VENTILATED BUILDING BLOCK
A building block for a ventilated wall includes an elongated center portion flanked by a pair of substantially parallel side walls oriented substantially perpendicularly to the center portion. The center portion has a first vertical wall and a second sloped wall, the second sloped wall extending between a relatively thicker bottom wall of the center portion and a relatively thinner top wall of the center portion. The first wall is co-planar with first edges of the side walls. A stacked arrangement of such blocks, where adjacent blocks are inverted and reversed, establishes front-to-back air passages that do not provide a sight line, and which prevent rain from passing through. A mold assembly for manufacturing the blocks is also disclosed.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/292,376 filed on Nov. 18, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.
This application relates to a building block construction, and more specifically, to a self-ventilating block with weather inhibiting and privacy enhancing features.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCurrently, typical concrete ventilating blocks are formed with straight, internal passages extending vertically through the block, such that when plural blocks are stacked, a ventilating “chimney” is formed. These and other block constructions are well represented in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,137,153 discloses ventilated wall blocks that are stacked vertically in an alternately inverted orientation, establishing both vertical and horizontal vent passageways. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,634, a block is disclosed that, when stacked, creates vertical vents or cores. Still other block constructions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,758,757; 2,624,193; and 4,823,530. There remains a need, however, for a horizontally-vented block for use in wall constructions that allows horizontal air circulation through the wall, but that inhibits rain from passing through the wall and that also enhances the privacy of persons on the interior side of the wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with an exemplary but nonlimiting embodiment of the invention, there is provided a building block for a ventilated wall comprising: an elongated center portion flanked by a pair of substantially parallel side walls oriented substantially perpendicularly to the center portion, the center portion having a first vertical wall and a second sloped wall, said second sloped wall extending between a relatively thicker bottom wall of the center portion and a relatively thinner top wall of the center portion; and wherein the first wall is substantially co-planar with first edges of the side walls.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a wall unit comprising at least first and second building blocks each having an elongated center portion flanked by a pair of substantially parallel side walls oriented substantially perpendicularly to the center portion, the center portion having a first vertical wall and a second sloped wall, the second sloped wall extending between a relatively thicker base of the center portion and a relatively thinner top of the center portion; the first wall being co-planar with first edges of the side walls, and wherein the first and second building blocks are stacked one on the other, with the second block inverted and reversed relative to the first block.
In still another embodiment, the invention relates to a mold assembly for forming a ventilated construction block, the mold assembly comprising a mold core including a centrally-located block portion attached to an underside of a core plate portion, the block portion having an inverted, truncated, substantially right-triangle shape including a first sloped surface.
The invention will now be described in detail in connection with the drawings identified below.
With reference initially to
Accordingly, the center portion 12 of the block has a flat, substantially vertical back wall 18 and a sloped front wall 20. The back wall 18 is flush or co-planar with back (or first) edges 22, 24 of the side walls 14, 16, respectively. The sloped front wall 20 extends between a relatively thicker bottom wall or base 26 to a relatively thinner top wall 28, the acute slope angle preferably in the range of about 45-90° (shown at 71.3′ in
In this exemplary embodiment, the side walls 14, 16 extend beyond, i.e., forward of, the sloped front wall 20, and the relatively thinner top wall 28 extends above the upper (or second) edges 30, 32 of the side walls.
Lower (or third) edges 30a and 32a of the sidewalls are flush with the bottom wall or base 26. A horizontal shoulder 34 extends horizontally across the sloped front wall 20 at a height substantially equal to the height of the side walls, such that shoulder 34 lies in the same horizontal plane as the upper edges 30, 32 of the side walls 14, 16. Alternatively, surface 34 could be regarded as the top surface of the block, contiguous with upper edges 30, 32, and with a truncated triangular lip 33 projecting from the surface 34, the lip inset from the front edge 35 of surface 34, but flush with the back wall 18, and extending between the inside edges of the side walls 14 and 16.
In the exemplary but non-limiting implementation of the invention illustrated in
With reference now to
Turning now to
In the block manufacturing process, a pallet plate (not shown) is moved into position below the mold box, and concrete is poured into the box. The mold box is vibrated to settle and uniformly distribute the concrete, and then the plunger 56 and stripper shoe 58 are moved into the box to compress the concrete while under vibration, within the confines of the inner and outer divider plates 52, 54, end liners (not shown) and about the core 50. When the block 10 has been formed, it is stripped from the mold by removing the pallet, enabling the stripper shoe and plunger to push the finished product out of the mold box.
It will be appreciated that other block configurations are within the scope of this invention. For example, the sloped center portion may be flat as shown in
In still another embodiment, a vertical center wall may be interposed between the side walls, extending parallel thereto, with a gap between the adjacent lip portions. This arrangement is especially suited for wider blocks where the center wall will provide additional strength.
For these and other block shapes within the scope of the invention, appropriate changes in the mold components are required, but such changes are well within the skill of the artisan having been apprised of the desired configuration of the block.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A wall unit comprising at least first and second building blocks each having an elongated center portion flanked by a pair of substantially parallel side walls oriented substantially perpendicularly to said center portion, said center portion having a first vertical wall and a second sloped wall, said second sloped wall extending between a relatively thicker base of said center portion and a relatively thinner top of said center portion; said first wall being co-planar with first edges of said side walls; and wherein said first and second building blocks are stacked one on the other, with said second block inverted and reversed relative to said first block.
2. The wall unit of claim 1 wherein the side walls of adjacent stacked blocks are engaged, and wherein, on a front side of said wall unit, the thinner edge of the second block and the base of the first block form a first forward-facing aperture, and on a back side of the wall unit, the thinner edge of said first block and the base of said second block form a second rearward-facing aperture.
3. The wall unit of claim 1 wherein said forward and rearward facing apertures are connected by an upward and rearward-extending ventilation passage.
4. The wall unit of claim 2 wherein said at least two blocks comprises more than two blocks in a vertical stack.
5. The wall unit of claim 4 wherein said at least two blocks comprises plural vertical stacks in side-by-side relationship.
Type: Application
Filed: May 21, 2010
Publication Date: Sep 9, 2010
Inventor: Mark E. Lee Lum (Maraval)
Application Number: 12/785,036
International Classification: E04C 1/39 (20060101); E04B 1/70 (20060101);