Brick support structure

Claim 1

A brick support structure for positioning a generally planar array of thin bricks upon a substructure, said support structure comprising: a thin sheet metal panel mounted to the substructure and including outer and inner surfaces; a plurality of punched tabs in said sheet metal panel extending from the outer surface thereof, wherein said punched tabs are spaced upon said sheet metal panel so as to be positioned between immediately adjacent upper and lower bricks to provide support for said upper brick when positioned on the outer surface of said sheet metal panel and wherein said punched tabs may be pressed back into said sheet metal panel so as to configure the front surface thereof in accordance with the size and pattern of bricks positioned thereon; an elongated adhesive member positioned upon the outer surface of said sheet metal panel in alignment with and interposed between adjacent spaced arrays of punched tabs thereon for engaging and securely affixing the bricks to said thin sheet metal panel; a cementitious material deposited upon the outer surface of said sheet metal panel inbetween the bricks positioned thereon; an insulating layer positioned intermediate the substructure and said sheet metal panel and affixed to the inner surface thereof; and a generally L-shaped, elongated, horizontally oriented sheet metal portion forming an upper edge of said sheet metal panel disposed immediately above said insulating layer and adapted to receive mounting pins inserted therethrough for securely positioning said brick support structure on said substructure, wherein said sheet metal portion prevents water from flowing down said substructure immediately above said sheet metal panel and onto said insulating layer.