This invention relates to masonry wall constructions of the type utilizing hollow concrete or concrete-cinder blocks laid up with mortared joints in staggered courses and reinforced with steel reinforcing bars. More particularly, the invention relates to the positioning of the horizontal and vertical reinforcing bars in the voids within the hollow blocks prior to filling the voids with concrete, and especially to the construction and shape of the internal portions of the blocks that define the voids into which vertical reinforcing bars are inserted.
In modern building construction, masonry walls are commonly formed of hollow concrete or concrete-cinder blocks laid up with mortared joints staggered in successive courses. Horizontal reinforcing bars are embedded in successive courses, and vertical reinforcing bars are inserted in the vertically extended spaces formed by the vertically aligned voids of successive courses. The voids are subsequently filled with poured concrete that is rodded, puddled, or otherwise settled in place to provide a vertically and horizontally reinforced concrete masonry wall.
This general form of reinforcement is shown in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,830 and 3,717,967. In the masonry wall construction of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,830, the blocks are provided with an inwardly projecting lip that extends into its respective integral void away from the side wall of the block. The lips serve to space the vertical reinforcing bars from the interior side wall of a block and against a horizontal reinforcing bar to permit the concrete that is poured into the voids to completely surround and embed the vertical bar and thereby make a better use of the vertical bars as reinforcements of their respective side walls.
In actual practice, however, the final pouring can, and often does, haphazardly dislodge some of the vertical reinforcing bars from their intended vertical positions. Some degree of shifting of a reinforcing bar from a truly vertical position is tolerable so long as the bar remains fully embedded in the poured concrete. Heretofore, however, when a vertical bar intended to be adjacent one side wall shifts with respect to another unshifted bar adjacent the other side wall so that the pair of opposite bars are in substantial transverse alignment rather than staggered, the resultant haphazard arrangement indicated to a supervising architect or building inspector that one of the bars was insufficiently embedded and, consequently, approval would be withheld.
One approach toward correcting this problem is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,830 wherein the ends of the side walls of the blocks are provided with inturned vertical end flanges so that the flanges of adjacent blocks abut to form an inward projection whereby alternate courses in a vertical stack of voids define a vertical projection intermediate the corners of the side walls to confine the vertical reinforcing bars to restricted portions of the stack of voids. Such end flanges, however, permit a vertical reinforcing bar to rest directly against the end flanges, themselves, or the intermediate webs as well as against the adjacent side walls of the block, or, in other words, in the corners formed by the intersections of the adjacent side walls with the intermediate webs and/or end flanges. This restricts the flow of concrete around the vertical reinforcing bars located in that position and prevents proper embedding of the bars in the poured concrete. As a result, the desired reinforcement in the resulting masonry wall structure is not achieved.
The molded module construction of the present invention, however, solves the problem indicated above and affords other features and advantages heretofore not obtainable.