Dewatering press

A dewatering press assembly for dewatering a mat of a solid material, said press assembly comprising:

• means for guiding an endless mesh belt receiving a mat of a solid material along a path;
• an upstream stationary upright and a downstream stationary upright spaced from said upstream upright along said path;
• a dewatering press along said path between said uprights, said press including:
• a lower platen on one side of said mesh belt, and
• an upper platen on an opposite side of said mesh belt, one of said platens being movable toward the other platen in a pressing position corresponding to the dewatering of the mat and back to an open position of said press;
• means for displacing said press back and forth along said path between said uprights;
• transport means on said uprights for moving an endless grate belt along said path between said uprights, said grate belt being juxtaposed between said mesh belt and said lower platen;
• first conveying means on said uprights for transporting an endless lower sealing belt sandwiched between said lower platen and said grate belt, said grate and sealing belts having respective lower stretches spaced downwardly from said lower platen between said uprights;
• second conveying means for guiding an upper endless sealing belt between said upper platen and said mat;
• and
• cleaning means for cleaning said lower stretch of said grate belt, said cleaning means including a cleaning basin formed between said uprights and spaced downwardly from said lower platen.