Composite masonry block

A retaining wall block suitable for use in forming a mortarless retaining wall by dry stacking courses of said blocks, in which the upper surface of such block is solid and uninterrupted by holes for receiving and supporting pins or clips used to locate blocks, said block comprising:

• a) a pair of substantially parallel and planar upper and lower faces;
• b) a front face joining the upper and lower faces, which is substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces;
• c) a rear face which is substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces;
• d) a pair of side faces joining the front and rear faces, the side faces being substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces, and including rearwardly converging portions, wherein a line drawn on the upper face through the points where the rearwardly converging portions begin is substantially parallel to a line drawn through the points where the side faces join the rear face;
• and
• e) a flange extending below the lower face of the block, said flange further including a front locking surface which intersects the lower face of the block;
• f) wherein the upper face is substantially solid and continuous throughout its extent;
• and
• g) wherein the area of the upper face is greater than the area of the lower face.

A composite masonry block suitable for dry stacking landscape applications without the use of pins or mortar, comprising:

• a) a solid and generally planar top face;
• b) a bottom face which is generally parallel to the top face;
• c) a rear face which is generally perpendicular to the top and bottom faces;
• d) a front face which is generally perpendicular to the top and bottom faces, and which includes opposed portions located at opposite sides of the front face which are generally perpendicular to the top and bottom faces and which diverge as they extend towards the rear face of the block;
• e) opposed side faces, each of said side faces extending from an opposed diverging portion of the front face to the rear face, said side faces converging as they extend towards the rear face;
• f) a lower rear locator lip formed integrally with the bottom face of the block, and located adjacent to the rear face of the block, so that the lip is adapted to establish a uniform setback from course to course when a plurality of like blocks are laid in course.

A concrete block suitable for constructing straight and curved retaining walls by dry stacking multiple blocks into successive overlying courses of blocks without pins or mortar, and capable of being mass produced by automated block-making machines, said block consisting essentially of:

• a) a block body having a generally horizontal and substantially planar upper surface and a generally horizontal and substantially planar lower surface, said upper surface and said lower surface being substantially parallel to each other and separated by a vertical distance which is the height of the block with portions of the lower surface of the block being configured to rest on portions of the upper surface of the adjacent blocks in the next lower course of blocks when they are formed into a wall in a manner to cause the upper surfaces of adjacent courses of blocks to be in a substantially parallel relationship;
• b) said block body having a generally vertical first front surface and a generally vertical back surface, said first front surface and said back surface being substantially parallel to each other and generally perpendicular to said upper and lower surfaces of said block, said first front and back surfaces being separated by a horizontal distance comprising the depth of the block;
• c) a flange or lip integrally formed with the block and extending downwardly from the lower surface of the block adjacent the intersection of the lower surface of the block with the back surface of the block to a point below the lower surface of the block, said flange comprising a lower setback surface and a forward-facing locking surface;
• d) said lower surface having a smaller surface area for block-to-block contact than the surface area of said upper surface, said smaller surface area being the result of the formation of the flange on the lower surface;
• e) said block having generally vertical two-part left and right sidewall surfaces, each of said left and right sidewall surfaces comprising a substantially planar first or front part and a substantially planar second or rear part, said first parts having surfaces which do not diverge relative to each other in the direction of said block front surface, and said second or rear parts having surfaces which converge in the direction of said block back surface;
• and
• f) the top surface of said block being substantially solid and continuous across its entire extent.

A composite masonry block suitable for landscape applications, comprising:

• a) a solid and generally planar top face;
• b) a bottom face which is generally parallel to the top face;
• c) a rear face which is generally perpendicular to the top and bottom faces;
• d) a front face which is generally perpendicular to the top and bottom faces, and which includes opposed portions which diverge as they extend towards the rear face of the block;
• e) opposed side faces, each of said side faces being located between the front face and the rear face, and including portions which converge as they extend towards the rear face;
• and
• f) a lower rear locator lip formed integrally with the bottom face of the block, and located adjacent to the rear face of the block, so that the lip is adapted to establish a uniform set back from course to course when a plurality of like blocks are laid in courses.

A retaining wall block suitable for use in forming a pinless, mortarless retaining wall, said block comprising:

• a) a pair of substantially parallel and planar upper and lower faces;
• b) a front face joining the upper and lower faces, which is substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces;
• c) a rear face which is substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces;
• d) a pair of side faces joining the front and rear faces, the side faces being substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower faces and including rearwardly converging portions, wherein a line drawn on the upper face through the points where the rearwardly converging portions begin is substantially parallel to a line drawn through the points where the side faces join the rear face;
• e) a flange extending below the lower face of the block, said flange having a rear face which is substantially an extension of the rear face of the block, said flange further including a front locking surface which intersects the lower face of the block;
• and
• f) wherein the upper face is substantially solid and continuous throughout its extent.

retaining wall block comprising a front face, a rear face, upper and lower surfaces, opposed side faces and a locator flange, and wherein:

• (a) the front, rear, and side faces are substantially vertical;
• (b) the upper and lower surfaces are substantially horizontal and both surfaces are uninterrupted with holes for receiving and supporting pins used to position blocks;
• (c) the side walls converge towards each other from front to back, so that the front face of the block is wider than the rear face;
• (d) the flange extends below the lower surface at the rear of the block;
• and
• (e) the block is free from cores extending through the block, either from the upper to the lower surface, or from one side to the other.

A masonry block suitable for forming a serpentine retaining wall by dry stacking multiple blocks into successive overlying courses of blocks wherein the sidewalls of adjacent blocks are in contact to avoid gaps between adjacent blocks, said block comprising:

• (a) a block body, said block body comprising a generally vertical front surface and a back surface, said front and back surfaces being separated by a distance comprising the depth of the block;
• a generally planar upper surface and a lower surface, said upper and lower surfaces intersecting said generally vertical front surface and permitting generally parallel alignment between the upper surface of a block and the upper surface of the adjacent blocks in the next adjacent course of blocks, and first and second sidewall surfaces, each of said sidewall surfaces comprising a first part and a second part, said sidewall surface first parts extending rearwardly from the block front surface at an angle of ninety degrees or less, and the sidewall surface second parts joining their respective sidewall surface first parts to the back surface, said second parts converging toward each other and intersecting the back surface at an angle of less than ninety degrees;
• and
• (b) a flange extending downwardly from the lower surface of the block body, said flange comprising a setback surface and a locking surface, said flange permitting the masonry block to be positioned over and in engagement with other masonry blocks as courses of blocks are laid one on another, thereby producing the desired setback.