US2892338A - Block wall structure - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1959 s. v. cRAvENs 2,892,338

BLOCK WALL STRUCTURE Filed April 22. 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 w IN V EN TOR. S21/waa uff/:V516

June 30, 1959 s. v. cRAvx-:Ns

BLOCK WALL STRUCTURE 'Filed April 22, 1952 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. SAMUEL 1/. GPA V'A/S e e e l .4 N L, A

A TTO/QMQYS June 30, 1959 s. v. cRAvENs BLOCK WALL STRUCTURE '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 22. 1952 INVENToR. AMUEL I4 @64 Vex/5 BY W, M

June 30, 1959 s. v. cRAvENs BLOCK WALL STRUCTURE '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 52x/waa 1/ 6,64 Vgn/5 Filed April 22. 1952 A TroeA/Eys' Filed April 22, 1952 June 30, 1959 BLOCK WALL. STRUCTURE 'I sheets-shea e INVENToR. 534/170@ 1/. UPA VEA/5 s. v. CRAVENS v 2,892,338 l June 3U, 1959 Q v CRAVENS 2,892,338

BLOCK WALL STRUCTURE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed April 22. 1952 m m m M M. Wn/

WO w

Fr f b" N w M United States Patent,

2,392,338 nnoeK WALL rsrnucrunn -Samuel V. Cravens, Portland, Greg., assign'or to Domi- 'naire Constructions, Inc., Seattle, Wash., a corporation off Washington Application April 22, 1952, Serial No. 283,701

6 Claims. (Cl. 72--38) 'of this type of wall structure were overcome by and lost in the cost and inconvenience of'making, storing, handling, shipping,` and using `so many .different types yof unit. Others, realizing the disadvantages just mentioned in the many different types of unit, have attempted.. to build all Wall designs of a single lstyle of unit, with perhaps some variations in s'i'ze. The wall structure of the United States Patent Re. 22,913, dated September 9, 1947, to lR. D. Wells, is an example `of the latter attempts. This yhas the advantage of simplicity and Vrelatively low cost in the making, storing, handling, and shipping -of the necessary unitsV but such .exceedingly simple, wall vstruc- 'tures have not the exibility to accommodate the varying degrees of strength, over-all or at localized levels or `in columns, vof Weight, as determined .by such varying vstrength requirements, or .of architectural design. Asa

result, such overly simple wallzstruetures., While they are Awholly satisfactory where the requirements are .simple -and uncomplicated, tend to become increasingly expensive `and complicated. where they depart from very simple designs, or :else inadequate.

' By the present invention a .middle ground is attained; the number of styles, shapes, and. sizes of: units required to fbuild virtually all ystyles or designs ofV wall structure are no more than a .coordinated set of about. ardozen, and, by a companion invention (application 'Serial No. 283- 190, filed April 22, 195.2) that 'concerns the. .machine :and process for making such units, the cost of making, storing, handling, .'alndxshippngithi'sfsmall number oi styles;V of unit, .in the correct proportions, is. keptlow, :and `is .greatly simplied Vand standardized.

More specically, tby the present inventionis shown how .a Wall may be `built,for example, in three. tiers, all thoroughly interlocked and cross-`bonded, where. loads are high; can `be.lightened'ro.rvs/foactual and one hypothetical tiers ,higher up, where .loads are less, but can 'bestrength- *cried .to `three .actual tiersl where fnecessaryffor support of beams or joists; can be still further lightened' as :it

proceeds npwardlyi yet throughout it may have. continudozen different types, and even some of them are `but rarely used, all utilized .to .thefbest advantage, So lfar Vas concerns appearance. the unitscan he SQ assoublelk as `to uralte up a smoothJ tier, -bothinside,and outside, .and

Vthere need be no unsightly grooves `norribs, even at ICC corners. So. far as concerns utility andv convenience, straight runs for thefreception of'wiring, piping, conduits, etc., are left within the wall structure, and4 special but standard units may be provided, interchangeable with the normally. used units, where it is desired Vto, leave outlet apertures. for switches and the like. So far as. concerns convenience in construction, and tightness, `the present invention aords joist seats, whereby theI joists can be simply anchored at their ends within the wall structure, where the bearing is good, and the joist end can bersealed so tightly that there is little or no. room for drafts, nor can the joists tilt or rotate, sidewise, and further upward extension of the wall proceeds uninterruptedly, beyond and above the joist. Thus, by this invention is provided a wall structure composed of a minimum number of styles, sizes, and shapes of units, yet combinable in a wide variety of structural and architectural designs, in a most flexible manner.

By the employment of a few special structural units, the standard units may be so. assembled, in a modified arrangement, as to afford an exceptionally high degree of resistance to lateral forces, such as might be developed by high winds in exposed locations.

The present invention relates primarily to the set of coordinated standard blocks, to the wall structure of the type and having the advantages indicatedy above, and `to the combination with such wall structure of joists and joist anchors. The wall of this invention is intended primarily yas, an exterior Wall, although obviously it could be ,used as. an interior partition.

.The principles of this. invention will be disclosed in this specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein .these principles are illustrated in typical but not restrictive foams of construction, and -w-ill be defined in the appended claims, which are to be construed as broadly as the novelty of lthe invention and its disclosure herein permits.

Figure l is a vertical transverse sectional` view through a` typical wall construction, employing the. principles of this invention in various different designs, and under dilering load-bearing conditions` Figures 2 and 3 are plan views of yalternating courses the lower portion of such a wall. Y

Figures 4 and 5 are plan views of alternating ycourses in an upper portion of the wall, where bearing loads are lighter but still substantial; Figure 5 illustrates vthe ability to reinforce such a lightened wall where necessary, :as 'for the support-.of .a joistj Figures 6 and 7 are plan views of .alternating .courses in a still higher portion of the same wall, where bearing loads nare least.

Figures 2 .to .7, inclusive, are .aligned vertically with `.one another as they would. be'. in the wall structure, and

60' and styles tot stretcher-'blocks employed, and4 Figurev V9 is .a similar groupi'ngvof the 'several sr'izes, styles, and shapest vof bond blocks `employed, The entire wall Kstructure/may be'builtjfrom a set of these blocks ofvFiglures 8 and 9, with an occasional slightly-,variant shape.

, Figure l0Y is .an` visometric view ofV afba'se or vstarting course, as in `Figure 2, and the next coursefthereabove,

as 'in Figure 3.

Y Figure. 1l is anv exploded isometric View of a course somewhat higher up the wall, and of a reinforced course thereabove, as in .Figures 4 and. 5. t Y i lFigure l2 is an explotfledV isometric View thereinforced course which is included in Figure 1l, or as shown in Figure 5, and of other alternating courses still higher up the wall, as in Figures 6 and 7.

Figure 13 is an isometric view from inside the wall, and Figure 14 is a similar view from outside the wall, illustrating the manner of including joists in and supporting them from the wall, and especially with relation to the reinforced course illustrated in Figures 11 and 12.

, Figure l is a sectional view lengthwise of an end of a joist and transversely of the wall, illustrating the joist `all illustrating a modied arrangement for use where high lateral stability is required.

Preliminary to describing the wall structure, a knowledge of the complete set composed of several block styles, sizes, and shapes is helpful. They are shown in Figures 8 and 9. The stretcher blocks of Figure 8 are designated M1 to 8, inclusive, and the several cross-bond blocks of Figure 9 are designated N2, N4, N4a, and N6. Of these, blocks M3 to M8, and N4, N4a :and N6 are principally used. It will be evident that the numeral following the letter in each such designation indicates the number of cups C in the upper horizontal surface of the block. These cups are spaced from one another, in the same line, by a given distance which may be taken as twice the distance from the center of the single cup in block M1 to each vertical surface of the block (plus a slight clearance); this latter distance may be taken as a modulator distance, and the spacing between cups in the same row is a multiple modular distance (twice). The distance between rows of cups in the bond blocks preferably is governed by the same modular distance, al-

cally located and spaced. By these arrangements, as- 1 suming accuracy of molding (as may be attained by the invention of the companion application Serial No. 283,- 700), each block will interlit, at shifts by modular lintervals, with any block or blocks above or below it, in the same tier or an adjacent tier, and requires no mortar. A thin mastic may be and ordinarily is all that is used.

Some blocks have ridges R and some complemental grooves G at their vertical end edges, for further interitting. Some, like blocks N411 and M3, omit ridges and/ or grooves at one such end edge, usually because this end edge is to be exposed in a tier surface.

The wall structure made of such blocks is a multipletier wall; in its preferred form itis made up in three tiers, actual or hypothetical. The exterior tier, exposed to the weather, and the interior tier, constituting the inside wall of the building, may both be considered external tiers in relation to the intermediate tier, and they are quite similar in structural arrangement. The intermediate tier may be actually built up of blocks, or may be hypothetical, with the blocks omitted to lighten the structure. A description of a typical wall construction will make clear various typical forms which such a wall may assume, and the various different forms which may constitute part of the same wall at different levels. Thus, referring to Figure 1, a footing is indicated at 9 of poured concrete, and into this may be set, When'fresh, a starting course A. This is a course composed of three actual tiers, including two spaced face tiers and an intermedij ate tier between said face tiers, and is represented in I plan in Figure 2, and above it, alternating with it, may

be an exactly identical course reversed or, preferably, a somewhat similar actual three-tier course B as shown in Figure 3 is employed. Two such courses are shown, one upon another, in Figure 10, and such courses, alternating, may extend upwardly as far as is needful.

Course A consists of two blocks N411, placed side-byside, with stretcher blocks M4 between each pair of cross-bond blocks N4a. These two kinds of blocks make up a cross-bonded interior and intermediate tier in this lirst course A, and the exterior third tier in the same course is made up by a series of stretcher blocks M8 spaced from the intermediate tier by a distance exactly equal to the spacing between the face and intermediate tiers, that is, by the thrice-modular distance. Each block M8 is placed to span the joint between the blocks N4a, so that the joints between blocks in adjacent tiers will be staggered, and to extend to the middle of the blocks M4 at each side of the blocks N4a in the same course, as is clearly seen in Figures 2 and 10. It will be noted-and this is particularly helpful in this starter 'course-that the interlock between the blocks and their arrangement accurately in the plane of a tier is achieved and assisted by the interlock between the ridges R and grooves G of the several blocks. By the arrangement described there is left a continuous space S1 at the exterior side of the wall, Ibetween the exterior yface tier and the intermediate tier, which is exactly the same in thickness as the space S2 which lies between the interior face tier and the intermediate tiers, but which lis interrupted by the cross bond-blocks N4a.

In the next course above there might be two crosslbond blocks N4a resting now upon the stretcher blocks M8 of the exterior tier and upon and registering precisely with the cross-bond blocks N4a of the first course, in that portion which lies within the intermediate tier. That would make an exceptionally strong pier as the doubled blocks build upwardly, but so much strength is not ordinarily necessary and in addition it would make the intermediate tier to consist entirely of blocks M4, one upon another, and therefore not interlocked by breaking joints with any other type of block; this in itself would tend to weaken the wall. Accordingly, it is preferred that the course B be very nearly a reversal of the course A, but'dlfering therefrom in that a single crossbond block N4 is employed, spanning the joint between the blocks N4a but now connecting the exterior face tier and the intermediate tier, and in that these blocks N4 are interconnected by blocks M6 in the exterior and the intermediate tiers. The ends of the blocks M6 in the intermediate tier rest upon the outer edges of the blocks N4a in the course below in this intermediate tier, and the blocks M6 in the exterior tier in this second course B break joints with and span the two adjoining blocks M8 in the course below, and interlock with both thereof. The interior tier in the course B is composed of stretcher blocks M8 which span the two cross-bond blocks N411 in those portions which lie in the outer tier in the first course, and likewise extend over the adjoining ends of the blocks M4 in the outer tier, and thus each such block M8 in the second course B interlocks with four blocks in the course below in the same tier.

The wall proceeds thus upwardly, alternating courses similar to course A and to course B as far upwardly as is necessary for a wall of this rather appreciable strength and weight. This might well be to tfhe level of the first oor joists.

Without at this point stopping to described the manner in which the joists are mounted and supported, it will be evident that the wall above these joists may well be somewhat lighter in construction. This lightening may be accomplished by omitting the intermediate tier. The wall may then be composed of two actual tiers and one hypothetical tier, which latter, as will hereinafter be made y clear, may become an actuality whenever required. Thus the course C, shown in Figures 4 and 11, continues the to reinforce the wall structure, and this may be done very readily by incorporating in that course D, or in'it and in the course below it, an actual intermediate tier inade up of the stretcher blocks M6. The ends of these rest upon the outer edges of the cross-bond blocks N411 so that they will be solidly supported from thecolumn structure, and they will be located accurately in position by the interengagement of their grooves G with the ribs R of the cross-bond blocks N4, as may bje seen inFigure and in Figure 11. i

Once more reserving for later description the course which contains the end of the second door joists, it will `be clear that the lwall thereabove .may be further lightened, and this may be done both by omitting the intermediate tier and by lightening the column construetion, by the employment in each alternate course E and F of a cross-bond block N4 instead of two blocks N4a fin every other course.

The cross-bond `blocks N4 in alterate courses will 'rest at their inner ends upon one another, and they are joined by stretcher blocks M6, and rthe opposite tier in the same course continues to be made up ofV stretcher blocks M8 with their joints intermediate the ends ofthe stretcher blocks M6 in the opposite tier. This construction is rather clearly shown in Figures 6, 7 and l2. If reinforcement is needed, for the support' of 4a roof for example, Vthe doubled cross-bond blocks N4a may again be employed, and in the course thereabove stretchers M6 can again be used, resting upon the doubled blocks N4a, just as in vthe successive courses C and D.

It will be remembered that by preference the starting i course A has the exterior tier formed by successive blocks M8 to leave a continuous space S1 between that exterior tier and the intermediate tier. By so doing there is provided a channel in which any water that may seep in from the exterior Will collect and run, and from which it may be drained off, as, for example, to a drain tile T in Figure 1. Weep holes maybe provided for the purpose in the exterior tier, and the interior tier should be waterproofed on itsouter face. It is immaterial how 'many tiers `may be buried beneath the surface of the ground and thus be subject to infiltration of ground water, for all these courses will provide a drainage space, continuous or discontinuous, leading to and confined to the space S1 in the lowermost course A, and weep holes `may 'be provided at various locations to permit drainage 'of water wherever such drainage is `likely to Ibe-effe'ctive The wall construction which has been described is v"admirably suited'to the incorporation and support of iioor joists J and the like. If the modular distance is one inch, as preferred, and the spacing between centers of the cups C is two inches, as is also preferred, then i a joist of nominal two inch thickness will t into one such twice-modular space. Referring to Figures 13 and 14, it will be seen that the joists, if of a height exceeding the height of the blocks, have their ends beveled or otherwise reduced in height, and they are located so that their ends will project into the wall and rest upon some element thereof, preferably spanning the two interior tiers-that is, the interior tier and the intermediate tier. This joist-supporting course may be termed A', as it is a substantial duplicate of the course A. The joists may rest upon the column-forming blocks N4a or N4, or, as shown in Figure 15, they may span the gap between two stretcher blocks such as M4. The joist end, then,

may extend just past and abuts the side ofthe opposite block N4, and in the interior tier instead of vemploying the stretcher blocks M8, the two inch shorter blocks M7 are employed. The end of such a stretcher block M7 abuts but` does not interfere lwith the joist, and on the opposite side of the joist another stretcher M7 replaces the normal stretcher M8, and spans the distance to. the next joist. By this means the joists are located at 16-inch centers, which is normal, and standard blocks are still usable. In the course above the joists, the normal construction may be resumed, and will interlock with and break joint with respect to, the blocks M7 to a suiiicient degree that there is no loss of strength or stability.

It is preferred that the joists I do not rest directly upon the blocks in the wall structure, but rather that they rest upon joist anchors 8. These anchors are provided with buttons St) corresponding in size and in distance transversely of the wall of the buttons in the lower edges of a block, such as la block N4, and so these buttons will rest within the cups C of the blocks beneath them, and by providing spuds 8.1 projecting upwardly from the anchor 8 into holes bored in the lower edge of the joist to receive them, or otherwise securely engaging the anchor plate with the joist, the joist is solidly anchored to the anchor 8- and the latter is solidly anchored into the wall, so that the joist end may not be disp-laced. For preliminarily fixing the anchor in place, va nail 8'2 my be employed.

The blocks have thus been described lin a three-tier wall construction, in various gradations of strength and weight. It is of course possible to omit entirely, instead of only partially, the intermediate tier, and so to build what is in fact a two-tier wall throughout, and that is what is shown in Figure 16. Figure .16, however, is lprirr'larily for the purpose of showing the manner in which such blocks will cooperate in standard fashion where two runs of the wall meet in a corner construction.

The lowermost course is not necessarily the starting course, but is shown as including the blocks N6, which serve to space apart accurately the exterior tier and the interior tier by a distance equivalent to six modular runits. These tiers are made up in conjunction with the portions of the blocks N6 that lie in the respective tiers, by the stretcher blocks M6. At the corner, however, in the interior tier, a block lM8 is employed the end of which projects partly through the interior tier of the angled run of the wall; to complete the corner, three blocks M3 are employed, two of which lie in the angled run and labut the opposite faces of the block M8; the third lies in the exterior tier of the irst run. In the vangled run the construction may be completed, in the outer tier, with -a block M6. A block N6, and then the regular blocks M6 and N6 alternating, follow. In the next course above the exterior tier is constituted primarily by stretcher blocks M8 spanning the portion of the fblocks N6 which lie in the exterior tier and spanning, also, the blocks M6 and'breaking joint the latter. The Yinterior -tier is constituted primarily by `blocks N4 resting upon that portion of the blocks N6 which lie in the interior tier with stretcher blocks M6 resting directly upon the blocks M6 in the interior tier of the course below. At the corner in this second tier, a stretcher block M3 in the one run spans the joint between the blocks M3 and M6 at the corner, and interlocks them, and another block M3 ties in the intruding end of the block M8 to the block M6. A block M5 spans the intruding block M8 and interlocks with the blocks M3 at opposite sides thereof, and then beyond the corner the construction proceeds as before.

The course next above is in eifect a reversal of the course just described, as may be seen in the upper part of Figure 16.

The blocks may be assembled in slightly different fashion, where great lateral stability is required, or where heavy lateral loading is expected. This arrangement is shown in Figures 17, 18 and 19. Here the starting course is normal in all respects except that in the intermediate tier a block M6a of a height of only half the height of the normal block is employed, or else a normal block M6 is employed, and is sunk into the footing to permit it to project only half its height. By this means, al-

though the interior and the exterior tiers may be built up in normal manner, the interior tier blocks are vertically offset relative to and break joint vertically with the two outside tiers, yet its blocks lock across the joint between column-forming blocks N4 through the interengagement of their respective ribs and grooves, and as a result the wall structure is extremely resistant to side forces.

Typical usage of nearly all the standard forms of block shown in Figures 8 and 9 has been illustrated in the detailed description above. As to those not speciically described, it will be evident that they are required only occasionally, when they may be used in special situations as fillers. However, the description above has shown the great variety of yforms of construction and architectural forms of design that are capable of being built with no more than the approximately dozen standard forms of blocks constituting a set. By thus keeping the number of different forms 'and styles low, the problem of manufacturing, storing, shipping and handling the blocks is reduced greatly, and the entire operation is made economically feasible.

I claim as my invention:

1. A block wall structure comprising two spaced face tiers and an intermediate tier between said face tiers, each tier being formed of courses of blocks including stretcher blocks fitted only in a single tier and interleaved superposed c-ross bond blocks interconnecting said face tiers and defining columns between said face tiers, the joints between the blocks in adjacent courses being staggered, courses in said two face tiers being substantially on the same level, one horizontal surface of each -stretcher block having spaced cups therein and the other horizontal surface of each stretcher block having spaced buttons projecting therefrom, said cups and buttons being fitted with buttons and cups, respectively, of blocks in adjacent courses, the two horizontal surfaces of each of said cross bond blocks having `at least two rows of cups therein and two rows of buttons projecting therefrom, said rows of cups and buttons extendingparallel to the wall, a cup of one of said rows of each of said cross bond blocks and a button of one of said rows of the same cross bond block being iitted with a button and a cup, respectively, of cross bond blocks in the adjacent courses of the intermediate tier, `and the cups of another of said rows of the same cross bond block and the buttons of another of said rows of the same cross bond block being tted with buttons andcnps, respectively, of blocks in the adjacent courses of at least 011e and are connecteclby interfitted lcup and buttonengagement in both of the spaced face tiers.

3. The block wall structure defined in claim 1, in

Awhich ends of intermediate tier stretcherv blocks and the 'such intermediate tier.

4. The block wall structure defined in claim 1,'Vin which alternate courses of one face tier include, at cross bond block column locations spaced lengthwise of such courses, pairs of cross bond blocks, the two cross bond blocks in each pair being disposed side-by-sidepand the `courses of the other face tier on levels betweenV the levels .oflsuch alternate courseshaving only a single cross bond block at each such cross bond block Vcolumn location, each such single cross bond block at least partially overlapping both blocks of each adjacent pair of crossbond blocks above and below such single cross bond block, and each such single cross bond block ybeing connected by interfitted cup and button engagement with both blocks of each adjacent pair of cross bond blocks above and below such single cross bond block.

5. The wall structure defined in claim 4, in which end portions of intermediatevtier stretcher blocks are disposed injthe same courses and adjacent to the single cross bond blocks and are fitted between portions of cross bond blocks of adjacent pairs of cross bond blocks above and belowl such stretcher block end portions, and such stretcher block end portions are connected by interfitted cup and button engagement with such portions of 'cross bond blocks Aof adjacent pairs of cross bond blocks such courses, and a joist having an end portion supported by said joist anchor plate.

References cited in the nie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.'22,913 Wells Sept. 9, 1947 534,462 Balsley Feb. 19, 1895 1,318,828 Baker Oct. 14, 1919 1,543,331 Hoenemann June 23, 1925 1,565,537 Wells Dec. 15, 1925 1,571,285 `McDougall Feb. 2, 1926 1,782,216 Shodron Nov. 18, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS y 915,121 France of1946 966,504 France of 195,0 140,393 Great Britain of 1920 Sweden yof 192,2

Images