Vacuum vibration press for forming engineered composite stone slabs

A method of manufacturing an engineered stone product, the method comprising:

• mixing stone granules and stone powder with a resin binder to form an engineered stone mixture containing no more than 15% resin binder by weight;
• pouring the engineered stone mixture onto a horizontal mixture support;
• locating and supporting the horizontal mixture support on a vibration table within a vacuum chamber;
• bringing a pressing mechanism located within the vacuum chamber into contact with a top of the engineered stone mixture, the engineered stone mixture being thereby sandwiched between the vibration table and the pressing mechanism;
• creating a vacuum within the vacuum chamber;
• applying pressure to compress the engineered stone mixture between the pressing mechanism and the vibration table, while simultaneously applying vibrational energy to the pressing mechanism from above and to the vibration table from below, said vibrational energy being thereby transmitted into the engineered stone mixture;
• continuing to apply said pressure and said vibrational energy within said vacuum until all remaining spaces between said stone granules and stone powder are filled by the resin binder, and all voids within the engineered stone mixture are eliminated;
• and
• allowing the engineered stone mixture to cure and harden into an engineered stone product.