GB2257727A

GB2257727A - Shaped bricks for, e.g. paving.

Info

Publication number: GB2257727A
Application number: GB9215216A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Owen Booker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-07-17
Filing date: 1992-07-17
Publication date: 1993-01-20
Also published as: GB9215216D0; GB9115424D0

Abstract

Bricks (1) of substantially constant section, are provided at, at least, one end with an end face (3) which meets two substantially parallel opposite sides (5, 7) of the brick at an angle other than 90 DEG , e.g. 36 DEG . The bricks can be used for a wall, e.g. for soil retention, or for arch-forming, for coping walls or for edging paths. <IMAGE>

Description

BUILDING SYSTEM The invention relates to a building system in which a wall may be constructed from a plurality of building units which can accommodate changes in the direction of the wall while adjacent building units remain substantially equidistant from one another.

When building a wall or similar structure of rectangular bricks only right-angled turns in the path of the wall may be accommodated without introducing undesirable gaps between the end faces of adjacent bricks.

Bricks of other than rectangular configuration are known. For example, prismatic bricks having a substantially trapezoid base are shown in US Patent No 3 516 128 in which the opposite shorter sides are parallel and the opposite longer sides are inclined toward one another.

According to the invention, a building system comprises a plurality of building units of substantially constant section in which the building units are provided at, at least, one end with an end face which meets two substantially parallel opposite sides of the building unit at an angle other than 900.

Thus either one or both ends of the building unit may be provided with inclined end faces.

The building system will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an isometric view of one end of a typical building unit for use i the building system according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an example of the possible arrangements of the building units of the system; Figure 3 shows a plan view of another building unit of the system according to the invention; Figure 4 shows a plan view of a wall constructed using the building system of the present invention; Figure 5 shows a plan view of a number of walls constructed using the building system of the present invention; Figure 6 shows two arrangements of building units of the building system according to the present invention arranged to produce tessellations;; Figure 7 shows units of the building system arranged to form an arch; Figure 8 shows units of the building system used as a wall coping; and Figure 9 shows units of the building system used as path edging.

Referring to Figure 1, it may be seen that the building unit is of substantially constant cross-section. In the embodiment shown, the building unit is of substantially rectangular section, through it will be understood that other sections are possible without affecting the scope of the invention.

At one end (2) of the building unit (1) an end face (3) meets the sides (4, 5, 6, 7) of the building.

Two opposite sides (5, 7) meet the face at an angle of other than 900.

The other end of the building unit may be similar, or perpendicular to all of the side faces, as shown in Figure 3.

In Figure 2, a building unit is provided at both ends with an inclined end face. This illustrates how the building system may be used to create both straight and curved walls using such building units. The dashed line represents for the purposes of illustration only the position of a second course of similar building units above and offset from those shown by the solid lines.

The angle of the inclined face determines the amount by which the wall can be made to curve for a given length of brick. For example, ten building units the ends of which are inclined at 360 can be used to create a complete circle, as shown in Figure 4.

A wall created by the use of the building system may be used as a soil retaining wall, for example to create a raised flower bed or terrace. Such walls are subject to hydrostatic pressure and frost heave. The interlocking nature of the building system leads to a bond that tends to resist such stresses.

Using a building unit in which only one end (3) of the unit is inclined and the other (8) is perpendicular to the sides of the building unit (Figure 3), allows the building unit to be used in conjunction with conventional square-ended bricks, for example, in Figure 2, the building unit designated at (9) is a building unit with a perpendicular end. This helps maintain the bond and line of the wall.

It will be seen that by careful arrangement any pattern of straight lines and curves can be created using this building system. An indication of the many configurations possible is given by the wall illustrated in Figure 5.

The building units of the system may also be used to produce tessellations, as illustrated in Figure 6.

Further uses of the building system are illustrated in Figures 7 to 9. Figure 7 shows how the building units (4) may be arranged to form a self-supporting arch. Figure 8 shows building units (4) in use as wall coping and Figure 9 shows the building units (4) in use as path edging.

Claims

1. A building system comprising a plurality of building units of. substantially constant section in which the building units are provided at, at least, one end with an end face which meets two substantially parallel opposite sides of the building unit at an angle other than 900.

2. A building system according to claim 1, in which each building unit is provided with inclined end faces at both ends, and the end faces are symmetrically arranged and converge with respect to a front face.

3. A building system according to claim 2 which comprises a circle, in which each end face of each unit is inclined at substantially 360 to the front face.

4. A building system according to claim 2 which comprises a self-supporting arch, in which units are stacked with adjacent end faces in co-operation and with a central unit acting as a key stone between a first pair of units which, in turn, are supported by end units of which the lower end faces lie in a common, substantially horizontal plane.

5. A building system according to claim 2, comprising adjacent courses of adjacent units, in which the adjacent units in each course are oppositely arranged with respect to each other, and the adjacent courses are also oppositely arranged with respect to each other, whereby to produce tessellations.

6. A building system comprising a plurality of building units substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.

8. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A building system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 9 of the accompanying drawings.