c a r b u r i z i n g agent consisting of charcoal mixed with 20-25% BaCO 3 and 3.5-5% CaCO3).

The die is tempered

to a hardness of HRC 27-30. Then the lower and upper planes a r e finally polished.
In making dies f o r p r e s s i n g floor tiles with raised pattern the p r o c e s s i n g is c a r r i e d out in a sequence
with the help of two m a s t e r punches: a d i r e c t one with c u r v a t u r e of four sides and another with pattern p r o -
jecting out to 1.5 m m above the surface. Extrusion is c a r r i e d out to a depth of 0.6 mm. The total force of
extrusion is 3-5 MN (300-500 t o n s - f o r c e ) , depending on the c o m p a c t n e s s of the pattern.
The upper dies made by the a b o v e - d e s c r i b e d technology ensure high quality of products that a r e p r e s s e d .
The s e r v i c e life of the dies is 600 h.

PRODUCTION OF LARGE-SIZED DECORATED FLOOR TILES

M. V. Trubach

In 1975 at the head e n t e r p r i s e of the c o r p o r a t i o n (Minskstroimaterialy) the production of l a r g e - s i z e d

floor tiles of 150 x 150 m m and 200 • 200 mm with s e r i o g r a p h i c coating was m a s t e r e d .
A c e r a m i c m a s s consisting of 70% VS-2 clay and 30% chamotte ( r e f r a c t o r y g r o g made f r o m the Latnensk
clay deposit) is used to make the tiles. The size of the maximum chamotte grains is less than 0.5 m m . The
total mass is augmented by addition of 0~ water glass, 0.2% calcined soda, and 0.8% sulfite lye as thinners.
The mass is p r e p a r e d by the slip method. The chamotte is ground in a ball mill for 20-30 mir~ a f t e r
which clay is added and the combined grinding continues for about 1 h. The readiness of the slip m a s s is con-
trolled f r o m the residue on sieve No. 006, which is 16-18%.
The obtained slip with 50% m o i s t u r e is dewatered in a s p r a y d r y e r , designed by the corporation, with an
h o u r l y capacity of 3 tons of molding powder with moisture content of 6.5-8%.
The tiles a r e p r e s s e d in a toggle-bench a r b o r p r e s s K/RKp-125 under a p r i m a r y p r e s s u r e of 2.5-3.5
MPa (25-35 k g f / m 2) and a secondary p r e s s u r e of 9-10 MPa (90-100 kgf/cm2).
The p r e s s e d tries a r e laid on the drying racks of trolley c a r s and are sent to a counterflow tunnel d r y e r ,
where at a maximim a i r t e m p e r a t u r e of 110-120~ for 65 h the tiles a r e dried to a residual m o i s t u r e content
of 0.5%~ The dried tiles a r e t r a n s f e r r e d to muttishelf furnace trolley c a r s and fired in a t 0 5 - m long tunnel
kiln at the maximum t e m p e r a t u r e of 1145~ for 65 h.
The fired and s o r t e d tiles a r e brought to the colored-tiles shop, where they a r e coated With a glaze on an
about 60-m long conveyor made by the f i r m "Sadmi," on which a distributing m e c h a n i s m , cleaning devices,
glazing setups~ a drying conveyor, water spraying, cleaning and a i r blasting s y s t e m s , and s p r a y e r s to feed a
solution to fix the glaze before drawing the patterns are installed~
The conveyor consists of two parallel b r a n c h e s , on which two automatic devices for drawing single- o r
double-colored patterns a r e installed~ The second branch gives an opportunity to i n c r e a s e the output of the
conveyor, when n e c e s s a r y .
The glaze is p r e p a r e d from frit No. 33 consisting of 16.5% borax, 26% calcium borate, 1.5% zinc oxide,
4.4% b a r i u m carbonate, 8% zircon 6.6% alumina, 35% quartz sand, and 2% magnesium carbonate (all by weight).
The glaze used for glazing the tiles consists of 92% frit No. 33, 3% VS-1 clay, 5% kaolin, 0.10-0.25% (on
100%) KMTs, 0.05% (on 100%) calcined soda, and 0.1-10.0% (on 100%) dye (all by weight). The moisture content
of the glaze is 35-40%.
The colored glazes are p r e p a r e d by the combined grinding of frit, clay, kaolin, and dye in a ball mill.
The uralite cylinders are used as the grinding media. The duration of grinding is 12-14 h. The fineness of
grinding the glaze is 0~ residue (on sieve No. 006).
T r a n s l a t e d from Steklo i Keramika No. 3, pp. 6-7, March, 1977.

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o f this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, ]
microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written Permission o f the publisher. A copy o f this article is available from the publisher for $ 7.50. j

144
 Fig~ Io Roller conveyor production line for making large-sized floor
tiles.

The tiles are glazed on a conveyor by pouring. The size of the slit is 0.7-0.9 ram. The density of the
glaze is 1.75-1.85 g/cm 3. The consumption of glaze for one tile of 150 x 150 mm size is 14-15 g. After glaz-
ing, the tiles are dried for 80 sec ~ith the help of infrared gas burners situated in a horizontal plane over the
transporting conveyor.

The patterns are drawn on the dried tiles with the help of an automatic machine for decorative coating by
silk screen printing carried out by forcing a mastic through a stencil-screen made of capron mesh No. 70.
The mastic is made with the following composition: 55% frit No. 33,45% transformer oil, 0.5-10% (on
100~) dye, and 3% (on 100%) 'Oksol', drying oil.

The glazed tiles with patterns drawn are manually removed from the conveyor and are placed on small
wooden bottom planks which are carried with the help of an electric loader to electric furnace KP-580, designed
by NIIstroikeramika,for firing~ The electric furnace with a metal-gauze conveyor and having a designed annual
capacity of 100,000 mz of mosaic carpet tiles of 46 • 46 x 4 mm dimension was redesigned by the workers of
the Corporation to fire large-sized facing tiles and floor tiles of 150 x 150 x 11 mm and 200 • 200 x 11 mm
sizes. The length, breadth, and height of the furnace were 27,600~ 2350, and 2200 ram, respectively.
Before loading into the furnace, the surface of tiles is cleaned by blasting. The conveying part of the
furnace is made up of a mesh grid of heat- and corrosion-resistantwires. The conveyor moves on rotating
rolierSo The movement of rollers and wire-gauze is effected by dc motors.
The maximum firing temperature is 960-980~ with a soaking of 1.5 ho

The glazing conveyor in one shift ensures three-shift operation of the electric furnace. The capacity of
the furnace is 60-70 m2 per shift~ The fired tiles are graded and packed in accordance with the specifications
TU 21-28-22-75o

The tiles are distinguished by good quality and are in great demand.

145