Lightweight concrete composite blocks

Abstract

A lightweight concrete composite is utilized to form blocks. The lightweight concrete composite includes polystyrene, cement, water, and glass. The blocks are advantageous for building retaining structures in the form of walls, enclosed areas, raised gardens, flower beds, and the like because the blocks are lightweight, easily cut and stacked, and more importantly do not introduce harmful chemicals into the environment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10 / 374,886, filed Feb. 26, 2003, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,570 B2, issued Dec. 7, 2004. [0002] This present application claims all available benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 605,102, filed Aug. 27, 2004. By this reference, the full disclosure of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 605,102 is incorporated herein as though now set forth in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention relates to lightweight concrete and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to unitary lightweight concrete composite blocks. [0005] 2. Description of the Related Art [0006] Landscaping as well as gardening often requires the building of retaining structures in the form of walls, enclosed areas, and raised gardens or flower beds. Her...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide lightweight concrete composite blocks comprised of polystyrene, cement, water, and glass.

[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide lightweight concrete composite blocks that do not introduce harmful chemicals into the environment.

[0012] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing lightweight concrete composite blocks comprised of polystyrene, cement, water, and glass.

[0013] It is still a further object of the present invention to provide lightweight concrete composite blocks suitable for the building of retaining structures.

Problems solved by technology

While landscape timbers have functioned adequately, there are certain disadvantages in their use.

Unfortunately, the chemicals employed to treat the landscape timbers, in particular arsenic and creosote, are toxic and thus harmful to the environment.

Consequently, pollution occurs not only at production facilities but also at points of use since landscape timbers leach the treatment chemicals into the surrounding environment.

Furthermore, landscape timbers ultimately rot and decay necessitating replacement in addition to more fully delivering the treatment chemicals into the environment.

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