RAM press

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A RAM press (or ram press) is a machine, invented in the USA in the mid-1940s, that is used to press clay into moulded shapes, such as plates and bowls. In operation a slice of de-aired clay body is placed in between two shaped porous moulds, and vertical movement of the moulds presses the body into the required shape.

[edit] History

The RAM Process of molding was invented and patented in the mid-1940s by Keith Blackburn and Richard Steele, two ceramic engineering graduates from Ohio State University (OSU). Harold Dawson, another OSU graduate and co-owner of a small machine shop, developed and built the first RAM Press shortly thereafter in Columbus, Ohio.

Blackburn and Steele licensed the RAM process and press for a decade, then sold their company to the Wallace Murray Corp. RAM Products Inc. of Columbus, Ohio was organized in 1979 and now manufactures the RAM press.

[edit] Other uses

The phrase ram press (in lower case) commonly means the same thing; it is simply used for machines that press items by a mechanical ram, such as with a plunger, piston, force pump, or hydraulic ram.