US2711893A - Checkerwork made of interlocking bricks of the same shape - Google Patents

Description

June 2, WALTERS Zfilh CHECKERWORK MADE OF INTERLOCKING BRICKS OF THE SAME SHAPE Filed Aug. 5. 1954 m M a.

A415 HTTQANEYS CHECKERWORK MADE OF INTERLOCKING BRICKS OF THE SAME SHAPE Harry W. Walters, Edinboro, Pa.

Application August 3, 1954, Serial No. 447,455

Claims. (Cl. 26351) This invention relates to checkerwork, and especially to the checkers of open hearth furnaces.

As is well known, checkers absorb heat from the hot gases that leave a furnace and later on give up that heat to the incoming combustion air. An example of such checkers is shown in my Patent No. 2,519,301. In that patent the checkerwork is built up from bricks of two different shapes, which interlock to hold them in proper position. One shape is rectangular and the other has a rectangular body with tongues at its opposite ends. That requires the manufacture, sale, handling and storing of two different shapes of bricks, all of which is more expensive than if only one shape were used.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide checkerwork which can be formed from interlocking bricks that all have the shame shape and that can easily be laid without confusion as to the pattern. Another object is to provide checkerwork which compels the bricklayer to lay the bricks at right angles to one another, and in which the bricks will fit accurately together and will not become dislodged from their proper positions.

Still another object of the invention is to provide checkerwork having a high degree or" stability against displacement and toppling by so laying bricks of a single form that each brick locks a portion of two laterally directed bricks below it.

Another object of the invention is to provide a single simple shape which can readily be varied in production to produce bricks for different flue sizes with only an inexpensive kind of mold change.

In accordance with this invention the checkerwork is formed from a plurality of courses of bricks in which there are horizontally spaced parallel rows of bricks crossed by like rows to form parallel vertical flues bounded by the rows. Each brick has a rectangular body that is flat or blunt at one end and is provided with a central vertical tongue at its opposite end. Each of the fluesin a course is formed from four bricks laid in a rectangle, with each of the four having its tongue overlapping and engaging part of the blunt end of the adjoining brick. Consequently, the tongues of bricks in a given row will fit between the blunt ends of pairs of bricks in cross rows, and the opposite ends of each brick become locked against lateral displacement, twisting, or tilting. Successive courses are laid so that each brick is reversed with respect to the brick immediately below it.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of my checkerwork; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary isometric view showing a plurality of courses.

Referring to the drawings, the bricks in each superposed course of the checkerwork are laid in straight parallel rows crossed by other parallel rows of bricks. The rows are spaced apart a distance nearly the length of a brick and the intervening spaces form parallel vertical fiues 1 with solid side walls. All of the bricks shown are the States Patent "ice same general size and shape, although they do not all need to be the same length unless it is desired that the fines should be square. Each brick has a rectangular body 2 of standard size, and one end 3 of the body is blunt while the opposite end has a central vertical tongue 4. The blunt end preferably is flat. Most suitably, the tongueis about half the thickness of the body, but it must project from the body a distance less than half the latters thickness. Also, it is preferred that the opposite sides of the tongue be substantially parallel and be connected by flat shoulders 5 to the opposite sides of the body of the brick.

Each flue that is bounded by the brick rows has the portion of it that is in any given course formed from four bricks disposed in a rectangle which is square when all of the bricks have the same length. The four bricks are laid with their tongues extending either in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction, depending on which group is being observed. In other words,

4 each tongue of the four bricks forming a section of a flue overlaps and engages part of the blunt end of the adjoining brick perpendicular to it, and a shoulder of the first brick abuts against the side of the second one. In actual practice the bricks are laid in rows, with those in any one row laid tongue-to-tongue in pairs, whereby the adjacent pairs in the row have their blunt ends facing each other. The cross bricks have their tongues between the blunt ends of the other bricks, and the blunt ends of the cross bricks engage the sides of the tongues of the bricks perpendicular to them. Consequently, both ends of each brick are held between the ends of bricks in adjoining cross rows and therefore the first brick cannot move laterally or topple over.

As all of the bricks have the same shape, they are easy to lay and the pattern is easy to follow and cannot cause confusion to the bricklayer after it has been started. Since all of the bricks are alike so that no selection has to be made by the bricklayer, he can lay them quickly, but he is forced to lay them at right angles to one another. The bricks in each course are turned end-forend relative to the courses below and above, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will there be seen that the blunt end of each brick in the second or succeeding course rests upon a corner of the blunt end of each of two laterally directed bricks below it, and thereby prevents the bricks around the side of the checkerwork from being toppled over. All of the bricks are locked in place and cannot be displaced relatively to one another to form ledges that will collect dust that is carried over from the furnaces. Such dust, if allowed to accumulate, would build up and eventually choke the flues.

Many different size bricks can be formed from the same mold or extruded from the same die by merely inserting the desired filler piece in the mold or die to block off a section of it. Thus flues from, for example, 5 inches to 10 or 12 inches can be produced, the size of the flue corresponding to the length of the body minus the distance between the side wall and tongue as shown in Fig. 2.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Checkerwork comprising a plurality of brick courses in which there are horizontally spaced parallel rows of bricks crossed by like rows to form parallel vertical fiues bounded by said rows, each brick having a rectangular body with a blunt end, the opposite end of the body being provided with a central vertical tongue, the portion of each of said flues in a course being formed from four bricks laid in a rectangle with each of the four having its tongue overlapping and engaging part of the blunt end of the adjoining brick, whereby the tongues of bricks in a row fit between the blunt ends of pairs of bricks in cross rows.

2. Checkerwork as defined in claim 1, in which each tongue is connected by shoulders to the opposite sides of the adjoining body, and a shoulder of said overlapping brick abuts against the side of said adjoining brick adjacent its blunt end.

3. Checkerwork as defined in claim 2, in which said blunt end is substantially flat and said shoulders are substantially perpendicular to said opposite sides.

4. Checkerwork as defined in claim 1, in which all of said bricks are the same size and said fiues are square.

5. Checkerwork as defined in claim 1, in which bricks in each course are turned end-for-end relative to the bricks immediately below them, whereby the blunt end of each brick rests partially on top of the blunt ends of two laterally directed bricks in the course below.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 429,342 Foote June 3, 1890 1,687,786 Peterson Oct. 16, 1928 2,519,301 Walters Aug. 15, 1950

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