Tile firing support structure
AssigneeSwindell Dressler International Corporation
InventorsJames D. Bushman, Richard K. Moffat
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for supporting and conveying ceramic wall and floor tiles through a kiln is provided. The tile support structure is mounted on a kiln car having a structural base supported on rotatable wheels adapted to travel along a set of rails running through the kiln. The support structure includes refractory support posts with recrystallized silicon carbide cross-beams mounted thereon. Pairs of refractory rods are hung from the cross-beams. Each of the rods has a plurality of tile supports along its length for supporting a plurality of tiles between the pair of adjacent rods.
Claims14
Apparatus for supporting, conveying and firing a plurality of tiles, comprising:
- a tunnel kiln having a fuel burner in a sidewall thereof, said kiln having a set of rails running therethrough;
- a kiln car having a structural base supported on wheels which travel along the set of rails;
- a support structure mounted on the kiln car base including a pair of refractory support posts extending vertically upwardly from the base, said support structure supporting a refractory cross-beam;
- a pair of refractory rods hung vertically from the cross-beam and spaced along the length thereof, each of the rods having a plurality of tile supports along the length thereof for supporting a plurality of tiles between the pair of rods, the vertically hung rods having bottom ends which are positioned a vertical distance above the base thereby providing a substantially open firing space between the tile supports and the base,
- the fuel burner being positioned to inject hot combustion gases into the open firing space as the kiln car travels along the set of rails and past the fuel burner.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.