Not applicable.
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Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to brick panel wall construction. More specifically, this invention is directed to improvements in the components used in brick panel wall construction that result in improved water management, stronger mortar interlock, and better brick retention.
2. Description of the Related Art
For centuries brick walls have been used as a premium building material due to their strength, beauty, and durability. Unfortunately, brick walls are typically laid brick by brick, which tends to be time consuming, labor intensive, and thus expensive. Thin brick veneer was, therefore, developed as a means for achieving the beauty and durability of brick walls without the associated expense.
Thin brick panels can be premanufactured or can be assembled to a building on-site. Thin brick panels generally include a substratum, such as steel, aluminum, plywood, asphalt-impregnated fiberboard, cementitious board, polyurethane, or polystyrene foam board. With the on-site assembly method, the substratum is fastened to the exterior wall of a building in any conventional way and an array of thin bricks are applied to the substratum, typically with an adhesive. Then mortar, or grout is applied between the thin bricks.
The prior art has suggested a variety of thin brick panel constructions. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,206 to Passeno, Jr., the inventor of the current application. The '206 patent teaches a building block holder for fabricating a veneer wall of thin bricks for attachment to a building. The building block holder includes a rigid panel having holes therethrough for convenient attachment to a wall. The rigid panel includes apertures therethrough such that when the thin bricks are glued to the rigid panel, adhesive flows into the apertures of the rigid panel for retaining the thin bricks on the panel. The rigid panel also includes spaced apart rows of vertically offset supporting tabs for supporting the thin bricks. Each thin brick is glued to the rigid panel and locates against a supporting tab such that a space is established between the top of each thin brick and the supporting tab directly above. Mortar is then applied between the bricks. A disadvantage with these teachings is that it is not optimized to drain moisture or water from behind the thin bricks. Moreover, although the adhesive interlocks to the rigid panel, the mortar is not interlocked to the rigid panel.
A second approach is taught by applicant's earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,714, which teaches an improved brick panel construction apparatus for attaching to a wall. The apparatus includes a substratum of a stiff backing member made of polystyrene foam and that has one side to which is laminated a water impermeable sheet of vacuum-formed polystyrene. The water impermeable vacuum-formed sheet includes horizontal rows of integral projections that are spaced apart both vertically and horizontally. An array of brackets are fastened through the water impermeable sheet and stiff backing member to a wall. Each bracket has a flat portion and a top portion, wherein each top portion nests with part of a corresponding projection so as to partially overlap the projection and the flat portion overlies part of the vertical space between the horizontal rows of projections. Thin bricks are adhesively attached to the water impermeable sheet and rest on top of the brackets between the rows of projections. Grout or mortar is then applied to the spaces between the thin bricks so as to cover the projections. The brackets provide support for the bricks and also provide a mortar lock by allowing the mortar to extend around the flanges of the brackets and into the openings stamped in the brackets to inhibit the mortar from separating from the underlying sheet. Unfortunately, the manufacturing of the substratum is somewhat complex in that it involves vacuum forming a thin polystyrene sheet and laminating that sheet to the rigid polystyrene foam backing member.
Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,373,676 and 5,501,049 to Francis et al., which teach thin brick panel assemblies for forming a brick facing on a building structure. Francis et al. teach the brick assembly including a backing member, support clips, thin bricks, glue, and mortar. The backing member includes horizontally extending parallel holding guides that extend outwardly from the backing member to define channels. The holding guides are spaced from one another and have flat top surfaces generally perpendicular to the backing member and one-half dovetail knife-edge bottom surfaces. Support clips are interspersed across the backing member and include a flat plate portion and a shelf portion for overlapping the flat top surface of a respective holding guide. The shelf portion of each support clip terminates outwardly in alternating rows of teeth. The thin bricks are glued and snapped into a respective channel such that a bottom surface of each thin brick rests either on the shelf portion of a respective support clip or on the flat top surface of a holding guide. A top surface of each thin brick slightly deforms the knife-edge of a respective retaining bar to hold the thin brick within its respective channel. Mortar is then applied between the bricks. Vertical V-shaped notches, or grooves, are vertically disposed between the rows of holding guides to provide water drainage and accept mortar therein.
A disadvantage with the Francis et al. patents, however, is that some of the thin bricks attach to the flat plate portion of a support clip and rest on the tops of the shelf portions of the support clips, while others do not. As the support clips are not embedded into the backing member, the thin bricks attached to the flat plate portion of a support clip extend away from the wall further than the thin bricks attached directly to the backing member. Thus, a brick wall assembled in this manner will have an irregular pattern of protruding bricks affecting the aesthetic appearance of the wall. Furthermore, the bricks resting on the flat plate portion of a support clip are vertically higher than the bricks attached directly to the backing member giving rise to uneven rows of thin bricks.
Another disadvantage with the Francis et al. patents is that the thin vertical notches only permit a relatively small amount of water to escape from under the mortar, and only in vertically spaced apart portions of the panel assembly.
Additionally, and as shown in the cross-section of
Finally, the Francis et al. patents disclose holding guides having a flat top surface and one-half dovetail knife-edge bottom surfaces so that only the top edge of each thin brick is pressed to deform the knife-edge of the respective holding guide. Thus, the thin bricks are not optimally retained to the backing member and may fall off the wall after assembly.
From the above, it can be appreciated that thin brick panel assemblies of the prior art are not cost effectively optimized to manage drainage of water from under the mortar and to provide a robust integral engagement of the thin bricks to the substratum. Therefore, what is needed is a thin brick panel assembly that incorporates novel water management and retaining features in a substratum and improved support clip design to improve the water management, mortar interlock, and brick retention of the assembly.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a thin brick panel assembly adapted for mounting to a building structure. The thin brick panel assembly includes thin bricks, a substratum, mortar ties, and mortar.
The thin bricks each have a front surface, a back surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, and opposed side surfaces. Each brick has a width defined between the opposed side surfaces, a height defined between the top and bottom surfaces, and a depth defined between the front and back surfaces. The back surface of the thin bricks includes vertical weeping grooves that improve water migration by channeling water that would otherwise become trapped between the bricks and the substratum.
The substratum includes an array of horizontally disposed retaining channels for accepting the thin bricks therein. The retaining channels are defined by an array of integral retaining projections. The retaining projections have a dovetail shaped transverse cross section defining a top and bottom knife-edge surface. The retaining projections are disposed in a generally parallel pattern of rows and are spaced apart a distance that is less than the height of each of the thin bricks such that the retaining projections interferingly engage the top and bottom surfaces of the thin bricks to retain the thin bricks within the retaining channels.
The retaining projections include an array of segmented interruptions or interruptions arranged in a diagonal pattern such that each interruption slightly overlaps the interruptions directly above and below. Within each retaining projection, the interruptions are horizontally spaced to coincide with the standard distance between wall studs (typically 16 or 24 inches). Furthermore, the overlapping diagonal pattern repeats itself such that each individual interruption aligns vertically with another interruption approximately every 16 inches.
The interruptions work in conjunction with the weeping grooves to channel out water from behind the bricks. The excessive horizontal distance between the drainage grooves of the prior art restricts moisture migration, and typically only the water in the vicinity of the groove is channeled out. The spacing and arrangement of the interruptions in the preferred embodiment greatly reduces the horizontal distance between interruptions such that the channeling system is accessible to any water behind the thin bricks.
The mortar ties are disposed between the thin bricks and the substratum such that the mortar ties are respectively aligned with the interruptions. Each mortar tie includes a flat plate portion with fastening holes, a substratum engagement extension terminating one end of the flat plate, and a mortar engagement extension terminating another end of the flat plate portion. Each mortar engagement extension includes apertures therethrough and is disposed within one of the interruptions. The substratum engagement extension extends into the substratum such that the flat plate portion lies flat against the substratum in a respective retaining channel.
As previously indicated, the spacing of the interruptions corresponds both horizontally and vertically with standard distances between wall studs. In a typical example, a plurality of interruptions vertically spaced 16 inches apart are vertically aligned with each wall stud. A mortar tie is disposed in only those interruptions that align with a stud. After initially attaching the substratum to the building with an adhesive, a fastener is inserted through one of the fastening holes of each mortar tie, through the substratum and into the wall stud. The fastener is preferably run down tightly to embed the mortar tie into the substratum such that the mortar tie will lie flush with the front surface of the substratum.
After the substratum and mortar ties are attached to the building, adhesive is applied to the retaining channels of the substratum. The thin bricks are inserted into the retaining channels such that the top and bottom surfaces of each thin brick engage the knife-edge surfaces of the retaining projections. Upon pressing the brick toward the substratum, the respective knife-edge surfaces buckle and compact into the dovetailed area establishing a frictional interference fit sufficient to hold the bricks in place until the adhesive cures.
The thin bricks are arranged horizontally according to conventional thin brick spacing and arranged vertically as dictated by the retaining projections. Mortar is applied between the thin bricks such that the mortar covers and flows into the mortar engagement extensions and through the apertures. In this manner, the mortar interlocks the bricks, mortar ties and substratum so that the thin brick panel assembly is optimally retained to the building.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved brick panel assembly and related method.
It is another object to provide a brick panel assembly and related method that, compared to the prior art, provides better water management by more completely permitting moisture to drain therefrom.
It is still another object to provide a brick panel assembly and related method that is more economical and more reliable than the prior art.
It is yet another object to provide a brick panel assembly and related method where bricks lie flat against the substratum and frictionally engage projections of the substratum for better integral interlock compared to the prior art.
It is a further object to provide a brick panel assembly and related method that provides improved mortar interlock and brick retention compared to the prior art.
These objects and other features, aspects, and advantages of this invention will be more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.
Generally shown in the Figures, a thin brick panel assembly is provided in accordance with the present invention. The term substratum as used herein is synonymous with backing member and means any member or element that constitutes a base for supporting another member or element.
Referring now to the Figures, there is shown in
The substratum 12 is preferably composed of polystyrene foam that is formed from a single sheet. A plurality of integral retaining projections 22 extend horizontally across a front surface 24 of the substratum 12. The retaining projections 22 are parallel and vertically spaced apart such that the distance therebetween is slightly less than the height of the bricks 18 so as to achieve an interference fit therebetween as will be discussed hereinafter. The retaining projections 22 are dovetail-shaped in transverse cross-section and thereby define knife-edge top and bottom edges 26 and 28. Vertically adjacent rows of retaining projections 22 define retaining channels 30 into which the bricks 18 are eventually inserted. The retaining projections 22 establish proper vertical spacing of the bricks 18 and by frictional interference as will be described below retain the bricks 18 within the retaining channels 30. The retaining projections 22 are preferably formed by wire cutting the foam substratum 12 or, alternately, the substratum 12 could be extruded to yield the retaining projections 22.
The retaining projections 22 are interrupted by cavities or interruptions 32 that are either cut, burned, or otherwise formed into the substratum 12. The interruptions 32 are arranged in a diagonal array as best shown in
Each brick 18 has a back surface 48, a front surface 50, a top edge 52, a bottom edge 54, and opposed side edges 56. The width of each brick 18 is defined between the opposed side edges 56, the height is defined between the top and bottom edges 52 and 54, and the thickness or depth is defined between the back and front surfaces 48 and 50. The bricks 18 are composed of any acceptable thin brick material, and preferably include vertically disposed weeping grooves 46 in the back surfaces 48 thereof. The weeping grooves 46 in the bricks 18 work in conjunction with the interruptions 32 to allow water to escape from between the bricks 18 and the substratum 12.
Referring to
Referring again to
Referring to
As shown in
Referring now to
As can seen from the above description of the preferred embodiment, the present invention provides improved water management through an overlapping diagonal pattern of interruptions 32 in the retaining projections 22 of the substratum 12 in conjunction with weeping grooves 46 in the bricks 18. The mortar apertures 44 in the mortar ties 14 also enable better interlocking of the mortar 58, the bricks 18 and the substratum 12 to the wall studs S. The unique orientation of the mortar ties 14 that are horizontally and vertically centered with respect to the interruptions 32 enable the bricks 18 to lie flat against the substratum 12.
While the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. In other words, the teachings of the present invention encompass any reasonable substitutions or equivalents of claim limitations. For example, the structure, materials, sizes, and shapes of the individual components could be modified, or substituted with other similar structure, materials, sizes, and shapes. Specific examples include substituting the foam substratum 12 for an interior wallboard material such as drywall or gypsum board. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
658868 | Rosenbaum | Oct 1900 | A |
4011702 | Matyas | Mar 1977 | A |
4407104 | Francis | Oct 1983 | A |
4809470 | Bauer et al. | Mar 1989 | A |
4916875 | Kashiwagi | Apr 1990 | A |
4956949 | Francis | Sep 1990 | A |
5228937 | Passeno | Jul 1993 | A |
5311714 | Passeno | May 1994 | A |
5373676 | Francis et al. | Dec 1994 | A |
5526630 | Francis et al. | Jun 1996 | A |
5667190 | Scott et al. | Sep 1997 | A |
5715637 | Hesterman et al. | Feb 1998 | A |
6186469 | Scott | Feb 2001 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1478863 | Jul 1977 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20030213212 A1 | Nov 2003 | US |