Patent ID: 7048472

Claim:
A mortarless retaining wall block comprising: a) a block body; and b) a flange formed on and below the block body, said flange having a generally forward-facing surface; and wherein c) in top plan view the block body has a first front edge, a first rear edge, a first side edge and a second side edge opposed to the first side edge, wherein i) the first front edge extends from the first side edge to the second side edge and extends to the widest portion of the block body, and the first rear edge extends from the first side edge to the second side edge, ii) the first side edge includes a first converging portion and the second side edge includes a second converging portion that is opposed to the first converging portion, and the opposed converging portions converge towards each other as they extend toward the first rear edge and are each oriented at an oblique angle relative to the first rear edge, and iii) the block body is substantially free of cores that are visible in the top plan view; d) in front elevation view the block body has a front surface and the first front edge extends across the fornt surface and corresponds to the widest portion of the front surface; and e) in side elevation view the block body has a second front edge, a second rear edge that is generally vertical, a top edge that is generally horizontal, and a bottom edge, and the flange has a forwardmost edge corresponding to the generally forward-facing surface of the flange, wherein i) at least the lowermost points on the bottom edge of the block body generally lie on a straight line that is generally parallel to the top edge, ii) the top edge extends from the second front edge to the second rear edge and at least a portion of the top edge corresponds to the first side edge, iii) the bottom edge extends from the second front edge to the forwardmost edge of the flange, iv) the block body is substantially free of cores that extend fully through the block body, v) no portion of the block body is visible above the top edge, vi) no portion of the block body is visible below the straight line on which the lowermost points of the bottom edge generally line ahead of the forwardmost edge of the flange, and vii) no portion of the block body is visible ahead of the second front edge.