Leo Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

Morandi (14

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

1923 – 2 May 2009) wa ercial

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelai ...

s industry of

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known fo ...

, Italy. At first he collaborated with local ceramic producers ( Marazzi Group) and with Industries D'Agostino in

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 1954, after selling an innovative

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

to Ceramiche Marazzi (

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

selection unit), he was abletrfggv to initiate startup of his own equipment supply business. Leo Morandi's innovations, knowledge, and experience aided growth and advancement throughout the

ceramic companies, which in the 1960s constituted the worldwide known ''Sassuolo tile district''.

Impact on industry

In particular, he used two

electrodes An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials dep ...

to select the biscuit; the passage of electricity through the material showed that it was not suitable for the successive glazing. The production chain for ceramic tiles was then mainly handcrafted and labour-intensive, but Leo Morandi's inventions started the successful automation of various units. After the initial years he was able to open a distinct efficient production unit. Morandi was a reserved man and did not like publicity. He involved his workers and customers in the improvement of his inventions and innovations. Fiera di Modena 1959

Ceramic industry equipment examples include: automated floor tile edge glaze remover, automated packaging (floor tiles where historically bound with thin iron wire, before shipment), specialized

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

screen machines, the peristaltic

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids ( liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method the ...

, the transport line, the

hydraulic press A hydraulic press is a machine press using a hydraulic cylinder to generate a compressive force. It uses the hydraulic equivalent of a mechanical lever, and was also known as a Bramah press after the inventor, Joseph Bramah, of England. He inven ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wa ...

overturning mechanism, press reception unit, and glazing applications done with disk booths. These basic tile processing elements are still in use. Leo Morandi began exporting these proven automated Italian

industry innovations to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, allowing advancement of two primary ceramic industry clusters.

Licences of Officina Morandi Leo, Sassuolo

1945 - 1 December Licence n.424701 Device to abrade automatically the enamel from the edges of the floor tiles for covering. 1958 - 14 June Licence n.592220 System to fasten with iron threads tiles of geometrical shape. 1958 - 1 August Licence n.598125 Machine to remove automatically from the tiles the enamel strains left on the edges during the humid glazing 1958 - 1 August Licence n.593124 Device to brush tiles on both sides with a single passage. 1958 - 2 August Licence n.593126 Automatic machine to remove from the tiles the slobbers left by the stamps on the edges. 1958 - 2 August Licence n.593127 Pump for dense liquids, particularly for vitreous enamel in watery suspension for the ceramic industry. 1958 - 25 September Licence n.595789 Machine to retrieve the vitreous enamel of the tiles which result defective after the humid glazing. 1959 - 6 April Licence n.606642 Procedure to manufacture enameled tiles with dull edges. 1960 - 7 April Licence n.629034 Automatic machine in order to collect into a pile humid tiles coming from the press. 1961 - 7 April Licence n.646867 Conveyor for ceramic floor tiles. 1961 - 7 April Licence n.646866 Device to turn over the tiles on the conveyor. 1961 - 15 April Licence n.647228 Machine to divide the tiles by thickness. 1962 - 28 March Licence n.685219 Hydraulic system, consisting in a press actioned by mostly self-feeding cylinders. 1968 - 13 March Licence n.832329 Automatic machine to apply

screen printed Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

decorations to tiles. 1973 - 6 Decembers Licence n.1001087 Device to distribute the tiles being part of a row. 1973 - 6 Decembers Licence 1001086 Device to empty the baking supports of tiles. 1978 - 12 April Licence n.1104063 Perfected device with rotary discs to nebulize and evenly distribute enamels to be applied on tiles. 1978 - 3 July Licence n.28979B Glazing cabin with rotary discs to nebulize and evenly distribute enamels to be applied on tiles.

Image gallery

Image:Convenzione Morandi Marazzi pag,1.jpg, Letter of intent Morandi-Marazzi pag.1 Image:Convenzione Morandi Marazzi pag 4.jpg, Letter of intent Morandi-Marazzi pag.4 Image:Depliant serigrafica Morandi S1.jpg, Catalogue Morandi's silk screen machine S1 Image:Deplint serigrafica Morandi S2-S3.jpg, Catalogue Morandi's silk screen machine S2-S3 Image:Legatrice per piastrelle Morandi (viale XXVIII Settembre).jpg, Morandi's fastening device Image:1945 Leo Morandi osserva gli sbavatori a lamette.jpg, Leo Morandi near the device to abrade the edges of the tiles(1945) Image:Sbavatori a lamette Morandi.jpg, Morandi's device to abrade the edges of the tiles in his factory(1945) Image:Uscita pressa Morandi.jpg, Morandi's Automatic machine for collecting into a pile ceramic tiles from the pressed one Image:Brevetto raschiatore bordi piastrelle.jpg, Licence n.424701 Image:Brevetto pressa idraulica.jpg, Licence n.685219 Image:Sbavatori_a_lamette.jpg, Licence n.424701 Image:Linee smaltatura monocottura Morandi anni 60.jpg, Morandi's lines "60" Image:Sabbiatrice.jpg, 1945 Morandi's glazing line Image:Pulitori bordo smaltato Morandi.jpg, Licence n.598125 Image:Raccoglitore pressa.jpg, Morandi's out press device Image:Linea smaltatrice Morandi anni 70.jpg, Morandi's 1970 glazing line Image:Serigrafica Morandi 1 tipo.jpg, Morandi's first silk screen machine Image:Serigrafica morandi 1.jpg, Morandi's first silk screen machine Image:Spedizione serigrafiche.jpg, Morandi's silk screen machines ready for Spain Image:Serigrafiche 4.jpg, Morandi's third serie silk screen device Image:Cabina a disco perfezionata Morandi.jpg, Morandi's disc cabin glazing unit Image:Linne smaltatura Morandi anni 60.jpg, Morandi's glazing lines "60" Image:Depliant serigrafiche Morandi S3-S4.jpg, Catalogue Morandi's silk screen machine S4-S5

External links

Officine Morandi, official site

Sources

* Margherita Russo: ''Distretto industriale e servizi di trasporto. Il caso della ceramica'', Franco Angeli, Milano, 1990 * Margherita Russo: ''Cambiamento tecnico e relazioni tra imprese. Il distretto ceramico di Sassuolo'', Rosenberg & Sellier, Torino, 1996 * Alberto Lusoli: ''Internazionalizzazione dei distretti Il distretto ceramico di Sassuolo'

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Morandi, Leo 1923 births 2009 deaths People from Sassuolo Ceramic engineering 20th-century Italian businesspeople