A method for manufacturing an engineered stone comprising the steps of: providing a mixture comprising at least a stone or stone like material and a binder; compacting the mixture; curing the binder; and printing a printed pattern on at least a top surface of the engineered stone.

An apparatus including a tool device configured to be used in the manufacturing of engineered stone slabs. The tool device may be configured to travel in an x-y plane in order to create a physically disrupted region in a mixture of resin and aggregate minerals. The tool device may have a mechanism configured to vary a width of the physically disrupted region of the mixture while traveling in the x-y plane. The apparatus may further include a spray device, which is configured to deposit colorant in an area in a wake of travel of the tool device in the x-y plane. The spray device may be configured to deposit colorant in an area while the physically disrupted region is being created in the area. The tool device may be a carving device with a V-shaped component. The tool device may be a stirring device having one or more prongs.

The present disclosure relates generally to methods of manufacturing plasterboards, such as gypsum wallboards. One aspect of the disclosure is a method of manufacturing a building board that includes providing a wet building board by allowing a plaster slurry to set between opposing facings, the wet building board having a set plaster core disposed between the facings; and providing a surfactant (such as a quaternary ammonium salt surfactant) on at least one of the facings (e.g., by applying an aqueous surfactant-containing composition to the facing); then conducting the wet building board to a drying oven, for example, via one or more conveyers (e.g., rollers and/or belts and/or rails); and drying the wet building board in the drying oven to provide the building board.

A system and method for replicating or repairing a building a material may serve as an effective means for repairing or replicating building material that has been discontinued or is otherwise unavailable or unsuitable for installation, the method comprising the steps of scanning an original tile to obtain an image data set, communicating the image data set to a computer, rendering a three-dimensional image of the original tile from the image data set, carving a new tile using a CNC machine based on the three-dimensional image of the original tile, applying a decorative image to the new tile, applying a glaze to the new tile, and firing the new tile.

Disclosed herein are tiles, systems, and methods related to manufacturing bullnose or other non-straight edge tiles. In a method of manufacturing a bullnose tile, the method comprises the steps of providing a tile, wherein said tile is a fired ceramic tile comprising a base and a decoration; cutting or milling the tile to form a bullnose edge; transporting the tile to at least a first printing station; printing at least one print layer of print media on the bullnose edge; transporting the tile to a curing station and curing the print media to provide the bullnose tile.

A lightweight thermal insulating cement-based material is formed from a mixture that includes cement, water and a foaming agent. The foaming agent can be an aluminum powder or a surfactant. The insulating material has a maximum use temperature of about 900 degrees Celsius or more.

A Digital decorating machine for ceramic products, including a conveyor, suitable to transport the products to be decorated (P) along a feed direction (A), and a plurality of decoration modules, positioned over the conveyor and adjacent to each other along the feed direction (A). The modules include respective printing heads provided with nozzles for ejecting a fluid to be delivered on the surface of the products to be decorated (P); the conveyor includes a movable member for supporting the products to be decorated (P), suitable for translating them along the feed direction (A). The conveyor includes at least a supporting surface, located along a respective flank of the movable member, including in turn a plurality of predetermined positioning zones for the removable engagement of respective coupling portions of the decoration modules.

A method of manufacturing a honeycomb structure, the method including: a circumferential coat layer forming process of applying a circumferential coating material on a circumferential surface of a ceramic honeycomb structure to form a circumferential coat layer, the circumferential coat layer forming process including: a rotating process of matching an axial direction of the honeycomb structure; and an applying process of discharging the circumferential coating material to apply the circumferential coating material on the circumferential surface of the honeycomb structure that rotates, wherein in the applying process, a discharge speed of the circumferential coating material, calculated by Equation (1), discharged from the discharge nozzle is 50 to 120 mm/s, and

Discharge speed V [mm/s]=Supplied amount q [g/s] of circumferential coating material(Density [g/mm.sup.3] of circumferential coating materialArea S [mm.sup.2] of discharge opening)(1).

A digital decorating machine for ceramic products, including a conveyor, suitable to transport the products to be decorated (P) along a feed direction (A), and a plurality of decoration modules, positioned over the conveyor and adjacent to each other along the feed direction (A). The modules include respective printing heads provided with nozzles for ejecting a fluid to be delivered on the surface of the products to be decorated (P); the conveyor includes a movable member for supporting the products to be decorated (P), suitable for translating them along the feed direction (A). The conveyor includes at least a supporting surface, located along a respective flank of the movable member, including in turn a plurality of predetermined positioning zones for the removable engagement of respective coupling portions of the decoration modules.

A method and apparatus to treat a dried unfired article comprising a ceramic precursor composition substantially held together by a binder, to be resistant to binder soluble solvent based processing. The method includes depositing a fluid on the article surface, and polymerizing the deposited fluid to form a polymer thin layer on the surface. The fluid may be an aerosol, a vapor, a fog, a mist, a smoke, or combinations thereof. An apparatus to perform the method and an article resistant to binder soluble solvent based processing are also provided. The article can be an unfired honeycomb body that includes a dried composition of ceramic precursor substantially held together by a binder and a layer disposed on a surface of the unfired honeycomb body. The surface to be exposed in the green state to a binder soluble solvent and the layer protects the binder from solubilization by the solvent.