0 2, 18,867 The clc*ure strips need not extend thr6wjhdiit the, le@ngt,ix or ;width o'f',a room but iiiay b@6'b3ide., .in short sections covie@g-two or m,ore opexiings 21 or 35.:. For, example, the strip 36 in Figute 2 has been illwti4tL@d @al;-@ bei@g of a@ s@@bli 163gth for closing the lo*c-r, eii6. of three 6f the vertieai waR pa&sages. rne wall @ passages thr6ugh the interior -waU or walls 17 may be utilized fok any. desired purpose. Pipes 38 may extend into the 10 vertical passages of the wall 16 and may commilnicate with an air conditioning apparatus from which conditioned: air Is pumped into the passages of: the waH II and discharged from the upper end of the waR through the openings 23. 15 This construction also may be utflized for heating the building by conneettng the pipes 38 to a - suitable heating system and reversing the movement of the air to draw air into the vertical spaces of. the interior waU through th6 openings 23, the 20 heated air being discharged directly into the Interior. of the building, as will be apparent. Upon the completion, of the main b ding stmeture in the manner referred to, i)i:uwaus may be suitably surfaced and the top of the roof 26 dab waterpropfed. Xt @ Is preferred in practice that the outer surfac,es of the walls be stuccoed to suitably waterproof the Joints between the blocks 17, since. these blocks preferably are not mortared. Interior Wall faces may be plastered 30 and painted or @papered as desired. It wiU be apparent from the foregoing that.the ,.present Invention provides a clasSL of d,*elling L which is not availablel under oidinary building, systems. The pre.sent syste,m is p@rtieularly use35 ful in providing one story structures with or withL out cellars and such a structure has been JU us trated in the drawings. in coiistructing the house, the plan Is laid out on the Aite, whereupon the ground is excavated to provide for the :door 40 slab I I and footings 14. The-cement mixture f@v the floor structure Is mixed and poured, and in thel meantime a simple relatively @cheap block making machine such as the: machine disclosed In Patent No. 11072,253 may be,utwzed on the site for making the blocks 17. L Siach s@item eliminates the necessity for a blork riiaking factory and requires little investment In equipment, and many of the blocks ma@ be made In the course, of the. day's work. 50 The blocks are preferably made of a lean cement niixture to providq economy in material costs, Eathouih it wjll be apparent: that other lifting and dropping each end of Impact the material therein:to 'fo @w block than can be sec ured by the mer6 pouring of the cement, and after L the block is so formed It is nm enough to b6 Immediately removed frc)jn the mold. The blocks made each day are sufficieiitilk hard to be placed in the walls of the buflftg tlii 65 fouowing day. Since the blocks are stacked rather than mor tared, It LWJ]A be apparent that cheap labor may be employed in most of the erecting @work of the building. -The alined openings of the wall blocks 76 pr6vide forins intlo which th.e col,W= 24 and 25 are poured, and this work also may be aecompushed with unskflled labor. Standaxd supportIng boards and posts for support4ng the roof tiiis until the roof slab and rafters have been ,5 I)oured and harden,ed may be carried from Job to job, thu@ i@@i reddeing costs6 The forms employ6d fo'r. pourlilz the beams. 26 obviously wiU be of the i;implest type not requiring t7ae use of -skilled labor. The,pouied columns 24 and 25 provid'e @tht 5 necessary:- striietural strength for su'pporting ihe roof stitictuie or t,he sec6nd story of 'the building; and they also,.-anchoi the blo@ks in proper posi. tion. S@ch . Aiiehorai6 is increased by@the provision@ of an @adequat6 stucco covering on the 10 extemal waH surface, and the,resultant building meets aU requirements as to Struct strongth whjle materially lowering the costs of both labor and inaterial. The w6 of the parapet wall@ Is pr@ferred sinc6. 15 this type of structure lends itself particularly wen to the present Invention, although it wiU Pe ap-' parent that any rgof structure may b@ empioyed@ In a bWlditW of the type lllu@trated, the roof slab is pr4pferably formed with a pitch of approxi- 20 mately one inch In ten feet downwardly toward a line across the,center of the building forming a shallow trough from which raiii water readily, may be drained through a suitable down. spout. Accordingly It will be apparent that the pres- 25ent invention provides a class of'building structure particularly suited for dwellings @6,nd where. in the building may be of any desired type of architecture. Mie Bmished buflding accordingly can be made fully as attractive as buildings e'rect- 30 in accordance with conventional systems, while a dwelung of a given size may be compleited far more cheaply thus opening a new field of home purchase to. people who are unablia to afford a house of the necessary size constructed in ac- 35 cordance with present methods.' If desired, the floor Iab may be provided with wood flooring, but in the interest of economy It Is preferred that It be provided with a suitable attractive solid linoleum cemented thereto. 40 It will be apparent that the provision of ventilating, heating, air conditioning and other passages thirough the walls is not limited to an extemal wall of the building but may be used equally weU with an interior tall or with the roof 4 5 structum as dimlosed. Where the term "wall struelt urell oedurs in the claim withou t limitati on, It I.% under stood that this term is intend ed to Includ e any struct ural unit of the buildin g such as an exteri or or interio r waH, a parap et r)o waH, or t.he roof struct ure. -It sim.ila rly will be _App arent that the horizo ntal passa ges of the roof such 6tructure, but may be included in the floor 'structure of an upper story of the building. The term "sliperstructurell as employed in the claim, accordingly is lntended@ to cover either a roof structure or the -floor structure of an upper story ofthebuflding. It is to understood -that the fornis of the 60 Invention herewith shown and described are to be takeri as preferred exainples of the same and t@atl Vpalous.changes in the shape, size and ar-rangement of parts may be resorted to without departing f-rom the spirit of the invention or the 65 scope of the subJ6!ned claim. I C I aim A vertical building v.-all structure formed of a plurglity of superimposed directly contacting preformed blocks, the blocks of each row being 70 staggered with relation to the blo-eks of the adjacent rows, each block being substantially reetangular in horizontal section and provided with a pair of enclosed openings therethrough, the blocks of altemate rows being arranged in verti- 75 mlxtures such as Iiine and sand may be emplpyed structure are not limited in their application to since the blocks 17 act purely as nuer blocks and 55 as forms for the supporting colu 24 and 25. , Each block may be made In a sho time merely by filling @ the mold, - 5

2,018,367 cally alined series, and the, openings through of the respective rows be:ing allned to form blocks ality L of earryingl I a plur vert,ical -DaSUA@S, loi4,, cementitious dolumns formed certean @of sWd Uppei en& jerw. L vel-ucai D&Uages with th6ir ng substantiany in--the plane of. the upper facis of the uppm6rmost row of blocks, certain of ei%t_ Said collivnnit beim spued olp@it a fttan.ce gr er than the width of certain of E;iid vertical sen'es Whereby of blocks the blocks ih the latter series are @maintained In position i6lely @ b@ engagement with aw&cent blocks, g@beam ettending over and supoorted by the u 'end of s colun= and 5 pper s aid a iui@,erstm6 ture sitpported by'saidl beam.' AMTON W.

Patented Sept. 3, 1935 2@013@367 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2;013 367 BUHADING CONSTRUCTION M.Uton W. Thompson, Atlanta, Ga. AppHeation Aprff-29, 1933, Serial No. 668,654 1: Claim. (Cl. 72-30) This invention relates to building construotions'. There has 'neen a substajitial trend, in recent years toward the development of relatively low priced homes, and considerable research work has 'been done io@vard ihe end that both labor and ma tetial costs might be reduced As is w ell known, the cost of material involved in the building of a hbme is relatively high regardless of the material used, and the final cost to the pr6ducer is greatly 10 increased by@the amount of sliilled labor required in the erection of a hbme@ An important object of the pr6sent invention is to provide a building construction which is particularly adapted for the building of relatively low priced homes wherein there is a substantial saving eff6cted in the cost of both labor and'mat6rial. A further- object of the invention Is to provide a building construction wherein the majority of the wall forming mateiial is relatively cheap and 20 need not be of the usual structural strength, biit wherein no strength Is sactiflced in the finished building. A further object Is to provide a building struc-. 2& ture which is capable of erection with the use of a minimum amount of skired labor, thus effectino a substantial saving In labor costs. 'A further object is t6 provide a wall structure for buildings made up largely of filler blocks which ma'y be assembled by unskilled labor tithout the use of mortar, and @@wher@in the fuler.bl I ocks are suitably tied togeth6r and the roof structure adeiquately supported by hi ans of structural colunins poured at spaced poiiits wi,thin the fuler blocks. A ftirther object is to provide a structure of the 35 character i6ferred to wherein adequate ventilettiori for the rooms of the buildiiig Is provided through the walls thereof , and wherein theveiltilating means operate@ to teduc6 radiatibn through the walls of the buflding to m@intaiii the Interior of the bulicling. In a relatively co condition dur@ing warni weather. A further object Is to provide a stracture of the character Indicated wh6rein the ventilating 4& means is capable of operation in conn6ction with the roof of the building to,cool the rbof structure and further assi . st In maintaining the interior of the-building in cool condition. A further obj6ct Is to provide a building strue50 ture having wall passages capable of use for ventjlating the building in the manner referred to, and equally appli0able in connection with air conditioning means for th6 building or for use with a hot air or other heating system. ' . A further object is to provide a wall structure formed of a plurality of f)ller blocks having vertica.1 openings therethrough arranged in vertical alinement throughout the height of the wall, and to pour concrete or slinilar columns in certain of the vertical -openings to provide adequate supporting means for the roof structure, the remaining vertical openings of the wall structure being free for ventilatibn, air conditioning or heating In the drawings I have shown several embodiments of the invention. In this showing, 10 Mgure I is a vertical see@ional view through a portion of a one story buildiiig, parts being broken away, Flgure 2 is a si ,de elevation of one corner portion of the building,' Flgure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an upper portion of the building looking from the outside thereof, patts being broken away, and parts beiiig shov.,h in section, Flgure 4 is a sirgilar view looking from the inside of the building, 20 Mgure 5, is a horizontal sectional view through one corher portion of the building wall, Flgure 6 is a detail perspective view of one of 'the fill6r: blocks showing an Insert thereth adapted to be removed to provide a ventflating 25 opening, E@ad, @ Flgure 7- is a similar view showing aii Insert In the block'adapted to be removed to form a yentilating outlet opening at the upper portion of. the@ - wall. 30 Referriilg to the drawings the numeral I 0 designates the base structure as a whole comprising a floor slab I I and Integral outside and inside footings @12 and 13. The base@ structure is 35 poured as a unit from a suitable cement mixture, the ground being excavated as at 14 to receive the poured mixture. It *ill become apparent that the base structure may be the floor of the cellar or the first floor of the building, and in the - present instance the 'base structure has been 40 shown as forming the first floor of the building. After the base structure has been laid out and completed, outside and Inside walls 15 and 16 'respectively are erected thereon. Each of these 46 walls is formed of a plurality- of preferably staggered blocks 17 each of -which is shown in the' present in@tance as being rectangular and formed with a pair of vertical openings 18 there rough separated by a web 19. It Is wholly unnecessary 50 that mortar be employ@ed In eing of the the pla blocks, and in the interest of economy it is preferred that the blocks be stacked in the nia=er referred to with the vertical openings of the sue-' cessive blocks in registration throughout the if.

2,013,367 height of the waD. It will become apparent that provided with suitable reinforcement U desired. the blocks 17 are fmer blocks which need not in The beams are poured by placing suitable simple themselves possess the structural strength deforms aga'mst opposite faces of the waus, and manded of poured concrete wo6lls dr walls formed after the beams have sufficiently hardened, the a of the usual cement blocks. This be'mg the case, further economy in construction is effected by employing blocks II formed of a lean cement mixture, while it is entirely practicable to form, the blocks of even cheaper material, such as Ume .10 and sand preferably, with a sniall amotint of cement added. The present invention is of such a nature as to perniit the manufacture of the blocks economically from relatively cheap cemen'! titious mixtures, but it wiH become apparent that 15, the Invention is not limited in any way to the particular materials from which the blocks are formed. The low-ermost row of blocks of oni@l-wall or all of the walls are formed in the manner illus20 tratpd in Mgure 6. All of the blocIL4 may be made in any suitable machine, prefembly one which Is capable of making the blocks on the but-lding site, such as the machine illustrated in Patent No. 1,072,253. Most of the blocks. forming 25 the waus are made in the manner indicated, but the particular block illustrated in Mgure 5 is .formed with a core block 20 placed in the mold and adapted to be removed from the block after It is formed. Such a block forms the iower 30 row of blocks either for one wall or for all of the walls In the building, and the space left. by the removal of the wooden core block 20 leaves an opening 21 at the lower edge, of the block as l.Uustrated in Mgure 1. Such opening provides 35 a ventilating opening communi I cating between the bottom of any room or rooms of the house and the registering openings 18 of the suc6essive rows of blocks 17, except that ce rtain of the vertical wall openings are utilized for another 40 purpose to be described. 7he uppermost row of blocks for any wall, or walls of the building at the top of the first floor thereof are formed as indicated in PUme 7. Such blocks are formed with a rore strip 22 4a placed in the mold to form an opening 23, and these openings communicate betweeri the atmos. phere and the vertical waR openings as indicated at the left side of Mgure 1. Similarly constructed blocks may be employed for the interior 50 walls for a purpose to be described, as illustrated at the right side of Figure 1. Upon the completion of the first floor wall UP to and in@luding the blocks 17 which have the operiings 23 therein, certain of the vertical wall 55 openings are fued with a cement mixtuie, either with or without reinforcing means, as irustrated in Mgures 2 and 5. The filling of cert,ain of the openings thus provides supporting columns having the necessary structural strength to sup60 port the roof or the second floor of the building. It is not at all necessary that aU of the wall openings be filled, and it is preferred that some be left open for ventilation and other purposes, as will become apparent. In practice it Is preferred 85 that the three viall openings adjacent each corner of the building be fflled to provide adequate comer columns as shown in Mgure 5 and lllustrated.by the numeml 24. Inwardly of the corners, ceittain other wall openings are similarly 70 illled to provide supporting coluirms 25. After the sup@porting columns 24 and 25 have been poured and have set, a roof beam 26 is poured along the tops of the interior and ex@. terior walls as shown In Mgures 1, 2, 3, and 4. TheSe beams am of the usual type and may be roof structure is placed in position. A p6rtion of the roof structure is formed of the blgcks 17 placed in position as tfles somewhat after the manner of present building constructions. Suitable supporting boa.rds are spaced at the proper height and are supported by vertical posts, 10 whereupon the blocks 17 are arranged in parallel rows spaced from ee@ch other 'as indicated In Mgures 3 and 4. The blocks 17 when used as roof tiles are placed In registering.rslationship instead of being staggered as in the forination 16 of the walls, as will be apparent, and aR of the - 'th their ope tiles preferably are arranged vn nings I 8 running in the same direction. 'Me tiles at the ends of the rows are formed in a special, manner for. a purpose to be described. In form- 20 ing such special tfles, a core strip similar to the strip 20 is employed except that it is spaced from the edge of the block whereby the resultant block or tile is provided wlth an openiiig 27, and accordingly an upward outlet is provided for 26 each series of openings I 8 in the rows of roof t'lles. After the roof tiles have been placed in posi. tion in the manner referred to, a parapet waH 28 is constructed around the buflding over the walls 30 15. Suitable reinforcing rods 29.are then arranged near the bottoms of the spaces between the rows of tiles, wherdupon concrete Is poured over the roof tiles and between the tiles to form a roof siab 30 and rafters 31 These rafters extend 33 through opposite walls and terminate flush with the outer surfaces thereof as indicated in Figure 3. The adjacent faces of the blo@ks forming the roof tiles are closed as at,32 by a cementitious fluer preferg@bl placed in position merely by plac- 4u' y ing the blocks which have the openings 27 therein upon a flat surface with the openings 18 vertica,IIY arrangedilud Pouring a cement mixture into these openings. Thus the outer wall of the build,- ing wiR be entirely flush except for the provision 45'. of the ventilating openings 23. The pampet waR 28 Is formed by stacking the blocks 17 in staggered relation as shown in Flgures 3 and 4 with the vertical openings 18 in registration, thus forming passages commilweat- 5o Ing, with the passages of the roof tiles through the openings 17. A cap,33 surrounds the top of the parapet wall, and the upper row of, blocks 17 of the parapet wall are formed in the manner shown In Mgure 7 to provide ventilating open . ings 55 34 preferably extending through the Inner -faces of the wall. The horizontal passages thro 'ugh the roof tiles preferabl@,- communicate with the in. terior of th6 room to provide means-for the pissage of air therethrough. For eitample, at points 66' spaced from the, outer walig 15, a row of the roof tiles parallel to the Inner wall IS may be formed in the nkaiiner. indicated in Mgure 6 to provide passages or openings 35 communicating between the interior of the building and @ the h orizontal 65. passages through the roof tiles. The openings and passages wmch commliwCate between the interior of the building and the atmosphere may be suitably controlled according to weather conditions. I Flor example, the open- 7,o lngs 21 and 35 may be provided with cover plates or strfps 36 and 37 respectively. These strips are removable to p@pvide summer ventilation and may be placed In closed position to prevent air circulation in winter weather in the colder climates. 75