An Improved Building Brick.
Year: 1899

page_text: An Improved Building Brick.
I, JOHN THOMPSON, of 870, Queen Street, West, Toronto, Canada, Inventor,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to bricks for building purposes; the object of the inven-
tion being, firstly, to provide a brick which will interlock with similar bricks.
and make an exceedingly firm structure; secondly, to provide an interlocking
brick which can be manufactured as readily and at the same cost as ordinary
bricks; thirdly, to construct a brick which, when being burnt, will, by reason
of its shape, readily admit the heat to its centre thus saving fuel and the time
allowed to thoroughly bake the interior of bricks of ordinary shape. Other
advantages pertaining to the use of my improved brick will be manifest to
builders and others skilled in the art of brickmaking.
My improved brick will be found especially applicable for the construction of
sewers, tunnels, pavements, and in all cases where a strong bond is required.
By my invention the brick is formed of the usual shape, but has a longitu-
dinal groove on one face and a corresponding ridge on the opposite face. The
groove on one brick is intended to fit the ridge of an adjacent brick. The ridge
is preferably slightly higher than the groove is deep, in order to provide space
for mortar, sand, cement or the like to enter between the adjacent faces
of the bricks, When the brick is used to construct a pavement, tarred paper is
preferably inserted between the bricks.
Dated this 10th
1 1000
P. R. J. WILLIS,
Agent for Applicant.
I, JOHN THOMPSON, of 870, Queen Street, West, Toronto, Canada, Inventor,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This invention relates to bricks for building purposes the object of the inven-
tion being, firstly, to provide a brick which will interlock with similar bricks
and make an exceedingly firm structure; secondly, to provide an interlocking
brick which can be manufactured as readily and at the same cost as ordinary
bricks; thirdly, to construct a brick which, when being burnt, will, by reason
of its shape, readily admit the heat to its centre thus saving fuel and the time
[Price 8d.]

page_text: •
allowed to thoroughly bake the interior of bricks of ordinary shape. Other
advantages pertaining to the use of my improved brick will be manifest to
builders and others skilled in the art of brick-making; some of which are:-
-
As a casing or flooring brick the following advantages over the ordinary
brick or bricks in use heretofore are: (a) mutual support is afforded between each
and every brick in contact, (b) uniformity or evenness of surface (c) greater
uniformity of depth of mortar in joints between these bricks. As a casing or
veneering brick (a) evenness of alignment in both vertical and longitudinal
planes, (6) straight mortar lines or joints are obtained by reason of uniformity
of depth of mortar between courses of bricks. As a sewer brick in circular
sewers or circular topped sewers my improved brick possesses the advantages of
better bond, both longitudinally and transversely strengthening the ring or
arch by the interlocking of the tongue with the groove.,
In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention :-
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of one form of my improved brick.
Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of a section of a veneer brick wall of a
building.
Fig. 3 represents a section of paving constructed of my improved brick.
Fig. 4 represents a portion of a transverse section of a circular sewer con-
structed of the same; and,
Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of brick and method of using it.
My improved brick 1, has a groove 2 extending along one of the wider sides
at the centre thereof, and on the opposite wider side a projecting tongue 3 is
formed to fit loosely or freely into said groove 2, and to project slightly more
than the depth of said groove 2, so as to permit of a thin layer of mortar or
cement, as the case may be, existing between interlocked bricks or courses
thereof. The tongue 3 and groove 2 are about one-sixth part of the depth of
the brick 1 and said tongue 3, is preferably about one-eighth of an inch less in
thickness, than the width of the groove 2.
When used for veneering or casing purposes the brick is laid flat as usual,
having the groove 2 downwards, and the tongue 3 upwards to engage the groove
of the next course above. The mortar 4 is laid on and spread uniformly by
passing the trowel along in close contact with the edges of the tongue 3 and
the edges of the sides of the brick so as to form or leave the mortar 4 laid in
the form of two triangles having their shorter and vertical sides against the
opposite sides of the tongues 3. When the next course is laid on and pressed
sufficiently the mortar 4 is compressed to adequately fill the space between
courses, and is prevented from being too much compressed by the tongue 3
coming in contact with the shallower, but wider, groove 2.
When used as pavement the bricks are placed side by side as shewn in Fig. 3,
and cement or the like is swept over them so that it enters the spaces between
the bricks to form a strong bond. The mortar or cement may however be
spread to the side faces with a trowel in the usual way if desired.
Fig. 4 shews one method of constructing an arch or sewer, and it consists in
arranging the bricks in tiers as shewn to form the desired thickness of wall,
and filling in and rounding the arch by means of cement, concrete, or the like 4.
The bricks may be made of any desired outward shape to suit various pur-
poses, for instance, as shewn in Fig. 5, the bricks having concave inner and con-
vex outer surfaces of any desired radius and are narrower on one side than on
the other as is usual with building blocks for arches. In this construction
mortar or cement is applied to the opposed sides of the bricks as and in the
manner afore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
(1) A brick for construction and building purposes having a groove extend-

page_text: ing along the middle portion of one of the wider sides thereof, substantially as
shewn and described.
(2) A brick for construction and building purposes having a tongue extend-
ing along the middle portion of one of the wider sides thereof substantially as
shewn and described.
(3) A brick for construction and building purposes having the combination
of a tongue extending along the middle of one of its wider sides with a groove
along the middle of the opposite longitudinal wider side, said groove being of
less depth but slightly wider than said tongue, substantially as shewn and
described.
3000