EP2933118A1 - Tile for producing a mosaic, manufacturing method and device for manufacturing tiles - Google Patents

Abstract

A ceramic tile (10) is formed of a set of tesserae (20) juxtaposed so that a visible face of the tile results from the combination of visible faces (22) of the tesserae (20), the tile being intended to form all or part of a mosaic. The tesserae (20) of the tile (10) are held together, with a separation space (24) for forming a joint, by links (21) formed of the rigid ceramic material of the tesserae, passing through the separation spaces, forming bridges that can be broken when laying the tile, without breaking the tiles. The invention is directed to a method of producing such a tile, to a device for producing such a tile and to a method of laying such a tile.

Description

The present invention belongs to the field of ceramic mosaics.

More particularly, the invention relates to tiles used for the production of decorative mosaics by assembling previously made tiles.

A mosaic consists in a juxtaposition on a surface of small elements, the tesserae, separated by a generally narrow joint with respect to the dimensions of the tesserae, the arrangement of which makes it possible to obtain an overall visual effect which generally produces a drawing, figurative or abstract, most often for decorative purposes.

Decorative mosaics, wall or floor, are known since antiquity that produced figurative mosaics and large frescoes made with small tiles of colored stones, especially marble, usually of regular shapes and dimensions lower than one centimeter, as illustrated by figure 1 an extract from the mosaic designated as "the judgment of Paris" exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Such mosaics in which each tessera is individually placed by hand are still produced today, but they are incompatible with an industrial production and their production costs limit the wide diffusion.

A known solution to meet these constraints, is to make in the factory mosaics on tiles of greater or lesser size, comprising a set of tesserae, tiles that are assembled on their destination, for example a wall or a floor. The mosaic is then realized by assembling a set of rectangular or square tiles which each carry part of the mosaic.

In this solution, which requires that a mosaic can not be performed on a single panel or tile that can be reasonably transported, the various tiles must of course be assembled next to each other in an established order to rebuild the expected pattern.

It is known to make, for example as described in the patent application published under the number FR2912684 , ceramic tiles on the surface of which furrows, shallow depths to the thickness of the tile, are printed to delimit the tesserae, which furrows will be filled to form the joints when the tiles have been assembled to form the mosaic .

A difficulty of this method for making a mosaic by a tile assembly comes from the control of the connections between the tiles to avoid the formation of a repetitive pattern, the size of the tiles, which is detected by the human brain when the mosaic is observed as a whole.

One of the causes producing this repetitive pattern concerns the control of the continuity of the visible surface of the mosaic at the joint edges of the tiles.

Indeed, if the thickness of the tiles can be relatively well controlled, it is not the same for the flatness and regularity of the support are glued on the tiles, parameters that usually escape the manufacturer of the tiles and for which the requirements are higher than those commonly accepted in the field of construction.

To provide a solution to these disadvantages of known solutions, the tiles of the invention, intended to be fixed on a support, are each formed of a set of tesserae, made of a rigid ceramic material, juxtaposed so that one face visible from the tile results from the combination of visible faces of the tesserae.

Each tile is intended to form all or part of a mosaic.

In addition, the tesserae of a tile are kept assembled between they by links formed integrally with the tesserae and the same material as the tesserae, so as to maintain each tile in the relative position it must have with respect to the other tesserae in the tile and maintain between edges facing adjacent tesserae a separation space for forming a seal, traversed by the links, forming bridges that can be broken during the laying of the tile on a support by efforts exerted on the tesserae less than efforts necessary to break the tesserae.

There is thus obtained a tile having a plurality of tesserae which are held together to form a rigid tile that can be manipulated during installation and whose tesserae can be released from each other during a laying operation of the tile for a better adjustment of the position of certain tesserae on the support receiving the tile. The tile has a homogeneous structure that ensures its stability and to achieve the tile in a single forming operation. The tile is made of a traditional and resistant material for the realization of mosaic enjoying a reputation for quality.

In one embodiment, each tessellation comprises at least one connection with each of the tesserae of the tile having an edge vis-à-vis an edge of the tessellation considered. It is thus ensured that all tile tesserae are maintained at the neighboring tesserae to obtain a stability and a sufficient strength of the tiles and the tile during the handling of the tile before and during the installation.

Advantageously, each tessellation comprises at least three links maintaining it to other tesserae of the tile. This minimum number of three links, which in practice on a tile of conventional dimensions able to be handled by a single laying operator can reach five links, makes it possible to ensure that a tessellation, including on one edge of the tile and having therefore one or more free edges without links, is always sufficiently maintained to limit the risk of unwanted detachment.

In one embodiment, the links have a height (h) less than a thickness (E) of the tesserae and the links are shifted to a face of laying the tile so as to be under a visible face of the tile. Thus when the space between the tesserae is filled to form a joint, the links, broken or not, are covered by the seal and made invisible in the mosaic made.

In one embodiment, a tile has between 20 and 400 tesserae, preferably between 150 and 250 tesserae. The choice of a number of tesserae, in combination if necessary with average dimensions of tesserae, makes it possible to obtain a pixelization visual effect adapted to the dimensions of the mosaic to be made and to the distance provided for its observation while retaining tiles of dimensions adapted to a traditional pose.

In one embodiment, the tesserae are colored according to a position and an orientation in which the tile is to be placed in the mosaic to be formed. It is thus realized a tile ready to be laid having its position defined in the mosaic and a same model of tile, defined by its arrangement of tesserae, can be used several times in the same mosaic with different color arrangement on the tesselles function the location of the tile following the pattern represented by the mosaic.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a tile according to the invention.

1. i/ un moule cloisonné, dont des cloisons correspondent à des espaces devant être maintenus entre les tesselles et déterminent des volumes cylindriques vides traversant ledit moule cloisonné, entre une face avant et une face arrière du moule cloisonné, des sections et positions relatives des volumes cylindriques correspondant aux formes et positions des tesselles dans le carreau ;
   chacune des cloisons comportant au moins une encoche ouverte au niveau de la face arrière du moule cloisonné, évasée vers la face arrière et formant une ouverture de communication entre les deux volumes séparés par la cloison considérée ;
2. ii/ un ensemble de pistons, une section de chaque piston et des positions relatives des pistons correspondant aux sections et positions relatives des volumes traversant ;

ledit procédé comportant les étapes de :

• a - placer l'ensemble de pistons et le moule cloisonné afin que chaque piston soit, dans une première position, enfoncé partiellement, du côté de la face avant dudit moule cloisonné, dans le volume traversant lui correspondant, pour former un fond audit volume traversant et pour déterminer une capacité de remplissage des dits volumes résultant d'une profondeur libre dudit volume traversant entre ledit piston et la face arrière du moule cloisonné ;
• b - remplir, par la face arrière du moule cloisonné, les volumes traversants et les encoches, apparentes sur ladite face arrière avec la pâte atomisée sèche ;
• c - placer en appui sur la face arrière du moule cloisonné une plaque de contre-poussée, la plaque de contre-poussée ayant pour effet de fermer du côté de ladite face arrière les volumes traversants, fermés à l'étape a) par les pistons du coté de la face avant ;
• d - rapprocher les pistons de la plaque de contre-poussée jusqu'à une deuxième position par application d'une force sur lesdits pistons de sorte à compresser dans chacun des volumes traversants la pâte atomisée sèche remplissant lesdits volumes traversant, jusqu'à obtenir une épaisseur voulue de la pâte atomisée sèche compressée dans les volumes traversants et une compression par fluage de la pâte atomisée sèche dans les encoches ;
• e - dégager la plaque de contre-poussée de la face arrière du moule cloisonné et repousser vers ladite face arrière, au moyens des pistons agissant de manière simultanée, en dehors du moule cloisonné, la pâte atomisée sèche ayant été compressée, constituant un protocarreau formé d'un ensemble de prototesselles dont les formes géométriques et l'agencement ont été déterminées par ledit moule cloisonné et comportant des protoliaisons aux emplacements correspondants au encoches ;
• f - durcir par cuisson la pâte atomisée sèche, sans déplacement relatif des prototesselles, pour obtenir un carreau en matériau céramique rigide dans lequel les tesselles sont reliées par des liaisons rigides formées de manière intégrale dans le même matériau que les tesselles.

According to the method of producing a tile in a rigid ceramic material, resulting from the firing of a dry atomized paste, comprising a set of tesserae juxtaposed and assembled together by bonds, formed integrally with the tesserae of the same rigid ceramic material as said tesserae, to constitute the tile, said tile being intended to form a mosaic comprising one or more tiles, the method implementing:

1. i / a partitioned mold, whose partitions correspond to spaces to be maintained between the tesserae and determine empty cylindrical volumes passing through said partitioned mold, between a front face and a rear face of the partitioned mold, sections and relative positions of the volumes cylindrical corresponding to the shapes and positions of the tesserae in the tile;
   each of the partitions having at least one notch open at the rear face of the partitioned mold, flared towards the rear face and forming a communication opening between the two volumes separated by the partition considered;
2. ii / a set of pistons, a section of each piston and relative positions of the pistons corresponding to the sections and relative positions of the through volumes;

said method comprising the steps of:

• a - placing the set of pistons and the partitioned mold so that each piston is, in a first position, partially depressed, on the side of the front face of said partitioned mold, in the corresponding through volume, to form a bottom to said volume through and to determine a filling capacity of said volumes resulting from a free depth of said volume passing between said piston and the rear face of the partitioned mold;
• b - fill, through the rear face of the cloisonne mold, the through volumes and the notches, apparent on said rear face with the dry atomized paste;
• c - placing on the rear face of the partitioned mold a counter-thrust plate, the counter-thrust plate having the effect of closing on the side of said rear face the through volumes, closed in step a) by the pistons on the front side;
• d - bringing the pistons of the thrust plate to a second position by applying a force on said pistons so as to compress in each of the through volumes the dry atomized paste filling said through volumes, to obtain a desired thickness of compressed dry pulp in the through volumes and creep compression of the dry atomized pulp into the notches;
• e - release the counter-thrust plate from the rear face of the partitioned mold and push back towards said rear face, by means of the pistons acting simultaneously, apart from the cloisonne mold, the dry atomized paste having been compressed, constituting a protocarreau formed of a set of prototessels whose geometrical shapes and the arrangement were determined by said partitioned mold and having protolences at the locations corresponding to the notches;
• f - harden by baking the dry atomized paste, without relative displacement of the prototessels, to obtain a rigid ceramic material tile in which the tesserae are connected by rigid connections formed integrally in the same material as the tesserae.

It is thus obtained by the method a ceramic material tile made in a sequence of operations in which tile all the tesserae are made simultaneously with their shapes and their final positions in the tile.

The tile is thus integrally formed with the links ensuring the stability of the tesserae of a tile between them, when the dry atomized paste is hardened during step f).

In one embodiment, the dry atomized paste is a wet clay. It is thus possible, by the choice of clay quality and its degree of hygrometry to have a material having the malleability adapted to the implementation of the method and the means used for this implementation and it is obtained after curing the clay by firing a ceramic tile.

In one embodiment, the compression step d) is carried out by applying a compressive force between the counter-thrust plate placed against the rear face of the partitioned mold and a thrust plate acting on the set of pistons. It is thus obtained a homogeneous distribution of the pressure by the various pistons and a coordinated displacement producing tesserae of the same thickness.

1. a) un moule cloisonné dans lequel :
   • a1) des cloisons déterminent des volumes cylindriques vides, formé par enlèvement de matière dans un bloc d'un matériau homogène, traversants ledit moule cloisonné entre une face arrière, placé horizontale et vers le haut dudit moule cloisonné, des axes des dits volume cylindriques étant orientés suivant une verticale locale du dispositif, dudit moule cloisonné et une face avant dudit moule cloisonné, opposée à la face arrière :
   • a2) chacun des dits volumes traversants présente une section correspondant à une tesselle à former à l'emplacement du volume traversant considéré ;
   • a3) les cloisons comportant des encoches, formées aux emplacements des liaisons réalisant chacune, du côté de la face arrière du moule cloisonné, une ouverture de communication, évasée vers la dite face arrière, entre deux volumes traversants voisins séparés par une cloison ;
2. b) un ensemble de pistons comportant un piston pour chaque volume traversant et chaque piston étant agencé pour coulisser dans le volume traversant correspondant avec un jeu minimum, chaque piston de l'ensemble de piston comportant au moins trois positions prédéfinies :
   • b1) une première position dans laquelle le piston est enfoncé partiellement du côté de la face avant dudit moule cloisonné dans le volume traversant lui correspondant, pour former un fond audit volume traversant et pour déterminer une capacité de remplissage des dits volumes résultant d'une profondeur libre dudit volume traversant entre ledit piston et la face arrière du moule cloisonné ;
   • b2) une deuxième position dans laquelle le piston est enfoncé dans le volume traversant correspondant, jusqu'à obtenir entre la face avant et le piston une profondeur libre dudit volume traversant correspondant à une épaisseur voulue de pâte atomisée sèche compressée dans ledit volume traversant et correspondant à l'épaisseur d'une prototesselle
   • b3) une troisième position dans laquelle le piston est enfoncé dans le volume traversant correspondant pour remplir totalement ledit volume traversant, le piston affleurant ou dépassant au-dessus de la face arrière du moule cloisonné ;
3. c) une plaque de contre-poussée comportant au moins deux positions prédéfinies :
   • c1) une première position dans laquelle la plaque de contre-poussée est en appui sur la face arrière du moule cloisonné ;
   • c2) une seconde position dans laquelle la plaque de contre-poussée est distante du moule cloisonné de sorte à laisser libres des extrémités des volumes traversants débouchant sur la face arrière ;
4. d) des moyens de déplacements relatifs coordonnés du moule cloisonné, de l'ensemble de pistons et de la plaque de contre poussée pour :
   • d1) agencer l'ensemble de pistons et la plaque de contre-poussée dans la configuration correspondant à la combinaison b1) et c1) ;
   • d2) agencer l'ensemble de pistons et la plaque de contre-poussée dans la configuration correspondant à la combinaison b1) et c2) ;
   • d3) agencer l'ensemble de pistons et la plaque de contre-poussée dans la configuration correspondant à la combinaison b2) et c2) ;
   • d4) agencer l'ensemble de pistons et la plaque de contre-poussée dans la configuration correspondant à la combinaison b3) et c1) ;
5. e) un système d'application d'une force de compression pour agir simultanément sur l'ensemble des pistons et sur la plaque de contre-poussée.

For the implementation of the method, a device for producing tiles, intended for producing mosaics, each tile being formed of a set of tesserae, made of rigid ceramic material, juxtaposed between which tesserae are maintained spaces, intended to form joints between the tesserae, the tesserae of a tile being held together in the positions they must have in the tile by rigid connections formed integrally with the tesserae in the same material as the tesserae, comprises for the realization of protocarreaux from a dry atomized paste to be transformed into ceramic by cooking:

1. a) a partitioned mold in which:
   • a1) partitions determine empty cylindrical volumes, formed by removal of material in a block of a homogeneous material, through said mold partitioned between a rear face, placed horizontally and upwardly of said partitioned mold, axes of said cylindrical volume being oriented according to a local vertical of the device, said partitioned mold and a front face of said partitioned mold, opposite to the rear face:
   • a2) each of said through volumes has a section corresponding to a tessellus to form at the location of the crossing volume considered;
   • a3) the partitions having notches, formed at the locations of the links each making, on the side of the rear face of the partitioned mold, a communication opening, flared towards said rear face, between two adjacent through volumes separated by a partition;
2. b) a set of pistons comprising a piston for each through volume and each piston being arranged to slide in the corresponding through volume with a minimum clearance, each piston of the piston assembly having at least three predefined positions:
   • b1) a first position in which the piston is partially depressed on the side of the front face of said partitioned mold in the corresponding through volume, to form a bottom to said through volume and to determine a filling capacity of said volumes resulting from a depth free of said volume passing between said piston and the rear face of the partitioned mold;
   • b2) a second position in which the piston is driven into the corresponding through volume, to obtain between the front face and the piston a free depth of said through volume corresponding to a desired thickness of dry atomized paste compressed in said corresponding through volume and to the thickness of a prototesselle
   • b3) a third position in which the piston is driven into the corresponding through volume to completely fill said through volume, the piston flush or protruding above the rear face of the partitioned mold;
3. c) a counter-thrust plate having at least two predefined positions:
   • c1) a first position in which the counter-thrust plate bears on the rear face of the partitioned mold;
   • c2) a second position in which the thrust plate is spaced from the partitioned mold so as to leave free the ends of the through volumes opening on the rear face;
4. d) coordinated relative displacement means of the partition mold, the piston assembly and the counter-thrust plate for:
   • d1) arranging the piston assembly and the counter-thrust plate into the configuration corresponding to the combination b1) and c1);
   • d2) arranging the piston assembly and the counter-thrust plate into the configuration corresponding to the combination b1) and c2);
   • d3) arranging the piston assembly and the counter-thrust plate into the configuration corresponding to the combination b2) and c2);
   • d4) arranging the piston assembly and the counter-thrust plate into the configuration corresponding to the combination b3) and c1);
5. e) a system for applying a compressive force to act simultaneously on the set of pistons and on the counter-thrust plate.

Such a device proves particularly suitable for implementing the method for producing tiles in a minimum of operations so as to to limit the risk of displacement of the prototessels before the hardening of the material used to form the tiles.

The notches, which will naturally be filled with the dry atomized paste during the filling of the volumes passing through the partitioned mold, and in which the dry atomized paste will also be compressed when the pistons are brought closer to the counter-thrust plate, allow the protolences to be formed. between the tesserae of a tile at the time of the formation of the prototessels and finally to obtain a tile of a material of homogeneous structure, the shape of the notches allowing the release of the protocarreau, by their adapted forms, without damaging the protolences .

In one embodiment, the pistons of the piston assembly are integral with a thrust plate for transmitting the approach force generated by the compression force application system. The force of approach is thus distributed on the pistons whose progression in the through volumes is simultaneous.

This also results in a balance of the pressures in the different volumes in which the dry atomized paste is compressed, which makes it possible to avoid deformations of the relatively thin mold walls, which, although made of a hard material such as a metal, would be likely to deform under the effect of high pressures involved to compress the dry atomized paste.

To carry out the laying of the tiles of a mosaic, the tiles being, at least for some of them, conform to the tile of the invention, each tile is fixed by gluing on a support and according to a method of the invention when a tile is placed on the support, said tile is subjected to a threshing before a complete setting of the adhesive so that the links between the tiles of the tile are broken, without damaging the tesserae, at least between tesserae n ' not being in stable support on the support.

Thus all the tesserae, being able to be detached from the tile without lateral displacement in the tile, can be perfectly applied to the support and avoid variations in height of the tesserae with respect to the support at the junction of tiles of the mosaic.

• figure 1: une reproduction partielle d'une mosaïque antique réalisée par la méthode traditionnelle dans laquelle chaque tesselle est posée individuellement ;
• figures 2a, 2b et 2c: un premier exemple de mosaïque, réalisée avec des carreaux, conforme à l'invention, figure 2a : un carreau isolé, figure 2b : un ensemble de carreaux pour former une mosaïque, figure 2c : la mosaïque terminée par assemblage des carreaux de la figure 2b ;
• figure 3: un exemple de carreau formé de tesselles distinctes reliées par des liaisons rigides ;
• figures 3a et 3b: des détails de la figure 3 avec figure 3a une vue agrandie partielle d'une partie du carreau de la figure 3 illustrant de manière plus visible des liaisons rigides entre des tesselles voisines et figure 3b une coupe perpendiculaire au plan du carreau montrant partiellement deux tesselles séparées par un espace et reliées par une liaison en forme de pont structural ;
• figure 4 : une vue en perspective d'un moule cloisonné mis en oeuvre par un dispositif de réalisation de carreaux tels que le carreau de la figure 3 ;
• figure 4a : une vue agrandie d'une partie du moule cloisonné de la figure 4 montrant la forme des cloisons sur une des faces du moule et les encoches formées dans les cloisons du côté de la face arrière du moule cloisonné ;
• figure 5 : une illustration schématique du dispositif utilisé pour le pressage de carreaux mettant en oeuvre le moule cloisonné de la figure 4 ;

The description of the invention is made with reference to the figures which illustrate schematically and in a nonlimiting manner:

• figure 1 : a partial reproduction of an antique mosaic made by the traditional method in which each tessera is placed individually;
• Figures 2a, 2b and 2c : a first example of mosaic, made with tiles, according to the invention, figure 2a : an isolated tile, figure 2b : a set of tiles to form a mosaic, Figure 2c : the mosaic completed by assembling the tiles of the figure 2b ;
• figure 3 : an example of a tile formed of distinct tesserae connected by rigid links;
• Figures 3a and 3b : details of the figure 3 with figure 3a an enlarged partial view of a portion of the tile of the figure 3 more visibly illustrating rigid links between neighboring tesserae and figure 3b a section perpendicular to the plane of the tile partially showing two tesserae separated by a space and connected by a structural bridge-shaped connection;
• figure 4 : a perspective view of a partitioned mold implemented by a device for producing tiles such as the tile of the figure 3 ;
• figure 4a : an enlarged view of a part of the cloisonné mold of the figure 4 showing the shape of the partitions on one of the faces of the mold and the notches formed in the partitions on the side of the rear face of the partitioned mold;
• figure 5 : a schematic illustration of the device used for pressing tiles using the partitioned mold of the figure 4 ;

In the different figures, similar elements bear the same reference. The different parts are not necessarily scaled and the shapes and sizes are likely to vary to fit particular shapes or patterns desired for a mosaic.

The drawings are only illustrations by way of example the shapes, in particular the shapes of the tiles and tesserae not being constrained.

A mosaic 100, such as the mosaic of the figure 1 , represents an overall pattern by the juxtaposition in a plane of said mosaic of small elements, for example stone or ceramic, often referred to as tesserae, of various shapes and colors.

According to a general principle of decorative mosaics, the tesserae 20 are small in relation to the dimensions of the mosaic 100 and said tesserae are separated by a joint.

In general, a pointillism effect, also referred to as a pixelization, of the pattern represented by said mosaic remains perceptible at a predicted viewing distance from the mosaic without affecting the perception of the overall pattern as shown by the example of the figure 1 .

As illustrated on Figures 2a, 2b and 2c according to the invention, the mosaic 100 of the Figure 2c is the result of the juxtaposition of tiles 10, such as the tile of the figure 2a presented in an isolated manner, each tile 10 intended to constitute the mosaic being itself bearing tesserae 20.

Each tile has a general shape of regular quadrilateral, substantially rectangular in the example shown, to allow easy assembly, the edges are however not rectilinear due to the arrangement of tesserae.

For reasons of continuity of the pattern represented by the mosaic 100, the edges of the tiles to be juxtaposed are complementary as shown in FIG. figure 2b showing the tiles separated from each other.

So that the tiles do not stand out visually in the mosaic assembly of the Figure 2c the tiles are positioned so that the joints separating the tesserae of two tiles having a common edge merge into the general pattern without any substantial difference in joint width or height of the tesserae with respect to an average plane of the decorated surface of the mosaic .

Tile 10, as illustrated on figure 3 and an enlarged portion of which is shown in detail (a), is formed of a set of juxtaposed tesserae 20 placed in a relative position that said tesserae must have in the mosaic 100 taking into account the location of said tile in said mosaic .

The tesserae 20 are made of a rigid material, typically a ceramic resulting from the pressing and baking of a dry atomized paste.

Furthermore in the tile 10 all the tesserae 20 are separated by spaces 24 and are held together in a non-deformable manner by localized rigid links 21, shown in detail (a) of FIG. figure 3 , making structural bridges between the tesserae and formed in the same material as the tesserae during the manufacture of the tile.

In the tile 10, each tile 20 is, with exception, connected by at least one link 21 with a tessellation which is adjacent to it in the tile.

Given the number of tesserae in a tile, for example about 200 tesserae as in the example shown on the figure 3 and various shapes of the tesserae, of substantially polygonal shapes, having 3 to 5 sides in practice, each tesserae is connected by at least three links 21.

Thus given the edges of the tile, a tile with 200 tesserae in practice between 400 and 500 links.

If in practice the number of links 21 of a tessellation 20 is often greater than three, it will preferably be ensured that a tessellation comprises at least three links, including for the tesserae located on the edges of the tile 10 and whose some free sides are not juxtaposed in the tile to any other tessellation and therefore does not include a connection on said free sides.

As shown schematically on the detail (b) of the figure 3 , the links 21 have a height h less than a thickness E of the tesserae and are located close to a laying face 23 of the tesserae, and the tile, intended to be supported on a support 90 of the mosaic, so that it is maintained an empty space above each link, between the link 21 and a visible face 22 of the tessellation, which space to be filled to form the visible joint when the mosaic is completed.

The links 21, whose length is imposed by the width of the space 24 between the tesserae at the location of said connection, have for example a height h less than half the thickness E of the tesserae and have a determined width. to obtain a desired resistance to rupture, a width between the height h and five times the height h is generally adapted.

In addition the links 21, rigid, are fragile so that they can be simply bung when a sufficient bending force is exerted between two neighboring tesserae.

It should be understood here that although rigid, the links are substantially more fragile than the tesserae that they maintain between them, in particular because of their reduced cross-sections, and that the necessary forces will produce the rupture of the links well before presenting the risk. to cause a tessellation break, and this despite the multiplicity of links 21.

It follows from the arrangement just described that the tile 10 before being laid, although having a large number of tesserae perfectly distinct from each other, is perfectly rigid, that each tile is in the exact position that it must have in the tile and the spaces between the tesserae are of perfectly defined widths because of the rigid links.

In a preferred embodiment, the same material constitutes the tesserae 20 and the links 21. Advantageously, the tesserae and the links between the tesserae are made integrally during a step of making the tile 10.

In a preferred embodiment, the material constituting the tesserae and the bonds is a ceramic, for example a baked clay.

For the purposes of producing a mosaic 100, the tesserae 20 are individually stained on their visible faces 22 to reproduce the desired pattern to be represented by the mosaic depending on the position of the tile and its orientation in the mosaic.

PROCESS

To achieve a tile 10 of the invention, comprising the tesserae 20 maintained by the links 21, it is advantageously implemented a pressing process in one operation simultaneously forming the tessellas 20 separated by spaces 24 and the links 21 passing through said spaces between the said tesserae.

The method implements, as illustrated on the figure 5 , a cloisonne mold 30, a counter-thrust plate 40 and pistons 41.

The figure 4 corresponds to an example of a partitioned mold 30, a part of which is enlarged on the detail of the figure 4a .

According to a characteristic, volumes 32, determined by partitions 31, are through volumes empty of any obstacle which open on a rear face 35 of the partitioned mold 30 and on a front face 36 of said partitioned mold, the front and rear faces being two opposite sides of said partitioned mold, a priori parallel. Each volume 32 is of cylindrical shape so that a piston 41 having a section substantially identical to the flow volume considered but with a functional clearance allowing a sliding of said piston in said volume can be depressed and out of said volume.

All the through volumes 32 have longitudinal axes perpendicular to the rear face 35 of the partitioned mold.

On the rear face 35 of the partitioned mold, the partitions 31 furthermore comprise notches 33 which form in each partition a communication between the two volumes 32 separated by the said partition and which correspond in recesses, in shapes, dimensions and locations to the connections. 21 to be made between the tesserae of the tile. The said notches are open on the side of the rear face 35.

The cloisonné mold therefore has as many notches as links between the tesserae of the tile.

Another feature of the notches 33 is their shapes which allow the demolding of the tesserae 20 which will be formed in the volumes 32 without the links 21 which will be formed in said notches are destroyed or damaged. It follows from this constraint that the notches are shaped softened by radii of curvature of an order of magnitude of the dimensions of said notches and have flared shapes favoring demolding.

According to the method of making a tile, the following steps are carried out.

In a first step, the pistons 41 are partially inserted into the volumes 32 by the front face 36 so as to close said volumes on the side of said front face of the partitioned mold, and the remaining parts of the volumes 32 not occupied by the pistons are filled. by the rear face 35 of the partitioned mold with a dry atomized paste to form the tile, for example a clay with less than 10% relative humidity by mass or an atomized pulp of faience with less than 10% of moisture by mass, preferably between 5 and 7% of moisture by mass.

Advantageously, during this filling, the cloisonne mold is placed with its horizontal rear face.

Advantageously, the volumes 32 are filled so that the dry atomized paste is flush with the rear face 35, so as to obtain a homogeneous filling of the volumes, and also fills the notches 33.

In the partitioned mold 30, each volume 32 corresponds to a tessellation 20 of the tile to be made and the partitions 31 correspond to the spaces 24 to be obtained between the tesserae.

In a second step, the rear face 35 of the partitioned mold 30 is covered with the counter-thrust plate 40 which is placed in abutment on said rear face and by a pressure exerted between the pistons 41 and said plate of against-thrust, the dry atomized paste filling the volumes 32 is compressed to a desired pressure which also results in a thickness of the tesserae.

The pressure exerted by the pistons on the dry atomized paste, which can vary according to the type of paste used and the desired characteristics for the ceramic, is for example between 5 and 50 megaPascals.

The quantity of dry atomized paste introduced into each volume 32, which is advantageously adjusted by an initial volume to be filled, which can be adjusted by the more or less depressed position of the pistons during the first step, is chosen according to the characteristics of the dry atomized paste to obtain at the end of this second step prototesselles 20a, equivalent to the tessels 20 but not yet converted by cooking, a desired thickness E, given the compressibility of the dry atomized pulp and a possible loss of material for example due to expulsion of water during compression.

In this second step, a compression of the dry atomized paste in the notches 33 is also obtained because of the pressure transmitted substantially hydrostatically due to the malleability of the material, the relatively thin wall 31 and the shapes softened the edges of the notches which facilitate the creep of the dry atomized paste to form protolences 21a.

In a third step, the prototesselles 20a formed in the partitioned mold 30 and connected by the protolences 21a are demolded to form a protocarreau 10a, that is to say a shape having the geometric attributes of the tile 10 whose constituent material, although compressed , is not yet transformed by cooking.

To demold the prototessels still embedded between the partitions 31, the counterplate 40 is removed so as to release the rear face 35 of the partitioned mold 30 and the pistons 41 are implemented simultaneously to push on the prototesselles until their complete clearances of the cloisonné mold 30.

The pistons at this stage completely occupy the through volumes, either they are flush with the upper face of the partitioned mold, or it exceeds said upper face.

In a fourth step is carried out a step of baking protocarreau 10a, if necessary preceded by drying or other preparation for cooking, to obtain a tile 10 in a hard material.

In a fifth step, the tesserae 20 of the tile produced are colored according to the pattern to be formed by the mosaic into which the tile is to be incorporated.

In a preferred embodiment, the dry atomized paste used is a raw clay with less than 10% relative humidity by mass or an atomized paste of faience with less than 10% of moisture by mass; preferably between 5 and 7% of moisture by mass, which after cooking gives a hard ceramic.

DEVICE

For the implementation of the method as just described, it is advantageously used a device 200 forming a mold molding press such as the device illustrated in FIG. figure 5 .

The molding press comprises mainly the partitioned mold 30, a set of pistons 41 a counter-thrust plate 40 and compression means 42, symbolized by arrows representing the direction of action of the compression forces.

The partitioned mold 30 has the general shape of a plate, of suitable thickness, of a resistant material, for example a hard metal material, of surface dimensions at least equal to that of a tile 10 to be produced, increased edges necessary for the rigidity of the mold and its handling.

The partitioned mold 30 comprises partitions 31 determining volumes 32 passing through the mold between the front face 36 and the rear face 35 of the mold. The through volumes 32 are cylindrical, with an axis perpendicular to the rear face 35 of said partitioned mold, and their sections and arrangement correspond to the planar shapes of the tesserae 20 to be produced and to their arrangement in the tile 10.

The cloisonné mold 30 forms an inverted relief image of a tile to be made. The partitions 31 correspond to the spaces 24 between the tesserae 20 and the volumes 32 through between the partitions corresponding to the tesserae.

The notches 33 present in the partitions 31, to connect the neighboring volumes 32, at the rear face 35 correspond to the links 21.

The piston assembly is formed of cylindrical pistons 41, also made of a resistant material such as a hard metal, arranged relative to each other so that they can be introduced and moved simultaneously in the hollow volumes 32 of the partitioned mold 30. an embodiment the pistons 41 are integral with a thrust plate 43,

The shape of a piston 41 is adapted to the shape of the volume section 32 in which said piston must be introduced and move.

Given the desired compression and the type of compressed material, the section of the piston will be adjusted as much as possible to the section of the through volume with a minimum clearance to limit the risk of seizure and the risk of material creep between the piston and the partitions.

Advantageously, the partitions 31 of the partitioned mold have filleting connections at their junctions, as illustrated in FIG. figure 4a and the pistons 41 also have rounded shapes at their edges so as to facilitate the sliding of said pistons and also to facilitate the demolding of the tesserae.

In addition the pistons have a useful height at least equal to a thickness of the partitioned mold 30, that is to say at a depth of the volumes 32 passing through said partitioned mold, so that in at least a third relative position between the partitioned mold and the pistons, the pistons driven into the partitioned mold, from the front face 36 of said partitioned mold, are flush with or protrude slightly from the rear face 35 of said cloisonne mold.

In a first position for filling the volumes 32, the pistons 41 of the set of pistons are driven into said volumes to form a bottom to said volumes and so to determine a filling capacity of said volumes.

The pistons also comprise at least a second position, intermediate between the filling position and the ejection position, of calibrating the thickness of the prototessels in which the distance between the free ends of the pistons 41 and the rear face 35 of the mold. Partition 30 corresponds to a desired thickness of the tesserae of the tiles made with the device 200.

The second position corresponds to a separation distance between the thrust plate 43 and the front face 36 of the partitioned mold which can be fixed by physical shims 44 or by logic control means using, for example, position sensors, not represented on the figure 5 .

The counter-thrust plate 40 is arranged removable.

In a compression position, the thrust plate 40 is placed on the rear face 35 of the partition mold 30 so as to close the volumes 32 through.

In a release position, the counter-thrust plate 40 is spaced apart from the partitioned mold 30 so as to release the openings of the volumes 32 passing through and opening on the rear face 35 of said partitioned mold.

The compression means 42, not shown in the drawings, consist for example of a press which is arranged to exert a compressive force between the thrust plate 40 and the counter-thrust plate 43 to induce the substantially simultaneous depression of each piston 41 in the volume 32 corresponding to it.

The device advantageously comprises accessory means such as guide columns 45 and springs 46.

In the embodiment of the figure 5 , the guide columns 45 ensure the alignment and guiding of the relative displacements between the thrust plate, the partitioned mold and the counter-thrust plate. The springs 46 ensure a rise of the partitioned mold 30 when the compression force is no longer exerted.

METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MOSAIC

For the realization of a mosaic 100 by means of the tiles 10 of the invention, it is initially made the tiles to compose the mosaic.

For this, the mosaic is decomposed into tiles each carrying a part of the pattern to be represented by the mosaic.

Each tile 10 is identified by its position and its orientation in the mosaic 100 and the edges of a tile, resulting from the shape and arrangement of the tesserae 20 of the considered tile, each correspond to the edge of the tile which will be neighbor to it. Mosaic.

It will be noted here that the desired juxtaposition of the tiles can be ensured with tiles of different shapes whose edges are designed to ensure the coincidence of the edges of the tesserae, but that a limited number of tile shapes can be implemented without that there appears a repetitive pattern visible and annoying.

When making the tiles, the tesserae are colored as much as necessary to produce the desired pattern.

Following a tile laying plan an operator performing the laying of tiles places a first tile 10 on a surface of a support 90 prepared for this purpose to accommodate the mosaic.

The tile 10 is fixed to the support in known manner by means of an adhesive or an adhesive adapted to the materials of the support and the tile.

Before the glue has hardened, the operator performs a threshing of the visible face 22 of the tile 10 placed on the support so as to produce forces between the tesserae of the tiles sufficient to cause the breaking of the links 21 between the tesserae 20, at least in the case of tesserae that would not fit perfectly on the surface of the support.

Threshing is naturally moderate so as not to risk breaking tesserae. Given the limited strength of the links between the tesserae, threshing can be achieved with the palm of the hand or with a tool having a relatively elastic surface such as a mallet or bat elastomer.

It should be noted here that at the time of the laying of the tile 10, all the tesserae are perfectly held between them and that the operator does not have to worry about the position of the tesserae to focus essentially on the position of the tile . When the tiling is carried out, in practice the tesserae are already adherent to the support and retain their positions.

When the tile has been properly beaten, each tile is perfectly applied to the support.

After laying the first tile, the operator proceeds by progression and places a neighboring tile on one of the free edges of the tile already laid respecting a joint width between the tesserae of the two tiles.

Once positioned the neighboring tile, it is proceeded to threshing this tile to individually apply the tesserae on the support. This operation is repeated for all tiles in the mosaic.

By this operation which results in an application of tesserae on the support individually, it is obtained almost perfect continuity in thickness between two neighboring tiles. Indeed defects of flatness or other irregularities of the support have the consequence of shifts in thickness of the adjacent edges of two rigid tiles. Such offsets, which may be acceptable with plain tiles, are clearly visible in the case of a tile-laid mosaic and produce an unpleasant repetitive visual pattern unrelated to the mosaic pattern.

When all the tiles were placed on the support, each tessellation potentially became an "autonomous" tessellation plated on the support.

The assembly thus carried out follows the support with its flatness defects or possible deformations at the scale of the tesserae 20 without the introduction of an offset between the tiles 10.

The operator making the mosaic can then proceed to fill the spaces 24 between the tesserae to form the joints of the mosaic, joints that will cover and hide the links 21 and result in the desired visual effect.

Thus according to the tile of the invention and its method of laying it is made a mosaic tile laying, with all the industrial advantages that can be achieved by laying tiles to cover a surface, which once posed the appearance of a mosaic in which each tessellation has been the object of a specific laying work, for the highest quality of the visual effect obtained.

Claims (12)

Tile (10) formed of a set of tesserae (20), made of a rigid ceramic material, juxtaposed so that a visible face of the tile results from the combination of visible faces (22) of the tesserae (20), said tile being intended to form all or part of a mosaic, characterized in that the tesserae (20) of the tile (10) are held together by links (21) formed integrally with the tesserae of the same rigid ceramic material as the tesserae , so as to maintain each tessellus (20) in the relative position it must have with respect to the other tesserae in the tile (10) and to maintain between a edges facing adjacent tesserae a space (24) of separation intended to form a seal, traversed by the links (21) forming bridges that can be broken during the laying of said tile on a support by forces exerted on the tesserae less than the forces necessary to break the s tesselles. Tile according to Claim 1, in which each tile (20) has at least one connection (21) with each of the tesserae of the tile having an edge facing an edge of the tessellation considered. A tile according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each tile (20) has at least three links (21) holding it to other tiles of the tile. Tile according to one of the preceding claims, in which the links (21) have a height (h) smaller than a thickness (E) of the tesserae and in which the links (21) are offset towards a laying face (23) of the tile (10) so as to be under a visible face (22) of the tile. Tile according to one of the preceding claims comprising between 20 and 400 tesserae (20), preferably between 150 and 250 tesserae. Tile according to one of the preceding claims wherein each tile (20) is colored according to a position and an orientation in which the tile is to be laid in the mosaic to be formed and according to a pattern of the mosaic to be reproduced by a set of tiles in which is embedded said tile. A method of producing a tile (10) in a rigid ceramic material, resulting from the firing of a dry atomized paste, comprising a set of tesserae (20) juxtaposed and assembled together by bonds, formed integrally with the tesserae of the same rigid ceramic material that said tesserae, to constitute the tile, said tile being intended to form a mosaic comprising one or more tiles, said method implementing: i / a partitioned mold (30), whose partitions (31) correspond to spaces (24) to be maintained between the tesserae (20) and determine empty cylindrical volumes (32) passing through said partitioned mold, between a front face ( 36) and a rear face (35) of said partitioned mold, sections and relative positions of said cylindrical volumes corresponding to the shapes and positions of the tesserae in the tile;
each of the partitions (31) comprising at least one notch (33) open at the rear face (35) of said partitioned mold, flared towards said rear face and forming a communication opening between the two volumes (32) separated by the partition considered; ii / a set of pistons (41), a section of each piston and relative positions of the pistons corresponding to the sections and relative positions of the volumes (32) passing through;
said method comprising the steps of: a - placing the set of pistons (41) and the partitioned mold (30) so that each piston is, in a first position, partially depressed, on the side of the front face (36) of said partitioned mold, in the volume passing through it corresponding, to form a background to said through volume and to determining a filling capacity of said volumes resulting from a free depth of said volume passing between said piston and the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold; b - fill, through the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold, the through volumes (32) and the notches (33), apparent on said rear face with the dry atomized paste; c - placing on the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold a counter-thrust plate (40), said counter-thrust plate having the effect of closing on the side of said rear face the through volumes, closed to the step a) by the pistons (41) on the side of the front face (36); d - bringing the pistons (41) of the counter-thrust plate (40) to a second position by applying a force on said pistons so as to compress in each of the through volumes (32) the dry atomized paste filling said through volumes, to a desired thickness of the compressed dry atomized pulp in the through volumes (32) and creep compression of the dry atomized pulp into the notches (33); e - disengage the counterpulse plate (40) from the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold and push back toward said rear face, by means of the pistons (41) acting simultaneously, outside the cloisonne mold (30), the dough dry atomizer having been compressed, constituting a protocarreau (10a) formed of a set of prototesselles (20a) whose geometrical shapes and arrangement have been determined by said partitioned mold and having protolections (21a) at the locations corresponding to the notches ( 33); - curing the dry atomized paste by curing, without relative displacement of the prototessels (20a), to obtain a tile (10) of rigid ceramic material in which the tesserae (20) are connected by rigidly formed links (21) integrally formed in the same material as the tesserae. The method of claim 7 wherein the dry atomized paste is a clay having less than 10% relative bulk moisture or a paste atomized faience less than 10% moisture by weight, preferably between 5 and 7% moisture by mass. A method according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein in step d) the dry atomized paste is compressed by applying a compressive force between the backing plate (40) placed against the back face ( 35) of the partitioned mold (30) and a thrust plate (43) acting on all the pistons (41). Device (200) for making tiles (10) for the production of mosaics (100), each tile being formed of a set of tesserae (20) of rigid ceramic material, juxtaposed between which tesserae are held spaces ( 24), intended to form joints between the tesserae, the tesserae of a tile being held together in the positions they must have in the tile by rigid links (21) formed integrally with the tesserae in the same material that the tesserae, characterized in that it comprises for the realization of protocarreaux from a dry atomized paste to be converted into ceramic by baking: a) a partition mold (30) in which: a1) partitions (31) determine empty cylindrical volumes (32) formed by removal of material in a block of a homogeneous material, passing through said mold partitioned between a rear face (35), placed horizontally and upwards of said mold cloisonne, axes of said cylindrical volume being oriented according to a local vertical of the device, said partitioned mold and a front face (36) of said partitioned mold, opposite to the rear face (35): a2) each of said through volumes has a section corresponding to a tessellation (20) to form at the location of the crossing volume considered; a3) said partitions having notches (33), formed in locations of the links (21) each carrying, on the side of the rear face (35) of said partitioned mold, a communication opening, flared towards the said rear face, between two adjacent through volumes (32) separated by a partition; b) a set of pistons (41) having a piston for each volume (32) therethrough and each piston being arranged to slide in the corresponding through volume with a minimum clearance, each piston of the piston assembly having at least three predefined positions : b1) a first position in which the piston is partially depressed on the side of the front face (36) of said partitioned mold in the corresponding through volume thereof, to form a bottom to said through volume and to determine a filling capacity of said volumes resulting from a free depth of said volume passing between said piston and the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold; b2) a second position in which the piston is driven into the corresponding through volume, to obtain between the front face (36) and the piston (41) a free depth of said through volume resulting from a pressure applied to the atomized pulp dry and corresponding to a desired thickness of compressed dry pulp compressed in said volume through and corresponding to the thickness of a prototesselle b3) a third position in which the piston is driven into the corresponding through volume to completely fill said through volume, the piston flush or protruding above the rear face (35) of the partitioned mold; c) a counter-thrust plate (40) having at least two predefined positions: c1) a first position in which said counter-push plate bears on the rear face (35) of the partition mold (30); c2) a second position in which said counter-push plate is distant from said partitioned mold so as to leave free ends of the volumes (32) through which open on the rear face (35); d) coordinated relative displacement means of the partitioned mold (30), the piston assembly (41) and the counter-thrust plate (40) for: d1) arranging said set of pistons (41) and the counter-thrust plate in the configuration corresponding to the combination b1) and c1); d2) arranging said set of pistons (41) and the counter-thrust plate in the configuration corresponding to the combination b1) and c2); d3) arranging said set of pistons (41) and the counter-thrust plate in the configuration corresponding to the combination b2) and c2); d4) arranging said set of pistons (41) and the counter-thrust plate in the configuration corresponding to the combination b3) and c1); e) a system for applying a compressive force (42) to act simultaneously on all the pistons (41) and on the counter-thrust plate (40). Device according to claim 10 wherein the pistons (41) of the piston assembly are integral with a thrust plate (43) for transmitting the approach force generated by the compression force application system. Method for laying tiles (10) of a mosaic (100), said tiles being, at least for some of them, conform to the tile of one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each tile is fixed by gluing on a support (90) characterized in that when a tile is placed on said support, said tile is subjected to a threshing before a complete setting of the adhesive so that the links (21) between the tesserae (20) of the tile are broken without damaging said tesserae, at least between tesserae not not in stable support on the support.

Images