US1191363A - Building-block. - Google Patents

Description

H. R. STRAIGHT.

BUILDING BLOCK. v APPLICATION FILED ocT. 1, I9I2.

Patented July 18, 1916.

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HALVER R. STRAIGHT, 0F ADEL, IOWA.

BUILDING-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 18,1916.

Application filed. October 7, 1912. Serial No. 724,448.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HALVER R, STRAIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Adel, in the county of Dallas and State of Iowa, have made certain Improvements in Building-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a building block especially adapted to'be constructed of vitrified clay, and especially designed for use in the construction of the walls of circular buildings such as silos, and to provide a building block of this class that may be manufactured by the use of ordinary tile making machinery provided with a die of suitable shape.

V of the undermost More specifically it is my object to provide a building block of this class in which a binding wire or rod may be readily and easily placed in position, and there temporarily held while the mortar isbeing applied, and .after the mortar is applied and the building block placed in position on the top of it, the exposed portion of the mortar will be relatively small and yet the thickness of the layer of mortar surrounding the binding rod or wire will be relatively great, thus providing a layer of mortar that, from the center of the layer to the inner face of the wall will be wedge-shaped so that when strains are applied to the wall outwardly, the wire or red cannot out or shear through the mortar but would have to first crush the wedge-shaped portion of mortar before the wall could spread or incline outwardly,

thus obtaining a considerable advantage in regard to the strength of the wall on account fact that the crushing strength of mortar or cement is many times greater than its strength is opposed to cutting or shearing strains such as would be applied to the mortar by the wire or rod when pressure is applied outwardly to the wall.

A further object is to provide a blockof this kind that can be readily and easily handled, and that will readily stand in an uprightposition when placed on a hor1zon tal support with either of its narrow edges blocks.

'ward the side of the block.

for convenience in handling the My invention consists in the construction of my improved buildingblock whereby the ob ects contemplated are attained, as herelnafter more fully set'forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows ,a vertical, transverse, sec- 'tional view through two building blocks embodying my invention and laid together with a layer of mortar between them as in use, and Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a portion of a circular wall constructed of my improved building blocks.

Referring to the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the side walls of the building block and 11, the horizontal, transverse partition. These parts are plain and straight and are of ordinary construction. The top member of my improved building block comprises a "body portion 12 which is curved downwardly at its central portion. The top surface of the part 12 is inclined downwardly and inwardly at 13 toward the longitudinal center and at a point spaced laterally from the longitudinal center is a vertical. shoulder 14, the central portions 15 between the vertical shoulders 14 being straight.

The lower part of my improved building block comprises a body portion 16 which is straight and arranged at right anglesflto the side members 10 and this lower .edge has its side portions inclined inwardly toward the longitudinal center of the block and slightly downwardly at 17 the incline of the ing'wire or rod of the kind ordinarily employed in structures of this kind, and 21 indicates the mortar or cement placed between two adjacent rows of building blocks.

In practical use, my improved building blocks are laid to form a wall in the manner shown in the accompanying drawings. After the first layer is placed in position, and assuming that the structure is a circular building such as a silo, the operator lays a binding wire or rod on top of the circular layer of building blocks. In this connection, it is to be understood that the kind of binding wire or rod usually employed for structures of this kind is made of relatively soft metal which can be comparatively easily bent. Frequently in handling and applying these binding wires or rods, the material becomesbent or kinked in such a manner that it is difiicult and impracticable to again make it perfectly straight. Hence, the binding wire or rod will not at all points around the circumference of the wall lie fiat against the straight portion 15, as shown in Fig. 1, but there must be a space between two adjacent building blocks of, say, for instance, an inch in which this wire or rod is placed, although the wire or rod of itself may be less than one quarter of an inch in thickness.

Obviously, if the two adjacent building blocks had flat adjacent surfaces, the layer of mortar would have to be substantially an inch thick, in order to provide for the kinks or bends in the wire or rod just described.

It has been found undesirable to have a layer of mortar or cement of approximately an inch in thickness because of the large surfaces of cement or mortar exposed to the weather which is greatly cut away by the action of the elements. By my improved construction, there is ample room left to accommodate such bends or kinks in the bind ing wires or rods, and at the same time, after the wall is laid, the part of the cement or mortar exposed to the weather is relatively small.

Another very material advantage in my improved construction is that the portion of mortar or cement between the wire or rod and the inner surface of the wall is wedgeshaped or tapered. When a heavy pressure is applied to the inner surface of the wall at one point, there is, of course, a tendency for the wire to pull the cement or mortar from between the layers of blocks. By having this portion of the cement or mortar made wedge-shaped with annular ribs, instead of the wire pulling the cement or mortar from between the layers of blocks, it must crush this wedge-shaped portion, and inasmuch as the strength of cement or mortar is much greater in resisting crushing strains than it is in resisting adhesion or shearing strains, the strength of the wall is thereby greatly increased in comparison with a wall built up with layers of cement or mortar of substantially uniform thickness throughout.

Another advantageous feature is by having the square shoulders 14 and 18, the wedge-shaped layer of mortar is firmly held in position even though it should become broken loose from both of the adjacent building blocks. I am aware that heretofore building blocks of this class have been provided with longitudinal grooves on their adjacent surfaces, and I do not desire to be understood as claiming broadly the idea of providing such grooves.

Another advantageous feature of my invention is that by having the adjacent edges of the building blocks tapered or inclined in the manner shown, the blocks will have a tendency to center themselves as a pressure is applied to them when laid in position,

thus making it comparatively easy, for the operator to lay up a wall with the sides of the blocks perfectly in a line with each other.

It is obvious that substantially all of the advantages of my invention can be obtained by placing the blocks in positions inverted relative to the positions illustrated in the drawings, and I therefore do not desire to be understood as limiting my invention to the use of the blocks in the manner illustrated in the drawings.

I claim as my invention:

1. An improved building block having on its top surface a central, longitudinal groove, upright shoulders at the sides of the groove and inclined surfaces extending from the said shoulders outwardly and upwardly to the sides of the building block, having on its under surface a central, longitudinal groove with downwardly extended shoulders at the sides thereof and with inclined surfaces from said shoulders to the sides of the block extended outwardly and upwardly, said inclined surfaces being at such relative angles that when two adjacent similar blocks are placed together, one above the other, there will be between them a space to receive mortar, which space will be thickest at its central portion and tapered toward both sides for the purposes stated.

2. An improved article of manufacture comprising a building block of vitrified clay, comprlsing two upright side walls, a central horizontal partition, a top member having a longitudinal groove at its center, upright shoulders at the sides of the longitudinal groove and inclined surfaces extending from said shoulders to the sides of the building block and being inclined upwardly and outwardly, the bottom member being provided on its under surface with a central, longitudinal groove with downwardly extended shoulders at its sides and with inclined portions extending from said shoulders to the sides of the block and inclined upwardly and outwardly, the latter inclination being arranged closer to a line at right angles to the sides of the block than the inclination of the corresponding surfaces at the top of the block, for the purposes stated.

3. An improved building block, having longitudinal openings through it and one of its longitudinal edges concaved and the other oonvexed, and said edges being pro- 10 vided with a central longitudinal groove having shoulders parallel With the longitudinal sides of said block, the concaved edge being of less curvature than the convexed edge.

Des Moines Iowa, Sept. 27, 1912.

HALVER R. STRAIGHT.

VVitnessesi E. W. DINGWELL, WV. E. SNYDER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

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