Glass Blocks; Owens-Illinois patent by John Bauer for sanded edges of glassblock

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Glass Blocks

That the number of good cementing and bonding agents available for outdoors application is really very small, became evident when the use of glass blocks for exterior walls was begun- One cement which received consideration was the mixture of caustic magnesite and magnesium chloride which is known as magnesium oxychloride, or Sorel cement (after the Frenchman who invented it in 1866). The adherence of oxychloride cement to glass and to many other materials was well known, but the disintegration of the many magnesia stucco walls built in the early 1920's was a deterrent. However, interest in this cement has been revised since 1936, when it was announced that Dean S. Hubbell, a Fellow at Mellon Institute, had apparently solved the weathering problem by the incorporation of about 10 per cent of finely pulverized copper in oxychloride cement (Pats. 2,058,984; 2,058,985; 2,058,986). The use of this new copper-magnesium oxychloride cement for laying up glass blocks, is covered in Mr. Hubbell's newest patent, 2,164,457, assigned to the H. H. Robertson Co.

A different type of attack is represented by John E. Bauer's patent 2,170,602 assigned to Owens-Illinois Glass Co. In the production of the glass blocks the mortar-bearing surface is treated, while still hot from forming, with an affinitive molten metal and then with a gritty material which adheres to the metal before it sets. These steps precede the annealing process.

In the block patented by Aldo Favoron of Milan, Italy, ("Fidenza" Societa Anonima Vetraria), only the front and back faces are glass, these being formed with recesses into which are fitted cheap non-vitreous side plates, such as cardboard, celluloid, etc., which form, with the ends of the glass plates, a recess for receiving the mortar (2,168,287).

William O. Lytle's patent 2,167,764 (Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.) covers the use of one or more sheets of transparent non-shatterable material, such as a suitable vinylacetal resin, used so as to seal together the opposing halves of the block and to divide the hollow space into two or more cells. It is reported that such a block is strengthened by the adhesive plastic sheet and that the heat insulating properties are improved.

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