Flow speed control plate

An apparatus comprising:

• a flow speed control plate;
• and
• a die
• the flow speed control plate and the die being configured to form a monolith,
• the die having both a clay inflow surface on which a plurality of clay inflow holes open and an extrusion surface on which lattice-like grooves open, the lattice-like grooves communicating with the clay inflow holes in the die,
• the flow speed control plate comprising:
• a base plate having both a clay supply surface from which a clay is supplied to the flow speed control plate and a clay outflow surface which is configured to be superposed on and thus abut the clay inflow surface of the die and from which the clay flows out of the flow speed control plate;
• a plurality of clay flow holes which each penetrate the base plate in a thickness direction of the base plate and through which the clay flows from the clay supply surface to the clay outflow surface;
• and
• a positioning mechanism provided to position the flow speed control plate with respect to the die so that each of the clay flow holes of the flow speed control plate has its central axis arranged coaxially with a central axis of a corresponding one of the clay inflow holes of the die,
• wherein
• a diameter of the clay flow holes of the flow speed control plate on the clay outflow surface of the base plate is set to be smaller than a diameter of the corresponding clay inflow holes of the die on the clay inflow surface of the die.