US3780484A

US3780484A - Universal blocks

Info

Publication number: US3780484A
Application number: US00155946A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Muse
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-10-26
Filing date: 1971-06-23
Publication date: 1973-12-25
Anticipated expiration: 1990-12-25

Abstract

A wall structure and a block for forming same in which the block is generally rectangular and divided along its length into four substantially equal parts with a vertical hole centrally positioned through each of the four parts. Each of the four parts also has an alignment groove such that when two overlying blocks in adjacent courses of blocks overlie by any number of onefourths of the length of a block, at least some of the alignment grooves and vertical holes will be vertically aligned. Expandable aligning rods are provided to be received within the aligned aligning grooves and to extend through several courses of blocks to assure vertical alignment of a plurality of blocks vertically disposed, and long or short expandable sleeves are inserted into the aligned vertical holes and filled with mortar to lock the blocks together and rigidify the wall structure.

Description

1 1 Dec. 25, 1973 UNIVERSAL BLOCKS George B. Muse, Hillcrest Dr., Calhoun, Ga.

[22] Filed: June 23, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 155,946

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 83,939, Oct. 26, 1970, Pat. No. 3,693,307, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 252, Jan 2, 1970.

[76] Inventor:

[52] U.S. Cl 52/585, 52/438, 52/494, 52/568, 52/596 [51] Int. Cl. E04b 2/46, E040 1/08, E04c H10 [58] Field of Search 52/585, 506, 507, 52/494, 497, 568, DIG. 2, 503, 227, 229,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,693,307 9/1972 Muse 52/DlG. 2 X 3,680,277 8/1972 Martin 52/438 1,968,393 7/1934 Henderson 52/438 X 3,479,782 11/1969 Muse 52/585 X 2,141,397 12/1938 Locke 52/506 X 3,430,403 3/1969 52/585 X 3,609,926 10/1971 Muse 52/503 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 134,523 10/1949 Australia 52/227 167,726 3/1934 Switzerland ..52/585 3,196 1863 Great Britain Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant ExaminerCarl D. Friedman Attorney-Jones & Thomas [57] ABSTRACT A wall structure and a block for forming same in which the block is generally rectangular and divided along its length into four substantially equal parts with a vertical hole centrally positioned through each of the four parts. Each of the four parts also has an alignment groove such that when two overlying blocks in adjacent courses of blocks overlie by any number of one-fourths of the length of a block, at least some of the alignment grooves and vertical holes will be vertically aligned. Expandable aligning rods are provided to be received within the aligned aligning grooves and to extend through several courses of blocks to assure vertical alignment of a plurality of blocks vertically disposed, and long or short expandable sleeves are inserted into the aligned vertical holes and filled with mortar to lock the blocks together and rigidify the wall structure.

8 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures PAYEHTEB DECZ 5 I973 ATTORNEYS PATENTEUDEBZS 1013 saw 2 or 6 PATENTEUYJEEZS m3 SHEET (If 6 PATENTEUUEBZSIW 3,780,484

SHEET 5 [IF 6 PATfNTinn czsma $780,484

sum 6 are UNIVERSAL BLOCKS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of the copending application entitled VARIABLE WALL STRUCTURE" filed Oct. 26, 1970, under Ser. No. 83,939 now US. Pat. No. 3,693,307, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of the co-pending application for WALL STRUCTURES filed Jan. 2, 1970, under Ser. No. 252.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Numerous attempts have been made to provide a building block arranged so that a relatively unskilled person can construct a wall of a desired configuration, the blocks themselves providing means to assure uniformity of construction. The blocks of these previous designs have normally had mating protrusions and indentations, holes to be aligned, and the like. Also various forms of clips, clamps, pins and the like have been provided to assist in the proper alignment of the blocks.

Though many of these prior art blocks have been somewhat successful, they have normally included means for aligning only two blocks, one superposed on the other. There is of course some error possible in the alignment of each two blocks, so that in the course of building a relatively high wall, the errors can accumulate and result in a wall badly out of plumb.

Further, it is sometimes desirable to construct a block wall without using mortar, grout, or other cementitious sealing means. Prior art blocks usually provide no facility for reinforcing the joints to provide enough strength even for an interior wall where shear stresses are very nominal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the above mentioned and other difficulties by providing a generally rectangular building block that is effectively divided into one-fourths along its length. Each fourth of the block has a central opening extending vertically therethrough to receive an aligning sleeve to assure proper placement of each block with respect to the blocks of the next adjacent courses of blocks. Each fourth of each block also has an alignment groove extending vertically there through, and the alignment grooves are so placed that, regardless of the number of fourths of overlap of two blocks, at least one alignment groove of each block will be aligned with an alignment groove of the other block. A compressible aligning rod is provided to be received within the alignment grooves, the aligning rod being long enough to extend through a plurality of courses of the block wall to assure vertical alignment of the blocks of the wall.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apertured wall constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion of the wall of FIG. 1 with one block shown in phantom to illustrate the relationship of the blocks;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the wall of FIG. 1, partially in cross-section;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing a solid wall in which the blocks are overlapped by threefourths on one block and one-fourth on the adjacent block;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing a solid wall in which the blocks are overlapped by one-half length;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view ofa block made in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 7-10 are perspective view of different forms of aligning rods to be used in the block wall of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a short block;

FIG. 12 is a front elevational view of two prefabricated wall sections;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of two prefabricated wall sections in a partially completed wall structure.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a partially completed wall structure formed with the block of FIG. 6 and onehalf blocks and panels;

FIG. 15 is a top view of the wall structure of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a partially completed wall structure formed with the block of FIG. 6, threefourths blocks, the block of FIG. 11, and panels; and

FIG. 17 is a top-view of the wall structure of FIG. 16.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Each of the blocks 10 has four vertical generally cyv

lindrical openings

11, 12, 13 and 14, each of the'openings being approximately centered within a one-fourth division of the block; thus, when a hole, say hole 14, of one block is aligned with a hole, say hole 11, of a block in a previous course of blocks, the blocks will be overlapped by approximately one-fourth of their lengths. Further, since there is a hole in each of the four onefourth divisions of the blocks, the blocks can similarly be overlapped by two-, three-, or four-fourths with equal precision. Also, since it is difficult to place abutting blocks in a course of blocks close enough together so that the end holes 11 and 14 of abutting blocks will be equally spaced apart with the

remaining holes

12 and 13 along the entire length of the course of blocks, the end portions of each block between the end walls and the end holes are slightly foreshortened.

The blocks of the present invention are preferably formed with a height equal to one-half their length so that, as in FIGS. 1-3, when the blocks 10 are overlapped by one-fourth of their length on two adjacent blocks in the previous course of blocks, there will be a half-length between the two adjacent blocks of the previous course, which is equal to the height of the block, to leave a square opening in the wall.

To assist in aligning two of the holes ll, l2, 13 or 14 sleeve members can be used, such as the expandable sleeve 15 shown in FIG. 2. The sleeve 15 is preferably formed of metal or other material that will provide a certain elasticity plus a relatively great shear strength. The sleeve 15 can therefore be compressed to be easily received within one of the holes in the blocks, then released to fill the hole. Another block is then placed over the sleeve so that the two holes connected by the sleeve will be properly aligned.

When an apertured wall is formed as shown in FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, there would be a sleeve, such as the sleeve 15, in each end of each block 10 resulting in the wall thus formed being uniform throughout.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 6 of the drawings which shows one block 10 in detail. It will here be seen that each of the holes l1, 12, 13 and 14 is centered within one-fourth division of the block 10. The onefourth divisions of the block are, for convenience, shown by broken lines and indicated at

numerals

21, 22, 23 and 24, though it will be understood that this is for purposes of illustration only as the block 10 is not physically divided in any manner.

The

divisions

21 and 24 are the two end one-fourth divisions of the block, and the end walls of each end one-fourth division is provided with a vertical alignment groove or slot as indicated at 25 and 26. These

alignment grooves

25 and 26 are spaced rearwardly of the front wall 28 of the block 10 and are parallel to the front 28. The

grooves

25 and 26 are further parallel to each other and are spaced the same distance from the front 28 so that they lie in the same plane.

The

divisions

22 and 23 are also provided with

alignment grooves

29 and 30. It will be seen in FIG. 6 that the

grooves

29 and 30 open into the

holes

12 and 13 respectively and extend toward the

grooves

25 and 26 respectively, lying in the same plane therewith. Also, the groove 29 extends into the division 21 the same distance that the groove 25 extends into the division 21. The opposite end of the block is arranged similarly with the groove 30 extending into the division 24 the same distance that the groove 26 extends into the division 24.

With the above discussion in mind, attention is directed to FIG. 2 of the drawings and to the block 10P shown in phantom lines. Here it will be clearly seen that: the groove 26 of the block 10P is aligned with the groove 29 of the lower block 10; the groove 30 of the block 10P is aligned with the groove 25 of the lower block 10; and, the hole 14 of the block 10? is aligned with the hole 11 of the lower block 10. It will be easily envisioned that the arrangement will be the same for the opposite ends of the blocks.

Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawings it will be seen that, in the construction of an apertured wall A, successive courses of blocks 10 are overlapped by the blocks of the adjacent courses by one-fourth of their lengths thereby providing continuous openings formed by mating holes 11 and 14 in alternate courses of blocks. Also, there are continuous passageways 31 formed by

mating alignment grooves

25, 26, 29 and 30. In this arrangement of blocks, all four of the

alignment grooves

25, 26, 29 and 30 are aligned with similar grooves throughout the height of the wall so that four alignment passageways are provided through each of the blocks 10.

The purpose of the alignment passageways 31 will be understood from the following.

FIGS. 7-10 of the drawings depict aligning rods to be received within the alignment passageways 31. In FIG. 7 the rod R1 is formed of a sheet material having a V- shaped cross-section. The two legs of the V, 32 and 34, diverge from the vertex until the outermost edges are a distance apart greater than the width of the aligning

grooves

25, 26, 29 and 30. One end 35 of the rod Rl has the legs 32 and 34 closed to form a chisel-like edge 36.

In FIG. 8 of the drawings, the rod R2 is very similar to the rod

R1 having legs

38 and 39 diverging from the vertex to form a V shape, and a chisel-like edge 40 formed by the legs being closed. In addition, however, the rod R2 has a lip 41 extending inwardly from the leg 39. On urging the

legs

38 and 39 towards each other the lip 41 will eventually engage the leg 38 and offer additional resistance to closing. The lip 41 will also provide a greater resistance to the rods bending.

FIG. 9 shows another modification of the rod. this being designated by R3. Again, the rod R3 has two

legs

44 and 45 that diverge from a vertex, then bend inwardly at 46 and 48 respectively to converge to a small extent. When the extending ends of

legs

46 and 48 touch, the rod R3 should be substantially the same width as the various alignment grooves. Also, the legs are closed to form the chisel-like edge 49.

The fourth modification of aligning rod is shown in FIG. 10 and is designated R4. The rod R4 is in an S shape and has

webs

50, 51 and 52 connected by

appropriate bights

54 and 55. One end is closed to a chisellike edge 56.

When the rod R4 is compressed, web 50 will tend to engage bight 55, and web 52 will tend to engage bight 54. There will be a significant resistance to further collapse.

Looking again at FIG. 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the alignment passageways that are formed by vertical alignment of the

various alignment grooves

25, 26, 29 and 30 are adapted to receive one of the aligning rods such as the rods R1, R2, R3 or R4.

After several courses of blocks 10 have been made, aligning rods will be passed through the aligned alignment grooves. The chisel-like edge on the end of each of the aligning rods allows the aligning rod to be driven into the alignment passageway and to bring the blocks into alignment if they are somewhat out of alignment.

It is preferable that each aligning rod reside within several courses of the blocks in order to assure that the block wall being constructed will be completely aligned.

It should be obvious that, for the aligning rods to be extended throughout the entire wall, the aligning rods must necessarily be unhandily long; therefore, the aligning rods are preferably made in sections of a length short enough to be handled easily. Aligning rods can then be driven into a plurality of courses of blocks, then additional courses of blocks will be laid, and additional aligning rods will be passed through these courses and into the preceding courses. In the wall shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, it would be reasonably good practice to place aligning rods in every other one of the alignment passageways in the first courses of blocks; then, after additional courses of blocks are laid, aligning rods could be driven into the other of the alternate alignment passageways of the wall. Continuing this procedure throughout the full height of the wall would provide overlapped aligning rods so that the entire wall would be properly aligned.

Referring to the wall shown in FIG. 4, it will be seen that the abutting blocks are overlapped by threefourths and one-fourth of the lengths of the block. With this construction, the

end alignment grooves

25 and 26 are aligned with the central alignment grooves 30 in the next course of blocks, while the central alignment grooves 25 in the lower course of blocks are aligned with the

end alignment grooves

25 and 26 of the next course of blocks. It will therefore be seen that four alignment passageways are formed in each of the blocks throughout the height of the wall. Due to this, use of the aligning rod can be similar to that discussed in FIG. 3 of the drawings in that every other alignment passageway can be provided with an aligning rod in each plurality of courses of blocks of the wall.

Referring now to FIG. 5 of the drawings, it will be seen that the same block can be used to construct a very conventional block wall in which the blocks are overlapped by one-half of their length.

Since the block is divided into divisions of one-fourth of the length of the block and there is a

hole

11, 12, 13 or 14 in each of the one-fourth divisions, with the blocks overlapped by one-half their length, sleeves such as the sleeves 15 can be utilized in all of the four holes. Thus, two holes in each block will align with two holes in each block above and below. Even with this one-half length overlap of the blocks it will be seen that some alignment passageways are formed through the wall.

There are basically two alignment passageways formed through the wall for each block used in the construction of the wall; however, each of the two alignment passageways is formed by the alignment of the central alignment grooves 29 and'30, and each of the passageways formed will be substantially twice the length of the usual alignment passageways; therefore, two aligning rods can be placed into each of the alignment passageways if desired. It would be especially convenient to place one alignment rod in each of the alignment passageways in the first plurality of courses of blocks; then place a second aligning rod within the same passageway in the next plurality of courses of blocks such as to allow the second group of aligning rods to pass into the same passageways as the first aligning rod. In this manner, it will be seen that two aligning rods can be placed in each block of the wall and the aligning rods can still be overlapped in some courses of blocks so that the proper alignment extends throughout the height of the wall.

It will thus be seen that the block of the present invention can be used to build a number of different kinds of walls, and in each case complete facilities for the use of the sleeves 15 and the aligning rods R1, R2, R3 or R4 are available.

After a wall structure has been formed and inspected, the blocks of the wall structure can be permanently connected together by pouring mortar 60 or other cementitious substance down through the various aligned

holes

11, 12, 13 and 14 of the blocks which have sleeves 15 inserted therein. When the mortar solidifies the blocks are bonded together and the sleeves become substantially incompressible. This provides the wall structure with unusually good impact resistance and shear resistance.

In addition, the aligning rods can be coated with a bonding substance prior to being inserted into the alignment passageways, so that the aligning rods are permanently maintained in the wall structure. The bonding substance can be used when mortar is used in the aligned sleeves and holes, or the bonding substance can be used when mortar is not used in the wall structure, as when an internal wall structure is being formed. The bonding substance applied to the aligning rods will prevent the block from being lifted off or removed from the wall structure.

As is illustrated in FIG. 11, short blocks 61 are provided for use with the long blocks previously described. The short blocks 61 are approximately one-fourth the length of the long blocks and includes aligning

slots

62 and 63 at opposite ends thereof and centrally positioned hole 64. When a short block 61 is placed upon a long block so that the cylindrical hole 64 of the short block is in alignment with a

hole

11, 12, 13 or 14 of the long block, the

alignment slots

62 and 63 will be aligned with the alignment slots of the long block. Thus, the same sleeves 15 and alignment rods R1, R2, R3 and R4 can be used with the short block.

As is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, a prefabricated wall structure can be formed with the use of long and

short blocks

10 and 61. One arrangement of a prefabricated wall section would be to have the central open ings 64 ofa pair of short blocks 61 placed in alignment with the end openings 11 and 14 of a long block in alternate courses of long and short blocks. Expandable elongated

sleeves

66 and 68 would be inserted down through the aligned

openings

11, 14 and 64 to properly locate and maintain the blocks in the prefabricated structure. The

expandable sleeves

66 and 68 will usually be of a length approximately equal to the expected height of the prefabricated wall structure, and in most instances,

sleeves

66 and 68 would be allowed to protrude upwardly out of the top long block. In addition, alignment rods, such as alignment rod 69, can be inserted down through the aligned alignment slots of the long and

short blocks

10 and 61. This would prevent the short blocks from pivoting or turning about the

expandable sleeves

66 and 68, and would further tend to lock the blocks together in the prefabricated structure. Of course, the bonding substance can be applied to the alignment rods, if desired.

When the prefabricated wall structure 70 is to be erected at the site of a wall or the like, long blocks 10 will usually be placed in end-to-end abutting relationship and short expandable sleeves 15 inserted into the holes l1, 12, 13 or 14 of the long blocks. The prefabri cated wall structure 70 will then be placed on the lower long blocks 10 by inserting the holes of the lower long block 10 in the prefabricated wall structure down over the protruding sleeves of the footing. The prefabricated wall structures 10 can be placed in abutting relationship along the wall or they can be spaced apart in onefourth length intervals along the footing, as may be desired. The protruding ends of the sleeves in the prefabricated wall sections can be utilized to connect adjacent ones of the prefabricated sections together by placing a long block over the protruding ends of the sleeves, as illustrated in FIG. 13.

After the prefabricated wall sections have been placed in the wall structure, additional alignment rods can be inserted down in the alignment slots if desired, and mortar or another cementitious substance can be poured down through the elongated

expandable sleeves

66 and 68. The mortar functions to permanently lock the blocks in the prefabricated wall sections together and to permanently lock the prefabricated wall sections to the footing, etc. In addition, the mortar is substantially incompressible and when combined with the elongated

expandable sleeves

66 and 68, provides an unusually strong shear force resistance quality to the completed wall structure.

It should be apparent that while prefabricated wall sections 70 are disclosed with alternating short and long blocks in the courses of blocks, two or more consecutive courses of short or long blocks can be placed in a prefabricated wall section, or various other block arrangements can be utilized if desired. It is usually desirable, however, to include an

expandable sleeve

66 or 68 through the short block to provide the desired strength characteristic to the prefabricated wall section.

As is illustrated in FIG. 14, the block illustrated in FIG. 6 can be utilized with other blocks to form a wall structure having panels inserted therein. The block 10, which is a full size four hole block, is used with half size blocks 75. Half size block 75 is the same height and width but one-half the length of the full size block and is twice as long as it is wide. The half size block 75 includes

circular openings

76 and 77 centrally positioned along its length in each multiple of its width, and vertically extending

alignment slots

78, 79, 80 and 81 are defined in the sidewalls of the block and are spaced from the end walls of the block a distance corresponding to the spacing of the

alignment slots

62 and 63 of the short block of FIG. 11, which is the same as the spacing of the

alignment slots

25 and 26 from the front wall of the full size block of FIG. 6.

The half size blocks 75 are stacked one upon the other to form a vertically extending group of stacked blocks, and the

groups

84, 85, 86, 87, 88 and 89 are equally spaced apart from each other in a line, with the length of the half size blocks being positioned generally normal to the length of the wall structure. Full sized blocks 10 are used as tying blocks and are connected to adjacent ones of the groups of half size blocks 84-89. Since the half size blocks are twice the width of the full size blocks, when a full size block, such as block 90, is placed upon adjacent groups of stacked blocks, such as

groups

84 and 85, the full size block 90 will extend over one-half the length of the half size blocks. The spacing of the groups 84-89 of the stacked blocks corresponds to the length of the full size blocks, so that the end circular openings 11 and 14 of the full size block 90 register with the aligned circular openings of the half size blocks in

groups

84 and 85. Full size block 91 is mounted on

groups

85 and 86 of the stacked blocks, with its end circular openings in registration with the aligned circular openings of the blocks in

groups

85 and 86. Thus, full size blocks 90 and 91 function to tie together the

groups

84, 85 and 86 of stacked half size blocks.

As is illustrated by groups 86-89 of the stacked half size blocks, the stacked blocks can extend upwardly from the tying blocks, and the tying blocks can be placed at virtually any level in the group of stacked blocks.

openings tying blocks

90 and 91 will alternate from front to rear of the wall structure along the length of the full wall structure, blocks the tying blocks should be turned so that their end together. 13 After

structure alignment slots

25 and 26 are located adjacent the front and rear surfaces of the wall structure. This places the end alignment slots of the full sized block in alignment with the

alignment slots

78, 79, 80 and 81 and of the half size blocks, so that the alignment slots will be continuous along the height of the wall structure. Of course, in the portions of the wall structure where the tying blocks are adjacent a surface of the wall structure, the

internal alignment slots

29 and 30 of the full size blocks will be in alignment with the alignment slots of the half size blocks.

Panels 94 are inserted in the aligned

alignment slots

78, 79, and 81 of the half size blocks and rest on the floor of the structure. Where a full size tying block interferes with the continuous structure of the panel 94, the panel merely rests on the top surface of the tying block. In the structure illustrated in FIG. 14, the wall structure will include alternate full panels 94 extending from the floor to the ceiling, and alternate short or broken panels 94 extending from the floor up to the tying block, and then from the tying block up the ceiling. Of course, the tying block can be placed at virtually any elevation in the wall structure, and the tying block can form a portion of the design of the wall structure. Also, if the tying blocks are placed in different courses of blocks in adjacent groups of half size blocks, all of the tying blocks can be positioned at one side of the wall structure and short or quarter blocks 61 (FIG. 11 can be used as filler blocks. With this arrangement full panels can be used in every space betweern the half size blocks on one side of the wall structure.

When the wall structure of FIGS. 14 and 15 is being assembled, cylindrical sleeves similar to the sleeve 15 of FIG. 2 will normally be utilized in the construction of the wall structure, by inserting the sleeves in the

circular opening

76 and 77 of the blocks of the groups of stacked half blocks, and also into the openings of thefull size tying bldocks which register with the circular openings of the stacked blocks. The use of the sleeves causes all of the blocks to be perfectly aligned and spaced in the wall structure, and securely locked to gether. Of course, an elongated sleeve such as

sleeves

66 and 68 of FIGS. 12 and 14 can be used instead of the shorter sleeves. The use of the longer sleeves allows for the various groups 84-89 of the stacked blocks to be stacked together or prefabricated" prior to shipment to the sight where the wall structure is to be assembled. after the wall sturcture has been assembled and adjusted, mortar can be poured down through the aligned circular openings of the tying blocks and stacked blocks, including the expandable sleeves contained in the aligned openings of the blocks to permanently bond the components together in the wall structure.

Usually panels 94 will be inserted into the alignment slots of the wall structure as the wall structure is being assembled; however, the perfect placement and spacing of the building blocks during the construction of the wall assembly by using the expandable sleeves provides for the subsequent insertion of panels 94 in an otherwise completed wall structure. Of course, panels 94 will have to be contractable to some extent as by folding or bending, or by having movable tabs etc. for insertion into the alignment slots of the blocks.

As is illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17, the full size block 10 can be used in combination with a three-fourths block 100. As with the half size block, the three-fourths block is of the same height and thickness as the full size blocks, but is only three-fourths as long, or only three times as long as it is wide.

Circular openings

101, 102 and 103 are centrally positioned in each one-third of the length of the block and

alignment slots

105, 106, 107 and 108 are defined in the sidewalls at the ends of the blocks, and are spaced from the end walls a distance corresponding to the spacing of alignment slots 78-81 of the half size blocks. The wall structure illustrated in FIG. 16 is assembled generally in the same manner as the wall structure illustrated in FIG. 14, but it will be noted that the full size blocks 110, 111, etc., are connected to the middle one-third of the threefourths blocks, and the end circular openings 11 and 14 of the long full size tying block registering with the middle circular openings 102 of the three-fourths block and with the tying blocks 110 and 111 being in different courses of block. By this arrangement, the wall structure can be formed with panels 112 that extend the entire vertical height of the wall structure, by placing the panels in the alignment slots on the sides of the three-fourths blocks, In addition, the short or quarter blocks 61 are mounted upon the end one-third portions of the three-fourths blocks on opposite sides of the full size tying blocks and function as filler blocks. The

alignment slots

62 and 63 of the quarter blocks will be in alignment with the alignment slots of the threefourths blocks next above and next below so that a continuous groove is formed from floor to ceiling to accommodate panels 112.

Panels 112 of FIGS. 15 and 17, as well as the panels of FIGS. 14 and 15, can be fabricated of wood, or of virtually any other desirable substance, including panels with carpeted or flocked surfaces. In addition, the exposed surfaces of the stacked blocks can be treated with grout, mortar, sprayed substances, paint, etc. to disguise the cracks between adjacent blocks if desired. Thus, an extremely attractive wall structure can be fabricated in a matter of minutes, and if for some reasons the wall structure is not properly formed, it can be dismantled and adjusted and reassembled. If the wall structure is to be permanently erected, mortar can be poured down through the aligned circular openings and sleeves of the stacked blocks. The resulting wall structure then becomes extremely strong and durable, particularly with respect to lateral forces and the wall structure can be a load bearing structure if desired.

The short sleeves 15 and

long sleeves

66 and 68 are resilient and are radially expandable so as to engage the surfaces of the block openings, thus providing the alignment features which are so beneficial in the present invention.

While this invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinbefore and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A prefabricated apertured wall section comprising a plurality of courses of blocks, a long block in at least some of the courses of blocks, short blocks of a length less than one-half the length of the long block in at least some of the other courses of blocks with short blocks resting on a long block in the courses of blocks next below and with an end of each short block aligned with an end of the long blocks, said long blocks and said short blocks assembled in the wall section defining vertically extending aligned openings, and expandable members extending through the aligned openings and expanded into engagement with the aligned openings to hold the blocks together, some of said vertically extending aligned openings of said long and short blocks being approximately cylindrical and of approximately the same diameter, and wherein others of said vertically extending aligned openings of said long and short blocks are noncircular and of approximately the same width, and wherein the expandable members extending through the aligned cylindrical openings are generally cylindrical and each defines an open ended slot extending through its length, and wherein the expandable members extending through the noncircular openings are of a length sufficient to extend vertically through several courses of blocks and are generally wedgeshaped and are expandable into engagement with the surfaces of the noncircular openings.

2. A wall structure comprising a plurality of aligned spaced apart groups of stacked blocks, tying blocks extending between and connected to adjacent groups of said stacked blocks, and panels extending between and connected to adjacent groups of said stacked blocks, the blocks of each group of stacked blocks including aligned upwardly extending slots, said panels being inserted at their edges into said slots, the stacked blocks of each group of blocks including aligned openings, and expandable members positioned in and expanded outwardly into frictional engagement with said aligned openings, with each expandable member extending into a plurality of the blocks ofa single stack of blocks.

3. The wall structure of claim 2 and wherein at least some of said panels are laterally offset from said tying blocks.

4. The wall structure of claim 2 and wherein at least some of said panels extend the entire height of the wall structure.

5. The wall structure of claim 2 and wherein each group of stacked blocks and said tying blocks are approximately rectangular blocks of a length a whole number multiple of its width, and wherein each group of stacked blocks is arranged with the lengths of its blocks extending generally normal to the length of the wall structure and wherein the tying blocks are arranged with their lengths extending generally parallel to the length of said wall structure.

6. A wall structure comprising a plurality of spaced apart groups of generally identical stacked blocks with each block being of rectangular shape and having a length a whole number multiple of its width and defining vertical circular openings of approximately equal diameter equally spaced along its length in each multiple of its width, and vertical slots defined in the side walls of said blocks at each end of said block, expandable sleeve members inserted into said circular openings of adjacent ones of said blocks of each group of blocks, panels inserted into at least some of the vertical slots of said blocks of each group of blocks and extending into a slot of a next adjacent group of blocks, and rectangular tying blocks of a width and height generally equal to the width and height of said stacked blocks and of a length a whole number multiple of its width and defining verticle circular openings of a diameter approximately equal to the circular openings of said stacked blocks equally spaced along its length in each multiple of its width, and said tying blocks having their end circular openings positioned in alignment with a circular opening of a block in adjacent ones of said groups of blocks.

7. A wall structure comprising alternating groups of vertically stacked blocks and panels extending between adjacent ones of said groups of blocks, said blocks each defining vertical circular openings of approximately -equal diameter and uniformly positioned in each block, radially expandable sleeve members inserted into said circular openings of said blocks and extending into adjacent ones of said blocks and radially expanded into frictional engagement with the circular openings of said blocks, said blocks d efining vertical slots uniformly positioned in their ends with the slots of each block being aligned with the slots of the blocks next above and next below, and said panels extending into the aligned slots of adjacent groups of blocks. defining 8. A wall structure comprising a plurality of prefabricated wall elements including a plurality of vertically stacked blocks, each of said blocks defining at least one circular vertical opening extending therethrough, and the openings of each block being aligned with the openings of the blocks next above and next below, radially expandable elongated sleeve members positioned in the circular openings of said blocks and extending vertically through a plurality of said blocks. said sleeve members being expanded radially outwardly into frictional engagement with the aligned circular openings of said blocks so that the blocks are held in alignment with one another, whereby the prefabricated wall elements can be placed in a vertical attitude upon a foundation and mortar or the like poured down the aligned circular openings and the sleeve members to permanently bond the elements of the prefabricated wall elements together.

Claims

1. A prefabricated apertured wall section comprising a plurality of courses of blocks, a long block in at least some of the courses of blocks, short blocks of a length less than one-half the length of the long block in at least some of the other courses of blocks with short blocks resting on a long block in the courses of blocks next below and with an end of each short block aligned with an end of the long blocks, said long blocks and said short blocks assembled in the wall section defining vertically extending aligned openings, and expandable members extending through the aligned openings and expanded into engagement with the aligned openings to hold the blocks together, some of said vertically extending aligned openings of said long and short blocks being approximately cylindrical and of approximately the same diameter, and wherein others of said vertically extending aligned openings of said long and short blocks are noncircular and of approximately the same width, and wherein the expandable members extending through the aligned cylindrical openings are generally cylindrical and each defines an open ended slot extending through its length, and wherein the expandable members extending through the noncircular openings are of a length sufficient to extend vertically through several courses of blocks and are generally wedge-shaped and are expandable into engagement with the surfaces of the noncircular openings.

2. A wall structure comprising a plurality of aligned spaced apart groups of stacked blocks, tying blocks extending between and connected to adjacent groups of said stacked blocks, and panels extending between and connected to adjacent groups of said stacked blocks, the blocks of each group of stacked blocks including aligned upwardly extending slots, said panels being inserted at their edges into said slots, the stacked blocks of each group of blocks including aligned openings, and expandable members positioned in and expanded outwardly into frictional engagement with said aligned openings, with each expandable member extending into a plurality of the blocks of a single stack of blocks.

7. A wall structure comprising alternating groups of vertically stacked blocks and panels extending between adJacent ones of said groups of blocks, said blocks each defining vertical circular openings of approximately equal diameter and uniformly positioned in each block, radially expandable sleeve members inserted into said circular openings of said blocks and extending into adjacent ones of said blocks and radially expanded into frictional engagement with the circular openings of said blocks, said blocks d efining vertical slots uniformly positioned in their ends with the slots of each block being aligned with the slots of the blocks next above and next below, and said panels extending into the aligned slots of adjacent groups of blocks. defining

8. A wall structure comprising a plurality of prefabricated wall elements including a plurality of vertically stacked blocks, each of said blocks defining at least one circular vertical opening extending therethrough, and the openings of each block being aligned with the openings of the blocks next above and next below, radially expandable elongated sleeve members positioned in the circular openings of said blocks and extending vertically through a plurality of said blocks, said sleeve members being expanded radially outwardly into frictional engagement with the aligned circular openings of said blocks so that the blocks are held in alignment with one another, whereby the prefabricated wall elements can be placed in a vertical attitude upon a foundation and mortar or the like poured down the aligned circular openings and the sleeve members to permanently bond the elements of the prefabricated wall elements together.