Patent ID: 7743569
Filing Date: 2010-06-29
Classification: E04F

Abstract:
1. A support panel for thin brick, comprising: (a) a metal sheet; (b) an array of groove retaining tabs having first tab edges, said first tab edges protruding from said sheet having at an upward angle of less than about 45 degrees, for a distance of less than about one quarter inch; and (c) an array of mortar lock tabs having second tab edges, said second tab edges protruding from said sheet at a downward angle of greater than about 45 degrees, said array of mortar lock tabs being offset vertically from said array of groove retaining tabs, wherein, said array of groove retaining tabs are adapted to engage shallow dovetail grooves formed in the rear of thin bricks, and said mortar lock tabs are adapted, when embedded within a cured mortar matrix, to exert, in response to a tensile force away from said metal sheet, a force along a vertical axis, on the brick, in an opposite direction to a force applied to the brick along a vertical axis by said groove retaining tab, to thereby retain the brick against the panel.