The present invention relates to precast landscaping blocks, and more particularly to precast concrete blocks that include a molded face that simulates natural stone and which can be dry stacked one on top of the other to form a retaining wall.
Natural stones are used in landscaping residential and commercial buildings. For example, natural stone can be utilized to form planters, retaining walls, curbing or edging. There are, however, a number of drawbacks and disadvantages to natural stone. First, natural stone must be mined, packaged and transported. Often to obtain certain types of stone, the natural stone must be transported long distances. Thus there are substantial expenses involved in mining natural stone, handling the stone and transporting the stone sometimes as far as country to country.
In addition, laying natural stone is time consuming and expensive. This is because natural stone is not uniform in shape and size. Natural stone is difficult to lay in a mortar base and even more difficult to lie in a dry stack. Further compounding the problem is that skilled stone laying tradesmen are difficult to find and when they are located, they too are expensive.
Because of the expense of natural stone and the difficulties encountered in laying, a market has developed for unnatural landscaping blocks that include a front face that simulate stone, brick or other more traditional landscaping structures. For the most part, these unnatural stone products are of one size or depth. When these stones are utilized to form a retaining wall, for example, in many cases some form of a mechanical tie or support must be incorporated into the wall structure in order to meet code requirements or to meet fundamental engineering standards. Often these mechanical ties or mechanical support structures include a plastic, fiberglass, metal or nylon webbing that is secured between spaced courses of block and extend therefrom where the webbing ties into a backfill material or to a structure or the ground that lies behind the retaining wall. Again, this is expensive and time consuming.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for a landscaping block set that is of a precast type which can be utilized to build a retaining wall without requiring the retaining wall to be mechanically tied or supported to a structure or to the backfill or ground material lying behind the retaining wall.
The present invention provides a landscaping block set used for forming a retaining wall. In one embodiment of the present invention the block set includes at least two groups of precast landscaping blocks. One group of the landscaping blocks includes a depth greater than the depth of the other group. When forming the retaining wall, the group of precast landscaping blocks having the greatest depth is utilized to form one or more lower courses of the retaining wall. Stacked on top of the one or more lower courses of the retaining wall is the second group of precast landscaping blocks that include a depth less than the depth of the landscaping blocks that form one or more of the lower courses. Thus, when the upper most course or courses of landscaping blocks are disposed over preceding courses, it follows that a portion of the upper surfaces of the one or more lower courses are exposed. This gives rise to a step configuration formed about the backside of the retaining wall.
In one particular embodiment, the set of landscaping blocks includes first, second and third groups of precast landscaping blocks. The first group of blocks includes a depth greater than the depth of the second group of blocks while the second group of blocks includes a depth greater than the depth of the third group of blocks. Thus, the first group of blocks forms one or more lower courses of the retaining wall. The second group of blocks forms one or more intermediate courses of the retaining wall. Finally, the third group of blocks forms one or more upper courses of the retaining wall. Together the three groups of precast block form a step configuration about a rear side of the retaining wall.
Another aspect of the present invention entails forming a retaining wall from a set of precast landscaping blocks. This method entails selecting from the set a first group of landscaping blocks having a depth and utilizing the first group of blocks to form one or more lower courses of the retaining wall. Next the method entails selecting from the set a second group of landscaping blocks having a depth less than the depth of the first group of blocks and forming one or more intermediate courses of the retaining wall with the second group of blocks by stacking the second group of blocks over the first group of blocks. The method also entails selecting from the set a third group of landscaping blocks having a depth less than the depth of the blocks of the second group. The blocks of the third group are stacked above the blocks of the second group. Because the depth of the blocks of the various groups vary, and the blocks with the greatest depth are laid in the lower or lower most courses while the blocks having the intermediate depth are laid in the intermediate courses, and the blocks having the smallest depth are laid in one or more upper courses, it follows that a retaining wall is formed where the backside of the retaining wall assumes a step configuration.
Another embodiment of the present invention entails a method of forming precast landscaping blocks by extending an elongated member through the walls of a plurality of sections disposed in side-by-side relationship that form a part of a mold. To form a design in a face portion of each block, a molded design is disposed in the bottom of each section. Next the method entails pouring concrete into the plurality of sections such that the concrete in each section is supported over the molded design. The molded design disposed in the bottom of each section molds a corresponding design in a face of the concrete block formed in each section of the mold.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are merely illustrative of such invention.
With further reference to the drawings, particularly
Each group of blocks would include a plurality of like blocks. That is, for example, the depth of the blocks constituting the first group 12 would be equal and the same would apply for the depth of the second and third groups 14 and 16. However, it may be advantageous to vary the width of blocks in each group. That is, some blocks in the respective groups may be of a different width or even a different height. As seen in
Viewing the structure of the blocks of the first group 12, it is seen that these blocks include an upper surface 12A and a lower surface 12B. These surfaces are generally flat. Further, blocks of the first group 12 include a face or front 12C. As will be appreciated from subsequent portions of the disclosure, the face 12C is molded to simulate the appearance of a natural stone, for example. Other designs can be molded into the face 12C. Disposed opposite face 12C is a back 12D. Note that due to the tapered construction of the blocks, the width of the back 12D is less than the width of the face 12C. Finally, each block of the first group 12 includes a pair of sides 12E and 12F. Sides 12E and 12F are straight, but extend in non-parallel relationship. That is, the width of the blocks becomes progressively narrow from the face 12C to the back 12D.
The description of the structure of the blocks of the first group 12 applies to the blocks of the second and third groups 14 and 16. That is, blocks of the second and third groups include an upper face 14A, 16A, a lower surface 14B, 16B, etc.
As noted above, each block is of a precast construction. In the embodiment illustrated herein it is contemplated that one material utilized to form the blocks is concrete.
Each of the blocks that form the set 10 includes one or more openings that extend from the upper surface to the lower surface. In the case of the blocks of the first group 12, each of these blocks includes a series of openings 18, 20 and 22. These openings are aligned and become progressively smaller from the face 12C to the back 12D. Likewise blocks of the second group 14 include a pair of openings 24 and 26. Openings 24 and 26 are generally aligned with opening 24 adjacent the face 14C having a larger diameter than the opening 26 formed adjacent the back 14D. Finally, the blocks of the third group 16 include a single round of circular openings 28.
The set of blocks 10 can be utilized to form a dry stacked retaining wall 30. See
In the case of one embodiment where the set of precast landscape blocks 10 comprises three groups, 12, 14 and 16, the retaining wall 30 would form the structure shown in
Note that the retaining wall 30 shown in
In the case of the retaining wall 30 shown in
Turning to
Now viewing the mold 60 in more detail, the mold 60 includes an elongated bottom 62. Bottom 62 can be constructed of various materials, but in the case of one embodiment, bottom 62 would comprise a metal plate. Bottom 62 is supported by a pair of opposed rails 64 and 66. Note that in the case of the design illustrated herein, that each rail includes an upper rail and a lower rail. The lower rails include selected openings that form areas where the forks of a forklift can be inserted under the mold 60. This enables the mold 60 to be conveniently transported from one location to another with a forklift or other type of lifting and transporting device. Further, the bottom structure of the mold includes a series of spaced apart transverse channels 68 that extend between the two rails 64 and 66.
Mold 60 includes a pair of sides with each side being pivotally mounted to the bottom structure of the mold. Each side is movable from an open position shown in FIG. 5 to a closed position shown in
Each side includes a sidewall 70. Sidewall 70 is reinforced by a series of longitudinal channel members 72 that are secured to the exterior of the wall 70. Further reinforcement is provided by a plurality of exterior transverse channel members 74. As seen in the drawings, transverse channel members 74 extend exteriorly of the longitudinal channel members 82.
Also secured to the inside face of each sidewall 70 is an inside retainer 76. Inside retainer 76 is in the form of a piece of angle iron that includes a flange that projects into the mold, about the leftmost side of the mold as viewed in
Disposed on one end of the mold is a bulkhead 78. Bulkhead 78, which is disposed on the rightmost end of the mold as viewed in
Supported on the bottom portion of the mold 60 is a series of laterally spaced plates 80. The plurality of plates 80 forms a series of sections, each section being defined between two consecutive plates 80 and indicated generally by the numeral 82. As will be appreciated from subsequent portions of the disclosure, each section 82 forms one landscaping block. The spacings between the respective plates 80 can be uniform throughout the mold 60. However, as discussed above, some sets of landscaping blocks 10 may include blocks of varying thicknesses. Accordingly, some of the plates 80 could be spaced to yield 3″ blocks, 4½″ blocks, 6″ blocks, or any other desirable height.
Individual plates 80 are constructed of metal and include a vertical section and a lower flange portion or base 80A that is turned at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to the vertical section. Further, each plate includes one or more openings. In the embodiment illustrated herein, the plates 80 include three openings. However, it is appreciated that the plates 80 could be designed to have two openings, one opening, or in some cases, no openings. It follows that by including three openings in the respective plates 80, that the mold 60 shown in the drawings would produce landscaping blocks having three openings therein.
Returning to the bottom structure of the mold, the bottom is formed in part from the lower portions 80A of the plates 80 and other structures. More particularly, the bottom portion 80A of each plate form an angled base that extends from the vertical portion of each plate at an angle of approximately 90°. Disposed over each base 80A is a urethane block 84 having a molded face 86. The urethane block 84 is particularly molded, in one embodiment, such that its face 86 simulates the appearance of natural stone. In addition, urethane block 84 is molded around a base 88, which could comprise a strip of plywood. Note that in the case of each of the defined sections 82, that the molded block 84 and the base 88 would overly the base portion 80A of a respective plate 80. Viewing
As noted above, each of the sides is pivotally mounted to the bottom structure of the mold 60. Each side is movable between an open position, shown in
Mold 60 also includes one or more elongated member for extending through aligned openings of the respective plates 80. In the case of the embodiment shown in
Mold 60 illustrated in the drawings is designed to form one of the groups of blocks that form the landscaping block set 10. It is appreciated that different side molds would be utilized to form blocks of various depths and sizes and with a varying number of openings formed therein. That is, there would be provided one mold, for example, for the landscaping block that includes a single opening and another mold for molding the landscaping block having a pair of openings.
It is appreciated that the respective sections 82 that are formed in the mold 60 should be generally sealed to prevent the concrete, after pouring, from leaking from the sections or the mold. Consequently, the clamp assemblies 100 function to pull the sides 70 tightly against the outer edges of the plates 80 so as to form a generally sealed relationship between the interior surface of the wall 70 and the outer edges of the plates 80. In addition, it is appreciated that the inside retainers 76 formed on the inside of the walls 70 function to add stability to the mold 60. That is, when the doors 70 assume closed positions, the retainers 76 will generally lie adjacent the outer side of the leftmost plate 80, as viewed in
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the scope and the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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1795451 | Sharpe | Mar 1931 | A |
1909539 | Huntoon | May 1933 | A |
2313363 | Schmitt | Mar 1943 | A |
2882689 | Huch et al. | Apr 1959 | A |
4831802 | Cromrich et al. | May 1989 | A |
5294216 | Sievert | Mar 1994 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
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62-264219 | Nov 1987 | JP |
63-142125 | Jun 1988 | JP |
6-57767 | Mar 1994 | JP |
6-93626 | Apr 1994 | JP |
6-108483 | Apr 1994 | JP |
6-207417 | Jul 1994 | JP |
6-287968 | Oct 1994 | JP |