The present invention relates to packing of bricks or like elements.

Throughout the specification the term "bricks" or like shall be taken to comprise building bricks or building blocks which can be used in the formation of walls, pavement, roads and like structures.

It has become common practice to package bricks into cubic packs which are held together by strapping. According to one practice the packs are formed with at least two channel like spaces which are provided in one of the layers of the bricks forming the pack, which extend through the pack and which are intended to receive the lifting tines of a fork lift barrow or the like transport vehicle. The channel like spaces enable the pack to be lifted by a forklift or the like transport vehicle onto a haulage vehicle and transported to site and when that haulage vehicle has reached the site to be removed from the vehicle, again using a forklift or the like transport vehicle to be deposited at a desired location on the site. In addition it is common practice to form packs into leaves whereby channel like spaces extend through each of the leaves. This enables each of the leaves to be separated from the pack and loaded onto a brick barrow where the brick barrow has a pair of tines which are received in the channel like spaces provided in each leaf.

A difficulty in relation to this method of packaging relates to the support which must be provided for the bricks located in the pack above the channel like spaces. It has been conventional practice to support these bricks by means of rigid strips which are generally formed of timber and which are located above the layer providing the channel like spaces during formation of the pack whereby the subsequent layers are laid over the strips and are supported above the channel like spaces by the strips.

It is an object of this invention to avoid the necessity of the strips to support the subsequent layers of a brick pack above the channel like spaces.

Accordingly the invention resides in a pack of bricks or like elements having a cubic shape and comprising; a base layer having a configuration conforming to the plan of the pack; subsequent layers located on the base layer to the height of the pack; said pack being strapped to provide support for the pack as an integral element; one of the subsequent layers being formed to provide channel-like spaces extending through the pack from at least one face; and wherein the bricks in one or more layers above the one layer are strapped together to provide for support for the bricks located above the channel-like spaces.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the pack comprises two or more leaf portions being defined by a planar division extending transverse to the channel-like spaces, wherein the bricks of each leaf are strapped together, wherein the bricks in the one or more layers above the one layer which form part of each leaf portion are retained by separate strapping.

According to another aspect, the invention resides in a pack of bricks or like elements having a cubic shape and comprising; a base layer having a configuration conforming to the plan of the pack; subsequent layers located on the base layer to the height of the pack; one of the subsequent layers being formed to provide channel-like spaces extending through the pack from at least one face; wherein the pack comprises two or more leaf portions being defined by a planar division extending transverse to the channel-like spaces; said pack being strapped by a first strapping which is transverse to the planar division to provide support for the pack as an integral element; wherein the bricks of each leaf are strapped by a second strapping which is parallel to the planar division to provide support for the leaves; and wherein the bricks in one or more layers above the one layer are strapped together by a third strapping to provide for support for the bricks located above the channel-like spaces.

According to a preferred feature the third strapping comprises separate strapping for the bricks in each leaf.

According to a further preferred the first strapping comprises elongate corner elements which are located along the lateral corners of both the base layer and the uppermost layer of the pack of bricks. According to one embodiment the elongate corner elements are formed of an angle section.

According to another aspect, the invention resides in a method of forming a pack of bricks of the form as claimed at any one of the preceding claims comprising forming the base layer and locating the subsequent layers over the base layer to the desired height of the pack wherein the one layer is formed to provide channel-like spaces extending through the pack from the one face and wherein the bricks forming the one or more layers above the one layer are strapped together prior to location over the one layer.

According to a preferred feature the pack comprises two or more leaf portions being defined by a planar division extending transverse to the channel-like spaces, said method comprising strapping the bricks in the one or more layers above the one layer and which lie in each leaf portion by separate strapping.

According to another aspect, the invention resides in a method of forming a pack of bricks comprising forming; a base layer having a configuration conforming to the plan of the pack; forming subsequent layers located on the base layer to the height of the pack; forming the pack to comprise two or more leaf portions being defined by a planar division extending transverse to the channel-like spaces; forming one of the subsequent layers to provide channel-like spaces extending through the pack from at least one face; applying a first strapping which is transverse to the planar division to provide support for the pack as an integral element; applying a second strapping to the pack which is parallel to the planar division to provide support for the leaves; wherein in formation of one or more layers above the one layer the bricks of that layer are strapped together by a third

strapping to provide for support for the bricks loaded above the channel-like spaces.

According to a preferred feature the third strapping comprises separate strapping for the bricks in each leaf.

The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of one specific embodiment. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a brick pack formed according to the embodiment; and

Figure 2 is an exploded elevational view of a pack formed according to the embodiment.

In the past it has been conventional practice to form bricks into packs in order to facilitate their handling between the point of manufacture and the site at which the bricks are to be used. The packs have comprised layers of bricks which comprise a base layer 11 conforming to the plan of the pack of bricks and a number of subsequent layers applied over the base layer to the desired height of the pack. In forming the layers the bricks are arranged in vertical rows to form a set of transversely extending leaves 12. On completion of the pack of bricks, strapping is applied to the pack to hold it together. The strapping comprises a first strapping to hold the pack as a whole together where the first strapping takes the form of corner elements 14 which comprise angle sectioned plastic strips which are located along the lateral corners of both the base layer 11 and the uppermost layer 15 of the pack of bricks. In addition the strapping comprises a second strapping 13 around each of the leaves 12 to hold the bricks within each of the leaves together as a unit. The corner elements 14 are applied to the pack initially and then the second strapping 13 is applied around the pack in the region of each leaf.

In order that the pack of bricks can be transported, one of the subsequent layers 16 which is located immediately above the base layer 11 is formed to provide a pair of channel-like spaces 17 which extend through the pack between each end face. These channel-like spaces are effected by omitting from the layer of bricks, the bricks which lie within the channel like spaces.

The presence of these channel-like spaces 17 leaves the bricks in the overlying subsequent layer 18 which are located above the channel-like spaces, unsupported. In order to provide support for the bricks within the overlying layer 18, the bricks in each leaf 12 of the overlying layer 18 are strapped together by means of a third strapping which comprises secondary straps 19 which extend around each of the bricks within that layer which also form part of a leaf.

The secondary straps 19 do not need to be formed of material as robust as the first or second strapping used to retain the pack and the leaves together since once the pack has been established the clamping relationship exerted on the bricks of the overlying layer 18 by the one layer 16 and the layer above the overlying layer 18 serve to provide sufficient support for the secondary straps 19 to support the bricks which overlie the channel like spaces 17.

It is believed that brick packs which are formed according to the embodiment will be found to be just as stable, if not more stable than brick packs which have been formed previously utilising the timber strips to support the overlying layer.

In addition the method according to the embodiment simplifies the procedures in forming the pack in that it eliminates the necessity to locate timber strips between the intervening layers. In addition it is believed that the method for forming the packs will utilise less resources.

According to an alternative embodiment the third strapping is applied around two or more layers located above the one layer having the channel-like spaces therein.

It should be appreciated that the scope of the present invention need not be limited to the particular scope of the embodiment described above.