Masonry structure building aid

A masonry construction aid that enables novice and professional masons to easily construct a masonry structure such as a sidewalk, patio, driveway or vertical wall. The aid allows its user to insert masonry into a pre-determined, pre-formed, soluble pattern that contains within it a bonding material. After applying a catalyst such as water to the pattern, the pattern will disintegrate, the bonding agent will activate and bond the masonry together and harden into a permanent structure. This will result in a masonry structure that does not require any special skills to construct. The user will not be required to prepare or apply mortar, or manually align the masonry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to the field of masonry. More specifically, this 
invention relates to the art of enabling novice and professional masons to 
more easily lay and set masonry of various shapes, sizes and materials. 
2. Background Art 
Many people find it difficult to lay brick and various shaped paving stones 
permanently onto a fixed structure properly. The process consists of 
preparing a smooth and level surface, applying a layer of mortar for the 
foundation for the bricks or paving stones (rock, slate, etc.) to set in, 
laying the bricks or paving stones in proper alignment, then applying 
mortar between the bricks or stones. Each one of these tedious steps has 
to be accomplished properly to facilitate a level and square, permanently 
fixed surface. Artisans trained in this brick and stone laying process 
have less difficulty than the untrained novice. This often prevents the 
novice from accomplishing this process on his or her own. Furthermore, the 
high labor costs to employ a brick or masonry artisan often prohibits the 
unskilled person to have installed a brick or masonry surface. 
Several different types of articles have been devised to aid both the 
skilled artisan and the novice in laying brick and masonry surfaces. 
One method on horizontal surfaces is to use sand as the foundation for the 
masonry, align the masonry according to a pattern on top of the 
foundation, and fill the spaces between the masonry with sand. This method 
alleviates the need to mix and apply mortar but does not offer a permanent 
structure. With this method the masonry can shift and plant material can 
grow up through the sand. 
Another method is to apply dry mortar as a foundation, align the masonry 
according to a pattern on top of the dry mortar foundation, fill in the 
spaces between the masonry with dry mortar, then saturate the mortar with 
water. Eventually the mortar cures and hardens, leaving a permanent 
foundation and the masonry bonded together permanently. With this method, 
the mason must still meter the proper amount of dry mortar for the 
foundation and ensure that it is level. The mason must also manually align 
the masonry properly on the surface of the foundation and must also fill 
the spaces in between the masonry with dry mortar. 
There is also available an article that is a mold for making the actual 
masonry, but still requires a mason to prepare a level mortar foundation, 
align the masonry and fill in the spaces between the masonry with mortar. 
Another aid that is available, is a plastic tray that is used as a pattern 
to lay the masonry into. This allows simple alignment of the masonry. 
However, the user still must mix mortar and meter the proper amount of 
mortar for the foundation, and fill in the spaces between the masonry. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an article which helps 
the professional mason to more efficiently install masonry permanently 
onto a horizontal surface. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an article which 
helps the professional mason to more efficiently install masonry 
permanently onto a vertical surface. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an articles which 
enables the unskilled mason to install masonry permanently onto a 
horizontal surface. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an article which 
enables the unskilled mason to install masonry permanently onto a vertical 
surface. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an article which 
will eliminate the need for the professional or novice mason to prepare 
and apply a foundation of mortar in order to permanently set the masonry 
into the surface of the structure. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an article which 
will eliminate the need for the professional or novice mason to concern 
themselves with the skill or act of aligning the masonry in the proper 
pattern. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an article which 
will eliminate the need for the professional or novice mason to apply 
mortar in the spaces between the masonry in order to permanently set the 
masonry into the surface of the structure. 
To accomplish the above objects, the present invention is an article of 
manufacture that comprises of a container structure, and a filler material 
dispose within the container structure. The container structure is soluble 
by a catalyst so that the application of the catalyst exposes the filler 
material to ambient conditions. Once the filler material is exposed to 
ambient conditions, a catalyst is applied to the filler material so that 
the filler material exhibits bonding properties to bond the masonry 
together and to cure and harden the filler material into a permanent 
structure. The container structure and filler material is shaped in order 
to accept the masonry units in a predetermined pattern, for the purpose of 
simplified alignment of the masonry units.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The invention provides a mat that consists of two parts. One part of the 
mat is a container structure and the other part of the mat is the filler 
material. The container structure serves the dual purpose of both holding 
the filler material and forming the pattern for the masonry to fit into. 
The filler material in the preferred embodiment will contain a mortar or 
cement or some other material with the potential to exhibit bonding 
properties. This filler material will not possess bonding properties until 
a catalyst such as water or another chemical comes into contact with the 
filler material. The container structure is made of a material that 
exhibits the proper porosity to contain the filler material, but will also 
disintegrate with the contact and saturation of a catalyst. In the 
preferred embodiment the container structure is constructed out of a 
material that is water soluble, such as polyvinyl alcohol, cellulosics, 
natural gums, gelatin, polyethylene oxide or any other water soluble 
material. When a catalyst such as water or another chemical comes into 
contact with the container structure, the container structure dissolves 
and leaves the filler material exposed to be acted upon by a catalyst. 
In a first approach, the chemical catalyst that is used for the filler 
material is identical to the catalyst used for the container material. In 
this approach, when the catalyst saturates the container material, it 
breaks down the container material, saturates the filler material, and 
causes the filler material to exhibit bonding properties and eventually 
bonds the masonry both to each other and to the surface that the masonry 
are laying on, and permanently harden the filler material. 
In a second approach, the chemical catalyst that is used for the container 
material and the chemical catalyst that is used for the filler material 
are different. The purpose of the first catalyst is to breakdown and 
disintegrate the container material. The purpose of the second catalyst is 
to saturate the filler material, cause the filler material to exhibit 
bonding properties and cause the filler material to eventually bond the 
masonry both to each other and to the surface that the masonry are laying 
on, and permanently harden the filler material. 
The first embodiment of the article according to the present invention 
would be utilized to build a horizontal structure. This first embodiment 
could use the methods of catalyst from either the first or second 
approaches. For this first horizontal surface embodiment, the user would 
first prepare a level horizontal surface. The user would then lay the 
article onto the horizontal surface. The user of the article would simply 
insert the masonry into the recesses on the top surface of the apparatus, 
which are formed by the vertical container structure walls and the top 
horizontal surface of the container structure. The vertical container 
structure walls, the top horizontal surface and the bottom horizontal 
surface form a hollow portion which is filled with the filler material 
bonding agent. The next step would be to apply the single chemical 
catalyst according to the first approach, or the first of two chemical 
catalysts according to the second approach. The container structure walls 
would break down and begin to disintegrate. According to the first 
approach, the catalyst would be applied until the filler material was 
saturated to ensure thorough bonding properties and hardening of the 
filler material. According to the second approach, after the container 
structure material was in the appropriate stage of disintegration, the 
second catalyst would be applied until the filler material was saturated 
to ensure thorough bonding properties and hardening of the filler 
material. These actions would cause the masonry to be both bonded to the 
surface underneath the apparatus and to each other. This article would 
allow a person, unskilled in masonry to easily construct a permanent 
masonry sidewalk, patio, driveway or any other horizontal masonry surface, 
Said second embodiment of this article would allow a novice or skilled 
mason to easily construct a vertical masonry structure. This second 
embodiment would provide for a container structure and filler material 
similar to the above mentioned embodiments. This second embodiment would 
provide for a container structure to be made of a plurality of vertical 
and horizontal walls which would form a specific pattern. This container 
structure would hold the filler bonding material as in the previous 
mentioned embodiment. This container structure would be suspended 
vertically to form the length, width and height of the anticipated 
vertical structure. After the container structure is suspended, the 
masonry would be inserted into the cavities formed by the vertical and 
horizontal walls of the container structure. After all of the masonry is 
inserted into the suspended container structure, the single catalyst 
according to the first approach or the first of two catalysts according to 
the second approach is applied to the container structure to saturate and 
disintegrate the container structure. After the container structure has 
disintegrated, the single catalyst according to the first approach, or the 
second catalyst according to the second approach is applied to saturate 
and cure the filler bonding material. This will result in a permanent 
vertical structure. After the container structure has disintegrated, the 
masonry will provide the horizontal and vertical support to the filler 
bonding material until the filler bonding material can completely cure and 
harden. After the filler bonding material is hardened, a vertical masonry 
structure will be formed without the need for mixing and applying mortar 
and aligning the masonry properly. 
The present invention may be embodied as a horizontal structure, (such as a 
sidewalk, patio, driveway or parking lot), vertical structure (such as a 
wall), or any other structure that involves the use of masonry or other 
materials that are bonded together by mortar or a cementious material. 
However, for the sake of clarity of the disclosure, the illustrative 
description is consistently phrased for the horizontal and vertical 
structure embodiment only. The manner in which a building material is 
bonded together without the need to handle or manipulate the bonding 
agent, or manually align the building material can be applied to any 
structure. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the container structure 3, serves to contain the filler 
bonding material 17 and to form a pattern of recesses 4. The container 
structure 3 is constructed out of a material that is soluble with water 
(polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, cellulosics, natural gums, polyethylene oxide 
etc.) in a preferred embodiment, or soluble with the application of other 
catalysts according to alternate embodiments. The recesses 4 serve to 
accept a piece of masonry 5 (or any other building material which requires 
permanent bonding). The container structure 3 is one continuous structure, 
in which the top surface of the vertical walls 9, the side surfaces of the 
vertical walls 7, the upper surface of the lower portion 13, the side 
surface of the lower portion 11, the bottom surface of the lower portion 
15, form a structure 3 that has a hollow volume that contains and encloses 
filler bonding material 17, and forms recesses 4 to accept masonry or 
other building material 5. FIG. 1 depicts the container structure before 
the catalyst is applied. 
After all of the masonry or other building materials 5 are placed into the 
recesses 4, the single catalyst according to the first approach or 
multiple catalysts according to the second approach is applied to the 
container structure 3, and subsequently to the filler bonding material 17. 
The finished structure will appear according to FIG. 2. The container 
structure 3 will no longer exist. The finished structure 18 will consist 
of the cured and hardened filler bonding material 17, bonding the masonry 
or other building material 5 to each other and to the surface that the 
structure 18 is laying on. 
As shown in FIG. 3, the second embodiment, container structure 3 serves to 
contain the filler bonding material 17 and to form a pattern of cavities 
30. The container structure 3 is constructed out of a material that is 
soluble with water (polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, cellulosics, natural gums, 
polyethylene oxide etc.) in the preferred embodiment, or soluble with the 
application of other catalysts according to alternate embodiments. The 
cavities 30 serve to accept a piece of masonry 5 (or any other building 
material which requires permanent bonding). The container structure 3 is 
one continuous structure, in which the top surface 31 of the horizontal 
walls 32, the side surfaces 33 of the horizontal walls 32, the top surface 
31 of the horizontal walls 32, the bottom surface 35 of the horizontal 
walls 32, the inside surfaces 37 of the vertical wall 41, and the outside 
surfaces 39 of the vertical walls 41 and horizontal walls 32 form a 
structure 3 that has a hollow volume that contains and encloses filler 
bonding material 17, and forms cavities 30 to accept masonry or other 
building material 5. FIG. 3 depicts the container structure before the 
catalyst is applied. 
After all of the masonry or other building materials 5 are placed into the 
cavities 30, the catalyst is applied to the container structure 3, and 
subsequently the filler bonding material 17. The finished structure will 
appear according to FIG. 4. The container structure 3 will no longer 
exist. The finished structure 43 will consist of the cured and hardened 
filler bonding material 17, bonding the masonry or other building material 
5 to each other and to the surface that the structure 43 is laying on and 
where the cured bonding material 17 is touching other structures. 
While a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been 
described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative 
purposes. It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made 
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The scope of 
the invention is limited only so far as the following claims.