Abstract:
The present invention discloses a novel way of building walls using lightweight lava blocks without mortar in a three step procedure, fabricating the light weight lava block, setting the block and then filling the block with a lava and cement mixture or slurry.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     This invention relates to the field of concrete construction block and a method for creating a strong and lightweight block that can be used in the construction of walls, which is easy to assemble and manufacture. These blocks may be used in building various structures such as the walls of buildings, fences, foundations, retaining walls and virtually any wall-like structure. A primary ingredient is lava rock, which is a lightweight, porous, and strong material with a high insulation value that is less expensive than traditional construction materials. Most importantly, lava rock is found in abundance throughout the United States.  
         [0002]     Most wall structures in buildings are fabricated from either wood, steel, or aluminum studs. These studs are usually covered by siding or a stucco lath. In most climates, construction of these buildings require insulation to be placed in between the studs, increasing the cost of construction without adding to the structural integrity of the building. Likewise, the insulation and the construction materials themselves are inflammable. It is not uncommon that a building of this type has to be demolished if there is water intrusion due to flood or a hurricane.  
         [0003]     Walls are also fabricated from some type of block structure, such as brick or cinder block that are held together by mortar. The construction of these walls necessitates the expertise of a mason to properly apply the mortar to the proper depth. The use of skilled brick masons increases the cost of construction of the buildings.  
         [0004]     The construction of a typical block or brick structure also requires the transportation of the prefabricated blocks to the construction location. There they are unloaded and placed in a configuration to form the walls of the structure. The walls are built in a running bond pattern, with a layer of mortar between each tier of blocks. Skill in the art of masonry is required because mortar must be properly placed between each block and under each level row of blocks in an equal spacing pattern. Likewise, wall construction is a very time consuming. Cinder blocks used in construction are hollow to allow for the insertion of such necessities as electrical and plumbing and the voids provide additional reinforcement and reduction of their weight. However, these voids in the blocks take up a large volume, leading to inefficiencies in transportation. Also, there is usually waste, since the blocks are usually ordered as pallets.  
         [0005]     The construction of walls with factory formed concrete panels produces relatively little waste, but has the drawback of being very heavy and difficult to transport to the job site. They also require the use of special equipment, such as a crane to construct the structure. While the “formed in place” concrete wall construction overcomes these issues, this method is more time consuming and generates waste. After the concrete dries, the form must be disassembled and removed from the site. In both instances, the concrete panels lack attractiveness, are difficult to finish, and have a tendency to develop cracks.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0006]     The purpose of the abstract is not to define the invention, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. Its purpose is to inform, on a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the invention.  
         [0007]     The present invention discloses a way of building lightweight block walls in a stepwise process: fabricating the light weight lava block, setting the block and then filling the block with a lava and cement mixture or slurry.  
         [0008]     The preferred embodiment of this invention discloses a mobile, lava block forming machine, but it is understood that the machine could be stationary and it could be very large with several molds, such as in a factor setting. The blocks could be manufactured at a large-scale facility and then transported to the building location.  
         [0009]     A mobile lava block making machine is comprised of a mixing device, such as a motorized concrete utility mixer, wherein a properly proportioned mixture of ⅜ inch minus Lava material, ¾ inch Aggregate, Portland #2 Cement, Fly Ash (or a similar hardening catalyst), and fiber are dry mixed for at least five minutes to create a slurry mixture. Subsequently, clean water is added to the mixture. The wet mixture is mixed for an additional five minutes.  
         [0010]     A preferred embodiment of the slurry mixture contains the following proportions of materials: (1) approximately 1230 lbs of ⅜ inch minus Lava material, (2) approximately 185 lbs of aggregate material, (3) approximately 550 pounds of Portland #2 cement, (4) approximately 2 pounds of fly ash per one yard (hardening catalyst), (5) approximately one pound fiber per cubic yard strength and (6) approximately 144 lbs of clean water.  
         [0011]     Then, a measured amount of the slurry mixture is transported to a block mold wherein the material is set under high frequency vibration or pre-stressed. Once the slurry mixture is partially cured or set, the block will maintain its shape without the mold, and then the block is ejected from the mold and conveyed to a holding area for further curing.  
         [0012]     In one embodiment the lava block is shaped similarly to that of a conventional cinder block with three interior void spaces formed by two interior and two exterior webs along with an open-ended exterior void space at the end of each block that is roughly half of the volume of each of the interior voids, so that the ends of the block has tabs or ears extending outwards from each side of the block. In addition, the top surface of the block has a shallow groove or channel down its centerline. The block predominantly consists of lava rock, thus it is called a “Lava block”.  
         [0013]     The lava blocks are then placed in a line to create the wall of a structure by dry stacking, which merely requires placing the blocks end to end to form a single tier or row. The process is repeated by placing the bottom surface of one block above and in direct contact with the top surface of the block beneath it, without the use of any mortar or binding agents. Plumbing, electrical, and rebar may be inserted into the hollow sections of the Lava Blocks forming the wall. The interior void spaces of the lava blocks are aligned in the vertical plane to form continuous vertical openings.  
         [0014]     Once the wall is constructed to a certain level, the empty or hollow sections of all the blocks are filled with secondary lava and cement slurry mixture. The cement slurry mixture is less viscous than the slurry used to form the blocks, so that it flows relatively easily into all voids and hollow areas. The preferred embodiment of the secondary slurry mixture yields a compression strength of at least 1600 per square inch. The preferred embodiment also has superior insulation capabilities, for example, when one side is exposed to a temperature of approximately 114 F, the opposite side reaches a temperature of 68 F after approximately 80 hours.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.  
       [0015]     Taking the following specifications in conjunction with the accompanying drawings will cause the invention to be better understood regarding these and other features and advantages. The specifications reference the annexed drawings wherein:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of the Lava Block  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the Lava Block  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is an end view of the Lava Block.  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is an isometric view of the Lava Block Mold.  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of the Lava Block Mold Void.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is flow diagram illustrating the process of fabricating the Lava Block.  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is view of conduit, water, and rebar routed through the Lava Block.  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a temperature graph of the thermal characteristics of the Lava Block with heat applied to one side.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]     While describing the invention and its embodiments, various terms will be used for the sake of clarity. These terms are intended to not only include the recited embodiments, but are also meant to include all of their equivalents that perform substantially the same function, in substantially the same manner in order to achieve the same or similar result.  
         [0025]     Herein disclosed is a method of building walls that eliminates these drawbacks in traditional wall construction methods. In the preferred method, a mobile lava block-making machine is transported to the job site, along with the ingredients to make the blocks. These ingredients include: crushed lava aggregate, a cementing agent, a hardening catalyst, and water. These ingredients are placed in certain proportions into the mobile lava block making machine. The machine mixes the materials together to form a slurry. The slurry mixture is formed into blocks. The blocks dry into a hardened form that can be used as building blocks. These lava rock building blocks are then dry stacked to form the walls of the structure. The blocks are placed into a wall formation as in a typical concrete or cinder block construction, but without the use of any mortar. Reinforcement metal rods or rebar may or may not be used, based upon the design criteria and height of the structure.  
         [0026]     Once the wall is formed, the plumbing, electrical and HVAC requirements are installed inside the void areas of the blocks. Once these items are installed, the voids are filled with a slurry of lava rock and cement. This forms a solid wall that binds the blocks together via the channels in the top of each block as well as the voids in the center and ends of each block.  
         [0027]     Because the blocks use a lightweight lava rock, as opposed to typical dense rock, the individual blocks are lighter in weight and easier to handle, making installation faster and easier. Dry setting the blocks without mortar further reduces the construction time and eliminates the need for an experienced mason. The raw materials for this type of construction can be placed in bags and boxes of any shape or size, making the materials easier to transport and saving on transportation costs. There is very little unusable waste material, if any, when this type of construction is completed. In addition, the end product is extremely fire retardant. Any unused lava rock can be used as fill on the jobsite for the garden, driveway or patio, for example. It can also be readily used on the next job.  
         [0028]     A preferred embodiment discloses a Lava and Cement Building Block depicted in top plan view in FIG. 1  and indicted generally by the reference number  700  is comprised of a front wall  30 , a rear wall  40 , end walls  10 ,  20 , the front and rear wall are joined by four webs  50 . The webs  50  are spaced to form 3 void areas  80  whose boundaries are formed by the intersection of two webs  50  and the front wall  30  and the rear wall  40 , forming a generally rectangular hollow in the block  700 .  
         [0029]     Each end wall  10 ,  20  is formed by the intersection of the front wall  30  and the rear wall  40  and a web  50  which is inset from the end points of the front wall  30  and rear wall  40 , so that each end wall  10 ,  20  has a depressed area of half of volume of each void  80 . So when the blocks are placed end to end in the construction of a wall the voids formed by two adjoining blocks is roughly equal to that of the center void  80 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 2  depicts a side view of the building block with a flat bottom surface  60  and a top surface  70 . The webs  50  extended upwards from the bottom surface  60  towards the top surface  70  with a height less than that of the front wall  30  and the rear wall  40  forming a shallow groove  100  as depicted in  FIG. 3 . The intersections between the front and rear wall  30 ,  40  and the webs  50  are transitioned with a beveled edge  110  that runs parallel to both the front wall  30  and the rear wall  40 . The purpose for the beveled edge  110 , the shallow groove  100 , and the void  80  is to allow the slurry mixture to easily flow within a plurality of placed blocks  700  to form a solid wall and bind them all together.  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  depict the components of the Lava Block Mold in a perspective view. The Lava Block Mold generally depicted by numeral  199  is comprised of a front wall  200 , a back wall  220 , and two end walls  210  and  230  arranged to form a box without a top or bottom. Inserted into this area outlined by the said four walls are a plurality of block voids depicted generally by the numeral  240  and comprise a six sided closed box with a front wall  250 , a back wall  270 , two end walls  260  and  280 , a top wall  290  and an elongated bottom wall  300  which is approximately the same length as each end wall  210  and  230 , so that when the voids  240  are inserted into the Lava Block Mold  199  the top portions of the bottom wall  300  is in direct contact with the bottom portion of the front  200  and back  220  walls of the lava block mold to allow for the assembly of the mold.  
         [0032]     The block voids  240  can be dimensioned and located inside the Lava Block Mold  199  to form a myriad of different configurations, that is the web formed by the slurry being introduced can be varied by the placement, number and dimensions of the block voids  240 . The height of the block voids  240 , that is the length from the bottom wall  300  to the top wall  290  is less than the height of the Lava Block Mold  199 , so that a channel may be formed on the Lava Blocks.  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  depicts the process of fabricating the Lava and Cement Building Block System., wherein the process is repeated as many times as necessary to build the desired structure. In the first step  400 , lava rocks and cement are delivered to the building site. In the next step  410 , the lava rocks and cement are dry mixed to evenly distribute the two materials. Next,  420 , the water is added to create the slurry mixture. In the next step,  430 , the slurry poured into the mold, typically with a mechanized conveyor. Next  440 , the slurry is vibrated in the mold for a period of under a minute to several minutes. Next  450 , the mold, which contains the slurry mixture is moved to a curing area; curing being dependent on temperature and humidity, but usually taking only 24 hours. At the end of the curing process a block is solid block is produced. Next  460 , the molds are removed from the blocks, and the blocks are dried further until use. In the next step  480 , a wall is assembled by laying the block without mortar. Lastly  490 , the wall is filled with the slurry to fill the voids between the blocks and to provide structural integrity.  
         [0034]     Curing is typically accomplished by open air exposure to the sun. Curing may be accelerated by heating the conveyor to a temperature of 150 F.  
         [0035]     Window and door openings are framed as is done with other block construction. Likewise, as is shown in  FIG. 7 , electrical PVC  510 , rebar  520 , and water pipes  530 , may routed through the block  500 .  
         [0036]     A graph of the Lava and Cement Block thermal characteristics are shown in  FIG. 8 . A temperature of 45.9 C is applied to the outside of the block. The upper temperature line  610  measures the temperature of the block versus the time axis  620 . The lower temperature line  630  measures the block temperature on the opposite side of the block wall. As shown in  FIG. 8 ., at 50 hours, the “hot face” has reached a steady state temperature of 45.9 C, the “cold face” has reached a temperature  640  of approximately 18 C. At 100 hours, the “cold face” has reached a temperature  650  of approximately 21 C. At approximately 150 hours, the “cold face” has reached a temperature  660  of approximately 25 C.  
         [0037]     The compression strength of the Lava and Cement Block system when constructed is estimated to be approximately 1600 lbs per square inch. This strength is based on the components being added in the approximate proportions as presented in the preferred embodiment. Variations in the mixtures will not significantly impact this strength.  
         [0038]     The use of the Lava and Cement Block system has significant advantages. Lava is a readily available material throughout the Western United States and can be obtained close to the building site. The current use of wood frame building in the arid climates of the Western United States requires the transportation of wood building products to the building site from forests in the Eastern and Northern United States consumes natural resources. The construction of a building made from Lava Block in areas prone to flooding is advantageous in that a flooded building typically does not require demolition, unlike water damaged wood products.  
         [0039]     Construction of a Lava and Cement Block building significantly reduces labor costs during assembly. Formed blocks are dry fitted without the use of mortar between the blocks, thus eliminating the need of a skilled mason. Similarly, the use of the Lava and Cement Block system requires less skill to construct walls as compared to wood frame construction.  
         [0040]     The invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment. One skilled in the art will recognize that it would be possible to construct the elements of the present invention from a variety of means and to modify the placement of the components in a variety of ways. While the embodiments of the invention have been described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident that various further modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.  
         [0041]     The components of the slurry mixture for the preferred embodiment have been presented, but, it is recognized that acceptable blocks may be constructed when the ingredients are varied. For example the amount of lava rock may range from 1045.5 to 1414.5 lbs, the aggregate may range from 157.25 to 212.75 lbs aggregate; the Portland Cement may ranged from 440 to 825 lbs of Portland Cement; the hardening catalyst may be up to 10 lbs; the fiber may range up 20 lbs of fiber; and with the addition of 115.2 to 216 lbs of water. The variations of these components will vary the weight, compression strength, curing time, and thermal characteristics of the resultant block, but will still provide acceptable building characteristics.