Abstract:
This invention relates to the collection of solar energy by use of a novel concrete block construction and to the construction of buildings from such blocks for supplying the hot water requirements for a structure and/or the total heat for the building as well as the hot water supply.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     It has become common practice to conserve energy by putting heat collectors on a roof or on walls of a building for collecting some of the heat needed for the building, for example the supply of hot water, or all of the heat needed on days when there is ample sunlight. The average building that is to rely on the sun for all of the heat required in the building has been expensive so that a substantial part of the economy of solar heating has been lost. 
     Instead of adding heat collectors and heat storage equipment to the existing structure of the building, this invention constructs the building in such a way that much of the physical wall structure of the building is itself a heat collector and preferably a part of a wall of the building that requires original structure that makes the wall both a heat collector and a wall of the building structure. 
     The preferred construction uses novel concrete blocks with structural changes that make the blocks heat collectors as well as structural elements of the building wall, preferably a south wall. Other features of the invention relate to use of the heat collecting wall as one side of a tank which holds sufficient water to provide heat for the building during times when there is insufficient sunlight. 
     Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
     In the drawing, forming a part thereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views; 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of one end of a south wall of a building constructed with blocks in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged, sectional view through one of the blocks shown in FIG. 1, the section being taken on the line 1--1 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of FIG. 2; 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary, diagrammatic views of the construction in the air chamber above the walls shown in FIGS. 1 and 5; and 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 9--9 of FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a vertical wall 10 built of blocks 12 which will be described in detail in FIGS. 2-4 and 6. At the left hand end of the wall 12 there are other blocks 14 which are part of another wall 18 which extends usually at right angles to the wall 18 away from the observer viewing the wall 10 from the front of the wall 10 as in FIG. 1. The wall 10 faces south or as near south as possible depending upon the location of the building on the ground. The parallel vertical lines on the blocks 12 represent prism-like grooves on which the sunlight falls to heat the sloping surfaces as will be described in connection with FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the plane represented by line 2--2 of FIG. 1. The face of the blocks 12 shown in FIG. 2 have vertically extending ridges 20 which slope downward to baselines 22 so that there are surfaces extending downwardly from the vertical ridges 20. If the wall 10 faces due south, then the sloping walls are at right angles to each other and at 45° to the right or left of plane which bisects the ridges 20. The advantage of this construction is that in the morning, the sun shines more or less directly on the surfaces that face mostly in an easterly direction. Around noontime, the sloping faces on both sides of the ridges 20 are equally heated by the sun. As the sun moves westerly during the afternoon, the surfaces of the walls which face westerly obtain more direct rays and eventually only the walls facing westerly receive any sunlight. To divide the heat most evenly, the adjacent surfaces on opposite sides of the ridges 20 are substantially at right angles to one another where they meet at the ridges 20. 
     The face of the block between the vertical ridges 20 and the base line 22 will be referred to herein as the heat absorbing wall 24, and there are chambers 26 located in the block directly behind the vertical ridges 20, and these chambers 26 extend vertically and correspond to the respective ridges 20. The heat absorbing walls 24 are somewhat thicker than the wall that closes the other side of the chambers 26 for structural reasons. This wall is designated by the reference character 28. 
     In order to give the blocks 12 more stability in a wall, there is a rectangular portion 30 of the block behind the wall 28 and connected to the wall by webs 36 which are integral connecting walls between the wall 28 and the rectangular portion 30 of the block. 
     FIG. 3 is vertical section on the line 3--3 through the rectangular portion 30 of the block. There are two core openings 32 in the rectangular portion 30 of the block. These core openings 32 have their walls tapered toward the lower ends of the core openings, partly for added strength but mostly for facilitating the manufacture of the blocks by making it easier to pull the structure that occupies the core space during the molding of the block structure. Wall structure 34 which forms the sidewalls of the cores 32 may have parallel outside surfaces depending upon the apparatus with which the block is molded. 
     The chambers 26 are water passages and are represented diagramatically in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8 as pipes 33 and the wall structure that encloses them are preferably molded in machines similar to those used for making cinder blocks although the material cast in the mold is not the same. The rectangular portion 30 of the block is molded at the same time as the heat collecting portion with the sloping outside faces and these parts of the block, as shown in FIG. 2, are joined together by webs 36 which span the space between the lower walls of the chambers 26 and the confronting space of the rectangular portion 30 of the block. These webs 36 are preferably integral with the structure on both sides of the space which the webs 26 span so that the entire structure of the composite block shown in FIG. 2 is preferably an integral casting, though the material used may have different coefficients of heat absorption toward the front of the block which is exposed to the sunlight; generally, the structure should be of very dense material that is a good conductor of heat, with a coefficient of heat conductivity of at least 12 Btu/HR./°ΔT/ft. 2  /in. As the wall of a building is constructed, the blocks are preferably tied together by reinforcing rods which include horizontal rods 39 and vertical rods 40. There are depressions 38 in the top surfaces of the webs 36, best shown in FIG. 6, and there are vertical rods 40 placed in the open spaces between the webs 36 alongside of the horizontal reinforcing rods 38, as shown in FIG. 2. The reinforcing rods 38, which extend horizontally, have to be placed in the grooves of the webs 36 after each course of blocks is laid. The vertical reinforcing rods 40, however, can be pushed down, alongside of the rods 38 after the wall has been built to its full height. 
     The blocks are preferably manufactured of a very dense aggregate. For example, iron ore aggregate, such as Ilmenite, in gradations from 3/8 inch down to fine sand sized particles. This produces a fine-textured, dense block which makes an effective heat transfer medium. By placing heat absorbing paint on the heat collecting wall or using black coloring material in the mix the heat absorbtivity of the block is increased; and a waterproofing agent is added to the mix which will help to waterproof the water jacket and the tank walls. The block thus far described serves as the solar collector block and it is placed so that the faces having the ridges 20 are on the south facing wall of the building and of the water tank within the building in which heat is stored as will be explained in connection with FIG. 5. 
     The triangular shaped walls shown in FIG. 1 which enclose the chambers 26 form a water jacket which is further treated with waterproofing after the blocks have been assembled to make the wall 10 shown in FIG. 1. The open space behind the wall 28 is filled with concrete, and the large cores 32 are filled with insulating material. The water tank for storing heat behind the solar collector blocks wall 10 are the same as the solar collector blocks except that there are no angularly related faces meeting at vertical ridges 20 as in the blocks which face the sun and there are no chambers 26 for water which is heated by the solar heat which penetrates through the walls of the chambers 26. When the construction of the water tank 42 has been completed, the inside of the tank is completely waterproofed and the top of the tank is covered with a heavily insulated cover to reduce to a minimum any heat that might normally escape from the water in the tank. The size of the tank 42 depends on how much heat the system is capable of storing. This depends to a great extent upon the weather conditions at the place where the tank is to be used. It also depends upon the area of the wall which is exposed to solar heat and a happy medium is to have the tank capable of holding as much hot water as can be produced by the solar heat absorbed through the wall that faces south with sufficient storage capacity to have a useful amount of heat stored in the water during periods when no sunlight is available. 
     More heat can be collected and stored if the south facing wall 10 is covered with glazing, preferably two layers spaced from one another and indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 5 by the reference characters 46 and 48. Glass can be used but there are many glazing materials available on today&#39;s market and such materials will provide air space between the glazing and the wall of approximately 2 to 3 inches. 
     Such heat as escapes from the water tank 42 into the building in which the tank is housed is useful for providing a minimum supply of heat when none is available from outdoors but heat which escapes to the outdoors through the collector wall can be reduced by providing at the top of the south facing wall, between the wall and the glazing, a reflection blind 49 which can be unrolled at night to reduce the heat that would normally radiate from the south facing wall. As the solar heat collector wall heats up, there is some heat that is not absorbed by the water jacket. This heat will rise between the glazing and the surface of the block wall. An insulated chamber 52 can be provided at the top of the collector wall and fitted with copper heat exchangers 50 through which water can be circulated to absorb this heat. This heat can be put into storage by way of another heat exchanger in the heat storage system. The insulated chamber at the top of the wall, which contains the heat exchangers 50 can be opened at times when the heat exchangers would be inoperative and the hot air could be used directly for building heating requirements; by opening a door 52 (FIGS. 7 and 8). 
     Water enters the water jacket comprising the chambers 26 from the bottom of the tank 42. As it is heated by the solar energy collected, it will, naturally, rise and discharge again into the top of the water tank. To increase the efficiency and the speed of the water travelling through the jacket, a circulating pump 53 can be installed. 
     There are many ways of utilizing heat once it is collected. The easiest way is through the use of heat exchangers, which can be installed in the top of the storage tank 42 and hooked into the hot water heating system of a house. A similar heat exchanger would be provided to supply domestic hot water for the house. 
     In order to make the blocks waterproof, material can be added to the block mix and water. Examples of such materials are &#34;Anti-Hydro&#34; manufactured by the Anti-Hydro Company in Newark, N.J. Another suitable material is &#34;Radcon, Formula No. 7&#34; manufactured by Radcon Industries, Inc. in Las Vegas, Nev. 
     Waterproofing materials that can be used to waterproof the surface of the water jacket and the inside walls of the storage tank include &#34;Aridsil&#34; manufactured by the Anti-Hydro Company of Newark, N.J. Radcon, Formula No. 7 can also be used on the surface of a block wall to make it waterproof; and so can &#34;Surewall Surface Bonding Cement&#34; manufactured by W. R. Bonsall Company, Lilesville, N.C. Glazing materials that can be used include sheets of clear window glass of anyone&#39;s manufacture; sheets of &#34;Sun-Lite Glazing Material&#34; manufactured by Kalwall Corporation of Manchester, N.H. This same company makes insulated panels with a layer of air between them and a combination of the Sun-Lite material combined with DuPont Teflon FEP film, manufactured by the DuPont Corporation, Wilmington, Del. 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of a corner block 62, used where the walls 12 and 18 come together. This block 62 is flush with the inside surface of the collector block 12 but does not have the vertical ridges 20 toward the left in FIG. 9. The lower or inside wall of the block 62 has an offset 64 beyond which the left hand end surface of the block 62 has a face 66 with an area equal to one-half of the area of the collector blocks not considering the surfaces of the ridges of the collector blocks. An outside face 68 of the block 62 is of the same height and width as the collector blocks to have the blocks fit together at corners of the building as shown in FIG. 1. 
     The preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features of the claims can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention.