GB2358029A

GB2358029A - Building blocks resembling vertically hung tiles

Info

Publication number: GB2358029A
Application number: GB0016602A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alfred Dooley
Original assignee: Ibstock Brick Ltd
Current assignee: Ibstock Brick Ltd
Priority date: 1999-07-14
Filing date: 2000-07-07
Publication date: 2001-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 2020-07-07
Also published as: GB0016602D0; GB2358029B

Abstract

A building block 1 mimics the appearance of vertically hung tiles, having a downwardly depending lip 2 which obscures the mortar joint 14 between it and an underlying block. There may be a step (Figs 6, 8, not shown) behind the lip to act as a mortar stop: the blocks may be cambered on their outer face about a horizontal or vertical axis, and they may taper inwards, or have a shoulder either of which affords a gap for mortar between blocks in a course toward their rear whilst permitting edge to edge contact at the visible face.

Description

2358029 IBST1215.GB Title - Building Element This invention relates to a

building element in the form of a brick or the like, and to buildings and methods for their construction incorporating the use of such building elements.

It is common practice in the construction of, particularly, residential properties for at least part of the visible external wall of the building to be covered, for decorative purposes, by a coating of a material such as a textured render or the like. It is also known for part of a building, typically a gable end from eaves level down to the upstairs windows, to be decorated by vertical tile hanging.

Vertical tile hanging suffers from the disadvantage that it is relatively expensive. Both leaves of the cavity wall must first be constructed, in either brick or, more commonly, blockwork. This would normally be done by a bricklayer. The tiles are then hung either directly on the blockwork or on timber battens fixed to the brickwork or blockwork. Hanging of the tiles is a skilled job which is carried out by a specialist tradesman, and if battens are used then these will first be mounted by a joiner. Two or three different tradesmen must therefore be engaged in the construction. This leads to additional expense and coordination of the two or three activities often leads to delays in the construction process.

There has now been devised a building element which provides a similar decorative effect to vertical tile hanging without the disadvantages referred to above.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a building element in the form of a brick or the like has at its lower front edge a downwardly depending lip, said lip being of sufficient dimension to overlie and obscure, in use, the joint between the building element and another building element on which the building element is laid.

The building element according to the invention is advantageous primarily in that it creates a decorative effect similar to that achieved by vertical tile hanging. However, the building elements can be laid by a bricklayer in a continuous construction operation, no other tradesmen being required. In addition, because the building element of the invention will IBST1215.GB 2 generally be manufactured in similar material to that of the rest of the wall, it will behave similarly in terms of, for instance, thermal expansion. The construction will also be less susceptible to wind and storm damage. As a result, the completed construction may therefore be more durable and robust than walls with conventional vertical tile hanging.

In order to achieve the effect of vertically hung tiles, it is necessary for side edges of adjacent building elements according to the invention to abut at the front, visible face of the construction with no intervening mortar joint. To achieve this, the sides of the building element are preferably formed in such a way that mortar can be accommodated between abutting building elements without being visible at the front of the joint. In a preferred 10 embodiment, the sides are tapered towards the rear face of the building element so that a Vshaped space for mortar is formed when two building elements are disposed side by side. The size of the space for mortar may be such that the amount of mortar which is accommodated is approximately the same as that in a conventional parallel 1Omm mortar joint. Alternatively, the space for mortar may have a width at the rear face of the building 15 elements which is similar to that of a conventional mortar joint, the amount of mortar in the joint then generally being somewhat less than in a conventional joint. In any event, however, the frontmost part of each side wall of the building element is preferably orthogonal to the front face of the building element, the taper extending rearwardly from a point a short distance behind the front face. In another alternative, instead of the joints being tapered they 20 may be parallel-sided, the joint extending from the rear face of the building elements to a point a short distance behind the front face. Alternatively, mortar may be accommodated in recesses formed in the side walls of the building elements, or the elements may incorporate a tongue and groove type interlock between them. 25 Again to give the appearance of vertically hung tiles, the front face of the building element preferably has an appearance designed to imitate such tiles. The front face may therefore have a slight camber, in the vertical andlor horizontal planes, and the lip preferably has a thickness corresponding to that of a typical tile.

IBST1215.GB 3 in order to prevent or inhibit mortar from the joints between successive courses of the building elements according to the invention being pressed out of the front face of the wall and becoming visible, the lower face of the building element is preferably formed with a step, immediately behind the downwardly-depending lip. Such a step serves as a mortar stop and prevents unwanted extrusion of the mortar behind the lip. The provision of the step results in the thickness of the mortar joint being considerably reduced in the region immediately behind the lip.

It will be appreciated that where reference is made herein to "mortar" this may refer not only to conventional mortar but to any other compound or material which may be used as a bed for bonding successive courses of building elements.

The building elements according to the invention may be manufactured using materials conventionally used for building elements such as bricks, and by similar methods. For instance, the building elements may be produced by extrusion and cutting, or by moulding or pressing techniques.

is The parts of the building elements which are visible in the assembled construction may be produced in a different material to the remainder of the building element, and/or may be provided with surface coatings, eg sands or glazes, to enhance the degree of similarity between the visible surfaces of the building elements and conventional vertically hung tiles.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of constructing a wall which method comprises laying successive courses of building elements according to the first aspect of the invention, such that joints between successive courses are obscured by the downwardly depending lips of the building elements above said joints.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a building construction comprising building elements according to the first aspect of the invention.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which IBST1215.GB 4 Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a brick according to the invention in (a) isometric view, (b) end elevation, (c) plan view from above, and (d) front elevation; Figure 2 is a partial view of the front elevation of a house constructed using the bricks of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line III-III in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view (a) on the arrow A in Figure 2, (b) on the arrow B (outer leaf only), and (c) on the arrow C (outer leaf only); Figure 5 is an isometric view of a modified form of a brick according to the invention, for use in association with the brick of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 (a) of a second, currently preferred form of brick; Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 3 of a wall incorporating bricks of the form shown in Figure 6 in place of those of the form shown in Figure 1; Figure 8 is an end elevational view of a further embodiment of a brick according to the invention, which is generally similar to that of Figure 6; Figure 9 shows cross-sectional views similar to those of Figure 4 of the wall of a house of similar external appearance to Figure 2 but constructed using the bricks of Figure 8; Figure 10 shows a yet further embodiment of a brick according to the inventionIn. (a) isometric view, (b) end elevation, (c) plan view from above, and (d) front elevation; and Figure 11 shows cross-sectional views similar to those of Figures 4 and 9 of the wall of a house of similar external appearance to Figure 2 but constructed using the bricks of Figure 10.

IBST1215.6B 5 Referring first to Figure 1, a first form of brick according to the invention is generally designated 1 and is formed by an extrusion process followed by cutting to form a generally trapezoidal shape (in plan view), as can best be seen in Figure 1(c). As in conventional brick manufacture, one or more bores (not shown) may be provided, extending laterally through the brick 1, in order to facilitate unifonn heating and cooling during manufacture and to reduce weight. The lower part of the brick 1 is of increased depth, with a downwardly and forwardly projecting lip 2 which is of sufficient length to overlie and obscure the bed of mortar between the underside of the brick 1 and the upper face of another brick on which the brick 1 is laid.

The front portion 3a of each side 3 of the brick 1 is cut orthogonally to the front face 4, the remainder of each side being tapered inwardly to form the generally trapezoidal shape.

Figure 2 shows part of the front elevation of a house or similar structure, built in part using bricks according to the invention. The external walls of the house are of two-leaf cavity construction, the external leaf being of brickwork and the internal leaf of blockwork 10. Up is to the level of an upstairs window 11 the external leaf is constructed using conventional bricks, the uppermost course of such bricks being denoted 12. Above that level, however, bricks 1 according to the invention are used. Such bricks are laid by a bricklayer in a generally conventional manner, save that the front side portions 3 a of the bricks are butted directly against each other, with no intervening visible mortarjoint. The tapered sides 3 of adjacent bricks 1 form V-shaped spaces 13 for mortar. Since each side tapers by 1 Omm, the width of the mortar joint at the rear of the bricks 1 is 20mm and the total amount of mortar in each joint is equivalent to that in a conventional 1 Omm joint.

When the bricks are laid in successive courses, the lips 2 overlie the mortar joints 14 below each brick 1 such that no mortar is visible in the completed structure. The bricks are dimensioned, in terms of width, thickness of the lip 2 and slope and curvature of the front face, to give the appearance of vertically hung tiles.

The height of the bricks 1 is such that a whole number of courses of such bricks 1 (with intervening mortar courses) corresponds to the height of one course of blockwork 10. In the IBST1215.GB 6 example illustrated (see Figure 3), there are two courses of bricks 1 to each course of blocks in the internal leaf 10 of the wall (compared with three courses of conventional bricks in the lower part of the external leaf).

As shown in Figure 2 and Figure 4(a) and (b), modified forms of the brick according to the invention are used at returns and corners. Examples of such modified forms of brick are indicated at 21 and 3 1, which are essentially mirror images of each other, that denoted 21 being shown in isometric view in Figure 5. Such modified forms of brick 21,31 may not be of suitable shape for manufacture by extrusion, and moulding, pressing or cutting and bonding techniques may therefore be used (as may also be the case for the bricks of Figure 1).

Figure 6 shows a modified, and currently preferred, brick 61 of the same general form as the brick 1 of Figure 1. The brick 61 differs from that described above in that a step formation 62 is provided in the underside of the brick 61. The step 62 extends across the full length of the brick 6 1, immediately behind the lip 63. The manner in which the bricks 61 are used is illustrated in Figure 7, in which elements common to Figure 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. It can be seen that the step 62 greatly reduces the thickness of the mortar joints 14 at the front face of the wall. The step 62 thus acts as a mortar stop which reduces or prevents the extrusion of mortar behind the lip 63.

Turning now to Figure 8, a further embodiment of a brick according to the invention is designated 8 1. This is of very similar form to the brick 61 of Figure 6, save that it has five transverse bores 82 which reduce the overall weight of the brick 81 and also lead to more uniform heating and cooling of the brick during manufacture, as referred to above. Also, the sides of the brick 81 are somewhat less tapered than is the case for the embodiments described above (as is visible in Figure 9). In fact, the width of the mortar joint 83 between successive bricks 81 is approximately 1 Omm at its widest point. This means that the total amount of mortar between successive bricks 81 is somewhat less than in a conventional mortar joint, but is still sufficient to form a satisfactory joint.

The brick 101 of Figure 10 differs from those previously described principally in that it has a front face which cambered in both vertical and horizontal directions. This more closely IBST1215.GB 7 mimics the appearance of certain types of conventional vertically hung tiles. Because (as is evident most clearly from Figure 1 0(c)), the brick 10 1 of this embodiment does not have a constant cross-section, it cannot be produced by an extrusion process. Instead, the brick 10 1 is formed by a pressing operation.

The brick 10 1 also differs from those previously described in that the sides of the brick 10 1 are not tapered but are instead parallel, the sides being offset from the abutting front edges of the bricks 101 at shoulders 102. Thejoints 103 (see Figure 11) are of conventional 1Omm thickness and extend from the rear face of the abutting bricks 101 to the shoulders 102.

IBST1215.GB 8

Claims

1. A building element in the form of a brick or the like having at its lower front edge a downwardly depending lip, said lip being of sufficient dimension to overlie and obscure, in use, the joint between the building element and another building element on which the building element is laid.

2. A building element as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the sides of the building element are formed in such a way that mortar can be accommodated between abutting building elements without being visible at the front of the joint.

3. A building element as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the frontmost part of each side wall of the building element is orthogonal to the front face of the building element.

4. A building element as claimed in Claiin 2 or Claim 3, wherein the sides of the building element are tapered towards the rear face of the building element so that a V-shaped space for mortar is formed when two building elements are disposed side by side.

5. A building element as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the sides of the building element are formed with shoulders, the sides to the rear of the shoulders being parallel.

6. A building element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the front face of the building element has a camber, in the vertical and/or horizontal planes.

7. A building element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the lip has a thickness corresponding to that of a conventional vertically hung tile.

8. A building element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the lower face of the building element is formed with a step, immediately behind the downwardly depending lip.

IBST1215.GB

9 9. A method of constructing a wall which method comprises laying successive courses of building elements according to any preceding claim, such that joints between successive courses are obscured by the downwardly depending lips of the building elements above said joints.

10. A building construction comprising building elements according to any one of Claims 1 to 8.

11. A building element substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in any of Figures 1, 6, 8 and 10.