Decorated concrete block

Abstract

A concrete block that can be placed in a wall constructed from a plurality of concrete blocks to accent the wall face. The block has a relief formed on a depressed field on the front of the block. The depressed field is preferably surrounded by a border that projects forwardly beyond the depressed field, and a portion or all of the relief projects forwardly beyond the border. One or more of the blocks of the invention can be placed as desired in the wall to break up the uniformity of the wall face and soften the plane of the wall, tie the wall in with the surrounding landscape, or to add interest to an otherwise uniform wall face.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A concrete block, comprising: 
 a concrete block body having a front, a back, a top surface, a bottom surface that is configured and adapted to rest upon at least a portion of a top surface of a concrete block disposed beneath said block body when said block body is disposed in a structure with other concrete blocks, and first and second sides; and    said front includes a depressed field at least partially surrounded by a border, said border projects forwardly beyond said depressed field, and said depressed field includes a relief formed thereon, at least a portion of said relief projecting forwardly beyond said border.    
     
     
         2 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein said border includes a top portion, a bottom portion, and first and second side portions interconnecting the top and bottom portions.  
     
     
         3 . The concrete block of  claim 2 , wherein said top and bottom portions intersect said first and second side portions at inner corner junctions, and said inner corner junctions are radiused.  
     
     
         4 . The concrete block of  claim 2 , wherein said top portion intersects said top surface, said bottom portion intersects said bottom surface, and said first and second side portions intersect said first and second sides, respectively.  
     
     
         5 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of said relief intersects said border.  
     
     
         6 . The concrete block of  claim 5 , wherein at least a portion of said relief overlaps said border.  
     
     
         7 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein the relief appears to be a carved design.  
     
     
         8 . The concrete block of  claim 7 , wherein the carved design comprises one or more of a nature representation, a human representation, at least one alphabetic character, or at least one numeric character.  
     
     
         9 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein said front is outwardly convex.  
     
     
         10 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein portions of said depressed field do not include said relief, and said portions are smooth.  
     
     
         11 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , further including one or more locator protrusions integrally formed on said top or bottom surface.  
     
     
         12 . The concrete block of  claim 11 , wherein said locator protrusion comprises a flange extending below said bottom surface of the block.  
     
     
         13 . The concrete block of  claim 12 , wherein said flange is formed on said bottom surface adjacent said block body back.  
     
     
         14 . The concrete block of  claim 11 , wherein said first and second sides join said front and rear of said block body, and said first and second sides have rearwardly converging portions.  
     
     
         15 . The concrete block of  claim 14 , wherein a portion of each of said first and second sides converges towards the other side as the sides extend toward said rear.  
     
     
         16 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein, when disposed in a structure with other concrete blocks, said block body comprises a depth that is less than the depth of at least some of the other concrete blocks.  
     
     
         17 . The concrete block of  claim 1 , wherein said block body is configured to be inserted into a pre-existing structure formed by a plurality of concrete blocks.  
     
     
         18 . A concrete accent block for use in a structure formed from a plurality of concrete blocks, comprising: 
 a concrete block body having a front, a back, a top surface, a bottom surface, and first and second sides; and    said front includes a depressed field surrounded by a border, said border projects forwardly beyond said depressed field, and said depressed field includes a relief formed thereon and appearing as a carved design, at least a portion of said relief projecting forwardly beyond said border.    
     
     
         19 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein said border includes a top portion, a bottom portion, and first and second side portions interconnecting the top and bottom portions.  
     
     
         20 . The concrete accent block of  claim 19 , wherein said top and bottom portions intersect said first and second side portions at inner corner junctions, and said inner corner junctions are radiused.  
     
     
         22 . The concrete accent block of  claim 19 , wherein said top portion intersects said top surface, said bottom portion intersects said bottom surface, and said first and second side portions intersect said first and second sides, respectively.  
     
     
         23 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein at least a portion of said relief intersects said border.  
     
     
         24 . The concrete accent block of  claim 23 , wherein at least a portion of said relief overlaps said border.  
     
     
         25 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein the carved design comprises one or more of a nature representation, a human representation, at least one alphabetic character, or at least one numeric character.  
     
     
         26 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein said front is outwardly convex.  
     
     
         27 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein portions of said depressed field do not include said relief, and said portions are smooth.  
     
     
         28 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , further including one or more locator protrusions integrally formed on said top or bottom surface.  
     
     
         29 . The concrete accent block of  claim 28 , wherein said locator protrusion comprises a flange extending below said bottom surface of the block.  
     
     
         30 . The concrete accent block of  claim 29 , wherein said flange is formed on said bottom surface adjacent said block body back.  
     
     
         31 . The concrete accent block of  claim 28 , wherein said first and second sides join said front and rear of said block body, and said first and second sides have rearwardly converging portions.  
     
     
         32 . The concrete accent block of  claim 31 , wherein a portion of each of said first and second sides converges towards the other side as the sides extend toward said rear.  
     
     
         33 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein, when disposed in a structure with other concrete blocks, said block body comprises a depth that is less than the depth of at least some of the other concrete blocks.  
     
     
         34 . The concrete accent block of  claim 18 , wherein said block body is configured to be inserted into a pre-existing structure formed by a plurality of concrete blocks.