Installation for manufacturing ceramic bathroom pieces

Claim 1

Installation for manufacturing ceramic or china sanitary or bathroom pieces such as toilets and bidets by using a mould of the type comprising a stand, a pair of half-moulds mounted on either side above said stand and a piston adapted to engage the upper peripheral contour of said two half-moulds, the projecting portion of said piston projecting within the gap left between said two lateral half-moulds, this installation comprising movable mounts each adapted to carry a mould and comprised of a pair of wheels adapted to rotate in two vertical parallel planes, each wheel consisting of a pair of unequal segments of which the minor one is adapted to be removed when the two-wheel assembly has been rotated for causing the wheel to bear with its major segment on a cradle adapted in turn to slide in the direction of the planes of said two wheels on a base plate provided with rollers permitting the translation of said plate at right angles to said wheel planes, a pair of rails supporting through wheels a plurality of mounts each adapted to be driven separately to a casting station adapted to fill the mould with slip, to a draining station adapted to remove the excess slip by draining, and to a piston release station adapted to remove the piston mechanically and place it upon a lateral transfer conveyor to a waiting position adjacent to a stripping station where stand removal followed by movement of the pair of half-moulds away from each other, removal of the casting and deposition thereof upon a lateral transfer conveyor are performed mechanically, said lastnamed lateral transfer conveyor leading to conventional finishing stations, means adapted to subsequently reposition said piston between said two half-moulds and re-engage said stand into the assembly, each mount thus reequipped with the empty mould being adapted to be eventually directed through a drying station for properly drying the mould elements and finally recycled at said casting station.