US2924021A

US2924021A - Guide for curved masonry walls

Info

Publication number: US2924021A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1960-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1977-02-09

Description

Feb. 9, 1960 R. B. PROETT ETAL GUIDE FOR CURVED MASONRYv WALLS Filld Jan. 26, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet Feb. 9, 1960 R. B. PRoETT E-r AL 2,924,021

GUIDE FOR CURVED MASONRY WALLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1959 @wx/w, mx, /wmv @Vwuuh Feb. 9, 1960 R. a. PROETT ETAL.

GUIDE FOR cuRvEn MAsoNRY wALLs 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 26, 1959 @aand pfeef United States GUIDE' FOR CURVED MASONRY WALLS Rolandv B. Proett, Donald A. Wakefield, and Robert W. Lyons, Denver, Colo., assignors to Structural Clay Products Research Foundation Application January 26, 1959, Serial No. 789,086

8 Claims. (Cl. 53-174) This invention relates to apparatus for use by masons in laying brick or other building units in courses to form avertical wall curved along its length. u

The primary object of the invention is to provlde a novel guide mechanism or template indicating to the mason not only the proper locations of horizontal edges of the brick for accurate horizontal alinement, but also, the proper locations of front faces of the brick to achleve with accuracy the desired curvature of the wall.

Another object is to construct a guide of the above character in a novel manner to provide a. curved guiding edge of substantial length while insuring that all parts of the edge are disposed in the same horizontal plane.

A more detailed object is to provide a novel adjusting member which co-operates with the template to raise and lower adjacent sections of the curved edge and thereby compensate for sagging of the template between widely spaced supporting members.

Other objects and advantages or" the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a masons curved wall guide embodying the novel features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified guide construction similar to that of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the guide of Fig. 2`

Fig. 4 is an end elevational View looking to the left from the right-hand portion of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of another modified guide construction;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of the modification of Fig. 5;

Figs. 7 and 8 are schematic views similar to Fig. 4 and showingL the parts in different positions.

In Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the invention is shown for purposes of illustration embodied in a guide or ternplate 10 for use in layingbrick 11 to form awall 12 having` aconvex exterior contour. Generally, the guide comprises any elongated at sheet 13 having one longitudinal edge 14 complementary in shape to the desired exterior contour of the wall, the guide edge thus being concave in this instance. Opposite end surfaces of the sheet are supported in the desired horizontal plane of the top surfaces of the next course of brick to be laid. Such support is provided in this instance by vertical poles 15 and guide-line holders 16 secured to the poles and having upwardly facing horizontal supporting surfaces 17. The guide-line holders herein are of the type disclosed in United States Patent Number 2,715,777 and each including an arm with two angularly disposed sections providing'the upwardly facing horizontal surface and terminating -at one end in guide notches or recesses 18 which receive a 4guide line spaced a short distance below the horizontal surface.

Supportingl theaat guide sheet 113 at' opposite'ends on 2,924,221 Patented Feb. Si?,y 19S@ the guide-line holders 16 are pairs of bars 19 and 2li spaced apart transversely of the guide edge 14. Each bar herein is of L-shaped cross section and, at its opposite ends respectively is secured to the sheet and rests on the adjacent horizontal guide line surface 17, slots 21 being formed in the bars to receive a lug 22 projecting upwardly from the guide line surface. The inner ends of the bars are secured adjustably to the sheet and, for this purpose, are formed with holes 23 spaced apart along the bars and receiving fastening devices in the form of bolts 24 extending through apertures 25 in the guide sheet. Wing nuts 26 are threaded on the bolts to facilitate manual adjustment of the positionsof the bars relative to the sheet. To locate the end portions of the guide edge in the horizontal plane of lines in the line guide notches 18, spacers 27 encircling the bolts are interposed between the supporting bars and the sheet (Figs. 3 and 4). A line 28 attached in a hole 29 (Fig. l) adjacent each end of the guide edge extends along the bottom of the sheet, and through the guide notch 18 (Fig. l) and is placed under tension to assist in holding the sheet on the guide-line holder.

With the guide sheet 13 supported at opposite ends as described above, the intermediate portion of the sheet tends to sag so that allof the guide edge 14 does not lie in a horizontal plane. This tendency is overcome partially by a box-like stilfening structure 30 extending along and secured to the edge of the guide sheet opposite the guide edge. While they may be formed separately from and attached to the sheet, it is preferred, in order to simplify the construction, to form the stiffening parts integrally with ther sheet by suitable bending operations. The stiffening structure thus comprises a vertical side 31 bent up from the sheet, a horizontal side 32 paralleling the sheet, and a Vertical edge portion 33 bent down from the horizontal side.

It is desirablevto extend the guide sheet 13 over a substantial distance and thereby increase the amount of bricky laid before changing the position of the guide. With such length, the guide edge 14 tends to sag in the middle even when the stiifening box 3i) is added and the parts are made of a light material such as aluminum. in accordance with the invention, novel means is provided to overcome this tendency completely and insure that all of the guide edge lies in the horizontal plane of its end portions. Generally, this means comprises a leveling bar 34 of right angular cross section extending along the guide edge and secured adjustably to the edge at spaced points. In response to shifting of different longitudinal sections of the leveling bar toward and away from the guide edge, adjacent sections of the edge adjacent the shifting bar sections are shifted vertically and into the same horizontal plane as the rest of the guide edge.

The vertical adjustment of different sections of the guide edge 14 by shifting the leveling bar 34 toward and away from the edge is due to a peculiar characteristic of bars of right angular cross section. Thus, when a length of such a bar between two fixed parts is bent laterally, a torsional force is created in the bar to bend one of its edges. To take advantage of this characteristic, one leg 35 of the bar is disposed horizontally adjacent and is lsecured tothe guide sheet 13 and the other leg 36 projects vertically therefrom. Also, the fastening elements securing the bar and the sheet at spaced points permits relative adjustment between the two at each point whilethe bar and the sheet remain secured at the other points.

ln the present instance, the fastening elements securing the horizontal leg 35 of the leveling bar 34 to' the guide sheet 13 are the bolts 24 for the end support bars 19 and similar bolts 37` extendingV through apertures in the bar and alined apertures 3S in the sheet. For adjustment of the bartransversely of the guide edgeA 14,

the

apertures

25 and 38 in the sheet are elongated transversely of the edge to form parallel slots, the bolts 37 also having wing nuts 39 thereon. In the forms shown in Figs. 1 to 4, 7 and 8, the horizontal leveling bar legv 35 lies fiat against the top of the guide sheet. In the modified form of Figs. 5 and 6, an auxiliary guide sheet 4t? is interposed between the latter and the leveling bar. Where, as shown in Fig. 1, the radius of curvature of the guide edge 13 is relatively small, the leveling bar may be curved along its length to follow generally the curva ture of the edge. For larger radii of curvature, the leveling bar may be straight as shown in Figs, 2 and 5.

The auxiliary guide sheet 40 enables a guide mechanism designed for one curvature to be utilized for walls of other curvatures, such other curvatures conforming to the guide edge 41 of the auxiliary sheet projecting beyond the edge 14 of the original sheet 13. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the auxiliary edge 4l is convex, the auxiliary sheet having slots (not shown) in registry with the slots 3S of the main sheet.

In using the improved guide mechanism, let it be assumed that the corner poles 15 have been secured in vertical positions spaced apart slightly farther than the length of the guide sheet 13 and that the line holders 16 have been secured to the poles wtih the notches or recesses 18 at the desired height of the guide edge. With the end supporting bars 19 and 20 and the leveling bar 34 bolted to the sheet, these parts so assembled are shifted to locate the outer end portions of the supporting bars on the horizontal line'holder surfaces 17 with the lugs 22 on the line holders in the slots 21 on the rear supporting bars. The lines 2S then are secured in the holes 29 in the guide sheet and are drawn taut beneath the sheet and in the recesses 1S in the holders. The guide mechanism now is ready for leveling of the guide edge 14.

To determine whether the guide edge is level, another line (not shown) is extended through-and stretched between the line holder recesses 13 and the alignment of the edge with this line is checked. Should any sections of the edge sag beneath or project above the line, this section is raised or lowered by shifting the adjacent section of the leveling bar transversely of the edge While the remaining sections remain fixed relative to the edge, the adjacent wing nut 39 being loosened to permit such shifting. In the case of a concave guide edge such as the edge 14 shown in Figs. l, 2, 5 and 7 and with the horizontal leg 3S of the leveling bar 34 extending inwardly away from the vertical leg 346 and toward the stiifening box 3i), shifting of the unclamped section inwardly away from the guide edge to a position indicated in dashed lines in Fig. 7 results in raising of the guide edge as shown in dashed lines. To lower the section of the concave edge as indicated by dot-dash lines, the leveling bar is shifted toward a corresponding dot-dash position in Fig. 7, the amounts of movement of the bar and the edge being exaggerated for purposes of illustration.

In the case of a convex guide edge as indicated at 41 in Figs. 5 and 6, the leveling bar is reversed but movements of sections of the leveling bar toward and away from the edge respectively result in lowering and raising of the edge the same as in the case of the concave edge described above. The reversal of the leveling bar is shown in Fig. 8 Where the edge 14 of sheet 13 is convex and the horizontal leg 35 projects toward the guide edge from the leveling bar. Referring to Fig, 8, the bar and the edge are shown in dot-dash and in dashed lines respectively to illustrate the raised and lowered positions.

It will be apparent that the novel guide mechanism may beadjusted easily to locate the curved guide edge 14 accurately in a horizontal plane even though the guide sheet 13 extends unsupported across a span of substantial length. In one mechanism having a` guide sheet of 18 gauge aluminum twelve feet long, a leveling bar with the

legs

35 and 36 each one and one-half inches wide was found to be satisfactory for maintaining .the guide edge 4 in Va plane. With a sheet eight feet long, a leveling bar with legs three-fourths of an inch wide was found to be satisfactory.

We claim as our invention:

l. A curved masonry wall guide comprising, in cornbination, an elongated tiat sheet having one edge following a desired curvature of a finished wall and its opposite edge bent laterally to form a stiiening box-like structure, supporting members providing at surfaces lying in a common horizontal piane disposed adjacent opposite ends of said sheet, pairs of generally straight horizontal bars spaced transversely of said curved edge at opposite ends of said sheet and each having one end portion secured adjustably to the sheet and the other end portion resting on the adjacent one of said hat surfaces so as to support opposite ends of the curved edge in a common horizontal plane, said sheet having slots spaced along and disposed adjacent said curved edge and elongated transversely of the edge in parallelism, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet and formed with holes in registry with said slots, fastening means in said holes and apertures releasably securing said adjusting bar to the sheet while permitting adjustment of diierent sections of the bar toward and away from said curved edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all sections of the edge in said plane of said end portions of said sheet, said supporting members having guide recesses to receive a line stretched horizontally between the members to provide a guide for determining visually when all sections of said edge lie in said plane, and parts on said supporting members and said bars interitting with each other to locate said sheet with respect to the members.

2. A curved masonry wall guide comprising, in combination, an elongated liat sheet having one edge following a desired curvature of a finished wall and its opposite edge bent laterally to form a stifening box-like structure, supporting members providing flat surfaces lying in a common horizontal plane and disposed adjacent opposite ends of said sheet, pairs of generally straight horizontal bars spaced transversely of said curved edge at opposite ends of said sheet and each having one end portion se cured adjustably to the sheet and the other end portion resting on the adjacent one of said flat surfaces so as to support opposite ends of the curved edge in a common horizontal plane, said sheet having slots spaced along and disposed adjacent said curved edge and elongated transversely of the edge in parallelism, an adjusting har of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet and formed with holes in registry with said slots, and fastening means in said holes and apertures releasably securing said adjusting bar to the sheet while permitting adjustment of diierent sections of the bar toward and away from said curved edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all sections of the edge in said plane of said end portions of said sheet, and parts on said supporting members and on said bars intertting with each other to position said sheet with respect to the members.

3. A curved masonry wall guide comprising, in cornbination, an elongated dat sheet having one edge following a desired curvature of a inished wall and its opposite edge bent laterally to form a stifening box-like structure, supporting members providing flat surfaces lying in a common horizontal plane and disposed adjacent opposite ends of said sheet, pairs of generally straight horizontal bars spaced transversely of said curved edge at opposite ends of said sheet and each having one end portion secured adjustably to the sheet and the other end portion resting on the adjacent one of said iiat surfaces so as to support opposite ends of the curved edge in .a common horizontal plane, said sheet having slots spaced along and disposed adjacent said curved edge and elongated transversely of the edge substanially in parallelism, an ad justing bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet and formed with holes in registry with said slots, and fastening means in said holes and apertures releasably securing said adjusting bar to the sheet while permitting adjustment of diierent sections of the bar toward and away from said curved edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all sections of the edge in said plane of said end portions of said sheet.

4. A curved masonry wall guide comprising, in combination, an elongated flat sheet having one edge following a desired curvature of a finished wall, a box-like structure secured to the edge of said sheet opposite said curved edge and stiffening said sheet against sagging between its ends, pairs of generally straight horizontal bars spaced transversely of said curved edge at opposite ends of said sheet and each having one end portion adapted to rest on horizontal surfaces so as to support opposite ends of the curved edge in a common horizontal plane, said sheet having slots spaced along and disposed adjacent said curved edge and elongated transversely of the edge in substantially parallelism, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet and formed with holes in registry with said slots, and fastening means in said holes and apertures releasably securing said adjusting bar to the sheet while permitting adjustment of different sections of the bar toward and away from said curved edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all sections of the edge in said plane of said end portions of said sheet.

5. A curved masonry wall guide comprising, in combination, an elongated iiat sheet having one edge following a desired curvature of a finished wall, a box-like stiiening structure extending along and secured to the edge of said sheet opposite said curved edge to prevent sagging of the sheet intermediate its ends when the latter are supported in a common horizontal plane, said sheet having slots spaced along and disposed adjacent said curved edge and elongated transversely of the edge in approximate parallelism, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet and formed with holes in registry with said slots, and fastening means in said holes and apertures releasably securing said adjusting bar to the sheet while permitting adjustment of different sections of the bar toward and away from said curved edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all sections of the edge in said plane of said end portions of said sheet.

6. A guide for curved masonry Walls comprising in combination, an elongated hat sheet having opposite end portions supported in a horizontal plane andy one longitudinal edge following a desired curvature of a inished wall, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved edge and having one leg disposed vertically and a horizontal leg lying against said sheet, said sheet and said horizontal leg of said bar having pairs of registering apertures, and releasable means in said apertures securing said horizontal bar leg and said sheets rigidly together, one of said apertures of each of said pars being elongated transversely of said curved edge for adjustment of sections of said bar toward and away from the edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all of the edge in said horizontal plane.

7. A guide for curved masonry walls comprising in combination, an elongated at main sheet having opposite end portions supported in a horizontal plane, an auxiliary sheet lying against said main sheet and having one longitudinal edge following a desired curvature of a finished wall and spaced beyond the adjacent edge of said main sheet, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said curved yedge and having one leg disposed vertically and a horizontal leg lying against the side of said auxiliary sheet opposite said main sheet, said sheets and said horizontal leg of said bar having sets of registering apertures, and releasable means in said apertures securing said horizontal bar leg and said sheets rigidly together, certain of said apertures of each of said sets being elongated transversely of said curved edge for adjustment of sections of said bar toward and away from the edge to change the veritcal position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all of the edge in said horizontal plane.

8. A guide for curved masonry walls comprising in combination, an elongated flat sheet having opposite end portions supported in a horizontal plane and one longitudinal edge following a desired curvature of a iinished wall, an adjusting bar of right angular cross section extending along said edge and having one leg disposed vertically and its other leg extending horizontally adjacent said sheet, said sheet and said other leg of said bar having pairs of registering apertures, and releasable means in said apertures securing said other bar leg and said sheet rigidly together, one of said apertures of each of said pairs being elongated transversely of said edge for adjustment of sections of said bar toward and away from the edge to change the vertical position of the adjacent section of the edge and thereby dispose all of the edge in said horizontal plane.

No references cited.