Product of a method for manufacturing non-seamed stone corners for veneer stone surfaces
A product of a method is disclosed, the method being for construction of non-seamed stone corners for use on outside edges formed by joining thin stone walls at right angles. Thin stone is used to lay the field of the walls. In the method, two cuts are made in a building stone, removing a residual piece and leaving a corner stone with sides ½ inch to 3 inch thick to match the thickness of the thin stone on the field of the walls. These corner stones are the product of the method and are laid on the corner formed by the right angle joint between the walls, giving the illusion of a thick building stone wall with nearly the low cost and easy laying of thin stone. Where the residual piece is large enough, it is used to cut a second corner stone in the same manner.
This application is a divisional of pending application Ser. No. 10/682,431 of the same subject matter, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, and which was a continuation in part from application Ser. No. 10/195,435 of the same subject matter subsequently issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,099.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to stone masonry, and in particular to the construction of stone surfaces and corners using veneer stone.
2. Background Description
Formerly stone is laid as a structural component or as an aesthetic cladding or veneer on houses, buildings, walls, chimneys and as paving or flooring.
Stone comes in different types: thin stone one-half inch to three inches thick that is either a field stone or is quarried and split to the appropriate size; and building stone, which is a three inch to nine inch thick stone that is either a field stone or is quarried and split to the appropriate size. Thin stone and building stone are generally the same stone except for their different thicknesses.
There are many other types of stone: flag stone, granite, marble, dimensional stone that typically comes in thin panels flat or polished. Also there are boulders and edging, none of which are of concern to the present invention. Only thin stone and building stone are of concern to the present invention.
The advantages and disadvantages of thin stone are as follows. Thin stone is inexpensive to buy, easy and inexpensive to lay, and easy and inexpensive to transport. However, thin stone leaves an unsightly joint on the outside corners of the wall, house, building or whatever is being laid. At the outside corners, the thickness of the stone can be readily ascertained because the thin edge of the stone is visible, which shatters the illusion of a thick (4 inch to 9 inch) stone cladding most preferred by customers. It should be noted that inside corners are not a problem, because the thin edges do not show and there is no difference in the appearance between building stone and thin stone. The difficulty is with the external corner.
There are two inadequate solutions in the prior art. First, building stone is laid instead of thin stone, which solves the problem of unsightly corners of thin stone. The down side of building stone is it's expensive to buy, hard and expensive to lay, and heavy and expensive to transport.
Second, culture or imitation stone may be used to provide an illusion of thick stone at the corners. Culture stone is made of poured and cast concrete to which is applied a thin cladding layer of simulated rock on the front and edges. Culture stone comes in a two part system. Flat stones (½ inch to 3 inch thick) laid on the wall surface and corner pieces shaped like a 90 degree “L” (½ inch to 3 inches thick) laid on the corners of the wall. Laid together, these surface and corner pieces give the illusion of thick stone, but it is light in weight compared to thick stone and it has the easy laying character of thin stone.
The drawbacks to this solution are as follows: culture stone costs as much per square foot of surface area as thick building stone. Culture stone can't be cleaned with commercial acid based masonry cleaners to remove mortar stains, as this would corrode the “stone” appearance and void the warranty. Culture stone can't be used in constant contact with water (ponds, swimming pools and the like), unlike real stone. Furthermore, culture stone doesn't lend itself to fit and finish as well as thin stone. Typically, thin stone is trimmed a bit with a hammer and/or flipped over to fit in various spots in a wall.
It is to be noted that another potential solution is not workable. Culture stone corners cannot be used with thin stone walls because the texture of the culture stone cladding is noticeably different from thin stone, and makes the corners unsightly on that account.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a way of constructing outside corner stones for veneer stone surfaces which hide the seams which appear when thin stone veneer is used at the corners.
Another object of the invention is to provide for efficient use of building stone by making two outside corner stones from a single building stone.
The invention is implemented as follows. On a typical wall utilize thin stone to lay the field of the wall. Then cut 90 degree corners out of building stone squares and rectangles so as to leave a corner piece ½ inch to 3 inch thick to match the thickness of the thin stone on the field of the wall. Lay these on the corners of the wall. This will give the illusion of a thick building stone wall with nearly the low cost and easy laying of thin stone; the wall with these corner pieces costs much less than a wall laid with culture stone, and is nearly as light.
In one embodiment, the method of the invention constructs non-seamed stone corners for first and second thin stone walls of thickness T1 and T2, respectively, joined at right angles at an external edge, by selecting a building stone having a height H, a depth D and a width W, the building stone having top and bottom surfaces H1 and H2, respectively, front and back surfaces D1 and D2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W1 and W2, respectively. Then a first cut is made in the selected building stone, the plane of the first cut being parallel to the plane of surface W1 and extending to a uniform depth from surface H1, such that the distance between the plane of the first cut and the plane of surface W1 is T1, and such that the uniform depth is equal to (H-T2). Then a second cut is made in the building stone, the plane of the second cut being parallel to the plane of surface H1 and extending to a second uniform depth from surface W2, such that the distance between the plane of the second cut and the plane of surface H2 is T2, and such that the second uniform depth is equal to (W-T1).
These two cuts separate from the building stone a residual piece, leaving a corner stone. In a further embodiment of the invention, the residual piece is large enough for use in making a second corner stone. The residual piece is re-oriented as a workpiece so that neither the left surface nor the bottom surface is formed by either the first cut or the second cut, since the left and bottom surfaces (as viewed in preparation for the initial cut) will show on the corner and should be a natural stone surface rather than a saw cut surface. Three such re-orientations are possible. After such re-orientation, the residual piece will have a height H′, a width W′ and a depth D′. The residual piece will also have top and bottom surfaces H′1 and H′2, respectively, left and right surfaces W′1 and W′2 respectively, and front and back surfaces D′1 and D′2, respectively. Essentially the same method used to create the first corner stone is then used upon the re-oriented residual piece to create a second corner stone. A third cut is made in the residual piece, the plane of the third cut being parallel to the plane of surface W′1 and extending to a third uniform depth from surface H′1, such that the distance between the plane of the third cut and the plane of surface W′1 is T1, and such that the third uniform depth is equal to (H′-T2). A fourth cut is made in the residual piece, the plane of the fourth cut being parallel to the plane of surface H′1 and extending to a fourth uniform depth from surface W′2, such that the distance between the plane of the fourth cut and the plane of surface H′2 is T2, and such that the fourth uniform depth is equal to (W′-T1).
In a second embodiment, as in the first, the method of the invention constructs non-seamed stone corners for first and second thin stone walls of thickness T1 and T2, respectively, joined at right angles at an external edge, by selecting a building stone having a height H, a depth D and a width W, the building stone having top and bottom surfaces H1 and H2, respectively, front and back surfaces D1 and D2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W1 and W2, respectively. The two cuts necessary to produce the non-seamed stone corner are made simultaneously by orienting the stone in a right angled trough which slopes downward and within which is mounted circular saw blades at right angles to one another. The saw blades rotate in planes parallel to the respective sides of the trough and are adjusted so that the distances between the blade and the side of the trough are T1 and T2, respectively. It is sufficient if the clearance between the cutting edges of the blades is about an eighth of an inch. The dimensions H and W of the stone block must be less than the diameter of the respective saw blades, but the depth D can be longer.
In this embodiment, in order to provide for control of thicknesses T1 and T2, the respective saw blades are mounted so as to allow for two degrees of freedom. A first degree of freedom is the distance between the plane of the saw and the plane of the side of the trough which is parallel to the plane of the saw. A second degree of freedom is movement of the shaft of the saw blade along a line within the plane of the trough side and perpendicular to the vee of the trough, in order to achieve a separation of about an eighth of an inch between the cutting edges of the two saw blades. A further aspect of this embodiment is adjustable legs for the trough so that the downward slope of the trough for a gravity feed of the stone to be cut may be varied from about ten degrees to about eighty degrees from the horizontal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:
Stone corners in accordance with the invention can be made with two types of common masonry saws. The stationary saw 100 as shown in
Now turning to
The stone 130 is then rolled to the left as shown in
The result of the cutting process is shown in a perspective drawing of the stone 130 in
In a further implementation of the invention, the same stone workpiece 130 may be cut into corner stone 160 using a saw assembly having two saw blades, as shown in
As shown in cutaway
The positioning of the respective saw blades 530 by adjustment is shown with respect to
X1=S1/2+T2+α;
X2=S2/2+T1+α,
where X1 is the distance from the shaft 550A of the first saw 540A to the “V” corner 520 of the chute 510, S1 is the diameter of the first saw 540A, X2 is the distance from the shaft 550B of the second saw 540B to the “V” corner 520 of the chute 510, S2 is the diameter of the second saw 540B, and α is a small offset to achieve a blade separation of about one-eighth of an inch at the cutting edges. It will be observed that the dimensions H and W of the stone workpiece 130 must be less than X1 and X2, respectively, and as a practical matter the dimensions of H and W may be several inches less than the limits X1 and X2 in order to allow ample clearance between the workpiece 130 and the saw blade shafts 550 as the workpiece 130 travels down the chute 510.
The workpiece emerges in the shape of a 90 degree “L” non-seamed stone corner as shown in
The stone corner 160 may now be laid in the wall, as may be seen with reference to
A thin stone wall having corner pieces in accordance with the invention may be contrasted with the prior art alternatives. A cutaway view from the top of the wall for the conventional thin stone veneer is shown in
Turning now to
In contrast, the vertical corner edge of a wall laid with thin stone has a noticeable and undesirable seam, as shown in
The invention improves upon all the prior art alternatives. It provides a seamless corner edge where two thin stone walls join. By using thin stone for laying the field of the wall, there is an advantage over building stone walls because thin stone is lighter, and therefore is less expensive and easier to transport and lay. And thin stone with cut corner pieces is more versatile than culture stone because it can be used in water, can be trimmed and flipped to fit in various spots in a wall, and can be cleaned with commercial acid based masonry cleaners.
While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A non-seamed stone corner for first and second thin stone walls of thickness T1 and T2, respectively, said first and second walls being joined at right angles at an external edge, the corner created by a method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a building stone having a height H, a depth D and a width W, said building stone having top and bottom surfaces H1 and H2, respectively, front and back surfaces D1 and D2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W1 and W2, respectively;
- orienting said building stone at the higher end of an inclined chute having perpendicular sides C1 and C2, such that surface W1 rests on side C1 and surface H2 rests on side C2;
- adjusting dual stone cutting saw blades B1 and B2 mounted perpendicularly to one another and parallel to respective sides C1 and C2 in said chute, such that the distance between blade B1 and side C1 is T1 and the distance between blade B2 and side C2 is T2, and the cutting edges of blades B1 and B2 have a clearance of about one-eighth of an inch;
- feeding said oriented building stone down said chute and through said saw blades; and
- removing from said building stone a residual piece, said removal step of the method leaving said building stone remainder as a corner stone.
2. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 1, the method further comprising the steps of:
- sandblasting said corner stone at surfaces formed by said first cut and said second cut; and
- laying said corner stone on said external edge joining said first and second thin stone walls.
3. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 1, wherein the height H of said building stone is between three inches and ten inches, the width W of said building stone is between three inches and ten inches, the depth D of said building stone is between three inches and twenty-four inches, the thickness T1 of said first thin stone wall is one and one-half inches, and the thickness T2 of said second thin stone wall is one and one-half inches.
4. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 1, said method further comprising the steps of:
- re-orienting said residual piece in preparation for cutting so that neither the surface facing side C1 nor the surface facing side C2 is formed by said first or second cuts, wherein the height H′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and ten inches, the width W′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and ten inches, the depth D′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and twenty-four inches, said re-oriented residual piece having top and bottom surfaces H′1 and H′2, respectively, front and back surfaces D′1 and D′2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W′1 and W′2, respectively;
- orienting said re-oriented residual piece at the higher end of said inclined chute, such that surface W′1 rests on side C1 and surface H′2 rests on side C2;
- feeding said re-oriented residual piece down said chute and through said saw blades; and
- removing from said residual piece a second residual piece, said removal step of the method leaving said residual piece remainder as a second corner stone.
5. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 4, the method further comprising the steps of:
- sandblasting said second corner stone at surfaces formed by said third cut and said fourth cut; and
- laying said second corner stone on said external edge joining said first and second thin stone walls.
6. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 4, wherein the thickness T1 of said first thin stone wall is one and one-half inches, and the thickness T2 of said second thin stone wall is one and one-half inches.
7. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 2, wherein said corner stone is oriented so that said surface W1 of said corner stone is parallel to said first thin stone wall and said surface H2 of said corner stone is parallel to said second thin stone wall.
8. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 5, wherein said second corner stone is oriented so that said surface W′1 of said second corner stone is parallel to said first thin stone wall and said surface H′2 of said second corner stone is parallel to said second thin stone wall.
9. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 1, wherein said clearance is obtained by adjusting a lateral position of a shaft F1 of blade B1 and a lateral position of shaft F2 of blade B2 such that a nearest distance X1 along side C1 between shaft F1 and an edge joining sides C1 and C2 is determined by X1=S1/2+T2+α, and a nearest distance X2 along side C2 between shaft F2 and said edge is determined by X2=S2/2+T1+α, where S1 is the diameter of blade B1, S2 is the diameter of blade B2, and α is about one-eighth of an inch.
10. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 4, wherein in said re-orienting step of the method the residual piece is rotated one hundred eighty degrees counterclockwise about an axis between and perpendicular to front and back surfaces of the residual piece.
11. A non-seamed stone corner for first and second thin stone walls of thickness T1 and T2, respectively, said first and second walls being joined at right angles at an external edge, the corner created by a method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a building stone having a height H, a depth D and a width W, said building stone having top and bottom surfaces H1 and H2, respectively, front and back surfaces D1 and D2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W1 and W2, respectively;
- making a first cut in said building stone, the plane of said first cut being parallel to the plane of surface W1 and extending to a uniform depth from surface H1, such that the distance between the plane of said first cut and the plane of surface W1 is T1, and such that said uniform depth is equal to (H-T2);
- making a second cut in said building stone, the plane of said second cut being parallel to the plane of surface H1 and extending to a second uniform depth from surface W2, such that the distance between the plane of said second cut and the plane of surface H2 is T2, and such that said second uniform depth is equal to (W-T1); and
- removing from said building stone a residual piece, said removal step of the method leaving said building stone remainder as a corner stone.
12. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 11, the method further comprising the steps of:
- sandblasting said corner stone at surfaces formed by said first cut and said second cut; and
- laying said corner stone on said external edge joining said first and second thin stone walls.
13. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 11, wherein the height H of said building stone is between three inches and six inches, the width W of said building stone is between three inches and six inches, the depth D of said building stone is between three inches and ten inches, the thickness T1 of said first thin stone wall is one and one-half inches, and the thickness T2 of said second thin stone wall is one and one-half inches.
14. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 11, said method further comprising the steps of:
- re-orienting said residual piece in preparation for cutting so that neither the left surface nor the bottom surface is formed by said first or second cuts, wherein the height H′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and six inches, the width W′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and six inches, the depth D′ of said re-oriented residual piece is between three inches and ten inches, said re-oriented residual piece having top and bottom surfaces H′1 and H′2, respectively, front and back surfaces D′1 and D′2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W′1 and W′2, respectively;
- making a third cut in said residual piece, the plane of said third cut being parallel to the plane of surface W′1 and extending to a third uniform depth from top surface H′1, such that the distance between the plane of said third cut and the plane of surface W′1 is T1, and such that said third uniform depth is equal to (H′-T2);
- making a fourth cut in said residual piece, the plane of said fourth cut being parallel to the plane of surface H′1 and extending to a fourth uniform depth from surface W′2, such that the distance between the plane of said fourth cut and the plane of bottom surface H′2 is T2, and such that said fourth uniform depth is equal to (W′-T1); and
- removing from said residual piece a second residual piece, said removal step of the method leaving said residual piece remainder as a second corner stone.
15. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 14, the method further comprising the steps of:
- sandblasting said second corner stone at surfaces formed by said third cut and said fourth cut; and
- laying said second corner stone on said external edge joining said first and second thin stone walls.
16. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 14, wherein the thickness T1 of said first thin stone wall is one and one-half inches, and the thickness T2 of said second thin stone wall is one and one-half inches.
17. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 12, wherein said corner stone is oriented so that said surface W1 of said corner stone is parallel to said first thin stone wall and said surface H2 of said corner stone is parallel to said second thin stone wall.
18. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 15, wherein said second corner stone is oriented so that said surface W′1 of said second corner stone is parallel to said first thin stone wall and said surface H′2 of said second corner stone is parallel to said second thin stone wall.
19. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 11, wherein said first and second cuts are made with a stationary saw and between said first and second cuts the building stone is rotated ninety degrees counterclockwise as viewed from the front face.
20. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 14, wherein in said re-orienting step of the method the residual piece is rotated one hundred eighty degrees counterclockwise about an axis between and perpendicular to front and back surfaces of the residual piece.
21. A non-seamed stone corner for first and second thin stone walls of thickness T1 and T2, respectively, said first and second walls being joined at right angles at an external edge, the corner created by a method comprising the steps of:
- selecting a building stone having a height H, a depth D and a width W, said building stone having top and bottom surfaces H1 and H2, respectively, front and back surfaces D1 and D2, respectively, and left and right surfaces W1 and W2, respectively;
- making two cuts in said building stone, the plane of a first cut being parallel to the plane of surface W1, such that the distance between the plane of said first cut and the plane of surface W1 is T1, the plane of a second cut being parallel to the plane of surface H1, such that the distance between the plane of said second cut and the plane of surface H2 is T2; and
- removing from said building stone a residual piece, said removal step of the method leaving said building stone remainder as a corner stone.
22. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein said two cuts are made sequentially by a single saw blade.
23. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 22, wherein said two cuts are made sequentially by reorienting the building stone after the first cut.
24. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 22, wherein said single saw blade is a circular saw.
25. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein the two cuts are made simultaneously using two saw blades oriented at right angles.
26. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 25, wherein each of said two saw blades is a circular saw.
27. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein at least one of said two cuts is comprised of a plurality of cuts in approximately the same plane, each of said plurality of cuts being of approximately the same depth.
28. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein at least one of said two cuts is comprised of two separate cuts in approximately the same plane, each separate cut beginning at respective opposite ends perpendicular to the plane of the cut and being of approximately the same depth.
29. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein said first cut extends to a uniform depth from surface H1, such that said uniform depth is equal to (H-T2).
30. A non-seamed stone corner created by a method as in claim 21, wherein said second cut extends to a second uniform depth from surface W2, such that said second uniform depth is equal to (W-T1).
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 3, 2005
Publication Date: Nov 10, 2005
Inventor: Mark Holmes (Haymarket, VA)
Application Number: 11/143,585