Insulated modular brick system and methods

An insulated modular brick system designed to be installed on a substrate of a building structure, the system comprising:

• at least first, second and third insulated modular brick panels, the first and second modular brick panels being attached to one another in a vertical direction by an attachment mechanism that attaches a lower surface of the first insulated modular brick panel to an upper surface of the second insulated modular brick panel, each panel comprising:
• an insulating foam core having a preselected thickness;
• an encapsulating material encapsulating the insulating foam core on at least first, second and third sides of the insulating foam core;
• and
• a plurality of bricks at least partially embedded in at least a front face of the encapsulating material at preselected locations, the bricks having substantially the same dimensions, wherein said plurality of bricks comprises multiple rows of bricks at least partially embedded in the front face of the encapsulating material at preselected locations, wherein each row of bricks is offset from an adjacent row of bricks in a lateral direction by a preselected distance, the lateral direction being substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction;
• wherein the first and third insulated modular brick panels have at least first joint and second joints on first and second sides thereof, respectively, wherein preselected locations in rows of the first and third insulated modular brick panels at the first and second joints are empty of bricks, the preselected locations that are empty of bricks in the first insulated modular brick panel being preselected to align and join with preselected locations in rows of the third insulated modular brick panel that are empty of bricks when the first and third insulated modular brick panels are joined together, each of the aligned and joined preselected locations in the first and third insulated modular brick panels being sized to receive a brick having substantially the same dimensions and appearance as the bricks of said plurality of bricks.

A process for fabricating an insulated modular brick system, the process comprising:

• forming at least a first and second insulated modular brick panels, each of the panels being formed by:
• placing brick tiles in respective pockets of a customized mold, the pockets being sized and shaped to receive the brick tiles, the brick tiles having substantially the same dimensions, the pockets being arranged in multiple rows, wherein each row of the pockets is laterally offset from an adjacent row of the pockets by a preselected distance, wherein preselected locations in rows of the pockets at first and second joints of the panels being formed are left empty of brick tiles such that the panels, once formed, will have preselected locations at the first and second joints that are free of brick tiles to allow preselected locations that are free of the brick tiles at the first and second joints to align and join with one another when the first and second joints of the first and second insulated modular brick panels are joined together, respectively;
• pouring an encapsulating matrix material into the mold such that the encapsulating matric material is in contact with back surfaces of the brick tiles and is disposed in between sides of adjacent brick tiles;
• placing a foam core comprising insulating material in the mold in contact with the encapsulating matrix material such that a front face of the foam core is substantially parallel with the back surfaces of the brick tiles;
• and
• allowing the encapsulating matrix material to cure or harden.