Cross-Reference to Related Applications

This Patent Appl ication claims priority from Italian Patent Application No . 102022000019869 filed on September 27 , 2022 , the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference .

Technical Field

This invention concerns an orientation method and system of a ceramic article , in particular a ceramic slab or tile ; more speci fically, a large ceramic slab .

In particular, this invention finds advantageous , but not exclusive , application in superficial f inishing lines for ceramic articles .

Background of the Invention

In the sector for the production of ceramic articles , in particular ceramic slabs and/or tiles , it is known to treat the ceramic articles , generally obtained using compaction ( typically in a basically continuous way) of semidry ceramic powder ( i . e . with a humidity content below 10% , in particular ranging between 5% and 6% ) so as to obtain a layer of compacted ceramic powder in the form of a ribbon, which is subsequently cut to obtain multiple basic ceramic articles formed of compacted ceramic powder, which will then be dried, subj ect to surface treatments to give them the desired aesthetic look, and fired to obtain the final ceramic products .

In recent years , surface treatment machines for ceramic articles have been developed that are increasingly sophisticated, designed to give the article the widest range of aesthetic and/or functional properties in an increasingly precise and accurate way, for example digital machines ( in particular, digital decoration or glazing machines ) able to af fix the desired decoration and/or pattern to the ceramic article with precisions of the order of a tenth of a millimetre .

It is clear that these machines , to ensure these levels of precision and obtain excellent results , require equally high precision in the positioning of the ceramic articles entering the machine .

Precisely for this reason, the ceramic article production lines generally involve an orientation station upstream of the surface treatment station for the ceramic articles , where special orientation systems orient ( i . e . , position/centre ) the ceramic articles in a suitable way before they enter the surface treatment machines .

In particular, the common orientation systems are generally either guide orientation systems or mechanical j oggers .

The so-called guide orientation systems involve multiple motorised guides designed to move on the feeding plane of the ceramic articles to take up each ceramic article arriving at the orientation station, orient it , thus rotate and/or translate it , until this assumes a desired orientation and guide it towards the subsequent surface treatment stations .

The second type of known orientation systems involves , instead, at least one mechanical abutment , specially positioned in general on one side of the orientation station, and a mobile movement system on the feeding plane of the ceramic articles configured to push each ceramic article arriving at the orientation station until it abuts against the mechanical abutment so as to give it the desired orientation ( i . e . , the desired position and inclination) . This handling system typically comprises multiple pushers or, alternatively, a concealed roller conveyor that can be driven to take up the ceramic articles arriving at the orientation station and push them to the mechanical abutment .

An orientation system of this kind, though belonging to a technical sector other than that of the invention, is described in the document US2002079636 that describes a document supply and feeding apparatus designed to align and record documents against a recording wall .

These known orientation systems have , in any case , drawbacks , of which we note the following .

In the first place , the orientation systems described above involve contact of at least one edge of the ceramic article with a sti ff body : the guides , in the case of guide orientation systems , or the mechanical abutment , in the case of mechanical j oggers . In addition, the mechanical j ogging orientation systems involve the sliding of the ceramic article at the orientation station up to the fixed abutment .

It is clear, thus , that the ceramic article, not yet fired and, thus , particularly delicate , will be subj ect , in the course of its orientation, to numerous stresses that risk damaging it .

It must be added that the tens ions created in the ceramic article due to the contact with the sti f f body of the orientation and/or sliding system on the transport plane may influence the correct operation of the orientation system compromising the operation thereof . In other words , the orientation system will not always ensure the positioning of the ceramic article with the desired degree of precision . These issues are particularly acute when the orientation systems need to be used to orient large ceramic slabs and/or when these systems need to be used in continuous lines in which rapid orientation is also required .

The document ITM020090308A1 should also be noted; this describes a known system for moving ceramic products , which involves a rotation device designed to rotate the ceramic articles by 90 degrees to modi fy their orientation or trans fer them from one movement line to another orthogonal , movement line . Movement systems li ke that described in this document could not be used upstream of the surface treatment station for the ceramic articles , since these systems may, at the most , rotate the articles by a pre-determined angle , in particular by 90 degrees , but are not able to centre and position the articles , i . e . , to suitably orient them in relation to the feeding direction .

Description of the Invention

The purpose of this invention is to provide an orientation method and system of a ceramic article , which make it possible to overcome , at least in part , the limits of the prior art .

In accordance with this invention, an orientation method and system of a ceramic article are provided, according to what is claimed in the independent claims that follow and, preferably, in any one of the claims depending directly or indirectly on the independent claims .

The claims describe preferred embodiments of this invention .

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing some non-limiting embodiments of it, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an orientation system of a ceramic article in accordance with this invention;

- Figure 2 is a view from above of the orientation system in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the orientation system in Figures 1 and 2 with a ceramic article above ;

- Figure 4 is a side view of the orientation system in Figure 3;

- Figure 5 illustrates, on an enlarged scale, a side view of part of the orientation system of this invention in two different operating configurations;

Figures 6 to 10 are views from above of the orientation system in the preceding figures orienting a ceramic article during the different steps of an orientation method in accordance with this invention;

- Figure 11 is a schematic side view of part of a surface finishing system of a ceramic article provided with the orientation system of this invention.

Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

In the attached figures, reference number 1 denotes, as a whole, an orientation system of a ceramic article T.

In particular, in this discussion, "ceramic article" T refers to an article that is basically (but not necessarily) flat, i.e., a ceramic slab or tile. More specifically, this invention relates to the orientation of an article comprising (in particular, consisting of) ceramic material; still more specifically, a slab or tile comprising (in particular, consisting of) ceramic material. Still more advantageously, but without imposing limits , in this discussion, the expression "ceramic article" T refers to a large ceramic slab, i . e . , having dimensions , in plan, of at least approximately 1200 x 1200 millimetres and a thickness ranging between approximately 3 and approximately 50 mm, preferably between 10 mm and approximately 30 mm .

It should also be speci fied that , in this discus sion, the term "orientation" refers to both the inclination of the ceramic article T in relation to a feeding direction A ( or the angle that it forms with the feeding direction A) and the position ( i . e . the centring) o f the ceramic article T in relation to a feeding plane W; in still more detail , at the distance of the edges of the ceramic article T in relation to the longitudinal symmetry axis Y of the feeding plane W .

With particular reference to the attached figures , advantageously, the orientation system 1 of a ceramic article T comprises : a belt conveyor 2 configured to move the ceramic article T along a given path P in a feeding direction A, preferably from one input station 3 to an output station 4 , through at least one orientation station 5 ; a detection unit

6 configured to continuously estimate the orientation assumed by the ceramic article T at least at the orientation station 5 ; an orientation assembly 7 arranged at the orientation station 5 that can be driven to move the ceramic article T crosswise to the feeding direction A ( in particular, along a direction B crosswise to the feeding direction A) and/or to rotate it around an axis Z orthogonal to the belt conveyor 2 ( in particular, orthogonal to a transport plane W defined by the belt conveyor 2 ) ; and a control unit CU configured to drive the orientation assembly

7 depending on what is detected by the detection unit 6 to ensure that the ceramic article T assumes a given orientation .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the belt conveyor 2 comprises multiple belts 13 arranged next to each other and parallel to the feeding direction A and a motor 11 configured to drive these belts 13 so as to move the ceramic article T along the given path P .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the detection unit 6 continuously detects the position of the ceramic article T once it is inside the orientation station 5 and is connected with the control unit CU to cyclically send ( i . e . , at regular intervals of approximately 1 millisecond) information on the orientation of the ceramic article T to the control unit CU, which continuously commands , as a result , the operation of the orientation ass e mb 1 y 7 .

According to some advantageous but non-limiting embodiments , the detection unit 6 comprises a micrometre sensor 8a, preferably a laser, and an additional micrometre sensor 8b, preferably a laser, each configured to continuously detect the position o f at least one point of a basically longitudinal edge 9 of the ceramic article T and is configured to continuously estimate an orientation of the ceramic article T based on what was detected by those micrometre sensors 8a, 8b and the control unit CU is configured to cyclically compare the estimated orientation with the calculated orientation that the ceramic article T must assume and to drive the orientation assembly 7 depending on this comparison .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , each micrometre sensor 8a, 8b is configured to detect the distance of the relative point of the longitudinal edge 9 from the respective micrometre sensor 8a, 8b and the control unit CU is configured to cyclically compare the position values ( i . e . the distance ) measured by the two micrometre sensors 8a, 8b so as to estimate the inclination of the ceramic article T in relation to the feeding direction A depending on the distance di f ference measured by the two micrometre sensor 8a, 8b and the position ( i . e . the centring) assumed by the ceramic article T in relation to the feeding plane W depending on the actual absolute value of this distance .

Even more speci fically, advantageously, but without imposing limits , the control unit CU is configured to rotate the orientation assembly 7 when the two micrometre sensors 8a, 8b detect two di f ferent distance values ( i . e . , when the ceramic article T is not parallel to the feeding direction A) and interrupt the rotation of the orientation as sembly 7 when the two micrometre sensors 8a, 8b detect the same distance .

According to some , non-limiting embodiments , the detection unit 6 comprises a first support element 10a carrying the micrometre sensor 8a and is arranged laterally to the orientation station 5 , an additional support element 10b that carries the micrometer sensor 8b and is arranged laterally to the orientation station 5 downstream of the support element 10a along the feeding path P, and at least one operation motor 11 to move these support elements 10a, 10b along a corresponding section thus defined by detecting the position of a corresponding zone of the above-mentioned longitudinal edge 9 of the ceramic article T . Still more advantageously, but without imposing limits , this zone extends for at least approximately 2 cm . Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the support elements 10a, 10b are configured to vertically move , for example using a special motor, the corresponding micrometer sensor 8a, 8b so as to detect the position of an area that extends for the whole thickness of the edge 9 of the ceramic article T .

Alternatively or in addition to what is described above regarding the detection unit 6 , according to some advantageous , non-limiting embodiments not illustrated, the detection unit 6 comprises a display system, for example a 3D video camera, configured to continuously detect the orientation of a ceramic article T in relation to the orientation station 5 ; and the control unit CU is configured to cyclically compare this estimated orientation with the calculated orientation and to operate the orientation assembly 7 depending on this comparison .

It remains understood that any other known display/detection system suitable for estimating the orientation of the ceramic article T at least at the orientation station 5 , for example CCD ( Charged-Coupled Device ) and/or CMOS ( Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor ) image sensors , with a precision of at least approximately a tenth of a millimetre could be used instead of the micrometer sensors 8a, 8b and/or the video camera .

With particular reference to Figure 5 , advantageously, the belt conveyor 2 and the orientation assembly 7 are reciprocally mobi le between a feeding configuration ( at the top of Figure 5 ) wherein the belt conveyor 2 is arranged to receive the ceramic article T resting on it , and an orientation configuration ( at the bottom of Figure 5 ) wherein the orientation assembly 7 is arranged to receive the ceramic article T resting on it .

According to some advantageous , but non-limiting, embodiments , like those illustrated in the attached figures , the belt conveyor 2 is mounted on a fixed frame 12 and the orientation assembly 7 can be moved vertically to take the ceramic article T lying flat from the belt conveyor 2 or release it to the belt conveyor 2 .

Alternatively or in combination according to other embodiments , the belt conveyor 2 can be moved vertically to enable the passage of the ceramic article T from the belt conveyor 2 to the orientation assembly 7 and vice versa .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the orientation assembly 7 comprises ( in particular, consists of ) a plurality o f supports 14 , advantageously, but without imposing limits , rollers 15 , as will be explained below, which extend parallel to the feeding direction A, each arranged between two adj acent belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 .

More advantageously, but without imposing limits , the orientation assembly 7 comprises at least two roller conveyors 16 ( three motorised roller conveyors 14 in Figures 2 , 6- 10 ) arranged in succession along the feeding direction A and each compris ing, in turn, multiple rollers 15 that coincide ( i . e . , constitute ) the above-mentioned supports 14 and extend parallel to the feeding direction A between the belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , in this case , each motorised roller conveyor 16 can be driven independently of the other . In this way, by rotating the rollers 15 of the roller conveyors 16 with di f ferent speeds , it will be possible to rotate the ceramic article T around the axis Z .

Alternatively, or in combination, the orientation assembly 7 comprises : a frame 17 that carries an axial bearing 18 , preferably a spherical or roller one, centred in relation to the above-mentioned axis Z , i . e . orthogonal to the transport plane W of the ceramic article T ; an additional frame 19 that carries the roller conveyors 14 and i s mounted so it can rotate on the axial bearing 18 ; and an operating assembly 20 configured to rotate the frame 19 around the axial bearing 18 so as to induce a rotation of the rollers 15 of the roller conveyors 16 around the axis Z ( see , in particular, Figures 2 and 4 ) .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the operating assembly 20 comprises a linear actuator 21 (partially visible in Figure 2 ) interposed between one frame 17 and the other frame 19 and configured to impart torque to the frame 19 so as to induce a clockwise or anticlockwise rotation around the axial bearing 18 .

Advantageously, the presence of this axial bearing 18 enables a precise and accurate rotation of the whole frame 19 ( thus , in the embodiments illustrated of the motorised roller conveyors 16 ) without subj ecting the ceramic article T to sliding and/or stresses that would risk damaging it .

It is understood that the maximum rotation that the frame 19 can make around the bearing 18 and, thus , the rotation axis Z depends on the distance between the adj acent belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 . In particular, the rollers of the motorised roller conveyors 16 , being located between successive belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 , may only be moved ( in rotation or even in translation) inside the space that remains defined between successive belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 . According to some advantageous , but non-limiting embodiments , like those illustrated, the belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 are spaced apart from each other by at least approximately 5 cm . According to still other advantageous , but non-limiting, embodiments , at each operation the rotation that the frame 19 can make around the axial bearing 18 is of , at the most , approximately 10 degrees in relation to the feeding direction A, still more advantageously, but without imposing limits , this rotation is of approximately 2 degrees in relation to the feeding direction A.

Alternatively, or in addition, advantageously, but without imposing limits , the movement of the frame 19 crosswise to the feeding direction A, at each operation, is of , at the most , approximately 80 cm .

It is understood that , i f necessary, rotating the ceramic article T by a greater angle in relation to the maximum rotation that the frame 19 can make around the axis Z will be enough to rotate the orientation assembly 7 in several , successive passages , as will be explained in more detail with reference to the orientation method .

According to alternative embodiments not illustrated, the supports 14 of the orientation assembly 7 comprise ( in particular, are ) support bars , but the structure of the orientation assembly 7 is basically similar to that described in relation to the motorised roller conveyors 16 referred to above , i . e . , the support bars are carried integrally by the above-mentioned frame 19 that is , in turn, connected so it can rotate , via the axial bearing 18 , to the frame 17 .

Speci fically, advantageously but without imposing limits , when the supports 14 comprise ( in particular are formed from) support bars , the operating assembly 20 also comprises at least one additional motor, for example a high- precision brushless motor, to translate the supports 14 crosswise to the feeding direction A so as to adj ust , i f necessary, the position of the ceramic article T crosswise to the feeding direction A. Advantageously, but without imposing limits , in this case , the control unit CU is configured to also drive this additional motor depending on what is detected by the detection unit 6 and the given orientation that the ceramic article T must assume .

With particular reference to Figure 11 , in accordance with another aspect of this invention, a superficial finishing system 100 for finishing at least one surface 22 to be finished of a ceramic article T is presented .

Advantageously, this finishing system 100 comprises : a conveyor 23 configured to convey the ceramic article T along a feeding path PA in a feeding direction A through at least one superficial finishing station 24 ; at least one digital superficial finishing assembly 25 configured to apply a given decoration to the surface 22 to be finished of the ceramic article T ; and at least one orientation system 1 of the type described above arranged immediately upstream of the superficial finishing assembly 25 along the path PA, i . e . without the interposition of other processing stations , and configured to orient the ceramic article T according to a given orientation that depends on the type of machine that forms the finishing assembly 25 . Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the above-mentioned, defined orientation will speci fically depend on the type of finishing assembly 25 , still more speci fically on the work area of this finishing assembly 25 , so as to ensure excellent results .

Advantageously, the path PA comprises the defined path P ; in other words , the defined path P defines a section of the path PA. Still more advantageously, but without imposing limits , the conveyor 26 also comprises the belt conveyor 2 .

According to some advantageous but non-limiting embodiments , the superficial finishing assembly 25 comprises at least one known surface decorating machine , not described further here , for example of the type described in W02009118611 and/or IT1314623 .

According to some advantageous , but non-limiting embodiments , the finishing system 100 comprises multiple finishing machines 25 , for example multiple digital printing machines , configured to decorate the surface 22 to be finished and multiple orientation systems 1 , each arranged immediately upstream of a corresponding surface finishing machine of this group to ensure that the ceramic article T is fed to the finishing machines with the given orientation so that the machine is decorated in an optimal way .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the superficial finishing system 100 comprises a number of orientation systems 1 equal to the number of surface finishing machines 25 .

In accordance with another aspect of this invention, an orientation method for orienting a ceramic article T is proposed . Advantageously, but without imposing limits , this orientation method is implemented with an orientation system

1 of the type described above .

With particular reference to Figures 6 to 10 , advantageously, the orientation method comprises the following steps : a feeding step, during which a belt conveyor

2 transports the ceramic article T along a given path P in the feeding direction A through at least the above-mentioned orientation station 5 ( see Figures 6 , 7 and 10 ) ; a detection step, during which a detection unit 6 , advantageously but without imposing limits , of the type described above , continuously estimates the orientation assumed by the ceramic article T at least at the orientation station 5 ( see Figures 7 , 8 , and 9 ) ; and an orientation step, ( at least partially) contemporaneous to the detection step , during which an orientation assembly 7 , advantageously but without imposing limits , of the type described above , arranged at the orientation station 5 moves the ceramic article T along a direction B crosswise to the feeding direction A and/or rotates the ceramic article T around an axis Z , orthogonal to the belt conveyor 2 based on what is detected by the detection unit 6 so that this ceramic article T assumes the given orientation ( see Figures 7 , 8 , and 9 ) .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the feeding step comprises a first transport sub-step, during which the belt conveyor 2 advantageously moves the ceramic article T from an input station 3 to the orientation station 5 ( see Figures 6 and 7 ) and a second transport sub-step, during which the belt conveyor 2 moves the ceramic article T from the orientation station 5 to an output station 4 .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the orientation step is ( at least partially) subsequent to the first transport sub-step and ( at least partially) prior to the second transport sub-step .

More advantageously, but without imposing limits , during the orientation step, the ceramic article T is kept at the orientation station 5 and does not advance along the given path P ; still more advantageously, but without imposing limits , during the orientation step, the ceramic article T is taken up by the orientation assembly 7 so as to be rotated around the axis Z and/or moved along the above-mentioned direction B until assuming the defined orientation .

Advantageously, but without imposing limits , the orientation method also comprises a first passage step, ( at least partially) subsequent to the first transport sub-step and prior to the orientation step, during which the belt conveyor 2 and/or the orientation assembly 7 move from one feeding configuration ( see Figure 5 at the bottom) , wherein the belt conveyor 2 is arranged to receive the ceramic article T resting on it , to an orientation configuration ( see Figure 5 up top ) , wherein the orientation assembly 7 is arranged to receive the ceramic article T resting on it ; and a second passage sub-step, ( at least partially) subsequent to the orientation step and ( at least partially) prior to the second transport sub-step, during which the belt conveyor 2 and/or the orientation assembly 7 move to pass from the orientation configuration to said feeding configuration .

According to some advantageous but non-limiting embodiments like those illustrated, during the first and second passage sub-step, the belt conveyor 2 keeps still and the orientation assembly 7 ( in the embodiment illustrated, the motorised roller conveyors 16 , still more speci fically the frame 19 ) is raised, moving vertically so that the ceramic article T rests on it ( see Figure 5 up top ) , and is lowered, to trans fer the ceramic article T resting on it onto the belt conveyor 2 . Alternatively, or in combination, according to other embodiments , the belt conveyor 2 could be moved vertically to enable the passage of the ceramic article T from the belt conveyor 2 to the orientation assembly 7 and vice versa . In other words , advantageously, but without imposing limits , the ceramic article T is transported along the path P by the belt conveyor 2 until it reaches the orientation station 5 . At this point , the orientation assembly 7 , in particular, in the example illustrated, the motorised roller conveyors 16 are raised to the transport plane W of the belt conveyor 2 and take up the ceramic article T , i . e . , so it rests on it . The detection unit 6 is then activated to detect its orientation and, as a result , the orientation assembly 7 is driven so as to orient the ceramic article according to the given orientation ( see Figures 8 and 9 ) .

According to some advantageous but non-limiting embodiments , during the detection step, a first micrometer sensor 8a and a second micrometer sensor 8b continuously detect the position of at least one corresponding point of a basically longitudinal edge 9 of the ceramic article T .

In particular, advantageously but without imposing limits , the orientation step comprises a control sub-step, ( at least partial ly) contemporaneous to the detection step, during which a control unit CU cyclically compares the estimated orientation during the detection step with the given orientation and controls the driving of the orientation assembly 7 depending on this comparison .

According to some advantageous , but non-limiting embodiments not i llustrated, the detection step comprises a sub-step for estimating the inclination of the ceramic article T , ( at least partially) prior to the orientation step, during which the micrometer sensor 8a detects the progress of a second edge 9b, basically crosswise , of the ceramic article T , whose edge 9b i s basically orthogonal to the edge 9a, before the ceramic article T arrives at the orientation station 5 to obtain a first estimate of the inclination of the ceramic article T in relation to the feeding direction A. Advantageously, but without imposing limits , in this case , the orientation method also comprises a preparation sub-step ( at least partially) subsequent to the inclination estimation sub-step and ( at least partially) prior to the orientation step, during which the orientation assembly 7 , based on the data detected during the inclination estimation sub-step, rotates until it assumes a given initial position . In other words , ( advantageously, but without imposing limits ) , in this preparation sub-step, the orientation assembly 7 , i f necessary, rotates in the opposite direction to that in which the ceramic article T will have to rotate during the orientation step so that , during the orientation step, the ceramic article T can rotate , completing the maximum rotation angle possible in a single rotation step . As mentioned above in relation to the rotation system 1 , advantageously, but without imposing limits , in fact , the reciprocal position of the belt conveyor 2 and the orientation assembly 7 ensures that , with a single orientation step, it is possible to rotate the ceramic article by a maximum amount that can vary depending on the reciprocal position of the belt conveyor 2 and the orientation assembly 7 , still more speci fically, of the width of the space that remains defined between successive belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 . This rotation value , for each orientation step, can, for example , be equal to approximately 2 degrees , exploiting the whole space available between two successive belts 13 of the belt conveyor 2 . During the above- mentioned preparation sub-step, the orientation assembly 7 assumes , i f neces sary, an initial position so as to be able to best use the space available between the belts 13 .

It is understood that the steps of the orientation method may be repeated any number of times i f necessary to rotate the ceramic article T by an angle greater than the maximum rotation angle that can be obtained in a single rotation step . In other words , in this case , after a first orientation step wherein the ceramic article is rotated by the maximum amount , which can vary based on the reciprocal position of the belt conveyor 2 and the orientation assembly 7 ( as mentioned above ) , there will be a new second passage sub-step during which the orientation assembly 7 and/or the belt conveyor 2 will move so that the ceramic article T passes from the orientation configuration to the feeding configuration, and, immediately after, an additional first passage sub-step during which the orientation assembly 7 and/or the belt conveyor 2 will move so that the ceramic article T passes from the feeding configuration to the orientation one again so as to perform a new rotation step .

Again, according to an additional aspect of this invention, a superficial finishing method of at least one surface 22 to be finished of a ceramic article T is presented, advantageously, but without imposing limits , implemented using the superficial finishing system 100 described above to finish at least one surface 22 to be finished of a ceramic article T .

Advantageously, this superficial finishing method comprises : a feeding step, during which a conveyor 23 conveys the ceramic article T along a feeding path PA in a feeding direction A through at least one superficial finishing station 24 ; at least one superficial finishing step , during which a digital superficial finishing assembly 27 digitally applies a given decoration to the surface 22 to be finished of the ceramic article T ; and at least one orientation step ( at least partial ly) prior to the superficial finishing step, which is implemented in accordance with the orientation method described above so that , during the superficial finishing step, the ceramic article T is decorated by the superficial finishing machine after having assumed the defined orientation . Advantageously, but without imposing limits , this orientation step is also implemented using an orientation system 1 , advantageously of the type described above in relation to the first aspect of this invention .

The orientation method and system 1 of this invention has numerous advantages , of which we note the following .

The orientation method and system 1 make it possible to precisely orient the ceramic article T without subj ecting it to stresses that could damage it . The orientation of the ceramic article T is , in fact , continuously detected by the detection unit 6 and the orientation assembly 7 is , as a result , activated and deactivated based on the actual orientation assumed, moment by moment , by the ceramic article T .

In addition, the orientation assembly 7 of this invention makes it possible to suitably orient the ceramic article T in a short time , of the order of 6- 8 seconds , without subj ecting the ceramic article T itsel f to stresses that could damage it, since the edges of the ceramic article T are not subj ect to any contact/ s tress during the movement of the ceramic article T itsel f .