Patent ID: 7892464

Claim:
A method for manufacturing articles in the form of slabs, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing an initial mix, the initial mix consisting of a granulate of a selected and predefined grain size and a binder, wherein the granulate being chosen from one of a stone material and a ground stone-like materials and comprising one of an inorganic material and a very fine filler, the binder comprising an aqueous dispersion of an acrylic prepolymer resin in a form of droplets with a diameter of up to about 100 nanometers, and the filler comprising a hydraulic binder in a sufficient quantity to fix the water present in the aqueous dispersion of the acrylic resin; (b) depositing the initial mix as a layer of predetermined thickness temporary support or inside a mold; (c) vacuum vibro-compacting the layer under a predefined vacuum and a predetermined compaction pressure accompanied by a vibratory movement of a predetermined frequency to form a rough-formed article, wherein vacuum, vibration, and compaction are performed simultaneously; (d) hardening and curing the rough-formed article and binding the water that was added in the aqueous dispersion in the article; and (e) heating the rough-formed article to 90-120° C. for 5-24 hours and complete filming of the polymer and cross-linking thereof; wherein step (d) is performed by enclosing said rough-formed article inside a casing of plastic material impermeable to water vapor.