of such blocks.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an assembly embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a building block accordingly to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a detail of a horizontal section through two cooperating building blocks according to a modified embodiment; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a building block according to the present invention;and Fig 5 is a schematic plan view of two horizontally adjacent blocks according to a third embodiment Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 a cuboidal building block 10 has a hollow interior defined by two longitudinal walls 12, and two transverse walls 14. The transverse walls have holes 15.The block may be moulded from uPVC or some other suitable plastics material.

The longitudinal walls 12 extend above the top edge of the transverse walls 14 to provide flanges 16. The flanges 16 are each divided into two equal parts by a gap 18 whose width is approximately twice the thickness of a transverse wall 14. The outer surface of the flanges 16 is ribbed with a sawtooth profile. A lower marginal portion 22 of the inner surface of each longitudinal wall 12 has complementary ribs so that a flange 16 of a like block located beneath may cooperably engage it.

When one block is stacked on top of another, the flanges of one block 16 project into the interior of the other block. The ribbed suraces 20 on the outside of the flanges 16 of the lower block engage the corresponding surfaces 22 on the interior of the longitudinal walls of the upper block thus retaining the two blocks together.

The blocks in adjacent layers are staggered with the transverse walls of the upper blocks located in the gaps 18 of the lower blocks. This is shown in Fig. 1. This formation is a very stable way of stacking building blocks to form a wall, and is therefore commonly used in the building trade.

The longitudinal walls 12 may be connected by one or more strengthening spars 24, which provide the block 10 with added rigidity. The block size may vary, depending on the type of support structure required. The blocks at the bottom of the wall may be provided with bases; blocks suitable for the ends and corners in a wall may also be provided. For example by making one of the transverse walls 14 solid (i.e. omitting the holes 15), and providing a ribbed surface on the interior of the transverse wall 14 together with a ribbed flange projecting upward from the transverse wall 14, blocks can be made which are suitable for constructing two walls joining at right angles.

When the blocks 10 have been engaged together in the manner described above, to form a supporting wall such as that shown in Fig. 1, concrete may be poured into the hollow wall. The holes 15 in the transverse walls 14 allow concrete to flow laterally between adjacent blocks 10. Thus the concrete sets as upright columns with numerous lateral connections.

In a modified embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the blocks 10 have a construction similar to that described in the first embodiment with the additional feature that the transverse walls of adjacent blocks 10 also engage each other. This is achieved preferably by a dovetail joint 26 between adjacent transverse walls.

When the concrete has set, the blocks 10 remain'in place; this is in contrast to conventional concrete shuttering. The outer surfaces of the blocks 10 can be adapted to serve a number of different purposes; for example the surface of the block 10 which faces the interior of a building may have a configuration which is particularly suitable for allowing plaster to key to it.

Desired aesthetic effects may be achieved.

Fig. 4 shows another form of block 50 which is suitable for production from a settable material, e.g. a plaster or cement-type material particularly a fibrerreinforced cement or gypsum. (Glass fibre and polypropylene fibre, e.g. 12mm long, are suitable reinforcing materials.) As with the embodiment of Fig.2, there are integrally formed longitudinal and transverse walls 12,14, the block 50 being open above and beneath and having openings 15 in the transverse walls. The interlocking formations are different, since the use of snaprengagable rib arrays (16,22) is not practicable for a cement or plaster block. Thus there are "linear bayonet" formations. At the top, inner portions 52 of the longitudinal walls 12 project above outer portions 54 which terminate with transverse surfaces 56.The inner portions 52 each have three outward locking projections 58 extending longitudinally, spaced above the surfaces 56. At the bottom, the situation is reversed: the outer portions 54 project and each bears three inward locking projections 60 spaced beneath a transverse surface 64 at the bottom of the inner portion 52. Thus a block 50 can be positioned above a like block 50 with their locking projections 58,60 out of register, then lowered so that the transverse surfaces 56,64 are in contact, and slid longitudinally to a configuration as in Fig. 1, when two of the lower locking projections 60 of the upper block are engaged beneath two of the upper locking projections 58 of the lower block.

At the end faces of the block 50 there are formations for engaging longitudinally adjacent blocks.

Thus at one side of each end face there is an upright rib 66 while at the other side there is a complementary channel 68, the two sides being reversed at the two ends of the block. Thus when two blocks are correctly positioned, the rib 66 of one engages in the channel 68 of the other (and vice versa), and the openings 15 are in communication. The spacings of their upper locking projections 58 are such that a further block can be engaged symmetrically on them, with all three blocks accurately positioned and locked together.

The blocks are quite heavy and engage quite positively. Thus concrete filling is not always necessary. For some purposes (e.g. internal partition walls) the interior may be filled with a foam composition, preferably a non-flammable insulating foam.

If a garden wall is built of such blocks, at least some can be filled with soil, in which plants can grow.

An alternative way to produce a foamrfilled block is to preform a foam core and cast the exterior walls of the block about it. Fig 5 shows blocks formed in this way.

Each block 70 has a core 72 of firerresistant phenolic foam. About this, a shell 74 of fibre reinforced gypsum has been cast, to form a structure similar to the block 50 shown in Fig. 4, having major side walls 76, and upper and lower edges with "linear bayonet" formations 78. The core 72 may have transverse throughropenings through which the cast material extends to provide integral spars 80 linking the side walls 76. The shell 74 is open above and beneath to expose the core 72. The end walls 82 have complementary formations, suitably an upright projection 84 extending for the height of one wall 82, and a channel 86 on the other. These are interrupted by central gaps 88 extending for the height of the walls, through which the core 72 extends. Generally, the core extends to become flush with the external faces of the block at the top, bottom and ends.Thus when blocks are assembled, cores are substantially in contact. The assembly can thus form a partition wall with excellent fire-resistant and insulating properties.

In producing blocks with linear bayonet formations as shown in Fig. 4 or Fig. 5, it is relatively difficult to form the outward locking projections (58 in Fig. 4), since the undercut means that the sides of the mould must retract to allow removal of a block. We may therefore prefer to mould a preform in which there are continuous pillars extending to the adjacent transverse surfaces (56 in Fig. 4). These can then be cut away to form accurate projections. (The top surface can be trimmed at the same time.) A support structure, wall or other assembly can be rapidly constructed from blocks embodying the invention.

If they are hollow, it can then be filled with settable material such as concrete. (It may be necessary to reinforce the concrete in the known manner of inserting steel rods into the wall prior to pouring of the concrete. Accordingly, guides may be provided within the blocks for the steel rods.) The workmen's task is then complete, since the concrete can be left to set. Even while this is happening, the structure constitutes a fairly stable wall.

A wall can be externally rendered, which retains the blocks in engagement and strengthens the structure.

The present invention enables one to provide a permanent progressive interlocking shutter that can be used in the construction of any structure comprised of a settable material, or a wall that can be selfrsufficient, particularly a non load bearing partition wall.

Claims

Claims:

1. A building block having upper and lower portions for engaging upper and lower blocks, the upper and lower portions having complementary engagement formations such that the block is engageable with the complementary formations of an upper and/or lower block, the engagement being such as to restrain relative vertical displacement.

2. A block according to claim 1 wherein the block comprises outer wall portions defining an interior cavity.

3. A block according to claim 2 wherein at least some of the outer wall portions have openings so that, in use, the interior of each block may communicate with the interior of one or more blocks which lie adjacent to it.

4. A block according to any preceding claim wherein the complementary formations comprise projections and detent members such that the projections from one block can engage detent members in an adjacent like block.

5. A block according to any preceding claim wherein like blocks are releasably engageable by bringing upper and lower blocks into contact and then effecting horizontal displacement to cause engagement of locking formations.

6. A block according to claim 5 wherein the complementary formations comprise longitudinal arrays of opposed projections separated by gaps, the projections of one block being engageable behind the projections of another block by bringing the blocks together with projections aligning with gaps, then effecting longitudinal displacement.

7. A block according to any preceding claim having complementary engagement formations on its end faces for engaging end faces of like blocks with complementary formations.

8. A block according to claim 7 wherein the end face formations comprise upright ribs and complementary elongate recesses.

9. A block according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the end face formation comprise dovetail projections and recesses.

10. A block according to any preceding claim wherein the block interior contains a set composition.

11. A block according to claim 10 wherein the set composition is insulating foam.

12. A block substanially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13. An assembly comprising interlocking blocks according to any preceding claim, the assembly comprising at least one upper block resting on at least one lower block; the blocks having interlocking formations to restrain the upper block from being lifted off the lower block.

14. As assembly according to claim 13 wherein the blocks are hollow and wherein the interior of each block communicates with the interior of one or more blocks which lie adjacent to it.

15.. An assembly according to claim 14 wherein the block interiors contain a set composition which extends from block to block linking them together.

16. An assembly comprising interlocking blocks substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of producing an assembly according to any of claims 13 to 16 comprising bringing together a multiplicity of blocks according to any of claims 1 to 12 and engaging adjacent blocks by means of their interlocking formations.

18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the blocks are hollow and including a step subsequent to engagement of passing a settable composition into the block interiors.

19. A method of producing an assembly comprising interlocking hollow blocks substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.