Patent Abstract:
Molded composite polymer construction blocks are made that are easily assembled, using tongues and grooves, with vertical passageways for pipes, wires, etc. Stud supporting cavities in one side of the block extend into the ribs or end walls. The cavities can be provided with protective inserts. Studs or wooden blocks can be inserted into the cavities. The wooden studs or wooden blocks of various lengths provide spacing for insulation and/or drywall installation. Internal ribs are provided with easy grip structure. One, two or three side walls of the block are provided with decorative surfaces.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     A building block can be made of a polymer and includes alinement ridges and channels for stack formation, sealant channels, for non-binding sealant, a cavity that can be reinforced, for studs or wood used as supports or spacers for insulation or supporting dry wall, and central passageways, for routing pipes, wires, etc., decorative surfaces, and easy grip ribs.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     The present application is a modification and/or improvement over your applicant&#39;s similar prior published U.S. patent application No. 2004/0221538 filed 28 Apr. 2003. J. Lee (U.S. Pat. No. 541,815, issued 25 Jun. 1895) and H. Palmer (U.S. Pat. No. 674,874, issued 28 May 1901) and J. Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 800,385, issued 26 Sep. 1905) and R. Wilkinson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,301, issued 4 Mar. 1986) are examples of building blocks having recesses or openings for reception of building elements. C. Cahill (U.S. Pat. No. 1,950,397, issued 13 Mar. 1934) and L. Baylor (U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,177, issued 23 Jan. 1951) are examples of building blocks provided with reinforcement. R. Dula (U.S. Pat. No. 1,411,005, issued 28 Mar. 1922) and J. Linn (U.S. Pat. No. 1,780,086, issued 28 Oct. 1930) and D. Loftus (U.S. Pat. No. 1,925,103, issued 5 Sep. 1933) and Ozawa et al (U.S. Pat. No. 2001/0023559 published 27 Sep. 2001) are examples of building blocks provided with facings. J. Linn and D. Jensen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,926 issued 17 Oct. 1995) and Barton Jr. et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394, issued 27 Oct. 1998) are examples of building blocks having tapered ribs. Jensen et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,241, issued 18 Mar. 1980) teaches a masonry block filled with insulation having a cavity to expose the “central divider” so that the block can be gripped and picked up.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     A waterproof building block is formed by molding a composite polymer concrete so as to have horizontal ridges or tongues and channels or grooves on the upper and lower surfaces. Internal vertical openings provide for passage of pipes, wires, HVAC tubes, etc. A central cavity is provided in one side of the block and extends into the block central rib or end walls. A vertical central rib can be provided with a protective metal or other material insert for reception of a removable stud or a wooden block that can be used to form a spacing for support insulation and/or dry wall attachment. A composite polymer concrete can be composed of a fiber reinforced polymer composite material using a resin binder, aggregate and possible fillers formed with easy grip ribs and decorative surfaces.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a building block of the invention showing the top with a wood stud inserted.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a building block of the invention showing the bottom.  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the building block of  FIG. 1  with a section broken away and optional insert.  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a first modification of the building block shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a second modification of the building block shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a prospective view of a third modification of the building block shown in  FIG. 1   
         [0012]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a fourth modification of the building block shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 8  is a top view of the building block of  FIGS. 1-3 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of a central rib with a cavity as shown by the section line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 10  is a broken out section of one embodiment of a block front face  
         [0016]      FIG. 11  is a broken out section of another embodiment of a block front face.  
         [0017]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a wall section constructed with the building blocks of  FIG. 1 .  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     An interlocking building block  1 , shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , is provided that can be manufactured from standard construction materials such as cement, sand or other fine aggregate, and coarse aggregate of less than ¾″. The block  1  is composed of a finished front wall  11 , finished end walls  12 , and an unfinished back wall  13 , and a central rib  14 . The central rib  14  contains a central cavity  2 , into which a wooden  20  or other stud  24  can be inserted for fabricating a wooden support system.  
         [0019]     The blocks can be colored and formed with decorative coverings on their front  11  and end walls  12  that resemble brick, stucco, siding, etc. The blocks are strong enough to be competitive with conventional concrete blocks. The blocks contain horizontal ridges  16 , on their upper surface  18 , which are designed to mate with formed channels  17  on the lower surfaces of adjoining blocks. The channels and ridges comprise a tongue-and-groove system, which serves two purposes: (1) to align one block&#39;s top surface with another block&#39;s bottom surface, and (2) to receive a non-binding sealant that will waterproof the joint of the block. Because the sealant is non-binding, the blocks can be easily disassembled and then recycled. The horizontal ridge  16  extends along the front and the ends of the upper surface  18 . The channels and ridges provide the means for both rapid assembly and disassembly. They also allow easy alignment of blocks over each other. The outer walls of the block  11 ,  12 ,  13  and the interior rib shown as a central rib  14  define vertical apertures or openings  19 . When the blocks are in alignment, communication is provided between the openings in the blocks that are then vertically aligned with each other. This vertical alignment of the openings  19  provides a passage for various utilities, such as electrical conduit, HVAC, or piping. A vertically elongated central recess, or central cavity  2 , is made through the unfinished back side  13  and into the wider central rib  14 . Obviously, the cavity is narrower than the central rib  14 , and extends into the central rib without communicating with the vertical openings, or open passages  19 . The inner surfaces of the cavity  2  are spaced appropriately from both the upper and lower surfaces in order to provide support and strength for wooden or other studs  20 ,  24  that can be inserted into the cavity.  
         [0020]     A metallic insert  21  can be inserted into the inner surfaces of the cavity  2  as shown in  FIG. 3 . This metal insert is attached or bonded to the block material lining the cavity by a binder or interlocking spikes  22 . The metal insert  21  is designed to distribute forces imposed by studs  20  to the building block sides and central rib material so that wear and tear on that material, due to localized forces, is reduced. The interlocking spikes  22  are formed by punching them out from the metallic insert  21 . Also, there are removable stud mounting holes  23  formed in the insert. The metallic insert  21 , equipped with the spikes  22  and mounting holes  23 , receives wooden or other studs  20 . The wooden stud has an end surface into or onto which fasteners can be attached for the purpose of hanging drywall. A non-wooden stud  24  is a removable plastic or metal preformed stud insert. It is in the shape of a “U”, and possesses a base  26  with legs  25  extending out from the base  26 . Furthermore, the legs of the removable non-wooden stud are provided with protrusions  28 . The removable studs  24  are held in the metallic insert  21  by means of the protrusions  28  being inserted into the stud mounting holes  23 . A slightly different means is used to retain the wooden studs  20  in the metallic insert  21 . The wooden stud is glued to the insert with some sort of binder or it is impaled by the interlocking spikes  22 . The length of the wooden studs can be chosen so as to give the builder the choice of any desired spacing between the block and drywall, or any other finishing material attached to the outer ends of the wooden studs  20  or the outer ends of the removable stud inserts  24  and the blocks rear surfaces. The wooden studs  20  provide a space between the back side  13  of the studs and the unfinished block back side. This space can be used to position insulation between the blocks and a drywall attached to the stud ends.  
         [0021]     The first modified block  40  shown in  FIG. 4  is similar to that in  FIG. 1 , except that the cavity  42  is in the wider end wall  46  as opposed to being located in an interior or central rib. The same front wall  11 , end walls  12 , horizontal ridges  16  and grooves  17  and open passages  19  are retained. The unfinished back wall  43  accommodates the cavity  42  with a thinner central rib  44  and easy grip  45 .  
         [0022]     The further modified block  50  shown in  FIG. 5  is similar to that shown in  FIG. 4 , except that there are two cavities  51 ,  52  placed in wide end walls  56 ,  57  respectively . The cavities  51 ,  52  are formed in the unfinished back wall  53 . The same front wall  11 , end walls  12 , horizontal ridges  16  and grooves  17 , and open passages  19  are retained. The unfinished back wall  53  accommodates the two end cavities  51 ,  52  with a thin central rib  54  and easy grip  55 . The studs are housed within the cavities  51 ,  52 .  
         [0023]     In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the intermediate ribs  44  and  54 , respectively, are relatively thin as there is no need to accommodate an insertion of any type. In view of this, the easy grips  45 ,  55  on the central rib tops are wider than that of the central rib upper areas but are much narrower than that shown in  FIG. 1 , yet they still serve as easy grips for control of the blocks.  
         [0024]     The block  60  shown in  FIG. 6  is similar to that in  FIG. 5 , except that it is provided with two wide internal ribs  64 ,  65 , and three vertical open passages  19 . The wide central ribs each house cavities  61 ,  62  formed in the unfinished back wall  63 . The block  60  has the same front wall  11 , end walls  12 , and horizontal ridges and grooves  16 , 17 . The wide internal ribs surround the cavities to secure the studs in place. The tops of the internal ribs are provided with easy grips  66 ,  67 .  
         [0025]     The block  70  shown in  FIG. 7  has the same front wall  11 , end walls  12 , back wall  73  and horizontal ridges and grooves. The central rib section of the block  70  has a wide rib upper surface  74  with easy grip  75 . The rib can expand from the front to the back or can be provided with a wide section  71  having a horizontal elongated width for receiving a stud in a cavity  72  in the back wall  73 . The cavity  73  in the back wall can be made at any desired angle with the back wall into the wide section  71 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 8  is a top view of the block of  FIGS. 1 and 2  and  FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of an intermediate rib along the section lines  9 - 9  of  FIG. 8 . The central rib  14  grip  5  is formed with a wider central rib top  6  than central rib upper  3  so that a worker can easily grab and move the block. The central rib has a cavity  2  between the central rib upper  3  and the central rib base  4  that accommodates a wood stud  20  or other insert. A pin hole  27  extends between the cavity  2  and a vertical opening  19  so that a securing pin or screw can be inserted from the vertical opening  19  into the cavity  2  to secure a wooden stud, for example, into the cavity.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 10 and 11  show sections of the front faces  11  of blocks. The face  11  in  FIG. 9  is formed by molding into the block thin brick sections  91  that give the appearance of a brick wall. The face  11  of  FIG. 10  is formed by molding into the block a coating of brick powder  92  in any preferred decorative form.  
         [0028]      FIG. 12  displays building blocks assembled together to form a three-tiered wall. The bottom and top tiers show wooden studs  20  inserted into the central cavities  2  on the unfinished face  13  of the blocks  1 . In conjunction with the tongue-and-groove system  16 ,  17 , there is also provided, for further securing of the wall in place, tie-down bolts  93  that passes through plates  94  and open passages  19  in the blocks.  
         [0029]     It is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative only and that changes, variations, substitutions, modifications and equivalents will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art and that such may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4