With this in mind, Prime Marble AG has developed the first system for the fully automatic surface refinement of natural stones. The patented process enables stone quarry operators to upgrade their products and use their resources gently. In the 32 m long, modularly structured system from Prime Marble, a conveyor line moves the natural stone fragments, with dimensions of up to 3.2 m x 1.8 m, through processing stations connected in series. At first, an intelligent camera system with self-learning image processing scans the stone surfaces for inclusions, veins or cracks. The sensitivity of the surface analysis can be adjusted intuitively via the image output on a touchscreen. After a laser has evaporated the value-reducing structures with pinpoint accuracy, the lasered areas are reproduced in the peripheral colors and grains with a highly integrated system. Finally, there is a fully automatic filling with transparent sealing material and the polishing of the surface. The process achieves flawless results, the artificial restructuring is invisible to the naked eye and has already been rated as "historic" by industry experts.
1. Intelligent scanning of the slab
A high-precision, high-tech camera system captures the entire vein structures and automatically offers the operator an initial correction suggestion, which the operator can modify individually. The machine thus "learns" the operator's individual criteria over time and provides ever better, automatic correction suggestions.
2. High-precision removal of veins
The selected veins are lasered out fully automatically.
Significantly faster, more precise and safer than with conventional methods used to date.
3. Thorough cleaning
The lasered plate is then thoroughly cleaned with compressed air and brushes to be ready for the next processing step.
4. Perfect retouching
An intelligent high-performance printing system is used to retouch the processed areas are retouched. The result is an unprecedented optical quality.
5. Protective sealing
After printing, the processed areas are insulated and permanently sealed with a filling material commonly used in the market.
6. Sanding and high gloss polishing
The sealing is followed by a fully automatic complete sanding of the entire panel and a high-gloss polishing. The grinding and polishing module is optional and can be omitted if desired, provided that appropriate machines are already available.
S.A.M.
For 1,2 m x 1,2 m slabs
Length: ~ 14 m
Width: 3,2 m
Capacity: 200 - 400 m² per 12h*
S.A.M. +
For 1,85 m x 3,25 m slabs
Length: 32 m
Width: 3,8 m
Capacity: 500 - 1000 m² per 12h*
*depends on effort