US20090049788A1

US20090049788A1 - Building block

Info

Publication number: US20090049788A1
Application number: US11/164,370
Authority: US
Inventors: Douglas G. Thorpe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-11-21
Filing date: 2005-11-21
Publication date: 2009-02-26

Abstract

A building block includes ends having recesses and ribs. Each block end has a recess about ½ the width of a stud in the upper portion so that when blocks are placed end to end they can support a stud. The front and back of the blocks ends have vertical braces or protrusions that form vertical recesses for mortar and a mortar overflow area. The front of the block can have a facade with its ends extending around its front corners.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
A building block includes end recesses, that support studs, and grooves for reception of mortar and overflow and can have a decorative front face.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of recesses for studs, H. Palmer, U.S. Pat. No. 674,874, issued 28 May 1901; and Hood et al, U.S. Pat. No. 828,818, issued 14 Aug. 1906; and D. Thorpe, U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,479, issued 10 May 2005; and end protrusions and recesses, B. Van Camp, U.S. Pat. No. 738,643, issued 8 Sep. 1903; and V. Rowland, U.S. Pat. No. 1,567,085, issued 29 Dec. 1925; J. Barnhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,002, issued 11 Jan. 1977; and G. Hanson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,326, issued 9 Oct. 1984; and D. Sherwood, U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,635, issued 10 Feb. 1998, per se is old. Placing a facade on a block face, per se, is old with R. Dula, U.S. Pat. No. 1,411,005, issued 28 Mar. 1922 and D. Forman, U.S. Pat. No. 1,751,272, issued 18 Mar. 1930, examples.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A building block has on each end recesses for reception of studs placed between two blocks placed end to end. The ends are also provided with vertical braces and vertical recesses and mortar overflow areas for strengthening the block ends using mortar in the recesses and overflow areas. A facade can be placed on the block front face and extend around the front face ends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of the block of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of two blocks of the invention shown end to end.

FIG. 3 is a perspective rear view of two blocks of the invention shown end to end.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the blocks of the invention showing the blocks forming a wall with a stud in position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The building block 1 of the invention, shown in FIG. 1, has an essentially standard rear wall 2 with rear face 6, front wall 8 with front face 7 and central rib 9 defining openings or passages 3 in the block. The end walls 4,5 are modified to accommodate studs and provide for vertical mortar grooves 12,14 in the front and back of the block end walls 4,5 parallel to the rear wall surface 6 and front wall surface 7.
The building block 1 is designed to be sturdy and capable of supporting a stud at its ends when a first block is laid end to end with a second block. The rear walls 2 of the blocks and end walls 4,5 are provided with stud recesses 11 at the upper rear areas perpendicular to the rear surface 6.
The end walls 4,5 both have a stud mortar recess 12 extending vertically parallel to the rear face 6 of the block, into which a seam of mortar can be placed during laying of the blocks. The stud mortar recesses 12 begin at the base surface 35 of the stud recesses 11 and extend vertically to the bottom surface 27 of the block. A similar vertical mortar recess 14 is provided adjacent the front face 7 in both end walls 4,5. These recesses extend from the top surface 26 of the block to the bottom surface 27 of the block. A seam of mortar is placed in the recesses 14 during block laying. As is standard practice during laying bricks and building blocks, an excess of mortar is placed on the base or bottom of the blocks along their front and back edges and along their end edges or at these locations on the previously laid blocks under these areas. To securely hold the ends together, the stud mortar recesses 12 and rear mortar recesses 14 are filled with excess mortar. The excess is necessary to provide for the gap, often deliberately formed between blocks, and to make up for the slightly varying size blocks. The excess mortar is squeezed out as the blocks are forced together and positioned to form a wall. The excess in the rear wall is removed as usual, except that the stud mortar recess 12 provides a column of mortar between the blocks that secure the blocks in place in addition to the standard thin seam of mortar that is usually provided between the block ends. This, in combination with the front bracers 15 and rear bracers 19, gives a firm hold to the blocks ends.
The front mortar recesses 14 provide the same function on the front ends of the blocks as the seam formed in the rear end mortar recesses 12. Mortar overflow areas 13 are provided inward to the rear of mortar recesses 14 by a mortar backing 16 that tapers back in an overflow taper 18 into the mortar overflow areas 13 to provide for additional mortar thickened areas. In this manner the blocks are firmly held together by the mortar and bracing provided on the building blocks to preclude the blocks from being slipped from each other. Each block end has four braces 15,16,17,19 and two mortar columns or recesses 12,14 in addition to the mortar overflow into taper areas 13 past the backings 16 and past the backings 17 also into the taper areas 13.
The stud recesses 11 are recessed areas in the block left end wall 4 and right end wall 5 at the block rear extending perpendicular to the block rear surface 6, designed to accommodate and support studs. The block ends at their lower rear have stud supports with stud base surfaces 35 that are part of the block end walls 4,5 and extend upward from the block bottom surface 27 from 10 to 50% the height of the block to provide support for a stud placed in a stud recess 11. The stud recess is open at the block back and sides and extends inwardly from the block back surface 6 from 15 to 50% of the block depth and the stud recess has a width of from ¼ to 2 the width of a stud or extend out from ¾ to 2½ inches from the vertical stud side surface 34. This width can accommodate ½ a stud with the block ends abutting or permit a wide seam of mortar and/or facade overlap, yet give a solid support. The surfaces for the stud recesses are the stud side end surfaces 34, that extend perpendicular to the rear surface 6 and parallel with the end wall surfaces 24,25, the stud base surfaces 35 that extend perpendicular to the rear surface and parallel with the block bottom surface 27 to support a stud, and the front surfaces 18 that extend parallel with the rear surface 6 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27. To insure that the block has maximum support for a stud and also, if desired, to accommodate facade end wrap-around 22,23 at the block ends, the stud recess base surfaces 35 and the side end surfaces 41 can be extended out from ⅛ to ½ inch beyond the other portions of the block ends. This extension allows adjacent blocks to abut in the rear, if desired, giving full support to a stud resting on the stud recess base 35, and/or the ends 22,23 of a facade facing 21 to abut giving the appearance of a continuous facade.
The rear braces 19 run vertically with a rear surface coextensive with the block rear surface 6 and are essentially protrusions on the blocks left rear wall 4 and right rear wall 5 extending vertically down from the bases 35 of the stud recesses 11 to the block bottom 27 with the front walls of the rear braces 19 being the rear surfaces 31 of the stud mortar recesses 12.
The stud mortar recesses 12 extend parallel to the rear surface 6 and inwardly from and adjacent to the rear face. They have rear surfaces 31 that extend parallel to the rear surface 6 and back vertical surfaces 32 that extend perpendicular to the rear surface 6 and the rear vertical surfaces 31, and have front vertical surfaces 33 that extend parallel to the rear surface 6 and perpendicular to the vertical back surfaces 32 with the rear surfaces being the front faces of the rear braces 19.
The stud wall protrusions 17 extend out from the block end walls below the top stud recess base surface 35 to the block bottom surface 27 and form the rear extremity of the tapered overflow area 13. They extend parallel to the rear surface 6 of the block and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27. They have outer surfaces 37 and front surfaces 38. The front surfaces 38 of the stud wall protrusions 17 form rear walls for the mortar overflow areas 13.
The mortar overflow areas 13 extend from the stud walls 17 toward the front surface 7 of the block in the block ends 4,5. They are formed by the front surfaces 38 of the stud walls 17 side end surfaces 39 and overflow tapered surfaces 18 below the stud recess base surfaces 35.
The mortar backing braces 16 form backing supports and limited confinement for mortar used in the front mortar recesses 14 and protrude outward from the block ends and extend essentially parallel to the block front surface 7 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27. They have rear tapered surfaces 18, side end surfaces 41, and front face surfaces 42.
The front mortar recesses 14 present broadened and confining areas for mortar used to join blocks end to end. The recesses extend parallel to the front block surface 7 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27 adjacent the block ends. They are formed by the mortar backing braces front vertical face surfaces 42, back vertical surfaces 43 and front vertical surfaces 44 parallel to front surface 7.
The front braces 15 are essentially a continuation of the block front wall 8. They form the forward end of the front mortar recesses 14, and in part confine mortar within the mortar recesses 14. They run parallel to the front surface face 7 of the block and perpendicular to the bottom surface 27. They are defined by the front surfaces of the front mortar recesses 44, outer vertical end surfaces 45, and essentially area continuation of the block front wall 8 into the end walls 4,5.
FIG. 2 is a front view of two blocks placed end to end with the facade 21 showing and having the facade right end 22 of the left block abutting the facade left end 23 of the right block.
FIG. 3 is a rear view of two blocks placed end to end forming a stud recess 28 by two adjacent stud recesses 11 placed side by side.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the blocks of the invention forming walls. The lower tier of blocks have a stud recess 11 showing on the right end and stud slot 28 shown on the left end formed by adjacent blocks. A stud 30 is shown in the stud slot formed between the blocks on the upper tier.
It is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative only and that changes, variations, substitutions, modifications and equivalents will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art and that such may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A building block comprising:

a molded block forming a front face, a back face, end faces, a top surface and a bottom surface;

said block end faces adjacent said back face having a stud recess;

said stud recess opening upwardly to said block top surface and outwardly to said block back surface;

said stud recess being formed by a forward vertical wall, a vertical side wall and a horizontal base;

vertical mortar recesses extending along said block end face;

said vertical mortar recesses being formed by braces that extend vertically on said block end faces.

2. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

one said vertical mortar recess extends from said stud recess horizontal base to said block bottom surface.

3. A building block as in claim 2 wherein:

said one vertical mortar recess extending from said stud recess horizontal base is a first vertical recess;

a second vertical recess extends adjacent said block front face and extends from said block top surface to said block bottom surface.

4. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

said vertical mortar recesses extend adjacent said front surface from said block top surface to said block bottom surface.

5. A building block as in claim 4 wherein:

said vertical mortar recesses extending adjacent said front surface are formed between a front brace and mortar backing.

6. A building block as in claim 5 wherein:

said mortar backing forms one side of a mortar overflow area extending vertically between said mortar backing and said stud recess.

7. A building block as in claim 5 wherein:

said mortar backing front face is parallel to said block front face;

said mortar backing rear face is tapered towards said mortar overflow area.

8. A building block as in claim 3 wherein:

third mortar overflow area recesses extend parallel to said first vertical mortar recesses and extend parallel to said second vertical mortar recesses, between said stud recess and said front mortar recess.

9. A building block as in claim 8 wherein:

said vertical mortar recesses extending adjacent said front surface are formed between a front brace and mortar backing;

said mortar backing forms one side of a mortar overflow area extending vertically between said mortar backing and said stud recess;

said mortar backing front face is parallel to said block front face;

said mortar backing rear face is tapered towards said mortar overflow area.

10. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

said stud horizontal base extends out beyond said block end faces.

11. A building block as in claim 1 including:

a facade attached to said block front face.

12. A building block as in claim 11 wherein:

said facade has ends that extend around the ends of said block front face onto said block end faces.

13. A building block as in claim 8 wherein:

stud wall protrusions extend out on said block end faces extending from said top surface to said bottom surface at the stud recess forward vertical wall.

14. A building block as in claim 13 wherein:

said stud wall protrusions form a back wall for said mortar overflow area.

15. A building block as in claim 14 including:

a facade attached to said block front face.

16. A building block as in claim 15 wherein:

17. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

said stud horizontal base extends upward from said block bottom surface, 10 to 50% of the distance between said block bottom surface and said block top surface.

18. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

said stud forward vertical wall extends from said block back face 15 to 50% the distance between said block back face and said block front face.

19. A building block as in claim 17 wherein:

20. A building block as in claim 1 wherein:

said stud recess extends out from said stud recess vertical side wall from ¾ to 2½ inches.