Background Art Bricks have been used for millennia for the construction of buildings. For most of that history, bricks have been made solid and of clay or similar materials.

This required overlapping courses during construction so as to produce adequate strength. However, brick walls lack earthquake resistance because there is no structural connection between bricks. More recently, it has been possible to make bricks from more convenient materials, such as concrete. This has allowed fabrication of hollow bricks. Several varieties of hollow bricks are currently on the market. Such bricks generally have two chambers in the interior of the brick. To achieve structural rigidity, walls made with such bricks must be constructed over reinforcing rods, especially in areas prone to earthquakes.

A number of innovations in hollow brick design have been introduced. US Patent No. 1,522,881 discloses interlocking bricks composed of two brick members connected by connecting members and having matching grooves and ribs on adjacent sides. The structure creates apertures from end to end and side to side.

US Patent No. 3,030,093 discloses interlocking bricks having circular openings and notches with ribs at one side and grooves at the other side.

US Patent No. 4,150,717 discloses tiles having a plurality of equally spaced through apertures, and side and corner notches. The tiles have diagonal grooves on one side and diagonal ribs on the other side. The grooves and ribs extend between adjacent apertures.

US Patent No. 5,634,313 discloses octagonal, hollow bricks with recesses in their bottom surfaces and ribs in their upper surfaces. The structure creates apertures from end to end and side to side.

When walls are made of hollow bricks, they can be reinforced with rods or posts or filled with concrete or both. None of the above listed innovations is intended to be used in this way. Furthermore, none of the above listed innovations interlocks in two different planes. Moreover, none of the above listed innovations provides interconnecting passageways in two planes. Lastly, none of the passageways in the above listed innovations can be used for installation of plumbing or electrical supply lines and the like.

Development of a hollow brick which interlocks in two different planes and provides interconnecting passageways in two different planes represents a great improvement in the field of brick design and satisfies a long felt need of the builder.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention is a hollow brick which interlocks in two different planes and includes interconnecting passageways in two planes. Thus the bricks of this invention can be reinforced with rods or posts or filled with concrete or both.

The passageways in the brick of this invention can additionally or alternatively be used for installation of plumbing or electrical supply lines and the like.

An appreciation of the other aims and objectives of the present invention and an understanding of it may be achieved by referring to the accompanying drawings and description of a preferred embodiment.

Brief Description of Drawings Figure 1 is a top view of the brick of this invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the brick of this invention.

Figure 3 is a partial, exploded view of a wall construction using bricks of this invention.

Figure 4 is a partial, exploded view of another type of wall construction using bricks of this invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out Invention Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that the brick 10 of this invention has preferably two cylindrical passageways or bores 14 running from one side 18 to the opposite side 18 and a cylindrical passageway or bore 22 running from one end 26 to the opposite end 26. These bores 14,22 intersect. As is typical for bricks generally, the width and height are about half the length. The brick 10 also has, preferably two linear grooves 34 at one end 26 and two linear projections 30 at the other end 26 which are of identical shape. However, the grooves 34 are slightly larger than the projections 30. The projections 30 and grooves 34 run from one side to the opposite side and are preferably designed with a break 36 for ease of assembly. There are annular projections 38 centered around the bores 14 at one side 18 and annular grooves 42 centered around the bores 14 at the other side. These projections 38 and grooves 42 are of identical shape but again the grooves 42 are slightly larger than the projections 38.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate wall 46 construction using bricks 10 of this invention. It can be seen from this view that bricks 10 can be assembled in usual fashion with the bricks 10 vertically aligned or offset by half a brick in each course.

The side to side bores 14 run in the vertical plane and the end to end bores 22 run the horizontal plane. As the bricks 10 are assembled into a wall 46, the linear projections 30 from one brick 10 interlock with the linear grooves 34 of the adjacent brick. Moreover, the annular projections 38 of one brick 10 interlock with the annular grooves 42 of another brick. The linear grooves 34 and projections 30 interlock horizontally and the annular grooves 42 and projections 38 interlock

vertically. In this way, the bricks 10 interlock in two orthogonal planes and the wall 46 achieves strength and rigidity in two dimensions. Also, a network of interconnecting horizontal 22 and vertical 14 passageways is created within the wall 46. No mortar is needed between courses or bricks 10. The bricks 10 will simply interlock rigidly without the need for mortar.

While the bores 14,22, the annular projections 38 and the annular grooves 42 are all illustrated as having a circular cross-section, it is clear that this invention would work equally well if they were of square or rectangular cross-section.

Furthermore, this invention would work equally well if the linear projections 30 and linear grooves 34 were located on the sides and the annular projections 38 and annular grooves 42 were located on the ends, centered around the end to end bore 22.

To provide additional strength or rigidity to the wall, it can be built over reinforcing rods or posts 50 in conventional manner. Preferably, the reinforcing posts should be slightly smaller than the vertical bore 14. Alternatively or additionally, the bores 14,22 in the wall can be filled with concrete.

The interconnecting passageways 14,22 can also be used to run plumbing or electric supply lines and the like. Such utilities can be installed in the wall 46 as it is being constructed.

It will be appreciated that the brick 10 of this invention can be used to simply and economically construct walls 46, leading to cheaper construction costs and thus cheaper housing costs.

The following reference numerals are used on Figures 1 through 4: 10 Brick 14 Side to side or first bore or passageway 18 Side of brick

22 End to end or second bore or passageway 26 End of brick 30 Linear projection 34 Linear groove 38 Annular projection 42 Annular groove 46 Wall 50 Reinforcing post The bidirectionally interlocking, hollow brick 10 has been described with reference to a particular embodiment. Other modifications and enhancements can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims that follow.

Claims 1. A bidirectionally interlocking, hollow brick comprising a brick having a first bore running from one side to the opposite side, a second bore, intersecting said first bore, running from one end to the opposite end, a linear groove running from said one side to said opposite side parallel to said first bore in said one end, a linear projection running from said one side to said opposite side parallel to said first bore projecting from said opposite end, an annular groove centered about said first bore in said one side, and an annular projection centered about said first bore projecting from said opposite side; said linear groove and linear projection designed to mate; said annular groove and annular projection designed to mate.

2. A bidirectionally interlocking, hollow brick comprising a brick having two spaced apart first bores each running from one side to the opposite side, a second bore, intersecting said first bore, running from one end to the opposite end, a linear groove running from said one side to said opposite side parallel to said first bores in said one end, a linear projection running from said one side to said opposite side parallel to said first bores projecting from said opposite end, two annular grooves each centered about each of said first bores in said one side, and two annular projections each centered about said each of said first bores projecting from said opposite side; said linear groove and linear projection designed to mate; said annular grooves and annular projections designed to mate.