GB2226579A

GB2226579A - Building brick

Info

Publication number: GB2226579A
Application number: GB8828212A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Thomas Ramscar
Original assignee: MOBBS MILLER Ltd
Current assignee: MOBBS MILLER Ltd
Priority date: 1988-12-02
Filing date: 1988-12-02
Publication date: 1990-07-04
Also published as: GB8828212D0

Abstract

A building brick (1) comprises two end walls (2) and two side walls (3) of plastics material defining a hollow body with two open faces. A bridge member having a U-shaped cross-section forming an outwardly facing channel (6) extends across one open face between the two side walls (3). A part of an end wall (2) of each of two further building bricks may be accommodated in the channel (6) to lock the bricks together for forming a wall. <IMAGE>

Description

BUILDING BRICK The present invention relates to building bricks.

More particularly, it relates to hollow building bricks of plastics material, which can be joined together to form a wall or the like. The bricks are particularly useful for forming internal walls, such as partitions between rooms or offices, or may be used to form part walls for use, for example, as a support for a shop or exhibition display.

The bricks could also be used as the basis for a children's constructional toy, suitable for the making of buildings or mechanicals toys. For this application the bricks may be either in the preferred dimensions referred to subsequently, or in smaller sizes, and there would probably be a requirement for additional bricks of different shapes and sizes, but still incorporating the basic modular principle of the invention.

It is known to provide cuboidal bricks which may be joined by mortar to form a more or less permanent wall.

It is also known to provide similarly shaped bricks of plastics material which may be joined by means of an adhesive. Walls made from such bricks suffer one disadvantage in that they cannot easily be disassembled and reassembled.

It is also known to provide plastics bricks in which projections on one surface interact with depressions on an opposite surface of an adjoining brick. However, these generally require some additional means of joining them together and/or they do not allow the possibility of feeding services, for example electric cables, up or across the wall.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a brick which overcomes the above disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a building brick comprising two end walls and two side walls of plastics material, the walls together defining a hollow body with two open faces, a bridge member extending across one open face between the two side walls at a median zone of the open face, said bridge member having a U-shaped cross-section to form an outwardly facing channel of such a width as to accommodate therein a part of an end wall of each of two further building bricks.

The side and end walls may be extended beyond the edge of the open face, said extended portions being inwardly rebated by a depth equal to or just greater than the thickness of the wall of which they are an extension, whereby the extended portion may nest inside one or two other building bricks, such as those accommodated by the channel.

Advantageously the extended portions may, together with the walls of the channel, define two substantially square hollow projections.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partially cut away, of a building brick embodying the invention; FIGURE 2 is a view from below of the brick of Figure 1; and FIGURE 3 is an end view of the brick.

Referring now to the drawings, the brick is shown as a cuboidal building brick. It can however be curved or some other shape provided that it can be assembled into a wall.

Preferred dimensions for the building brick are: Length - 6 inches (152.4 mm); Width - 3 inches (76.2 mm); Overall height - 3.5 inches (88.9 mm); and Height when assembled - 2.5 inches (63.5 mm).

The general wall thickness is 0.125 inches (3.8 mm). The bricks are moulded from high density polystyrene or some similar plastics material which gives a high impact strength and renders the bricks tough.

The building brick comprises a major portion 1 comprising a pair of end walls 2 and a pair of side walls 3 defining between them a hollow cuboid having two open faces.

At one of these open faces, there is an internal ledge 4 extending around the periphery and the side and end walls are extended outwardly, having an external rebate 5 of the same depth as the wall. Thus the extended walls 2a and 3a will nest within an opposite open face of another brick. Thus the bricks may be stacked.

At a central portion of the open face is provided an outwardly directed channel 6 separating the side wall extensions 3a into two. The width of the channel is sufficient to accommodate end walls 2 of two adjacent building bricks, whereby the bricks are locked together between the side walls 7 of the channel 6. By this means, a wall can be constructed of alternately arranged bricks in the usual manner, each brick locking together two adjacent bricks in the row below, and being locked to the neighbouring bricks in the same row by the two adjoining bricks in the row above.

Preferably projections defined by an end wall extension 2a, a channel wall 7 and two half side wall extensions 3a are substantially square in cross-section, although other shapes may be used. Similarly, a brick may comprise three or more such projections, each separated by a channel from a neighbouring one, The building bricks may be moulded from coloured plastics material so that they do not need painting and may form a decorative wall. This may be particularly useful when they are used as backgrounds or supports for display materials. Indeed, the external surfaces of the building brick may be textured and coloured for the bricks to have a stone or brick-type finish. Since the bricks have open faces at both top and bottom, electric cables and the like may be fed from top to bottom of a wall and indeed may be fed along the wall, although in a somewhat serpentine path. Some of the bricks may have special functions, for example, one side wall may comprise a plug socket or it may be configured to take a bracket or other fitting. Lights may be attached to them and, indeed, it would be possible to construct the bricks from transparent or translucent plastics material and provide a light source within the brick.

In order to construct a wall of these bricks, a "foundation" course is ideally attached to the floor. This may take the form of a trough adapted to receive the projections of the first row of bricks and being fixable to the floor by screws or the like.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A building brick comprising two end walls and two side walls of plastics material, the walls together defining a hollow body with two open faces, a bridge member extending across one open face between the two side walls at a median zone of the open face, said bridge member having a U-shaped cross-section to form an outwardly facing channel of such a width as to accommodate therein a part of an end wall of each of two further building bricks.

2. A building brick as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side and end walls extend beyond the edge of the open face, said extended portions being inwardly rebated by a depth equal to or just greater than the thickness of the wall of which they are an extension, whereby the extended portion may nest inside one or two other building bricks, such as those accommodated by the channel.

3. A building brick as claimed in claim 2, wherein the extended portions define together with the walls of the channel, two substantially square hollow projections.

4. A building brick substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.