Background--Brief description of the prior art Straw bale construction is environmentally, economically, and esthetically superior to other contemporary construction techniques. Straw, which in many areas is an agricultural waste product, is ideal for use as a building material because it has low embodied energy and yet gives the wall of the structure a high thermal energy efficiency because of its excellent insulating qualities. The techniques of straw bale construction in current use, however, are antiquated; they consist basically of two techniques that date back more than 100 years.

The first technique uses the bales to bear the loads of the roof, snow, and wind. Because of the variations in stress as snow loads and winds change, the interior and exterior plaster and stucco finishes are prone to cracking. Orr (U.S. Pat.

No. 312,375) discloses a variation of this system in which long bolts are used to compress the bales and maintain them in a compressed state, which alleviates the problem with plaster cracking. However, this method is not approved by building codes in many areas. Its major drawback is that it is highly labor-intensive: each individual bale must be stacked, plumbed, and pinned in place; and the multiple layers of small bales must be stacked like bricks in an overlapping, break-joint fashion, which means that every other bale must be retied and then cut to size wherever there is a corner, a door, a post, a window, etc. The many joints and layers produced by this process result in numerous gaps, so that up to three times as much plaster and stucco (and, hence, labor) is needed to produce a smooth, flat

wall finish as in conventional frame construction. In addition, the joints and gaps reduce the energy efficiency and the fire resistance of the house.

The second technique uses posts that extend from the footing to the roof and are connected at the top by beams to support the roof. Straw bales are then stacked between the posts to provide insulation and a surface for finishing. This technique, like the first, is labor-consuming: each course of bales must be anchored to the post structure, and the top course must be anchored to the beam at least every 24 inches. In addition, this technique requires large-dimension lumber or steel for the post-and-beam frame. The high cost of large-dimension lumber and steel has in many cases led builders to install windows in the walls without using support posts on the sides of the windows. Instead, they merely pin the rough bucks for the windows to the adjacent bales with wooden dowels. This produces a poorly supported window that is prone to cause cracks in the plaster and stucco surrounding it.

Both of the current straw bale construction techniques require, further, that the electrical wiring and communication cables be pushed between the bales to the proper depth to meet code requirements. This is labor-intensive and difficult, particularly with very dense bales. Specialized systems, such as central vacuum cleaners, are practically impossible to install in conventional straw bale walls because of the diameter of the piping.

Other prior art includes Hewlett (US Pat. No. 1,604,097), who discloses a system that employs plaster and fiber blocks through which concrete pillars are poured for structural support. This system is also labor-intensive: the many courses of blocks must be laid by hand and then the concrete pillars must be poured. Hewlett acknowledges that this system is very difficult to use on dry, compressed fibrous material such as straw bales, because the concrete dries prematurely.

Chauvin et al. (France Pat. No. 1.525.387) disclose a bale of slaked-lime coated straw with an outer shell that is a mixture of Portland cement and straw.

These bales are not complete wall segments, do not have integral structural supports, and would have the same problem as the Hewlett system with premature drying and lack of hydration of the cement.

In another area of search, Brown (US Pat. No. 169,518), Archer (US Pat.

No. 181,389), Ackerman (US Pat. N. 183,617), and Ingersoll (US Pat. No. 185,106) all disclose bales of short-cut hay or manure held together with boards or sticks. In these cases, the bales are not intended for use in construction, the boards or sticks are merely packaging for the material being baled.

Finally, Huguet (US Pat. No. 4,154,030) discloses another system that uses posts and beams as the load-bearing members of a rigid building form. Non-load- bearing panels, prefabricated of recycled waste materials, span the openings of the form. Problems with this system include the potential for toxicity, from the waste materials that are molded to form the panels and/or the polymers or other carrier that bind them together, and the increased embodied energy of construction. In addition, although this system uses U channels as a tie beam, screws or bolts are still needed to hold the elements together.

Objects and Advantages Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are that it: (a) enables very rapid construction of walls; in most cases, the walls and roof of a house can be erected in one day, owing to both the large size of the bales and the snap-together footing connection.

(b) reduces both on-site and off-site framing labor.

(c) reduces labor required for placement of electrical wiring, junction boxes, communication cables, and central vacuum cleaner piping, because precut or formed grooves are provided for these.

(d) reduces labor for installing windows and doors because support framing for these are adjacent to all openings as an integral part of the load-bearing bale.

(e) reduces labor needed to achieve smooth stucco and plaster finishes by reducing the number of joints and gaps in the walls.

(f) reduces costs, both economic and environmental, by using renewable agricultural waste products as the major building material without using chemical or heat treatments (which increase embodied energy and, thus, cost), to bind the fibers together.

(g) reduces costs, both economic and environmental, by using much less steel and/or large-dimension lumber. The bale ties, compressed straw, and structural supports create a synergistic package; because the compressed straw serves as a brace for the structural supports, the thickness of the supports can be reduced.

(h) reduces costs by using less stucco and plaster than conventional straw bale construction because there are fewer gaps and joints to fill.

(i) improves the already superior fire resistance of plastered straw bale construction by reducing the number of joints and gaps in the walls.

(j) increases thermal efficiency by reducing the number of joints and gaps in the walls.

(k) offers excellent protection against stresses, such as strong winds and earthquakes, because the roof-to-footing tie is much stronger than nailing.

(I) provides a means of fabricating large beams or posts using less steel or

(m) provides a way to use a variety of structural materials in combinations that best exploit the unique physical properties of each.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the summary and the description of the figures that follow.

Figures Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the currently preferred embodiment, for walls, of a load-bearing bale.

Fig. 2 shows an exploded end view of a load-bearing bale.

Fig. 3 shows a detail view of the inverted-lip U channel.

Fig. 4 shows a detail view of one embodiment of the connection between an inverted-lip U channel and a structural support.

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of two wall segments and one window segment.

Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of second embodiment of a load-bearing bale with structural supports on both side surfaces.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of third embodiment of a load-bearing bale with structural supports having tabs at the bottom, for connecting the structural supports to the footing, and an angle iron bond beam at the top.

Fig. 8 shows an exploded end view of a load-bearing bale in which an anchor-shaped structural connector on the footing snaps into an arrow-shaped opening in the structural support.

Fig. 9 shows an exploded end view of a load-bearing bale with a serrated slot in the structural support that receives the anchor-shaped connector.

Fig. 10 shows two different embodiments of the connection between an inverted-lip U channel and a wooden structural support.

Fig. 11 shows a wooden structural support with multiple wire cinctures on each end and the inverted-lip U channel.

Fig. 12 shows an inverted-lip U channel with pre-punched tabs for attaching trusses.

Fig. 13 shows a perspective view of a flat-roofed building. The walls and parapet use the load-bearing bales of Fig. 1; the roof utilizes the load-bearing bales of Fig. 6, sandwiched between I-shaped-flat-roof trusses.

Fig. 14 is a cross-section view of the roof structure in Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 shows a load-bearing bale in the configuration of a post or beam.

Fig. 16 shows a load-bearing bale in the configuration of a post or beam with an expanded metal shell.

Fig. 17 shows an end view of a load-bearing-bale post/beam using only an expanded metal shell for structural support.

Fig. 18 show a perspective view of a different embodiment of the load- bearing bale to inverted-lip U channel which uses a metal bar for the connection.

Reference Numerals in Drawings 10 load-bearing bale 11 end surface 12 end surface 13 side surface 14 side surface 16 upper surface 18 lower surface 20 structural support 22 cincture 24 groove 26 bale tie in bottom of groove 28 inverted-lip U channel 30 slot 34 footing 36 U-channel splice 38 U-channel corner splice 40 banding 41 window sill frame 42 window opening 43 window header 44 concrete fastener 46 inverted-lip U-channel web 48 inverted-lip U-channel side 50 inverted lip 51 anchor-shaped structural connector 52 anchor-shaped structural connector web 53 anchor-shaped structural connector forty-five-degree leg 54 anchor-shaped structural connector ninety-degree leg 55 arrow-shaped cutout 56 serrated slot 58 staples 59 wire cinctures 60 metal collar with serrations 62 angle-iron structural support

65 angle-iron bond beam 66 floor attachment tab 68 attachment tab 70 compressed fibrous material 72 truss 74 truss lower flange 76 truss upper flange 78 truss web 80 parapet 82 expanded metal 84 nailer Summary of the invention The invention is a bale with a main portion of compressed fibrous material held in compression by a plurality of cincture means. Each bale includes a pair of opposed end surfaces, and a pair of opposed side surfaces, a pair of opposed upper and lower surfaces transverse of the side and end surfaces. Each bale is made load-bearing by integral structural supports, of predetermined cross-section and orientation, in predetermined locations. The compressed fibrous material and cinctures, in turn, provide bracing for the structural supports, creating a synergy that saves lumber or steel by allowing the use of thinner material for the structural supports.

Description--Figs. 1 to 18 Fig. 1 shows a load-bearing bale 10 having substantially parallel opposed end surfaces 11 and 12, substantially parallel opposed side surfaces 13 and 14, and substantially parallel opposed upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18. The load- bearing bale 10 is composed of a main portion of compressed fibrous material 70, such as wheat straw, held together by cinctures 22 of baling twine, baling wire, or other banding material. Grooves 24 of the appropriate size and depth for electrical wiring, communication cabling, heating ducts, or central vacuum cleaner piping are cut or formed in the side faces of the bale at the desired heights (or cut in a dovetail shape to help hold the wiring, cabling, or vacuum piping in place before the surface is plastered or stuccoed). Structural supports 20 extend along the end surfaces 11 and 12, from the upper surface 16 to the lower surface 18. These structural supports 20 can be made of lumber (such as pine), of processed wood (such as

oriented strand board), or of various shapes of structural steel. The structural supports 20 are spaced throughout the load-bearing bale 10 to support roof and snow loads and prevent lateral shifting.

The compressed straw 70 between the structural supports 20 is held in compression by the cinctures 22 and in turn braces the thin dimension of the structural supports 20. This creates a synergism allows the thickness of the material used for structural supports 20 to be reduced, producing both economic and environmental savings compared with conventional construction.

The upper ends of the structural supports 20 snap into an inverted-lip U channel 28 that serves as bond beam on the upper surface 16, where the roof is attached. A second inverted-lip U channel 28 serves as a footing beam on the lower surface 18 to secure the lower ends of the structural supports 20.

Fig. 2 is an exploded end view of the complete footing 34 to bond beam assembly. It shows the inverted-lip U channel 28, which serves as the footing beam for the lower surface 18, fastened to the footing 34 by concrete fasteners, such as concrete nails or bolts 44. It also shows the inverted-lip U channel 28 that serves as the bond beam at the upper surface 16, for tying the top of the house together and attaching the roof. The lips of the inverted-lip U channel 28 snap into slots 30 to form an extremely strong connection. This connection is stronger than nailing and also makes assembly of the structure much faster than either conventional framing or conventional straw bale construction.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the inverted-lip U channel 28, which shows inverted-lip U-channel sides 48 perpendicular to the inverted-lip U-channel web 46. The inverted lips 50 at the upper edge of the inverted-lip U channel sides, are bent back toward the inverted-lip U-channel web 46.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one embodiment of the inverted-lip U channel 28 attachment to the structural supports 20. Multiple slots extending over a 2- to 3- inch length can be employed to ensure that the lips of the inverted-lip U channel 28 are firmly attached to the structural support 20. The distance between the inverted lips 50 is less than the width of the structural support 20, so that when inserted the structural support 20 spreads the lips of the inverted-lip U channel 28, creating a

continuous tension that forces the inverted lips 50 into the slots 30 to maintain the connection.

Fig. 5 shows the interface between two walls and a window opening 42. The load-bearing bales 10 forming the corner are connected by means of banding 40, which is driven through the load-bearing bales 10 behind the structural supports 20 in several locations that are evenly spaced vertically. The ends of the banding 40 are then tensioned and securely crimped. The same method of attachment is used where the end surfaces 11 and 12 of the load-bearing bales 10 are butted together, such as above and below the window openings 42. The window opening 42 is formed by cutting load-bearing bale segments of the appropriate that are the width of the desired window opening 42. The lower segment is the height of the window sill frame and the upper segment reaches from the window header to the bond beam. Installation of windows and doors is quick and secure; the window or door frame attaches directly to the structural supports 20 located in the end surfaces 11 and 12 of each load-bearing bale, and to the inverted-lip U channels 28 that serve as window header and window sill frame.

Lengths of U channel without invertedlips are screwed in place over abutting sections of the inverted-lip U channels 28, that serve as the bond beam, to create U-channel splices 36. These complete the bond-beam tie along the straight runs, and U-channel corner splices 38 are screwed in place to complete the bond-beam tie around the house.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a load-bearing bale 10 which uses angle irons for structural supports 62 on both side surfaces 13 and 14.

One leg of each of these angle irons is embedded in the fibrous material as the bale is manufactured enabling the load-bearing bale 10 to be laid flat and sandwiched between roof trusses 72 to provide both insulation and a base for the roof and ceiling as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a load-bearing bale 10 that uses angle-iron structural supports 62, similar to the embodiment in Fig. 6. However, at the lower surface 18 of the load-bearing bale 10, a portion of the leg of the angle-iron structural support 62 that is inserted into the bale is cut

out. The portion of the other leg that extends below the bottom surface 18 is bent out at 90 degrees to form an attachment tab 66 for attaching the angle-iron structural support 62 directly to the floor.

Fig. 8 is an exploded end view of a load-bearing bale 10 that uses an arrow- shaped cutout 55 in the structural support 20 to receive an anchor-shaped structural connector 51 forming the attachment of the load-bearing bale 10 to the footing 34. The anchor-shaped structural connector 51 is made of two pieces of sheet metal, each with a vertical web 52 and one leg 53 bent at about forty-five degrees and the other leg 54 bent at ninety degrees to the web 52. The vertical webs 52 of the two pieces are fastened together to form the anchor-shaped structural connector 51. The side of the anchor-shaped structural connector 51 the formed by the two ninety degree legs 54 attach to the footing 34 or to the roof, and the forty-five degree leg portions insert into the arrow-shaped cutout 55 at both ends of the structural support 20. This embodiment of the structural support 20 to footing 34 connection would be very strong, but increase the difficulty of removing a load-bearing bale 10 that was misplaced during construction.

Fig. 9 is an exploded end view of another embodiment of the connection at the upper surface 16 and lower surface 18 of a load-bearing bale 10, in which the anchor-shaped structural connector 51 is inserted into serrated slots 56 in both ends of a structural support 20. This type of connection would facilitate to removal of a load-bearing bale 10 that was mispiaced during construction: the forty-five- degree legs 53 of the anchor-shaped structural connector 51 can be squeezed together slightly, allowing the load-bearing-bale 10 to be lifted off..

In Fig. 10, the inverted-lip U channel 28 is snapped over the heads of staples 58 driven into the bottom end of the wooden structural support 20 at a forty five degree angle. The upper end of the structural support 20 is equipped with a metal collar 60 that has serrations over which the lips of the inverted-lip U channel 28 are snapped to make a strong, secure connection.

Fig. 11 shows another embodiment of a wooden structural support 20 with multiple cinctures of wire 59 at both ends that create ridges over which inverted-lip U channel 28 can be snapped. This method and the metal collar 60, as shown in

Fig. 10, have an advantage over the staples 58 as shown at the bottom of Fig. 10 in that there is no risk of splitting the wooden structural support.

Fig. 12 shows an inverted-lip U channel 28 with attachment tabs 68 that are pre-punched and turned out to speed the attachment of trusses 72 to the inverted- lip U channel 28 that serves as the bond beam. The attachment tabs 68 that are closest to the points at which the trusses 72 are to be attached are bent up, the truss 72 is shimmed square with the building, and then screws are driven through both the attachment tabs 68 and the shims, into the truss 72. The tabs 68 could also be bent to the inside of the inverted-lip U channel to form the connection as shown in Fig. 18.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a building with the walls and parapet 80 constructed from load-bearing bales 10 having the same configuration as shown in Fig. 1, with an inverted-lip U channel 28 for the bond beam. The roof is made from load-bearing bales 10 having the same configuration as shown in Fig. 6, but are placed horizontally and sandwiched between flat roof trusses 72 that have an I- shaped profile. The trusses 72 consist of a vertical web 78, an upper flange 76, and a lower flange 74.

Fig 14 is a cross-sectional view of the roof portion of Fig. 13 showing the angle-iron structural supports 62 on the side surfaces 13 and 14 of load-bearing bale 10, having the same configuration as Fig. 6. The structural supports 20 are perpendicular to the trusses 72 and screwed to the upper and lower flanges 76 and 74 of the truss 72.

Fig. 15 shows a perspective view of a load-bearing bale 10 in a beam configuration. The main portion of compressed straw braces the structural supports 20 on both side surfaces 13 and 14. There are grooves 24, for electrical conduits, on the upper side 16 and a nailer 84 of wood on the lower side 18. The use of compressed straw to provide bracing and prevent buckling makes it cheaper to fabricate esthetically appealing large beams with a minimum of wood or steel.

The load-bearing bale in Fig. 16 has structural supports 20 on the corners formed by the intersection of side surfaces 13 and 14 with upper surface 16, and lower surface 18. The load-bearing bale has an expanded metal shell 82 that runs

the entire length of the beam/post. This adds structural strength and facilitates the application of stucco or other finishes. The groove 24 on the lower surface 18 simplifies the routing of electrical cables.

Fig. 17 shows an end view of a load-bearing bale which has structural support provided by two U-shaped channels, made of expanded metal 82, that extend the full length of the load-bearing bale. The bale is held in compression by cinctures 22 that traverse the load-bearing bale lengthwise. The U- shaped channels are held in place and prevented from buckling away from the bale by cinctures 22 that are evenly spaced along the length of the load-bearing bale 10, transverse to the cinctures 22 that hold the bale in compression.

Fig. 18 is a perspective view of a load-bearing bale 10 connected to an inverted-lip U channel by a metal bar that passes through holes in the structural supports 20 and holes in attachment tabs 68. This very strong connection combined with the resilience of the compressed straw would allow the structure to flex in an earthquake.

Operation-Figs 1-18 Construction of a house using the load-bearing bales 10 involves the following steps: 1. Determine the length of each of the various wall segments of the house. An individual wall segment may be (a) from a corner to an opening, such as that for a window or door, or (b) any manageable length of load-bearing bale 10 (manageable length depends on equipment available to handle the load-bearing bale 10 and the space constraints of the building site for turning and manipulating bales). Each window opening 42 is also considered a wall segment.

2. Manufacture a load-bearing bale 10 of the proper length for each of the wall segments and window openings 42 of the house; install the upper inverted-lip U channel 28, which will serve as the bond beam.

3. Cutout a portion of the appropriate load-bearing bales 10 for each window opening 42. The bottom cut will be at the height of the window sill frame 41, and the upper cut will be at height of the window header 43. An inverted-lip U channel 28 is installed on the lower side of the upper portion of the load-bearing bale, above the window opening 42, to serve as the window header 43. Another inverted-lip U channel 28 is installed on the upper side of the lower portion of the cut load-bearing bale 10, to serve as the window sill frame 41.

4. Fasten an inverted-lip U channel 28 to the footing 34 all the way around the structure, except at the doorways.

5. Beginning at one corner, erect the first wall segment by inserting the lower ends of the structural supports 20 into the inverted-lip U channel 28, that is fastened to the footing 34. After bracing the wall segment, place a second wall segment to form the corner, and band the two segments together using bands 40 that are evenly spaced vertically. Then place the U-channel corner splice 38 over the inverted-lip U channels 28 that form the bond beams of the two wall segments and screw it in place.

6. Continue setting each load-bearing bale 10 wall segment in its proper place, including the pieces for above and below window openings 42; band each bale to the previous one and screw the U-channel splices 36 and 38 in place at the top.

How doors are treated will depend on wall height, but the U channel will bridge the door openings to complete the bond-beam tie.

7. If a flat roof is desired (as shown in Fig. 13),manufacture load-bearing bales in the configuration shown in Fig. 6, the width of the truss 72. Panels, consisting of one truss attached to either the upper surface 16 or lower surface 18 of a load- bearing bale, would be pre-assembled by screwing the ends of the structural supports 62 to the upper flange 76 and lower flange 74 of the truss 72. The panel would be set in place and fastened to the inverted-lip U-channel 72 bond beam.

The next panel would be put in place, fastened to the inverted-lip U-channel 28 bond beam, and the unattached ends of the structural supports 20 opposite the truss 72 of the current panel would be screwed to the previous truss 72. An inverted-lip U-channel 28 footing beam for the parapet 80 would be screwed to structural supports 62 and trusses 72 around the perimeter of the roof. Load- bearing bales 10 having the same configuration as shown in Fig. 1 of the desired height for the parapet 80 would then be set into the parapet footing beam and banded together.

8. The load-bearing bales in Figs. 15-17 would be manufactured, with or without internal structural supports 20, having the desired length, width, and height, with grooves 24 in the appropriate locations for electrical routing and longitudinal structural supports 20 if needed. The longitudinal structural supports 20, that need grooves 24, and nailers 84 would be placed in the grooves 24 and banded in place with cinctures 22. If an expanded metal 82 shell is used it would then be applied and banded in place with cinctures 22.

9. The connection shown in Fig. 18 would be slower to construct than the embodiments shown in Fig. 2, and Figs. 8-11 that snap together. At the footing 34 the load-bearing-bale 10 wall segment would be held above the inverted-lip U channel 28 footing beam while a cable was threaded alternately through the attachment tabs 68 of the inverted-lip U channel 28 and holes in the structural supports 10. The inverted-lips 50 would serve to align the holes in the attachment tabs 68 and structural supports 20 as the wall segment was lowered into place and the slack in the cable was taken up. Then one end of the cable would be attached to a metal rod 86 which would then be drawn through the holes to complete the connection. The connection at the upper surface 16 would be accomplished in the same manner except the bale would not have to be suspended.

Ramifications and Scope One can readily see that a load-bearing bale construction system is a very rapid way to construct energy-efficient housing with lower embodied energy and less on-site labor than conventional means of construction.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, in another embodiment of the present invention, U channels without inverted lips would receive the structural supports of load-bearing bales (in the configuration shown in Fig. 1), and cinctures would run vertically from under the footing beam and over the bond beam to tie the roof to the footing. The grooves can be shaped differently and placed differently, the structural supports can be made from different shapes and materials and placed differently in the bale, and various methods can be used to connect the load-bearing bales together, including wire or rope. Even adhesive could be used as long as a structural supports are present at the locations to be glued. The ioad-bearing bales and I-shaped trusses, of the configuration shown in Fig. 14, can be used in many orientations including the walls for multi-story buildings.

Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.