A method of producing animal litter including bentonite which includes a step of forming, from a starting material for animal litter containing bentonite, a starting mixture that contains 10 to 60 mass % of granules that remain on an 8.0 mm-aperture sieve and 40 to 90 mass % of granules that pass through an 8.0 mm-aperture sieve, a step of conveying the starting mixture on a path of conveyance, a step of loading the starting mixture that has been conveyed on the path of conveyance into a granulator capable of pulverizing and granulation, pulverizing at least the granules remaining on the 8.0 mm-aperture sieve while forming a granulated product, and a step of drying the granulated product.

A multilayer film having Machine Direction Orientation (MDO) is prepared by first co-extruding a multilayer film, then stretching the multilayer film in the machine direction at a temperature lower than the melting point of the polyethylene resin that is used to prepare the film. At least one layer of the film is a first polyethylene composition having a density of from about 0.94 to about 0.97 g/cc and at least one second layer is prepared from a polyethylene composition having a lower density than the first polyethylene composition. This disclosure enables the manufacture of films having outstanding barrier properties (low Water Vapor Transmission Rate, WVTR, and low Oxygen Transmission Rate, OTR) and good physical properties.

The invention relates to an edible and biodegradable package material composition and uses thereof. Specifically, the invention relates to a package material composition comprising a polysaccharide component, a protein component, or a combination thereof, in order to produce a transformational package that is both edible and naturally biodegradable. The package material composition of the invention provides a structural integrity to serve a full range of uses for packaging and shipping of both wet and dry products.

The present invention relates to an extruded expanded thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer bead and a preparation method therefor. The bead consists of components of the following parts by weight: 100 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, 0.01-0.5 parts of a foaming nucleating agent, and 0.01-0.2 parts by weight of an antioxidant. The preparation method comprises: mixing materials, then putting the mixture into an extruder for granulation to produce a particle raw material suitable for foaming, finally, putting the particle into a foam extruder, and die foaming then underwater pelletizing, thus obtaining a product bead. The present invention utilizes an extrusion method to prepare expanded thermoplastic polyurethane beads. Control of the working conditions of the foaming process could lead to acquiring an expanded=bead of a controllable density, the cell density evenly distribute. The overall production process is easy to operate. Without any special limit or requirement placed on the equipment, this method is suitable for industrial continuous production.

A nozzle is provided for controlling the flow of extruded material, such as e.g., rubber material, from an extrusion machine. Movable pins are positioned into the path of material flow through an internal cavity. The pins are arranged across the path of flow upstream of the extrusion die. By moving the pins in and out, the flow of material through the cavity can be controlled at different locations across the width of the path of flow to the die. Manual and automatic controls can be provided for determining the position of the pins and thereby controlling the flow.

A system for the continuous extrusion, molding, and curing of tread rubber is provided. A plurality of discrete mold sectors are arranged adjacent to each other along a longitudinal axis between an in-feed and an out-feed of a mold sector transport mechanism that extends through a heated press. As the mold sectors are continuously advanced along a process direction in steps, rubber material is extruded and placed onto at least one of the mold sectors near the in-feed end such that an elongated strip of rubber material extends over multiple mold sectors along the longitudinal axis. As the strip of rubber material exits the press, the mold sectors are sequentially removed from the rubber material and returned to the in-feed. An extruder outlet positioned near the in-feed can be moved towards or away from the mold sectors to supply rubber material and prevent backflow.

Laterally-coalesced foam slabs and methods and apparatus, including foaming dies, for making and using such foam slabs.

A shim stack foaming die for making foam slabs comprises a plurality of shims that are layered together under pressure to form a shim stack, wherein the shims combine to collectively define a plurality of die orifices in a working face, to define a main body of the shim stack foaming die, and also to define a plurality of die cavity that is fluidly connected to the plurality of die orifices. And articles foamed from the shim stack foaming die have found wide use in various applications, thermal or acoustic insulation, reinforcing layers and/or space-filling layers, and so on.

Foam slabs and methods and apparatus, including foaming dies, for making and using foam slabs.

This disclosure relates generally to corrugated pipe, and more particularly to corrugated pipe with an outer wrap. In one embodiment, a pipe includes an axially extended bore defined by a corrugated outer wall having axially adjacent, outwardly-extending corrugation crests, separated by corrugation valleys. The pipe also includes an outer wrap applied to the outer wall. The outer wrap may include fibers and plastic. The outer wrap may span the corrugation crests producing a smooth outer surface.