U.S. patent application number 11/649919 was filed with the patent office on 2007-07-19 for multiple retaining wall block unit with off-center splitting grooves.
Invention is credited to Angelo Risi.
Application Number | 20070166112 11/649919 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38229436 |
Filed Date | 2007-07-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070166112 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Risi; Angelo |
July 19, 2007 |
Multiple retaining wall block unit with off-center splitting
grooves
Abstract
Disclosed is a multiple retaining wall block unit provided with
at least one set of splitting grooves positioned in such a manner
as to permit splitting and separation of the blocks from the unit.
The invention lies in that the set of splitting grooves is located
along the unit in such a manner that the adjacent blocks that can
be splitted, are not of a same length. As a result, the blocks when
stacked on top of each other, have their front faces that do not
extend necessarily in the same place, thereby giving more
originality to the look of the retaining wall.
Inventors: |
Risi; Angelo; (Thornhill,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WILLIAM COLLARD;COLLARD & ROE, P.C.
1077 NORTHERN BOULEVARD
ROSLYN
NY
11576
US
|
Family ID: |
38229436 |
Appl. No.: |
11/649919 |
Filed: |
January 4, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
405/284 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04B 2002/026 20130101;
E04C 1/39 20130101; E02D 29/025 20130101; E04B 2002/0208
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
405/284 |
International
Class: |
E02D 5/00 20060101
E02D005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 4, 2006 |
CA |
2,531,950 |
Claims
1. In a multiple retaining wall block unit provided with at least
one set of splitting grooves positioned in such a manner as to
permit splitting and separation of said blocks from said unit, the
improvement wherein said at least one set of splitting grooves is
located along said unit in such a manner that the adjacent blocks
that can be splitted, are not of a same length.
2. The improved unit of claim 1, wherein each of the blocks of said
unit has an upper surface provided with at least one upwardly
projecting tongue and a bottom surface with at least one groove
sized to receive the tongue of a similar block extending below when
said retaining wall is built up.
3. The improved unit of claim 2, wherein: said unit comprises only
two blocks having front surfaces facing each other in a same
vertical plane; the set of splitting grooves permitting splitting
of said two blocks is positioned in said vertical plane; and said
vertical plane is off-center with respect to said unit.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an improved multiple
retaining wall block unit provided with splitting grooves
positioned in such manner as to permit splitting and separation of
the blocks from the unit.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Multiple retaining wall block unit of the above-mentioned
type are well known in the field to which the present invention
belongs. In this connection by way of non restrictive examples,
reference can be made to FIGS. 9 and 10 and to the corresponding
part of the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,456 to Angelo RISI
et al. Reference can also be made to FIGS. 2 to 4 and to the
corresponding part of the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,505
to David C. BENDER.
[0003] The existing multiple retaining wall block units usually
comprises only two blocks having front surfaces facing each other
in the same vertical plane. Said units are also devised in such
manner that the blocks, when splitted, be of the same length.
[0004] The blocks that are so splitted are usually provided with
tongues projecting upwardly from their upper surface and grooves
made in their bottom surface, in order to allow stacking of the
blocks one on top of the other in order to form a retaining wall.
As to this kind of blocks with tongues and grooves and the way they
can be stacked onto each other, reference can be made to the
numerous prior art references that exists in this field, including
in particular the two above-mentioned patents.
[0005] In practice, these tongues and grooves may be positioned in
such manner as to allow the blocks to be stacked in such manner
that the resulting wall be either battered or vertical. In this
connection, and by way of non restriction example only, reference
can be made to the content of Canadian patent no. 2,469,128 to
Angelo RISI.
[0006] As it may be appreciated upon reviewing the various patents
discussed hereinabove, when use is made of blocks of a same size to
build up a retaining wall, the front surfaces of the blocks
extending in a same horizontal row of the wall all extend in a
substantially the same vertical plane. The planes of the various
rows all extend also in the same plane when the wall is vertical.
When the wall is battered, these planes extend at different
distances away from each other. However, in the latter case, the
blocks of a same row have their front surfaces that extend all
together in the same plane, as was disclosed hereinabove.
[0007] It is apparently of common practice for some consumers to
ask for retaining walls made of blocks that would not necessarily
extend in a same plane in order to give more "originality" to the
look of the retaining wall. In such a case, however, it is
compulsory from the manufacturer to order and use different units
containing blocks of different length or to use blocks having a
plurality of tongues and grooves on their upper and lower
surfaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It has now been found that the above-mentioned requirement
of some of the consumers to have blocks positioned and shaped in
such manner as to give a different look to the front surface of a
retaining wall made from said blocks can easily be achieved by
using blocks which come from same units but not with a same
length.
[0009] It has also been found that blocks on different lengths
compatible with each other and stackable one upon the other can be
easy obtained from such same units provided that, contrary to what
has been done so far, the sets of splitting grooves used on the
unit in order to split the same in order to separate the blocks be
not always positioned just in the middle of each unit or at places
of the unit that make it splittable into blocks of a same size and
form as it has always been done so far.
[0010] Thus, the present invention is directed with an improved
multiple retaining wall block unit provided with at least one set
of splitting grooves positioned in such manner as to permit
splitting and separation of the blocks of the unit, which
improvement lies in that each of the splitting grooves is located
along the unit in such manner that the adjacent blocks that are
splitted, are not of a same length.
[0011] As is of common practice, each block of the unit
advantageously has an upper surface provided with at least one
upwardly projecting tongues and a bottom surface with at least one
groove sized to receive the tongues of the similar block extending
below when the retaining wall is built up. As a result, inasmuch as
the blocks are no more of a same length, different positioning of
the front surface of each block may vary depending on the length of
the block that is being used. As a result, the front surface area
of the retaining wall made from the blocks may have a look which is
not "uniform," as it was done so far.
[0012] In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of
the invention, each unit comprises only two blocks having front
surfaces facing each other in the same vertical plane. The set of
splitting grooves used to split the two blocks is of course
positioned in this vertical plane. Once again, in order to achieve
the result mentioned hereinabove, the vertical plane is off-center
with respect to the unit.
[0013] The invention will be better understood upon reading the
following non restrictive description made with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a retaining wall made
of blocks splitted from a multiple retaining wall block units
according to the invention;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a double retaining wall
block unit according to the invention;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the unit shown in FIG.
2;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a variant of the unit
shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a battered retaining
wall made of blocks splitted from units as shown in FIG. 4; and
[0019] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a vertical retaining
wall made of blocks splitted from units as shown in FIG. 4, after
having further splitted one part of the tongues projecting from
their upper surfaces.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In the following description, reference will be made
exclusively to multiple retaining wall block unit comprising two
blocks exclusively.
[0021] It is worth noting however that the invention also applies
to any other kind of multiple retaining wall block unit comprising
more than two blocks, like for example, the units disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,622,456 to Angelo RISI et al.
[0022] In the following description, reference will be made also
only to blocks having tongues and grooves that are vertically
offset, each of the tongues also having a splitting groove
extending transversally over its length in order to allow reduction
of its size and thus allow blocks to be positioned in line when
needs be, as is disclosed in Canadian patent no. 2,469,128 to
Angelo RISI.
[0023] It is worth noting however that the invention is not
restricted to these very specific embodiments and could be used to
any kind of blocks used to manufacture retaining walls, which are
molded from concrete in the form of units comprising two or more
blocks that can be splitted from the unit whenever desired thanks
to the presence of sets of splitting grooves positioned at suitable
locations.
[0024] It is worth noting also that each block may comprise more
than one tongue and more than one groove. They can actually be as
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,505 to David C. BENDER.
[0025] As a matter of fact, as was already emphasized hereinabove
in the Summary of the invention, the invention actually lies that
the set of splitting grooves used to split and separate each block
from the unit is/are positioned in such a manner as to make it
possible for the adjacent blocks that are splitted not to be of a
same length, the basic purpose of that being. to allow building of
a retaining wall with a different look inasmuch as the front
surface of some blocks may extend forwardly or rearwardly from the
adjacent blocks even when these blocks are positioned in the same
horizontal row. Such is actually shown in FIG. 1.
[0026] The improved multiple retaining wall block unit 1 according
to the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 2 of
the accompanying drawings, comprises two blocks 3 and 3' which are
of the same structure as to the blocks disclosed and claimed in
Canadian patent no. 2,469,128 to Angelo RISI. Each of these blocks
3, 3' comprises an upper surface 5 with a transversal tongue 7 of
the given width that projects upwardly from it. Each of these
blocks 3, 3' also comprises a bottom surface 9 with a transversal
groove 11 sized to receive the tongue 7 of another similar block
positioned below and thus to allow stacking of the blocks as is
shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
[0027] In the illustrated embodiment, the tongue 7 of each block is
also provided with a splitting groove 13 sized and positioned to
allow splitting of the tongue with a splitting tool along a
transversal line that is positioned to permit a remaining portion
of the tongue 7 to fit into the groove of a further similar block
stacked on top of the block with the front side, with a slack left
as to the positioning of the upper block onto the lower one,
inasmuch as the tongue of the lower one has become smaller. As to
this particular structure and its advantages, reference can be made
again to the above-mentioned Canadian patent no. 2,469,128.
[0028] As aforesaid, the present invention essentially lies in that
the set of splitting grooves 15 which is provided in the unit 1 in
order to allow splitting of the blocks 3 and 3' is not positioned
just in the middle of the length of the unit as it was done so far.
Such a set is actually positioned at a small distance away from the
middle portion of this length, in order to make the splitting
off-center by a distance that may of course vary depending on the
consumers request (see the distances d1 and d2 identified in FIGS.
3 and 4).
[0029] As a result of such an off-centering of the splitting
grooves 15, the blocks 3 and 3' are not of the same length and,
more importantly, the distance between their tongues and their
front surfaces 17 on the one hand and between their tongues 7 and
grooves 11 on the other hand, are not the same, as is clearly shown
in FIGS. 3 and 4. As a result, when the blocks splitted from
similar unit are stacked one upon the other, the front surface 17
of these blocks do not necessarily extend in a same plane even if
the blocks are extending in a same horizontal row, as it was always
obtained so far.
[0030] FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of retaining walls
made of blocks obtained from units as shown in FIG. 4. In the
embodiment shown in FIG. 5, each of the tongues 7 has been left as
such. In other words, they have not been splitted. As a result, all
the blocks have the tendency to form a wall that is battered.
However, depending on the length of the blocks, the front face of
each of them may extend in different positions as is clearly
illustrated.
[0031] If, however, as shown in FIG. 6, the tongues 7 of each block
is splitted via the grooves 13, the blocks may be stacked one upon
the other in order to form a vertical retaining wall. In such a
case, the blocks may however, depending on their size due to
splitting along the grooves 15, still have their front surfaces
that extend in different planes.
[0032] The result that may be achieved and the new look given to
the wall is illustrated by way of a non restrictive example in FIG.
1.
[0033] As may be appreciated, the main advantage of the improvement
forming the subject matter of the present invention is that it is
not necessary to have multiple retaining wall block unit of
different shapes and configurations in order to form blocks of
different sizes to achieve a result as shown in FIG. 1. As a matter
of fact, the very same kind of units may be used to achieve any
kind of look, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6.
[0034] As aforesaid, the invention is not restricted to the very
specific embodiment disclosed hereinabove inasmuch as it can be
used with any kind of multiple wall retaining wall block units.
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