Patent ID: 8540915

Claim:
A method of making a concrete block having a three-dimensional patterned face; the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a mold having a plurality of side walls defining a mold cavity; the mold including: an open mold top, an open mold bottom closed by a pallet; and a mold surface having a three-dimensional pattern thereon, and a maximum relief, in the three-dimensional pattern, of at least about 0.5 inch; (i) the mold surface, of the mold provided, having a three-dimensional pattern resulting from: selection of a three-dimensional pattern of one or more existing objects; digital scanning of the selected three-dimensional pattern to create scanned data in XYZ coordinates that is representative of the selected three-dimensional pattern; creation, from the scanned data in the XYZ coordinates, of a digital data set that is representative of a desired three-dimensional patterned face based on the scanned data; and, use of the digital data set to create the mold surface as a mirror image of the desired block face; (b) introducing dry cast concrete into the mold cavity through the open top of the mold; (c) molding a pre-cured block by pressing a stripper shoe downwardly through the open top of the mold into the dry cast concrete; the stripper shoe comprising the mold surface having the three-dimensional pattern thereon with a mirror image of the three-dimensional patterned face to form the pre-cured concrete block with the mold surface having the mirror image of the desired block face forming the desired three-dimensional patterned face on the pre-cured block; (i) the pre-cured concrete block including a rear face opposite the three-dimensional patterned face, an upper face, a lower face opposite the upper face, opposite side faces with at least one side face converging toward the other in extension across the entire distance from adjacent the three-dimensional patterned face thereon to the rear face; (d) discharging the pre-cured block from the mold cavity onto the pallet; and (e) curing the pre-cured concrete block.