Ceramic tile and method for producing ceramic tiles

Abstract

Method for making a ceramic tile, comprising the steps of providing a raw tile having a body with an upper surface, said body being formed from a ceramic mixture; providing a surface coating on said upper surface of the body, said surface coating comprising refractory particles; firing said raw tile to produce a ceramic tile. The method also comprises a step of brushing the upper surface of the ceramic tile.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A tile having a lower face and an upper face, comprising a ceramic body and a decor of said upper face, wherein said lower face differs from said upper face in shape and/or dimension. 
     
     
         17 . The tile according to  claim 16 , wherein said lower face has edges in square each other, preferably said edges of the lower face are not rectified. 
     
     
         18 . The tile according to  claim 16 , wherein said upper edge has edges not in square each other. 
     
     
         19 . The tile according to  claim 16 , wherein the body has walls extending in a vertical direction wherein at least one of said walls has an inclination with respect to the horizontal plane, or with respect to the plane of the lower face, that differs from the inclination of the other walls, preferably said inclination of each wall differs from the others. 
     
     
         20 . The tile according to  claim 19 , wherein at least one, preferably any, of said walls shows a varying inclination along its longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         21 . The tile according to  claim 16 , having a maximum dimension blow 35 cm, preferably below 30 cm, even more preferably below 25 cm. 
     
     
         22 . The tile according to  claim 16 , having a surface coating that covers an upper surface of the body. 
     
     
         23 . The tile according to  claim 16 , having a relief structure on said upper face, wherein said relief structure comprises a first structure for defining detailed aspects of said relief structure, and a second structure defining more coarse aspects of said relief structure. 
     
     
         24 . The tile according to  claim 23 , wherein said first structure is obtained through a digital technique and wherein said second structure is obtained via pressing. 
     
     
         25 . A set of tiles wherein at least one of the tiles of the set is the tile according to  claim 16  and wherein the lower faces of the tiles show the same shape and/or dimension. 
     
     
         26 . A method for producing ceramic tiles, wherein said tiles comprise a lower face and an upper face, the method comprising the steps of:
 preparing a mixture for ceramic materials;   shaping said mixture into a panel-shaped body to produce a raw tile;   providing a decor on the raw tile;   firing said raw tile to produce the ceramic tile, characterized in that in said shaping step, the tile is shaped with a lower face that differs from the upper face in its shape and/or dimension, and/or the upper face has a different shape from the lower face, and/or the lower face has edges in square with each other, while the upper face has edges out of square.   
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the forming step is carried out in a static press in which the mixture is compacted in a mould, wherein said mould comprises at least an upper wall and a lower wall for forming the respective surfaces of the body and a plurality of side walls for containing the mixture within the mould during pressing, and wherein said side walls are configured to define the shape of the edges of the upper and lower surfaces of the body and of the vertically extending walls of the body. 
     
     
         28 . The method according to any of  claim 26 , comprising a step of applying the upper layer, for example a glaze and/or a grit, to the upper surface of the body. 
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 28 , wherein the upper layer is applied by dry application methods. 
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the upper layer is applied by a first procedure of printing, preferably digitally, a liquid substance such as an adhesive on the upper surface of the body according to a predefined pattern, after which grit is spread on the upper surface; the portion of grit not adhering to the adhesive is then removed, by suction means for example.