Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02560428 2006-09-18
METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A SUPPORTING WALL AND BRICKS FOR
CARRYING OUT SAID METHOD
The invention relates to a method for construction of a supporting masonry
wall, in which
in a first course of the wall in addition to solid brick is laid at least one
hollow brick
having an opening in both its upper side and lower side, and where in the
subsequent
courses at least one hollow brick is laid between the solid bricks, in such a
way that the
openings in adjacent courses at least overlap each other, and in which a high-
strength
material is introduced into the contiguous cavity formed by the hollow bricks.
The objects of the invention are further a solid brick and a hollow brick for
the execution
of the method described above.
Methods have long been known to art by which a wall can be erected on a
building site
by bricklayers or masons using bricks of mineral materials. Known to art is a
proposal to
use, in place of bricks of mineral materials, bricks molded from renewable
biological raw
materials, which however are burdened with the disadvantage of being
themselves unable
to provide a load-bearing wall, and EP 0 838 575 Bl contains the proposal to
prepare a
load-bearing support structure of wood and to frame the interstices of the
support
structure with suitable molded bricks. The building system presented in that
application
has proven itself in practice, but however is associated with the disadvantage
of increased
expense required for providing the support structure, which is not required in
a wall of
conventional bricks. Not is it possible to provide a solid concrete deck.
The task of the invention is to disclose a method by which the load-bearing
capacity of
the wall, after its construction from mortared, non-load-bearing bricks, can
be varied in
accordance with requirements, and more particularly can be increased. The task
of the
invention is further to provide building materials suitable for the execution
of this
method.
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The part of the task regarding the method is solved by the method described at
the outset,
which offers the advantage that a wall can be constructed in a manner familiar
to masons,
for example with a "25" grid system with a conventional wall assembly, by
laying solid
brick and hollow brick, and after the masonry work is completed, the load-
bearing
capacity of the wall can be raised to the required degree by filling in the
hollow brick, so
that in a wall with a visually uniform external appearance, a column of
material of high
load capacity, produced by the hollow bricks laid one on top of the other, is
formed inside
the wall.
A preferable embodiment is the use for the solid brick and/or the hollow brick
of artificial
bricks made from renewable raw materials, and more particularly of vegetable
fibres like
wood, bamboo, hemp or the like, and a binding agent. Such an embodiment has
the great
advantage that a vapour-permeable wall can be created from environmentally-
friendly
materials, which not only has advantageous characteristics for interior
climate and
occupant comfort, but also has the required load-hearing capacity without
requiring the
presence of a separate scaffolding of steel, concrete or wood bracing.
To avoid a weak point in the wall and to maximize load-bearing capacity, it is
provided
that the openings of the hollow bricks in adjacent courses completely coincide
with each
other. So that the edges of the solid bricks laid above each other are not
flush with each
other, they should be laid in at least two widths. Here it is advantageous if
the narrower
solid brick is half the width of the wider solid brick so that the offset of
the edges of
adjacent wall courses is specified as a half brick-width.. The load-bearing
capability of
the wall will be yet further increased if the lateral surfaces of the full
brick and the hollow
brick are provided with positive-fitting profiling.
To vary the thermal conductivity of the wall, and more particularly to reduce
it, there is
the possibility of introducing an insulating lining in the hollow cavity.
A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized in
that a fluid
is introduced into the hollow cavity. Fluids have the characteristic of taking
up the entire
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volume available to them so that the hollow cavity is entirely tilled and,
more
particularly, air pockets in the area of the offsets of the artificial brick
are avoided.
Advantageously, the fluid selected can be a hardening or alternatively a
setting fluid,
which increases the load-bearing capacity of the wall not only because of the
incompressibility of the fluid in the hydraulic sense, but also because it
provides, for
example, a concrete pillar in the usual way. This concrete pillar can also be
fibre-
reinforced by introducing steel or glass fibres into the concrete while it is
still fluid.
There further exists the advantageous possibility that before the introduction
of the fluid,
a reinforcing rod is introduced into the hollow cavity, so that a steel-
concrete structure
can be used as a load-bearing column in the wall.
To the end of rationalizing the method for erecting the wall, there is also
the possibility of
prefabricating a flat wall segment as a wall module and combining it with
other wall
modules on the building site, whereby advantageously the step of the method of
filling
the hollow cavity can then be performed on the building site. This then yields
the
possibility that the hollow cavity can be poured together with the floor slab.
The part of the task relating to the solid bricks and the hollow brick is
solved by creating
on the side surfaces buffer strips and/or a tongue and groove conformation.
Preferably,
these bricks are fabricated as artificial brick, in which renewable primary
materials, and
more particularly chips obtained from vegetable fibres, are bound together in
a compound
by means of cement as a binder and lime as an additive.
A better cohesion of the masonry is achieved if buffer strips and/or tongue-
and-groove
conformations are formed on the top and bottom sides.
In the scope of the invention, there is further the possibility that the
hollow cavity of the
hollow brick is subdivided into compartments which communicate with each other
by
means of contact openings. These openings in turn ensure that when the hollow
cavity is
filled with fluid, the entire volume formed by the cavity is filled, while the
material
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subdividing the compartments is suitable for varying the mechanical
characteristics of the
hollow brick.
Again, within the scope of the invention, it is preferable for the natural
fibres to be
processed into chips which are integrated into a compound by means of cement
as
binding agent and lime as an additive. The provision of the renewable primary
materials
as chips effects a homogenization of the characteristics of the artificial
brick, since there
is none resulting from a specific alignment of the vegetable fibres in a
preferred direction.
In the following, the invention in an embodiment depicted in the drawing will
be more
fully described; shown are:
Fig. 1 A perspective view of a wall formed from solid full bricks and hollow
bricks,
Fig. 2 Section II - II from Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 Section III - III from Fig. 1,
Fig. 4 A depiction of another embodiment corresponding to the depiction of
Figure 1,
Fig. 5 Section V - V from Fig. 4,
Fig. 6 A wall corresponding to the depiction in Fig. 1 with increased load-
bearing
capability by means of the adjacent arrangement of two hollow bricks in each
course of the wall, and
Fig. 7 Section VII- VII from Fig. 6.
The drawing depicts a masonry wall 1 consisting of artificial bricks 2 which
are formed
from renewable prime materials, and more specifically from vegetable fibres
such as
wood, bamboo, hemp or the like, and in which the vegetable fibres are
processed into
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chips, which are integrated into a compound by means of cement as binding
agent and
lime as additive. The artificial bricks 2 are fabricated in two embodiments,
that is, one as
a solid full brick 3 and the other as a hollow brick 4, which, in the typical
embodiment
shown in the drawing, buffer strips 5 are formed on the side surfaces, so that
the full
bricks 3 and the hollow bricks 4 in can be laid together to form a wall course
6 in the
manner shown in Fig. 3. In the method according to the invention, each wall
course 6 has
at least one hollow brick 4, whereby in each of the following, adjoining wall
courses 6 a
hollow brick 4 is laid between the full bricks 3 in such a way that the
openings 7 of the
hollow bricks 4 in adj acent wall courses 6 overlap each other. In the
contiguous cavity 8
thus formed, a hardening or setting fluid is introduced, for which the use of
concrete
particularly offers itself. To be noted is that reinforcing rods or insulation
inlays 9 can be
introduced into the hollow cavity 8 before the filling with concrete, so that
pillars of
steel-reinforced concrete extending the full height of the wall can be
prepared, by which
means the wall l, which is formed by artificial bricks 2 consisting of
renewable prime
materials, receives load-bearing characteristics, while the degree of load-
bearing
capability of the wall 1 can be varied by the number of hollow bricks 4 used
per wall
course 6 and their arrangement (Fig. l, Fig. 6). Since the full bricks 3 are
manufactured in
differing widths (Fig. 5), an offset can be created between the neighbouring
wall courses
6 to increase stability. The full bricks 3 may - to increase insulation values
- be provided
with an additional insulating coating 9 of optional thickness.
