WO2007093794A1

WO2007093794A1 - A bricklaying aid

Info

Publication number: WO2007093794A1
Application number: PCT/GB2007/000521
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin Hewson
Original assignee: Brikmat Holdings Limited
Priority date: 2006-02-15
Filing date: 2007-02-15
Publication date: 2007-08-23
Also published as: GB0603069D0

Abstract

The invention relates to a bricklaying aid comprising a first elongate member (Ia) and a second elongate member (Ib) each acting as an orientation guide, wherein a first end of the first elongate member is connected to a first end of the second elongate member and each elongate member can be arranged at any angle between 0° and 180° relative to each other.

Description

A Bricklaying Aid

The invention relates to a bricklaying aid.

Conventional bricklaying techniques are time consuming and involved a high skill level. In general, they involve a bricklayer manually setting out lines made of string. The corners are determined by where the string lines cross. The bricklayer then plumbs down at the corner and where the plumbing line meets the ground indicates the corner. The bricklayer may mark this position in mortar. The bricklayer would then proceed to lay the bricks using this marker. Each corner would be systematically set out in the same manner. Subsequently, the bricklayer would level from one corner to another to determine if there is any variation. If there was any variation it is likely that it would be necessary to reposition all the laid bricks. This is clearly a skilled and time consuming exercise. A number of problems, explained below, are often encountered when utilising this approach.

If the strings are not laid out properly and/or the plumbing down is not accurate, the corner will not be correct. As more of the corner is laid or more of the walls extending from the corner are laid, the more exaggerated an error will become. In order to rectify such an error it is very likely that the entire wall and corner will need to be re-laid.

Specifically, if the bricks are not laid out straight in the first place the inaccuracy will become more and more evident as more of the corner and wall is built. Furthermore, if the bricks are not laid level i.e. at a 0° angle, this error will become more exaggerated as the corner and wall is built up. In order to rectify either types of error, it will be necessary to rebuild the corner and walls.

The invention is set out in the appended claims.

The invention provides a bricklaying aid, which is height adjustable and provides a first elongated member which forms a corner with a second elongated member. This overcomes the disadvantages of the conventional method of bricklaying because it removes the sources of error associated with setting out string lines and plumbing down. This aid can be set up on the building surface and adjusted so that the angle of the corner is correct before any bricks or mortar are laid. In addition, the elongate members provide straight guides for laying bricks. This greatly increases the speed of bricklaying.

Furthermore, the aid is height adjustable. Therefore, using a device for determining when the aid is level, such as a spirit level incorporated into the aid or used in addition to the aid, the level can be set before any of the mortar or bricks are laid. This requires very little skill and means that the corner is an accurate corner, of any desirable angle, with straight level walls. This substantially reduces the risks of introducing errors and thus needing to rebuild the wall and corner.

Throughout the discussion and figures of the embodiments like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bricklaying aid according to the present invention, wherein the first and second elongate members are interconnected frames.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the bricklaying aid according to the present invention. This embodiment comprises additional third and fourth elongate members, which form a frame with the first and second elongate members.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a bricklaying aid according to a further embodiment of the present invention, with three elongate members forming a three dimensional corner.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a clamp that can be attached to the bricklaying aid provided by any of the embodiments of the present invention. Figure 5 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the bricklaying aid according to the present invention. This embodiment comprises first and second elongate members which are connected at their proximal ends by a hinge and arranged at 0° relative to each other.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the embodiment of figure 5. In this figure the first and second elongate members are arranged at 90° relative to each other.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the embodiment of figures 5 and 6. In this figure the first and second elongate members are arranged at 135° relative to each other.

Herein the elongate member is taken to mean a structure that has more length than width. Examples of an elongate member include, but are not limited to a beam, an arm, a rod and a plank.

Herein a corner is taken to mean any angle of a structure, external or internal, open or closed in shape.

Referring to Figure Ia, a first elongate member (Ia) forms a corner (2) with a second elongate member (Ib). The corner (2) is a 90° angle. The first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) form an L-shaped frame (3). By frame we mean an open case or structure. The elongate members (Ia and Ib) are made up of two parallel elongate components (4) and a cross piece component (5), all of which are connected with inter-engaging connections (6). By inter-engaging connection we mean a component which connects at least two elongate members or other structures of the present invention. The inter-engaging connection can be used to connect any number of elongate members to each other including three, four, five and six. The inter- engaging connection can be a square corner sleeve that connects the ends of two elongate members at an angle. It can be a linear sleeve that connects the ends of two elongate members linearly (at 180°). Furthermore, the inter-engaging connector can be a sleeve that connects the end of a member at any point along the length of another member. In addition, the two elongate members (Ia and Ib) are connected to each other with further inter-engaging connectors (6) forming the L-shaped frame (3). The inter- engaging connectors (6) used in this embodiment are square corner sleeves. The elongate members (Ia and Ib) are held above the ground by adjustable supports (7). Figure Ib shows the adjustable supports (7) in more detail. An indicator band (8) provides a reference for the minimum and maximum height the elongate members (Ia and Ib) can be in relation to the ground and still be at the correct height for the bricks to be flush i.e. of uniform height, with the elongate members (Ia and Ib) and thus, to be used to ensure the bricks are level. Each elongate member (Ia and Ib) includes a horizontal levelling spirit level (9).

Figure 2 shows a further embodiment of the invention. There are two aspects to the embodiment illustrated in this figure. The first aspect is a frame (10), which can be used to lay a pillar. The frame (10) is made up of four elongate members (Ic to If), in this case comprising single elongate components, which are connected to each other with inter-engaging connections (6). The end of the first elongate member (Ic) is connected to the end of the second elongate member (Id). The other ends of the first and second elongate members (Ic and Id) are free. The end of the third elongate member (Ie) is connected at one end to the middle of the first elongate member (Ic) and at the other end to the middle of the fourth elongate member (If). The fourth elongate member (If) is free at one end and is connected to the middle of the second elongate member (Id) at the other end. References to middle of an elongate member (1) are understood to mean any point between the ends of an elongate member (1). In addition, it is understood that the end of an elongate member (1) can be connected to the end of another elongate member (1) or can be connected at any point along the length of another elongate member (1). The frame (10) is formed from an L-shaped pair of elongate members (Ic and Id) forming an external angle (11) and the second L-shaped pair of elongate member (Ie and If) forming an internal angle (12) to form a square or rectangle.

The second aspect illustrated by this figure is the extendible external elongate member (Id). An elongate member (1) can be lengthened by adding an additional elongate member (1) and attaching it with an inter-engaging connector (6). In this case the inter-engaging connector is a linear sleeve.

In both these aspects, the elongate members (Ic to If) are maintained above the ground by adjustable supports (7). In addition, at least two perpendicular elongate members comprise spirit levels (9).

Figure 3 illustrates the bricklaying aid, wherein a further elongate member (Ig), which is a single elongate component, forms a three dimensional corner (13), extending vertically from the intersection, with two other elongate members (Ih and Ii). AU the members (Ig to Ii) are connected with inter-engaging connectors (6). In addition, the members (Ig to Ii) are maintained above the ground by an adjustable support (7) and the perpendicular elongate members (Ih and Ii) comprise spirit levels (9).

Figure 4a and 4b illustrates how the bricklaying aid can be attached to a wall. The aid would be attached by the means of a clamp (not shown in the figure). Examples of a clamp include, but are not limited to, a catch, clasp, clench, grip, hold, lock or vice. Figure 4a demonstrates an elongate member (Ij) that contains a slot (14), which is capable of being fixed to a structure (15), which in turn can be fixed to a wall with a clamp. Figure 4b illustrates an optional support that can be attached to the aid.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention. Referring to figure 5, a first end of a first elongate member (Ia) is connected to a first end of a second elongate member (Ib) by a hinge (16) comprising a hinge rod (24) extending through respective hinge apertures of the members. Each elongate member comprises a horizontally levelling spirit level (9). The two elongate members (Ia and Ib) are held above the ground or other surface by adjustable supports (7). The adjustable supports (7) comprise a screw mechanism (18), which allows the support to be adjusted in height.

The adjustable supports (7) are generally of a cylindrical shape. The lower end of the adjustable support (7) of this embodiment comprises a threaded cylindrical section with a diameter that is narrower than the diameter of the cylindrical upper end of the adjustable support (7). The base at the lower end (19) of the adjustable support (7) comprises a cylindrical section that is a similar diameter to the cylindrical upper end of the adjustable support (7), with a conical structure (25) pointing downwards on the lower face of the base of the adjustable support (7).

The embodiment of the invention illustrated by figures 5, 6 and 7 additionally comprises a locating mechanism (20) at the connected ends of the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib), which allows the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) to be arranged at different angles relative to each other. Figure 5 illustrates that the locating mechanism (20) comprises a thumb turn (21). There is a channel in the locating mechanism (20) within which the thumb turn (21) fits. When the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) are moved relative to each other, the thumb turn (21) remains in the same position and the channel in the locating mechanism (20) allows the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) to move. The base of the thumb turn (21) locks into the first of three indentations (22) in the upper face of the base of the locating mechanism (20), resulting in the first elongate member (Ia) and second elongate member (Ib) be arranged at 0° relative to each other. The first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) can additionally be arranged at any angle under 180° relative to each other by locking the thumb turn (21), when the elongate members (Ia and Ib) are arranged at the requisite positions. The first elongate member (Ia) forms a corner with the second elongate member (Ib) when they are arranged relative to each other at any angle above 0°.

Figure 6 illustrates the first and second elongate members arranged at 90° relative to each other. In this arrangement the base of the thumb turn (21) fits into the second indentation (22) in the upper face of the base of the locating mechanism (20). Figure 7 illustrates the first and second elongate members arranged at 135° relative to each other. In this arrangement the base of the thumb turn (21) fits into the third indentation (22) in the upper face of the base of the locating mechanism (20). The bricklaying aid of the invention can further comprise a means of emitting a light beam, such as a laser, at the distal ends of the elongate members (Ia to Ij). The light beam can be directed generally vertically (27) upwards and/or downwards and/or generally horizontally (26) along the same plane as the elongate member (Ia to Ij). 5 The source of the light beam can be contained within the elongate member (Ia to Ij) and when the light beam is not in use a sliding door within the elongate member (Ia to Ij) can be closed over the light beam source.

According to the invention the bricklaying aid of Figure 1 is operable by placing the 0 aid in a position where a corner is to be built. The height of the supports (7) is adjusted so that both elongate members (Ia and Ib) are level, as determined using the spirit levels (9). When adjusting the supports (7), the height of the members (1) must not be below or above the indicator band (8) on the supports (7), as this would be lower or higher than a brick. The bricklayer then spreads mortar on the ground and 5 places bricks within the frame (3), ensuring the bricks are level with the elongate members (Ia and Ib). The aid is then removed and the rest of the corner and walls built.

According to the invention, the bricklaying aid of Figure 2 is operable by the same 0 principle as the bricklaying aid of Figure 1. One aspect of the aid of Figure 2 allows for the construction of different sized pillars. This is done by adjusting the length of the elongate members (Ic to If) and adjusting the point at which the elongate members (Ic to If) attach to each other i.e. by adjusting the size of the frame (10).

Once the aid has been adjusted to the correct pillar size it is placed in the position 5 where the pillar is to be laid. At this point the height of the aid is adjusted so it is level, as determined by the spirit levels (9). As with the aid illustrated in Figure 1, the height of the members (Ic to If) must not be above or below the indicator band (8) on the supports (7), as this would be lower or higher than a brick. Once the aid is adjusted so that it is level and at the correct height, the bricks are placed on mortar 0 within the frame (10). Subsequently the aid is removed and the rest of the pillar built.

The other aspect of the bricklaying aid of Figure 2 allows the extension of the second

581406V1 elongate member (Id) away from the external angle (11). An additional elongate member (1) is attached to the second elongate member (Id) using a linear sleeve inter- engaging connection (6). This aspect is operable by laying the aid on the surface and adjusting it so it is level as described above. The bricks are then laid alongside the extended elongate member (Id).

According to the invention the bricklaying aid of Figure 3 is operable by connecting three elongate members (Ig to Ii) using a three way inter-exchanging connector sleeve (6) to form a three dimensional corner (13). This aid is placed in the position where a corner is to be built. The height of the supports (7) is adjusted as described in relation to Figure 1 and 2. Once the aid is level the bricks are laid on mortar using the elongate members (Ig to Ii) as a guide. Using this embodiment it is possible to build the comer and wall up to any height before removing the aid. Furthermore, additional elongate members (1) could be used to extend the aid, as described in relation to Figure 2, thus using the guide for a considerable period of the build to ensure that no error was introduced.

According to the invention the bricklaying aid of Figures 5, 6 and 7 is operable by similar principles as the bricklaying aid of Figure 1 except that the bricks are placed so that they are aligned with the two inner faces of the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib).

The angle of the corner of the bricklaying aid, according to any of the embodiments of the invention, can be adjusted. The internal angle of a corner can be 0°, 90°, 45° or 135° and any other angle below 180°.

The bricklaying aid can be affixed to a wall by the features shown in Figure 4a and b. The slot (14) in the aid allows a structure (15) to be inserted into the aid and in turn the structure (15) can be clamped to a wall. Alternatively, an optional support (7), illustrated in Figure 4b, can be attached to the aid by a clamp, for example. This will allow the aid to be supported on a surface, such as a partly built wall, it would not reach otherwise. The elongate members (1) of the aid could be made from any semi-rigid material such as wood, hard plastic or metal.

5 The supports (7) can be made from any hard material such as hard plastic or metal.

The inter-engaging connectors (6) can be made from any semi-flexible material such as plastic.

0 However it will be appreciated that any of the components can be made from any suitable material.

There are a number of advantages associated with the present invention. The bricklaying aid according to the present invention provides the considerable 5 advantage of an easy to use approach to setting up a guide for bricklaying, which ensures the bricks will be laid level and straight. A critical necessity in bricklaying. Furthermore, the guide can be set up before laying any bricks or mortar, representing a particular advantage. In addition, in some embodiments the bricklaying aid can be easily carried or stored by arranging the elongate members (Ia and Ib) so that they 0 are at 0° relative to each other. Pre-measured indentations (22) in the locating mechanism (20) of the bricklaying aid also allow it to be set so the first and second elongate members (Ia and Ib) are at 90° or 135° without the need for any measurement by the user.

5 The aid can be extended in length, horizontally or vertically, to provide a guide for an entire wall and corner to be built, if desired. This has the advantage of providing a constant check that no error has been introduced.

In addition, if the bricklaying aid comprises a light beam such as a laser, this enables 0 the user to accurately measure horizontal dimensions that are greater than the dimensions of the bricklaying aid. This feature is particularly useful when used in combination with a spirit level. In addition, a vertical light beam, such as a laser,

581406V1 enables the user to obtain accurate measurements of vertical lines. In particular, the vertical light beam allows the user to accurately determine plumbing lines.

The aid can also be adjusted for corners with different angles for example, by using 5 different inter-engaging connections defining different angles. Likewise it can be adjusted to as to provide a guide to build pillars. This is evidence of the flexibility of the aid.

The aid can be clamped onto an existing wall either for checking that the wall is level 0 and straight or as an aid for further building up of the wall or corner.

For additional assistance, the aid provides the advantage of adjustable supports (7) that are marked with an indicator band (8). This means when the aid is being adjusted in order to ensure it is level, the user will know not to go below a certain height as this 5 would be too low to be able to ensure the bricks are flush with the aid.

The aid can be attached to a string line via a notch at one or more of the corners of the aid in order to run in the remaining brickwork.

0 The invention is to be understood as including any combination of components as described herein. In particular, it is envisaged that the bricklaying aid could consist of any number of elongate members (1). The elongate members (1) can be a single elongate component or can be two elongate components (4) in parallel joined with a cross-piece component (5). The elongate members (1) can be arranged so that there is 5 one corner (2) and the elongate members (1) extend in the horizontal plane in two directions. Alternatively, the elongate members (1) could extend from the corner (2) in three or four direction in the horizontal plane. In addition or instead, any number of elongate members (1) may extend from a three dimensional corner (13) in either direction in the vertical plane. 0

The elongate members can form L-shaped frames (3) or can form square or rectangle frames (10) with other elongate members (1).

581406v1 The aid can be attached to a structure in a number of ways. For example, the aid may be attached with a hole in the off set foot. Alternatively or in addition, the aid can contain holes, which can be used to attach the aid to a structure using a bolt, clamp or any other suitable mechanical means.

Any number of separate bricklaying aids, according to the present invention, can be used in conjunction with each other.

A level according to the present invention can be a spirit level or any other means of determining if a surface is level.

The bricklaying aid according to the present invention can be used with any type (size or material) of brick or block.

It is understood that the present invention can also be used as a general construction aid and in particular to set out door openings and walls and for setting corners, datum's and levels, for example, joiners for setting out dry lining, timber decking, etc.

Claims

1. A bricklaying aid comprising a first elongate member and a second elongate member each acting as an orientation guide, wherein a first end of the first elongate member is connected to a first end of the second elongate member and each elongate member can be arranged at any angle between 0° and 180° relative to each other.

2. The aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height of said aid is adjustable.

3. A bricklaying aid comprising a first elongate member forming a corner with a second elongate member, wherein the height of said aid is adjustable.

4. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one elongate member comprises a level.

5. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the height is adjustable with adjustable supports.

6. The aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the support comprises an indicator of the height of the elongate members in relation to a surface.

7. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising elongate members forming multiple corners.

8. The aid as claimed in claim 7, wherein the elongate members are adjustable.

9. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a clamp for attaching the aid to a surface.

10. The aid as claimed in claimed in any one of claims 1-8, further comprising an additional support for resting on an existing structure.

11. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising at least one additional elongate member extending from a plane formed by elongate members at an intersection therewith.

12. The aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the first elongate member defines a first laying direction and the second elongate member defines a second laying direction and at least one of the elongate members further comprises a means of emitting a light beam in a respective laying direction.

13. A construction aid comprising a first elongate member forming a corner with a second elongate member, wherein the height of said aid is adjustable.

14. A bricklaying aid comprising a first elongate member defining a first laying direction and a second elongate member defining a second laying direction, wherein at least one of the elongate members further comprises a means of emitting a light beam in a respective laying direction.