Electrochemical procedure for the direct forming of generally thin elements with various contours and surfaces of usual and technical ceramics or refractory material

摘要

In a process and apparatus for producing ceramic tiles, such as wall tiles and floor tiles, including thin tiles of a size up to a square meter, metal electrode plates having thereon three-dimensional design and insulating paint or tape defining the boundaries of one or more tiles to be produced, are transported by a conveyor system through a bath of finely divided ceramic material suspended in an aqueous electrolyte while applying an electric potential between the plates and a counter electrode in the bath to produce electrodeposition of ceramic material from the bath onto conductive portions of the plates bounded by the insulating material. The voltage and time of travel in the bath are selected to produce a deposit of ceramic material with a thickness of from 1 to 20 mm. After leaving the bath, the plates, with the deposits thereon are transported through a water spray rinsing station and a drying atmosphere to a transfer station at which the deposits, constituting green tiles, are transfered to refractory supports by which they are carried through a tunnel furnace for further drying and firing. From the transfer station, the plates are further transported through a reconditioning station and back to the bath. Thin flexible water-wettable membranes applied to the plates before deposit of ceramic material thereon facilitate removal of the green tiles from the plates at the transfer station without damage.