US2160792A - Building block or brick - Google Patents

Description

May 30, I1939. J. IBANTWELL i .2,160,792

' BUILDING BLOCK 0R BRICK Filed Maron 1, ,193e 4 sheets-sheep 1 v May 30, 1939- J. J. CANTWELL.

"BUILDING BLOCK 0R BRICK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March l, 1958 -mlm May 30, 1939. J. J. CANTWELI.

BUILDING BLOCK oa BRIGK Filed March 1', 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 y May 30, 1939.

J. .1. CANTWELL 251,130,792

BUILDING BLOCK OR BRICK Filed Maron 1, 1958 4 sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Speedbrlk Corporation,

Wife

a corporation of Dela- Application March 1, 1938, Serial No. 193,337 4 Claims. (Cl. 'l2-41) This invention has reference to improvements in clay building blocks or bricks, such as are generally used as construction units in erecting Walls, laying oors or pavements, and in other species 5 of brick work. i

In brick wall construction, the various Wall Vunits are known either as headers or stretchers, in accordance with the manner in which they are laid relative tothe wall: a header being a brick laid lengthwise along the thickness of a wall, and a stretcher being a brick laid lengthwise along the face or length of the wall. A range of bricks on the same level in a wall or building is known as a course. The method of arranging headers and stretchers in superposed courses to bind a wall together is known as bonding. Various types of bonds are available to the industry and are usually known by names descriptive of the manner inwhich they are combined, such as m running bond, cross-bond, herring bond, or by names denoting countries in which they are supposed to be in use, as American bond, English bond; Flemish bond, Dutch bond, etc.

These various types of bondsoier a wide choice g5 of wall facing designs ranging from the simple type, such as the stretcher-bond in which the bricks are laid lengthwise in successive courses, the joints of the one falling at the middle of that above and below, to the more ornamental types l0 such as the Dutch, English and Flemish bonds in which combinations of stretchers and headers are used. 'I'hese bonds differ also in respect to their individual requirements of time, labor, material and craftsmanship necessary for the proper development thereof and also in respect to the degree of waste occasioned bythe necessity of fracturing the standard sized commercial brick into the smaller sections needed in the more elaborate bonds. It will be apparent, therefore, that in the 40 choice of selection of one type of bond over the others, these requirements of time, labor, material, etc., with the attending costs, are important and deciding factors. Special designed units of a width equal to the 4 5 width of the requiredwall and formed with vfalse mortar joints to simulate a plurality of` bricks or blocks are old in the prior art. Such special units are primarily designed to lower the cost Iof building by reducing the number of units necessary` to form the wall with a consequent decrease also in the number of zmortar joints. For wallsfacing purposes, they are restricted to the uselof not more than two ofthe six possible brick surfaces, due to the incongruity of the other surfaces relatively to the wall facing. They oifer no choice or selection withrespect to the various types of standard bonds but are, by structure and design,

more or less restricted to a single conventionall bond.

It is therefore, an object of the present invention" to provide a wall unit of a novel generic design for use in Wall constructions, whereby a Wall constructed of a number of such units laid in a conventional and inexpensive bond in stretcher courses, may simulate in appearance a brick wall in which the bricks are laid in a more ornamental and expensive bond.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved and novel type of wall unit which is adapted for interior and exterior facings and which is reversible end for end and side for side, so that any one of several selected types of bonds may be simulated in a wall formed of a group of such units. A

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved wall unit of the above-described character and design which can be economically produced by known manufacturing processes in large quantities and in various sizes to conform to the width requirements of different walls and other brick work and which is specially adapted for low cost building projects.

The foregoing objects and advantages are attained by the use of the novel building block or brick of the special design and construction `hereinafter more fully described and explained, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved wall unit of vthe invention designed for ,furring or veneering purposes;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of ajcorner section of a veneered wall constructed ofnbricks of the typeshown in Fig. 1, laid in a Dutch bond;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of an improved wall unit having substantially the same characteristics as the unit shown in Fig. l, but of greater of Fig. 11.

In the following description, reference to/a standard commercial brick shall be understood to mean a clay brick eight inches in length, two and one-quarter inches in height, and four inches in depth.

In all of the various forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the improved construetion unit of the present invention comprises va block or clay brick A of a height equal to the height of a standard commercial brick and of a length equal to one and one-half times the length of the said standard commercial brick, the units to be laid in stretcher courses yet capable of producing various bond effects. For the purposes of the invention, the brick is formed with its side surfaces a and b and its end-surfaces c and d of substantially corresponding exterior finish, whereby any one of the said surfaces is adapted to serve as the face of the brick. 'I'he brick may be formed as a solid unit or it ay be hollow, as illustrated, with vertical cross webs I2 dividing the brick into vertical voids I8. It may also be provided with rows of vertical holes I 6 as shown in Fig. 7 to lessen the weight of the brick, 'if so desired. Generally, each unit will be constructed of a width equal to the depth of the particular wall for which designed.

A type of wall unit particularly adapted for furring or veneering purposes is shown in Fig. l.

This unit has a length of twelve inches, a height of two and one-quarter inches, and a wall depth of four inches. The surface a is divided into two unequal sections by a vertical dovetail groove I8 which, when pointed up or lled with mortar, constitutes a false mortar joint. This false mortar joint is spaced inwardly of one end of the brick for a distance corresponding to the thickness or depth of astandard commercial brick, i. e., four inches. By reason of this division, the side a of the brick has the appearance of a standard sized header 20 and stretcher 22 laid in coursey with` the lusual mortar joint therebetween. In using bricks of this type as a Veneer or. facing for a rough wall or partition, such as indicated at 24 in Figs. 2 and 3, the bricks are laid in a simple stretcher bond, that is, lengthwise in successive courses, the joints 26 of each course being staggered with respect to the joints 26 of the courses above and below. At predetermined courses, the brick wall is anchored to the back wall by metal wall ties 28. In laying the bricks, any one ofseveral diierent types of bonds may be simulated in the face of the wall without alteration or deviation from the lengthwise disposition of the bricks in the various courses. For a simple stretcher bond, the bricks are laid in the customary courses with the sides b disposed outwardly. Each rvcourse will then appear to be composed of stretchers. If, on the other hand, it is desired to simulate a Dutch bond, wherein only every other course is composed of stretchers while the remaining courses are composed of alternate headers and stretchers. the sides b of the brick will be used as the facing only in the stretcher courses and the sides a will be used in the headerstretcher courses as illustrated in Fig. 2. It will'` Aoi" six inches in depth. A section of a brick wall constructed of bricks B laid in a simple stretcher bond, but simulating a Flemish bond, is illustrated in Figs. and 6. In the Flemish bond, each course is composed of alternate headers and stretchers, and this eiect is simulated by laying the bricks B with the divided sides a having the false mortar joint I 8' serving as the facing of the wall throughout all the courses; the 4 x 21A header sections 20 of the bricks being disposed between the 8 x 21/4 stretcher sections 22 of the bricks, as illustrated. In this arrangement of the bricks B, certain of the vertical true mortar joints 26 are paired with the false mortar joints I8, to

ngive the appearance of`header bonds between the bricks. By reversing the bricks in every other course to present the sides b to the face of its wall, so thatv such courses appear to be composed only of stretchers, a Dutch bond will be simulated.

For a wall depth of eight inches, the brick C shown in Fig. 7 may be used. Aside from the increase in depth to eight inches, and the provision of a vertical false mortar joint centrally of the end C, this brick is substantially the same as bricks A and B. The false mortar joint 28 at the end of the brick serves to divide the end surface C into two equal sections or headers, and is eiect, particularly in the simulation of a Dutch bond, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Its use is optional, however, and it may be entirely eliminated from the brick without impairing the utility of the latter or restricting the use thereof in any manner. Various bonds may be simulated by the use of brick C in a manner or method similar to that explained in connection-with the previously described bricks.

A type of brick especially designed for use in simulating an English bond is shown in Figs. to 12 inclusive. This particular type, indicated at D, corresponds in dimensions to the brick B shown vin Fig. 4, but has its corresponding side a divided by a pair of vertical false mortar joints I8 into three equal sections 28 corresponding to conventional standard headers. This is in conformity with the requirements of the English bond, which consists of courses of headers and courses of Astretchers alternately superposed. When disposed in a wall, so that'theunits of alternate courses have their header rsimulating sides a.at the face of the wall, while the units of the other courses are reversed to present their stretcher simulating faces b, an English bond effect is created, as clearly shown in Fig. 11. If desired, a false mortar joint may be provided in an end surface of the brick D simi-lar to the false mortar joint 28 of brick C, so that the simulation of headers may be continued to the extremities of the wall through the end faces of the overlapping corner bricks of the Wall structure.

huseful at the corners of the wall to give a quoin It will be obvious from the above that in the verse side of a wall, caused by the reversing of the units in the wall and which wall is one unit in thickness.

Although the foregoing description covers the particular application'of the invention to a wall unit, it is to be understood that the invention is equally applicable to other types of construction units, such as face tile,` floor bricks, etc., and that various modifications and changes in respect to shape, size, and finish may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, without departure from the basic principles of the invention. v

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture a clay load bearing brick having at least two opposite side faces of substantially corresponding exterior finish, whereby any one o f said faces is adapted to serve as the obverse face of the brick, said side faces being dimensioned to give the appearance of brick, one of said side faces only having a groove therein extending` the length of the shortest dimension of said face and spaced from one end of the brick a distance approximately onethircl of the length of the longest dimension of said face for the receptionof mortar to give a false mortar joint, the other side face of the brick being undivided to present a smooth unbroken surface throughout its area, whereby a plurality of said bricks may be laid in stretcher courses throughout an entire wall area and by selecting the proper side face of each brick various standard bond designs may be obtained.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a clay load bearing brick having at least two opposite side faces and one end face of substantially corresponding exterior nish, whereby any one of said faces is adapted to serve as the obverse face of the brick; said faces being so dimensional as to give the appearance of brick, one of said side faces only having a groove therein extending the length of the shortest dimension of its face and spaced from one end of the brick a distance approximately one-third of the length of the longest dimension of said face for the reception of mortar to give a false mortar joint, the other side face of the brick being undivided to present a smooth unbroken surface throughout itsarea', whereby a plurality of said bricks may be laid in stretcher courses throughout an entire wall area and by selecting the proper side face' of each brick various standard bnd designs may be obtained, said end facev having one groove only therein extending the full length of its shortest dimension and equally dividing the face into two sections, said groove being adapted to receive mortar toform a false mortar joint, whereby a quoin effect may be produced at the corners of a wall.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a clay load bearing brick having at least four 'faces thereof,

namely, two opposite side faces and two end faces, of substantially corresponding exterior finish, whereby any one of said faces is adapted to serve as the obverse face of the brick; said side faces being of greater length in one direction than the end faces in a corresponding direction, and said side and end faces being of the same dimension in a direction at right angles to said first direction but less than the longest dimension of said side faces, one of said side faces only having a single groove thereon extending the length of the shortest dimension of its face for the reception ofI mortar to give a falsemortar joint and spaced from one endof the brick to give said face the appearance of a stretcher and header, the other side face of the brick being undivided to present a smooth unbroken surface throughout its area, whereby a plurality of said bricks may be laid in stretcher course fashion throughout an entire wall area but permittingl various standard bond designs to be produced in any horizontal course and which includes stretchers and' headers or by reversing the bricks presenting to the surface of the wall a complete stretcher course and, further, whereby the same bond design is produced on opposite faces of a wall constructed of a single brick thickness wherr said bricks are so reversed in adjacent courses.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a clay load bearing brick having at least four faces thereof, namely, two opposite side faces and two end faces, of substantially corresponding exterior finish, whereby any one of said faces is adapted to serve as the obverse face of the brick, said side faces being of greater length in one direction than the end faces in a corresponding direction, said side and end faces being of the same dimension in a direction at right angles to said first direction but less than the longest dimension of said side faces, one of said side faces only having two grooves therein extending the length of the shortest dimension of said face,

each groove being spaced approximately onethird the distance from each end respectively of the longest dimension of said surface for the reception of mortar to give a false mortar joint, the other side face of the lbrick being undivided to present a smooth unbroken surface throughout its area, whereby a plurality of said bricks may be laid in stretcher course fashion throughout an entire wall area but permitting the production of an all header course to be presented in the face of any course or by reversing th'e bricks presenting in the surface of the wall a complete stretcher course and, further, whereby the same bond design is produced on opposite faces of a wall constructed in a single brick thickness when said bricks are so reversed in adjacent courses.

JOHN J. CANTWELL.

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