METHOD AND DEVICE FOR JOINTING BUILDING STONES TOGETHER

Abstract: Method of erecting a masonry bond of building stones, the building stones (2) being glued to horizontal prefabricated, cement-based masonry joint members (1) arranged between the courses, the building stones (2) within each course optionally being glued to each other and/or to intermediate vertical prefabricated, cement-based masonry joint members (3).

Description: Method and device for jointing building stones together • V The present invention relates to a simplified method of erecting masonry s constructions or bonds of building stones, which method may be practised by unskilled labour and gives a considerable saving of time compared to masonry in conventional manner. 5 When erecting masonry constructions of building stones, such as stones, bricks, lightweight concrete blocks and the like, the stones are placed in horizontal rows, or so-called courses, and are interconnected by means of lime or cement mortar as the binder. In such a way bonds of various types are built up, vertical joint lines always being avoided. This for a long time used masonry 10 technique has, however, several disadvantages. Thus, great skill is required to erect a correct bond, and not even a skilled craftsman gets the mortar to bind over the whole side- surface of the building stone. Further, it is not possible to lay bricks in very cold weather (normally not below -4 C), since the mortar will then freeze and the building stones be displaced in relation to each other upon thawing. 15 Another limitation is that it normally is not possible to build higher than about χ- 1 meters during the same day, the load on the lowermost masonry joints otherwise becoming too great before the joint has had time to settle properly. Moreover, the joint is always subjected to some shrinkage, which complicates the brick laying. 20 Various systems have been proposed to simplify the erection of wall constructions of building blocks, wherein relatively thin sheet members are used, which on the top and bottom surfaces thereof are coated with a binder to fix the building blocks to each other. This binder fixation to the intermediate sheet members has, however, not alone given the desired strength but must be 25 supplemented in other ways. For example, the US patent 4,095,384 describes a method, wherein the building stones are joined together by means of intermedi¬ ate sheets of corrugated cardboard having a smaller width than the building stones and which have been coated with tar, and mortar or other binder is then pressed into the corrugation openings of the corrugated cardboard between the 30 building blocks. In the US patent 2,687,034 spedally designed building blocks are interconnected by means of similar adhesive gasket strips, the building blocks being designed with grooves arranged to co-operate with projecting parts of an adjacent building block, and vice versa, to stabilize the masonry construction. Even if these methods makes it possible for less skilled persons to erect such a 35 wall construction, the same strength as in conventional brick laying is not OMPI achieved, and whereas the first mentioned method still is relatively time- consuming and complicated to carry out, the method according to the US patent 2,687,034 requires special building blocks. According to the invention a simplified masonry method is suggested, which is based upon jointing the individual building stones, at least vertically, through gluing to prefabricated, cement-based masonry joint members, which preferably have approximately the same thickness as a conventionally made masonry joint. Hereby a masonry bond having at least the same strength and the same appearance as a masonry construction built up in conventional manner may be obtained while the disadvantages of conventional brick laying are absent. Thus, brick laying or walling in this way may easily be performed even by unskilled persons, the joint is free of shrinkage, no making of mortar is required which eliminates the problems of getting a uniform mortar quality, and walling to a desired height can directly be done without it being necessary to wait for the masonry joints to settle. Further, the temperature at which the brick laying can take place, is only restricted by the glue, and suitable glues or adhesives which can be used down to about -15°C are commercially available. Also, the joint profile can be chosen as desired, and the masonry joints can easily be coloured during or after the manufacture thereof. Colouring of the masonry joints has previously not been possible without some miscolouring of the building stones. Although the method of the invention primariy is intended for the building up facades, it is, of course, equally well possible to erect walls, chimneys, open fireplaces, etc. thereby. According to the invention both horizontal and vertical masonry joint members may consequently be used, the horizontal masonry joint members suitably being made longer than the building stones, e.g., 2-4 times longer, while the vertical masonry joint members have substantially the same size as the end or short sides of the building stones. If desired, the vertical masonry joint members may be omitted and the short sides of the building stones optionally glued directly to each other. The manufacture of the masonry joints may be done on industrial basis through casting of a suitable material, preferably of cement-based mortar, lime mortar or the like, e.g., the according to Swedish building practise recognized A, B and C mortars, respectively, the joint obtaining substantially the same properties as a joint core made in the brick laying process. The masonry joint may optionally be reinforced, e.g., with carbon steel, glass fibre, etc., permitting longer and possibly thinner masonry joints to be manufactured. OMP As the glue any glue or adhesive can be used which gives the desired adhesion to the masonry joint and building stones of conventional materials, such as facade stones of various kinds, glass blocks, lightweight concrete blocks, common red bricks, etc. For example, a cement-based glue may be used. Suitably the glue joint formed should have a greater strength than the building stones and masonry joint, respectively. When laying building stones having relatively rough contact surfaces the glue may be adapted hereto by varying the amount of filler of a suitable kind, such that the glue bond "builds up" properly between the masonry joint and the stone and between the stones, respectively. Thus, through the method according to the invention a considerable saving of time and simplification is achieved in comparison with conventional masonry, while the strength of the connection building stone/masonry joint will be the same as, or usually better than, for a conventional masonry joint, since the building stone will bind to the masonry joint member over the whole contact surface. In the following the invention will be illustrated with regard to some particular, non-limiting embodiments.reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a prefabricated masonry joint according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a part of a masonry bond under erection, Fig- 3 is a front view of a masonry bond erected according to the invention, Fig. 4 is a section along the line A-A in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial section of Fig. 4. The masonry joint member of Fig. 1, generally designated by the reference numeral I, consists of an elongate and narrow sheet-like member, which in the shown case has a trapezoidal profile. The cross sectional shape may, of course, be varied depending on the desired masonry joint edge or profile. As is well known there are various such profiles within the masonry technique. When, e.g., laying facade bricks this primarly concerns the shape of the masonry joint edge side directed outwards, and the other edge side may then suitably be straight, as is shown in Fig. 4 and 5. As previously mentioned, the prefabricated masonry joint member may be manufactured industrially by casting a suitable starting mass, e.g., cement mortar, lime mortar, concrete mass, or the like. To give the masonry joint a desired colour the masonry joint mass may be coloured before the casting, or the whole, or only the visible parts of the masonry joint, coated with a suitable dye to give the ready masonry bond an attractive colour combination according to the user's or client's desires. The illustrated masonry joint member 1 is an example of a horizontal masonry joint, which - as will b explained below - suitably is longer than the building bricks that are used. suitable length may then, e.g., be 70-80 cm, but, of course, also longer or shorte masonry joint members may be used. In addition to the material of the masonr joint member the length will also depend on the thickness thereof. In order tha the ready masonry bond should resemble a bond erected through convention brick laying as much as possible, the thickness should be approximately the sam as for a conventional masonry joint and may then, e.g., be about 1 cm. If desire thinner or thicker masonry joints may, of course, also be used. To permit th manufacture of longer masonry joint members, they may be reinforced during th casting with a suitable material, e.g., carbon steel, glass fibre, etc. The width o masonry joint member is adapted to the building stones used. To obtain as large contact area as possible between the masonry joint and the building stone th width of the masonry joint member 1 should be about the same as that of th building stone. It may, however, be varied depending on the desired form of th previously mentioned masonry joint edge side. Thus, it is made narrower than th width of the building stone, when a drawn -in masonry joint edge is desired, as i shown in Fig. 4 and 5. As to the vertical masonry joint members mentione below, i.e., which are to connect the end or short sides, they should - to th extent that they are used - have about the same outer dimension as the end sid also here depending on how the masonry joint edge side is desired. In masonry according to the invention the individual building blocks o building stones are arranged in any desirable way exactly as in convention masonry, with the exception that instead of joining the building stones wit mortar, the top and bottom faces (building surface and contact surfac respectively) are glued to intermediate horizontal, prefabricated masonry joi members, e.g., according to Fig. 1. The end faces of the building stones may but need not - be connected by gluing either directly to each other or t intermediate vertical prefabricated masonry joint members. Thus, all usuall used types of bonds may be accomplished with the method according to th invention. In Fig. 2 part of a bond is shown which is intended to be of the s called Polish type, i.e. having the building stones in adjacent courses displace relative each other. Two building stones 2, e.g. of Mexi-brick, are shown glued a lower horizontal masonry joint member 1 according to Fig. 1. The two blocks of the lower course are connected to each other through a vertical masonry join member 3. On top of the building stones 2 a superposed masonry joint member is glued, to which a building stone 2' in the next course is glued. A vertic masonry joint member 3' is glued to the end face of the building stone 2'. Sin vertical joint lines are avoided in all types of bonds, it would probably never be of interest to have higher vertical masonry joint members 3, 3' than the height of the building stone in question. To erect a masonry bond according to the invention one can either glue the building stones directly to the support or start with the masonry joint member 1. To attach a building stone 2 to a masonry joint member 1 either or both of the stone and masonry joint member are coated with a suitable quick- setting glue and the stone is pressed against the masonry joint, or vice versa. As mentioned above the end faces of the building stones are glued either directly to each other or to intermediate vertical masonry joint members, or alternatively not at all. Also adjacent horizontal masonry joint members 1 are glued to each other. In such manner the desired bond may be erected according to otherwise known techniques and with suitable building stones. The application of the glue is suitably effected directly from a tube provided with suitable spreader means. In Fig. 3 a similar bond to that of Fig. 2 is shown, but here the building stones 2 are glued directly to each other through vertical glue joints 4. In this Figure the masonry joint members 1 are somewhat longer than the combined length of two building stones. Adjacent masonry joint members are connected through vertical glue lines 5. As mentioned above the edge sides of the masonry joints may be varied as desired. In Fig. 5 a common variation is shown, wherein the joint edge side is drawn-in and slopes straightly downwards. This edge side is directed outwards, while the edge sides 7 of the masonry joints on the inside of the bond are straight. In Fig. 5 the glue joints between the building stones 2 and the masonry joint member 1 are designated with 8. Suitable glues that can be used in the invention are commercially available. For example, cement-based types of glue may advantageously be used. Such glues may be used down to at least -15°C, which permits the method of the invention to be carried out at considerably lower temperatures than conventional brick laying with mortar. Depending on the surface smoothness of the building stones used, the addition of filler in the glue may possibly be adapted such that the glue may be used to properly build up the varying space between masonry joint and building stone. The method of the invention is excellently suited for the laying of facade bricks or facade stones, but, of course, other bonds, such as brick or lightweight concrete walls, chimneys, open fireplaces, etc. may be built up. No more is the material of the building stone any limitation, but all conventionally used building OMPI stones or building blocks, including glass blocks and the like, may be used with the same satisfactory result. Particularly concerning masonry of facade bricks it is in a very simple and little time-consuming manner possible to build up a facade of suitable building blocks with extraordinary strength properties, and wherein the form and colour of the visible edge side of the masonry joint may be chosen as desired. The invention is, of course, not restricted to the above described and particularly shown embodiments, but there is room for many variations and modifications within the scope of the general inventive concept, as it appears from the subsequent claims. O-MPI V/

Claims: Claims •5 1. A method of erecting a masonry bond of building stones (2), characte¬ rized by gluing the building stones (2) to horizontal prefabricated, cement-based masonry joint members (1) arranged between the courses, and within each course optionally gluing the building stones (2) to each other and/or to intermediate vertical prefabricated cement-based masonry joint members (3). 0 2. A method according to claim I, characterized in that the horizontal masonry joint members (1) are longer than the building stones (2). 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the masonry joint members are manufactured from a cement-based mass. 4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the masonry 5 joint members (1) have been coloured during or after the casting thereof. 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by using a cement-based glue. 0 6. A prefabricated masonry joint member, characterized in that it consists of an elongate plate member (1) based upon cement. 7. A prefabricated masonry joint member according to claim 6, characteri¬ zed by being manufactured through casting of a cement-based mass. 5 8. A prefabricated masonry joint member according to claim 7, characteri¬ zed by being manufactured through casting of a coloured, cement-based mass.

Inventors: HEDSTROEM OLLE
Applicants: HEDSTROEM OLLE, HEDSTROEM ROSA
Application year: 1982
Main classification: E04B1
IPC codes: E04B2, E04G21