US3196496A

US3196496A - Interlocking building blocks for forming movable closures

Info

Publication number: US3196496A
Application number: US244411A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stephen J Czecholinski
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-07-15
Filing date: 1962-12-13
Publication date: 1965-07-27
Anticipated expiration: 1982-07-27

Description

J y 1965 s. J. CZECHOLINSKI 3,196,496

INTERLOCKING- BUILDING BLOCKS FOR FORMING MOVABLE CLOSURES Original Filed July 15, 1955 III/I [III] A INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,196,496 INTERLOCKING BUILDING BLOCKS FUR FORM- lNG MOVABLE QL'OSURES Stephen J. Czecholinski, 3019 S. 7th St., Milwaukee 15, Wis.

Original application July 15, 1955, Ser. No. 522,248, new Patent No. 3,076,286, dated Feb. 5, 1963. Divided and this application Dec. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 244,411

2 Claims. (Cl. 20-16) This invention relates generally to building blocks, and more particularly to an improved system of interlocking building blocks especially adapted to assemble movable building closures such a hinged doors and windows in full size of model building construction.

The present application constitutes a division of my copending patent application, Serial No. 522,248, filed July 15, 1955, for Building Blocks which has matured into US. Patent 3,076,286.

A variety of interlocking building blocks are presently available for full size as well as toy or model building construction but are deficient in that they are interlocked in one direction only. That is, the interlocking structure serves to prevent the displacement of the blocks relative to each other in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction but not in both directions. Usually such blocks are interlocked to prevent their horizontal displacement only, and the rows of blocks are balanced upon each other. With this arrangement, the slightest disturbance will destroy the balance to cause complete dismantlement of the assembled structure.

Obviously, a model building constructed of these blocks cannot be lifted bodily and moved from one place to another unless it is built on a flat board or the like and carefully lifted by means of the board. Furthermore, such blocks are limited to the construction of vertical walls, it being necessary to resort to sheet material for the Windows and doors, thereby limiting the versatility of the blocks and detracting from the appearance of the building.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved system of interlocking building blocks for constructing the closures of full size as well as model buildings.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide building blocks that are interlocked in both directions and are especially adapted to form the movable closures, such as the doors and windows of a building.

Another object is to provide interlocking building blocks for forming the doors and windows of a building with the blocks being adapted to mount the doors for pivotal movement onto the interlocking blocks that are utilized for forming the stationary building structures.

Another object is to provide interlocking building blocks for forming the movable closures of a building that improve the appearance of the entire structure.

A further object is to provide an improved system of interlocking building blocks especially adapted to form the movable closures of a building with the closures being of rigid and sturdy construction which may be conveniently assembled and disassembled.

According to this invention the improved building blocks are especially adapted to be assembled to form the closures, such as the doors and windows of a building. The blocks are provided with a unique system of tenon and mortise joints especially adapted to prevent the displacement of the blocks relative to each other when assembled in both the vertical and horizontal directions to form a rigid unitary structure. The blocks for forming the building closures are particularly well adapted to cooperate with similarly arranged interlocking building blocks that form the stationary walls of the building. They include special blocks assembled into the wall and closure for pivotally mounting the closure to the wall so that it can be swung to either an open or closed position. Casing blocks are also provided to be secured about the periphery of the opening in the wall for a neat appearance which closely resembles conventional building construction.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, which will become apparent from the following detailed description setting forth an illustrative embodiment may be achieved by the particular apparatus depicted in and described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing a typical door installation in the wall of a building constructed with the building blocks of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section taken along the plane represented by the line 77 in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view in vertical section taken along the plane represented by the line 88 in FIGURE 1.

Reference is now made more specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof which illustrates a typical door construction incorporating the features of the present invention. The blocks of the present invention are especially well adapted to form the movable closures, such as doors and windows, of buildings which are assembled of interlocking building blocks described in my previously mentioned US. Patent 3,076,286. Such building blocks form the exterior walls of the building and outline the door or window opening.

Thus, in FIG. 1 the illustrated door opening is outlined by the wall blocks described in the above mentioned patent and these wall blocks outlining the opening present a dovetail mortise 27 along their exposed ends which establish the sides of the opening. With the blocks thus arranged they cooperate to form a continuous dovetail mortise at the edge of the wall about the sides of the opening and through the entire height of the opening. Similarly, the Wall blocks outling the top of the door opening all present a longitudinal dovetail mortise 28 along their bottom surfaces to form a continuous dovetail mortise at the edge of the Wall outlining the top of the opening. In like manner, the blocks forming the edge of the bottom of the opening present a dovetail mortise 28 along their top surface to form a continuous dovetail mortise at the edge of the wall outling the bottom of the opening. It is obvious therefore, that the blocks of the wall outlining the opening in the wall present a continuous dovetail mortise about the entire periphery of the opening.

The mortise about the periphery of the open-ing is provided for the purpose of securing casing blocks in position to form a door casing about the opening. The sides of the casing are formed by side casing blocks 58) set one upon the other along both sides of the openings. As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the side casing blocks 50 are formed of a body portion 51 with two overlapping portions 52 extending laterally therefrom to overlap the sides of the wall. A dovetail tenon 53 is formed along the interior edge of the body portion 51 centrally disposed between the two overlapping portions 52 for the purpose of engaging the dovetail mort-ises in the edgeof the wall along both sides of the opening as previously described. In this manner the several blocks 50 are secured along both sides of the opening to form the sides of the casing.

In the same manner the top and bottom of the casing is formed by easing blocks 59 and corner casing blocks 60, As depicted in FIGURE 3 the casing blocks'59 are. formed in'the same manner as are the side casing blocks 50-except of different proportions, having a body portion 61 and two overlapping portions 62 extending laterally therefrom. for the purpose of overlapping the wall at the top and bottom of the door opening. A longitudinal dovetail tenon 63 is provided'along the interior edge of the body portion 61 centrally disposed between the two overlapping portions 62 to engage the dovetail mortises f 28 presented along. theedge of the wall at both the top and bottom of the door opening. Y

The corner casing blocks '60 are similar to the casing blocks 59 except that the body portion 61 is shorter so. 7

The door itself has its top and bottom edges formed by corner blocks 68 and 69fespecially adapted to formjthe cornersor' the doors. The blocks 68 are provided with a dovetail mortise 70 along one edge andano-ther dovetail mortise 71 extending partiallyjalong one'side of the block.

Thus, in the top row of blocks forming the door shown in adjacent dovetailmortises 84and 91 for receiving the double dovetail inserts'29 to prevent their vertical displacement.

Thecentr-al por-tionof the door 'is formed of panel blocks 93 and

connector members

94 and 95, the connect-or

members

94 and 95 being of the same construction but ofditierent lengths. The panel blocks 93 have dovetail tenons 96 formed on all'four sides, while the

connector members

94 and 95"have longitudinal dovetail mortises 97'formed along two opposite sidesf y it will be recalled that the side door blocks 90 were assembled to present av d-ovetailtenon 92 along their in terior sides. Each of these tenons 92'is placed into engagement with one of the dOVGtEll'mOIfiSGS 97 of the connector members 95- and the other mortise 97 of the same connector members 95 are engaged by the dovetail tenons 96 of the panel blocks 93. The dovetail tenons 96 on the opposite side of the panel blocks 93 are similarly engaged by connector members 95 so that the two vertical rows of. panel blocks 93 illustrated in FIGURE 1 are connected toeach other andto the two outsider-owe of side blocks 90 by connector members 95 which are all disposed in a vertical-position. The panel blocks 93 are connected FIGURE 1, the corner block 68 has its dovetail mortise v 70 at its bottom edge and its mortise 71 along its right side. In similar fashion the corner block 68 at the bottom of the door has .its dovetail mortise 70 at its top edge and V the mortise 71 along its right side.

In the door illustrated in FIGURE 1, two door blocks -75 are assembled between the two corner blocks 68 and 69 although any number of blocks 75 can be utilized in accordance with the desired dimensionof the door. The blocks 75 are provided with a dovetail mortise76 extends ing along one side through a portion of its length, and a dovetail tenon.77on theopposite side extending along the same portion of its length'so that the dovetailtenon 77 is of the same length as the dovetail mortise 76. Another dovetail tenon 78 is formed along the entire width of one to eachjother in the opposite direction and to the door blocks 75 by the horizontally disposed connector members 94.with the top and bottom tenons 96 of the panel blocks 93 being in engagement with the respective connector members 94. V

It will be recalled that the two top blocks75 present a dovetail tenon 78 along their bottom ends and the bottom blocks 75 present a dovetail tenon 78 along their top ends. These tenons are similarly engaged by one of the dovetail mortises 97 of the top and bottom connector members 94're spectively, with the other dovetail mortises 97 of these top and-bottom connectormembers 94 being engaged by the top and bottom dovetail tenons 96 of the top and bottom panel blocks-93 respectively. It is therefore apparent that the several blocksforming thedoor are securely attached to each other by the tenon and mortise V .to each otherin both end of the block 75. The corner block 69 includes 'a I dovetail tenon 83 extending partially along one side of the, 1

block and a dovetail mortise 84 extending along the full width of one end of the block.

Thus, the top row of blocks of the d-oor illustrated in FIGURE 1 is formed by two corner blocks 68 and 69 f and two blocks. 75 disposed between the corner block's. These four blocks are connected to each other by their tenon and mortise joints with the mortise 71 of the block u the right, and the latter block has its mortise 76 engaged by the tenon '83 of the corner block 69. These joints In like manner, the first block joints which serve to prevent their displacement relative thehorizontal and vertical directions. 7 Y a j v a The door assembly is'hingedly connected to the casing to render it pivotable with respect to the buildingin accordance with the usual door construction. To this end two of the side casing blocks 50 are provided with three cars 102 to cooperatewith similar ears 103 to form a hinge. An earv 103 is mounted' on each of the corner blocks 68 and another ear 103 is attached to each of the side .door blocks 90 adjacent to the corner blocks-6S. The ear 103 on one'of' the corner blocks 68, and the ear 103 on its adjacent side door block "90 form a part of one hinge, being'dispose'd in'the spaces between the ears 102. The ears 102and103 have verticalapertures formed in them which are placed in alignment to receive a pm 104 V which pivotably supports the door to the casing or wall preventhorizontal displacement of the several blocks and their vertical displacement is prevented in a similar manner as will be presently described. The bottom row of blocks of the door illustrated in FIGURE 1 is assembled in the identical manner as described above for the top row of blocks.

The vertical sides of the door betweenthe two corner 7 blocks 68 and the two corner blocks 69are formed of side door blocks 90, each of which present a dovetail mortise.

betweenthem present adjacent dovetail mortises and 91 of the building. 7 I

From the foregoing detailed description-of the'structure and operation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that a new and improved system of building blocks'has been provided which is especially adapted to form the movable building closures such as the doors and windows of the building.

The system of building blocksiincludes an interlocking arrangement which prevents inadvertent displacement of the individual blocksinboth a horizontal and vertical 7 building wall.

into which the double dovetail inserts 29 of suitable length i are inserted, to prevent the vertical displacement of the blocks. In like manner, the corner blocks 69 and theside door blocks 90 on the oppositeside of the door present the purpose of making a full disclosure of a practical operative arrangement by means of which the invention may be practiced, it is to be understood that the Various novel features of the invention may be incorporated in other arrangements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of embodying structure, I hereby claim as my invention:

1. In a closure assembly for selectively closing the door and window openings in a wall of a building; a plurality of edge blocks defining the perimeter of the closure, said edge blocks presenting mortises along their edges; double dovetail inserts disposed in adjacent mortises of said edge blocks for securing the latter together in the desired configuration; a plurality of panel blocks assembled in the opening formed by said assembled edge blocks to complete the closure; a plurality of tenons extending from each of said panel blocks, and a plurality of connectors between said p-anel blocks presenting longitudinal mortises along two opposite sides, the mortises being engaged by said tenons for connecting said panel blocks to each other in a panel assembly; and means connecting said panel assembly to said edge blocks for completing the closure.

2. In a building construction having mortises formed in the building wall about an opening for a door or 3 window member; casing blocks formed to overlap the wall of the building about the entire edge defining the door or window opening to form a casing about the opening; tenons extending from said casing blocks and in engagement with the mortises in the building wall to secure the casing blocks to the wall about the opening; a

plurality of edge blocks about the perimeter of the door or window member to establish its outer dimensions; a plurality of tongue and socket joints engaged to connect said edge blocks to each other; an interior tenon extending inwardly from the interior edge of each of said edge blocks; a plurality of panel blocks disposed between said edge blocks to form the central portion of the member; a tenon formed along each side of each of said panel blocks; connector members having a longitudinal mortise along each of two opposite longitudinal surfaces, said mortises being engaged by said interior tenons of said edge blocks and said tenons of said panel blocks to connect said panel blocks to the edge blocks and to each other to form a unitary structure; and a plurality of hinges mounted to pivotably connect the unitary structure forming the door or window member to the building wall in the opening defined by said casing blocks.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,162,409 11/15 Shimer 453 1,825,878 10/31 Loetscher 20-35 2,102,443 12/ 37 Thorn 50-452 2,392,551 1/46 Roe 50-453 X 2,396,295 3/46 Spraragen.

2,884,780 5/54 Ramirez 50-l18 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,097,701 2/55 France.

595,505 12/47 Great Britain.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES E. OCONNNELL, Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR SELECTIVELY CLOSING THE DOOR AND WINDOW OPENINGS IN A WALL OF A BUILDING; A PLURALITY OF EDGE BLOCKS DEFINING THE PERIMETER OF THE CLOSURE, SAID EDGE BLOCKS PRESENTING MORTISES ALONG THEIR EDGES; DOUBLE DOVETAIL INSERTS DISPOSED IN ADJACENT MORTISED OF SAID EDGE BLOCKS FOR SECURING THE LATTER TOGETHER IN THE DESIRED CONFIGURATION; A PLURALITY OF PANEL BLOCKS ASSEMBLED IN THE OPENING FORMED BY SAID ASSEMBLED EDGE BLOCKS TO COMPLETE THE CLOSURE; A PLURALITY OF TENONS EXTENDING FROM EACH OF SAID PANEL BLOCKS, AND A PLURALITY OF CONNECTORS BETWEEN SAID PANEL BLOCKS PRESENTING LONGITUDINAL MORTISES ALONG TWO OPPOSITE SIDES, THE MORTISES BEING ENGAGED BY SAID TENONS FOR CONNECTING SAID PANEL BLOCKS TO EACH OTHER IN A PANEL ASSEMBLY; AND MEANS CONNECTING SAID PANEL ASSEMBLY TO SAID EDGE BLOCKS FOR COMPLETING THE CLOSURE.