Abstract:
A retaining wall assembly includes a plurality of block elements having a major face wall and minor face wall and a pair of opposing converging walls connecting the major face wall and the minor face wall. The block elements are arranged in multiple rows with a mesh grid separating predefined rows of block elements. The block elements define an open core into which a plurality of anchoring stones are distributed. A synthetic resin is also dispersed in the open cores of the block elements to provide a positive connection between the anchoring stones and the mesh grid, thereby reinforcing the position of the retaining wall.

Description:
The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/407,253 filed Sep. 28, 1999, now abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to retaining walls. More particularly, the present invention relates to internally filled retaining walls prepared from a plurality of open core, man-made block elements having a trapezoidal structure, wherein the major face of the block elements form the outer surface of the retaining wall. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to a retaining wall comprised of a series of open core retaining wall block elements that are securely arranged using an anchoring composition including a plurality of anchoring stones and a synthetic resin. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Soil retention, protection of natural and artificial structures, and increased land use are only a few reasons which motivate the use of landscape structures. For example, soil is often preserved on a hillside by maintaining the foliage across that plane. Root systems from trees, shrubs, grass, and other naturally occurring plant life work to hold the soil in place against the forces of wind and water. However, when reliance on natural mechanisms is not possible or practical man often resorts to the use of artificial mechanisms such as retaining walls. 
     In constructing retaining walls many different materials may be used depending upon the given application. If a retaining wall is intended to be used to support the construction of an interstate roadway, a steel retaining wall, perhaps combined with concrete, may be appropriate. However, if the retaining wall is intended to landscape and conserve soil around a residential or commercial structure, a material may be used which compliments the architectural style of the structure such as wood timbers or concrete block. 
     Of all these materials, concrete block has received wide and popular acceptance for use in the construction of retaining walls and the like. Blocks used for these purposes include those disclosed by Risi et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,490,075 and Des. 280,024 and Forsberg, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,802,320 and Des. 296,007 among others. Blocks have also been patterned and weighted so that they may be used to construct a wall which will stabilize the landscape by the shear weight of the blocks. These systems are often designed to “setback” at an angle to counter the pressure of the soil behind the wall. Setback is generally considered the distance which one course of a wall extends beyond the front of the next highest course of the same wall. Given blocks of the same proportion, setback may also be regarded as the distance which the back surface of a higher course of blocks extends backwards in relation to the back surface of the lower wall courses. In vertical structures such as retaining walls, stability is dependent upon the setback between courses and the weight of the blocks. 
     For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,313,363 to Schmitt discloses a retaining wall block having a tongue or lip which secures the block in place and provides a certain amount of setback from one course to the next. The thickness of the Schmitt tongue or lip at the plane of the lower surface of the block determines the setback of the blocks. However, smaller blocks have to be made with smaller tongues or flanges in order to avoid compromising the structural integrity of the wall with excessive setback. Manufacturing smaller blocks having smaller tongues using conventional techniques results in a block tongue or lip having inadequate structural integrity. Concurrently, reducing the size of the tongue or flange with prior processes may weaken and compromise this element of the block, the course, or even the entire wall. 
     The current design of pinless, mortarless masonry blocks generally also fails to resolve other problems such as the ability to construct walls which follow the natural contour of the landscape in a radial or serpentine pattern. Previous blocks also have failed to provide a system allowing the use of anchoring mechanisms which may be affixed to the blocks without complex pinning or strapping fixtures. Besides being complex, these pin systems often rely on only one strand or section of a support tether which, if broken, may completely compromise the structural integrity of the wall. Reliance on such complex fixtures often discourages the use of retaining wall systems by the every day homeowner. Commercial landscapers generally avoid complex retaining wall systems as the time and expense involved in constructing these systems is not supportable given the price at which landscaping services are sold. As can be seen the present state of the art of forming masonry blocks as well as the design and use of these blocks to build structure has definite shortcomings. 
     The applicant herein has solved some of the problems with a concrete block approach wherein the block was constructed in a trapezoidal form with parallel front and rear walls and a pair of sidewalls converging from front to rear. Unfortunately, while the blocks were quite useful in allowing a wall made therefrom to follow a serpentine pattern, the strength of the blocks was insufficient to avoid breakage during installation of numerous blocks, thus making the use of the blocks uneconomical. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is intended for use in decorative and functional walls which can be constructed as a gravity wall system, geogrid system, pyramid system, or as a combination of all of the these. In general, the retaining element disclosed in the assembly discussed herein is an improvement over the shaped block previously used by the applicant and provides greater strength per unit for the fabrication of the wall. As with the prior art system used by the Applicant, each element has a large core. In the present invention, the block elements provide maximum stability through the inclusion anchoring stone and a synthetic resin that surround a mesh grid or mat that is placed between the block elements. More specifically, two rows of block elements are separated by the mesh grid, with anchoring stones traversing the cores of the block elements. The liquid resin is thereby used to connect the mesh grid and the anchoring 
     stones to provide a positive connection and strength not found in competitive products without more complicated designs. The construction of the block elements increases the wall strength of the converging walls such that they are less susceptible to fracture during construction of the wall, by adding mass to the walls without significantly diminishing the core area, and the anchoring stones and resin further strengthen the completed retaining wall. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The improved retaining wall assembly formed is depicted in the appended drawings which form a portion of this disclosure and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the prior art block element; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of an block element used in the improved retaining wall assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional top view of the block element used in the improved retaining wall assembly of the present invention, with the view illustrating an anchoring composition filing the central core of the block element; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a straight retaining wall constructed with block elements of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a curved retaining wall constructed with block elements of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, block elements  11  used in the Applicant&#39;s initial prototype system are illustrated. The block elements  11  were generally trapezoidal in shape, having a face  12  measuring seventeen and five-eighths inches across, a parallel face  13  measuring thirteen and one-fourth inches and having a depth from front face to rear face of twelve inches. The height of each block element  11  was eight inches. Moreover, each block element  11  defined a central core  15  traversing the block element  11 , with the central core  15  having an internal volume of approximately one-half cubic foot. The thickness of the major face  12  was three inches, and the thickness of the minor face  13  was two and three-eighths inches. The thickness of each of the converging walls  14  was two and one-fourth inches. 
     These prototype elements were used in retaining walls in both residential and commercial landscaping environments. Through this research and use, it was determined that the strength of the converging walls  14  was insufficient to allow the block elements  11  to be used as anticipated. Specifically, the block elements  11  are laid one over the other in a laterally overlapping pattern such that the converging walls  14  are not supported along their entire length by the converging walls  14  of the subjacent block element  11 , but rather, cross the subjacent converging walls  14  at an included angle of about 60 degrees. It is routinely necessary to use a mallet to tap or pound one the top of the block elements  11  to properly seat the individual block elements  11  in close fitting courses. Unfortunately the crossing of the converging walls  14  of abutting block elements  11  creates stress points which are accentuated by the use of the mallet such that the converging wall  14  or subjacent converging wall  14  frequently fractures in the prototype. On several occasions, these block elements  11  had been tested under through applying compressive forces to the block elements  11 . Such testing studies indicated that these block designs provided only marginal results, and that it improvements in the block elements  11 , particularly the wall size of the block elements  11 , were necessary. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 5, the trapezoidal block elements  20  for forming an improved retaining wall  30  of the present invention are illustrated. The retaining wall  30  is designed to provide retention of a desired backfill material  8 , such as dirt or rocks. As with the block elements  11  of the prior design, the block elements  20  of the present invention have a major face  22 , a minor face  24 , and a pair of converging walls  26  that join the two faces  22 ,  24 . Additionally, an open central core  28  or aperture traverses the block elements  20  as in prior designs. However, the improved block elements  20  are designed to alleviate the problem of weakness that occurred in the prototype block elements  11  while maintaining the high stability offered by the open core design. More specifically, the improved block elements  20  provide a means to strengthen retaining wall  30 , with the block elements  20  having converging walls  26  that do not significantly diminish the volume of the open central core  28  of the block elements  20 , and that are further reinforced by the distribution of an anchoring composition  31  in the central core  28 . 
     Continuing to view FIGS. 2 and 5, the block elements  20  have an isosceles trapezoidal shape and may be laid to form a corner at perpendicular walls using two adjacent block elements  20  abutting along adjacent converging faces  26 . A third block element  20  with a converging face  26  adjacent the second block element  20  further yields a semi-circular turn in the retaining wall  30  (see FIG.  5 ). Thus it may be seen that the shape of block elements  20  lends itself to excellent continuous flexibility of design of the retaining wall  30 . As a result, it is desirous to preserve the trapezoidal shape of the block elements  20  to maintain the strength of the retaining wall  30 . 
     In view of this determination, two alternatives were devised to provide strength of the retaining wall  30  but maintaining the trapezoidal shape. In the first alternative, each converging wall  26  is uniformly increased in thickness in the interior of the block element  20  by up to 0.30 inches. In so doing the volume of central core  28  is maintained at least 0.45 cubic feet. In the second alternative, converging walls  26  are gradually increased in thickness such that they flare inwardly from the minor wall  24  to the major wall  22  such that the widest portion of the converging wall  26  has an increased thickness of up to three inches. Once again, the interior volume of open core  28  is maintained at greater than 0.45 cubic feet, while the volume of the central core  28  remains equivalent to the open core  15  of block element  11 . 
     It should also be noted that any variation of the exterior size of the individual block elements  20  would affect handling and versatility of the block element  20  by the user (such as a mason). That is to say, masons are accustomed to handling conventional concrete blocks which are 18″×8″×12″, thus the present block elements  20  are designed to maintain the block elements  20  close to the same dimensions. Additionally, with the existing dimensions, the block elements  20  can be readily adjusted in relation to each adjacent block element  20  to form a serpentine or faceted retaining wall  30  (see FIG. 5) which can follow a contour along eighteen-inch segments. 
     Looking at FIGS. 4 and 5, the retaining wall  30  made of block elements  20  is strengthened using an anchoring composition  31 , preferably comprised of a plurality of anchoring stones  32 . Generally, the anchoring composition  31  is distributed into the open core  28  to provide a “positive connection” between adjacent block elements  20 . The positive connection created by the anchoring stones  32  will resolutely tie each block element  20  to the block elements  20  positioned above and below to form the steadfast retaining wall  30 . Consequently, this anchoring composition  31  joins the vertically abutting block elements  20  to provide the resolute and securely positioned retaining wall  30 . 
     Continuing to look at FIGS. 4 and 5, the preferred embodiment of the process for preparing the retaining wall  30  begins with the user arranging various block elements  20  in the number of multi-tiered rows as desired. The rows of the block elements  20  abut a backfill or other reinforced zone  8 . Additionally, a mesh mat or grid  9  is preferably placed between rows of the block elements  20  to further secure the assembly to the ground surface  8 . Each row of block elements  20  should preferably be offset a desired amount when compared to the abutting rows of block elements  20 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, the typical retaining wall  30  is assembled as follows, although the designs of retaining walls are varied as according to the stresses that are applied to the walls. Initially, a first row or course of block elements  20  is aligned on a foundation, with the block elements  20  being aligned in the desired manner with respect to each other. A second row of block elements  20  is further aligned on top of the first row of block elements  20 . The user then distributes the anchoring stones  32  into the open central cores  28  of the block elements  20  of the second row of block elements  20  in the retaining wall  30 . The anchoring stones  32  will descend through the central cores  28  of the block elements  28  in both the first and second rows due to gravitational pull and aggregate the anchoring stones  32  within the block elements  28 . This aggregation of anchoring stones  32  in the central cores  28  will reinforce and lock the position of the retaining wall  30 , and the anchoring stones  32  may be compacted within each row or course of block elements  20  such that they form a mechanical interlock between adjacent rows or courses of block elements  20 . The anchoring stones  32  are preferably conventional natural rocks or consecrations of mineral material, with the anchoring stones  32  varying in size from small pebbles to rocks having approximately a one inch diameter. In addition, the anchoring stones  32  may be either natural or made of other synthetic materials having the desired rigidity and strength properties required for the present application. 
     Once the anchoring stones  32  have traversed the central cores  28  to secure the position of the initial rows of the retaining wall  30 , the backfill material  8  is distributed proximate the retaining wall  30  such that the backfill material  8  is level with the uppermost edge of the second row of block elements  20 . The mesh grid  9  is then placed substantially on the second row of block elements  20  and the backfill material  8 . A third row of block elements  20  is further positioned on top of the second row of block elements  20  and the mesh grid  9  and properly aligned. To provide the positive connection and enhance the mechanical lock, the user will then pour a liquid resin  34  into the open central cores  28  of the block elements  20  of the third row of block elements  20 . The synthetic resin  34  will distribute around the mesh grid  9  and into the interstices surrounding the various anchoring stones  32 . The viscosity of the thick resin mixture  34  is such that it slowly spreads out over the mesh grid  9  and penetrates into the anchoring stones  32  below the mesh grid  9 . The open central cores  28  of the third row of block members  28  are ten filed with additional anchoring stones  32  which comes into contact with liquid resin  34 . 
     Consequently, the resin  34  will form the positive connection between the anchoring stones  32 , the mesh grid  9 , and the block elements  20  to form a positive interlock in a unitized structure. More specifically, once the synthetic resin  34  becomes motionless, it will coagulate or harden into a mass within the central cores  28  and around the anchoring stones  32  and the mesh grid  9  to form the positive connection. The coagulated synthetic resin  34  will reduce the amount of undesired redistribution of anchoring stones  32  in the retaining wall  30 . Moreover, the coagulated synthetic resin  34  will lock the mesh grid  9  within the retaining wall  30  and will not allow the mesh grid  9  to be pulled out of the retaining wall  30 , thus creating the positive connection between the mesh grid  9  and the block elements  20 . It is to be noted that this process may be repeated for as many courses or levels of block members  20  as may be desired. Furthermore, it should be noted that the coagulated synthetic resin  34  also minimizes the loss of the anchoring stones  32  from the retaining wall  30  by keeping the anchoring stones  32  secured in place. 
     The synthetic resin  34  used in the present invention can be one of various types of resin materials having properties to transform from a liquid state to a solid state. For example, the synthetic resin  34  used in the present invention may be any one of the following: orthopathalic based polyester resin (unsaturated); isophthalic based polyester resin (unsaturated); dicyclopentadiene based polyester resin (unsaturated); vinyl ester based polyester resin (unsaturated); bisphenol epoxy vinyl ester resin, urethane-modified vinyl ester resin; elastomer-modified vinyl ester resin; biphenol fumarate polyester resin; terephthalic based polyester resin; epoxy resin; fumaric anhydride based polyester resin; polyurethane foaming resin; urethane elastomer resin; and adipic acid based polyester resin. Any and all combinations of these various synthetic resins  34  may be used in the anchoring composition  31 . These synthetic resins  34  are helpful in that they are resistant to mildew, aging, and abrasion, so they will therefore maintain the positions of the surrounding stones  32 . Furthermore, the synthetic resins  34  are virtually nonbiodegradable, such that the user will not be concerned with repeating the steps of dispensing the synthetic resin  34  in the central core  28  after a period of time. 
     Additionally, the block elements  20  described herein may be produced in a block-molding machine (not illustrated), as is well known. Preferably, the mold (not illustrated) is loaded with a selected mix of concrete or cement, and the mixture is set to form two block elements  20  simultaneously in a “siamese” pattern. Once the mixture has formed and cured, the block elements  20  may be split along the joined major faces  22  to form two trapezoidal split face block elements  20 . Likewise, the block elements  20  may be formed from suitable plastic materials such as ABS or PVC by extrusion or molding. Decorative aluminum castings suitable for use as block elements  20  may be made by the lost foam casting method as is well known. 
     It should further be noted that the positive connection created through the use of the anchoring stones  32 , synthetic resin  34 , and mesh grid  9  reduces problems commonly found in conventional retaining walls. For example, when an excessive or unusual pressure is applied to conventional retaining walls to push the retaining wall forward, the mesh grid  9  frequently has a tendency to slide outward from between courses or levels of block elements  20  (which is called “pull out”). In the present invention, however, the positive connection created through the use of resin  34  with the anchoring stones  32  significantly increases the resistance of the mesh grid  9  to pull out from the retaining wall. Moreover, it should be noted that the mesh grid  9  may be placed on every other row of block elements  20  such that the positive connection is important to prevent the pull out of the mesh grid  9  between any of the rows of block elements  20 . 
     Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful IMPROVED RETAINING WALL ASSEMBLY, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.