Resin supply system in which resin material is stored in a pouch in a degassed state ready for use. The pouch comprises a body portion forming a reservoir for resin material and a connector portion in fluid communication therewith. The connector portion includes an outlet which is configured to be connected to an injector head of an injector assembly, the injector head being connectable to a mould by means of connecting tubing to provide a resin supply thereto. The pouch is configured to be mountable in a housing of the injector assembly and is compressed by hydrostatic pressure of water surrounding the pouch in a chamber of the housing. The application of pressure by a piston moving in a direction transfers pressure to the water and then to the pouch in a controlled manner to provide the resin supply to the mould. After use, the pouch is removed and discarded thereby substantially eliminating the need for cleaning of the housing after use.

An inclined belt conveyor capable of mixing particulate material, such as agricultural seed or fertilizer. Inserting a plurality of mixing baffles into the stream of the particulate material induces a backflow of the particulate material. In the case of wet, freshly treated plant seed, this backflow causes a mixing, polishing, and drying of the plant seed. The mixing distributes the seed treatment into an even coat by rubbing the individual seeds of the seed flow stream together. The inclined belt conveyor may also be used to blend multiple varieties or types of particulate material. The mixing baffles are oriented to induce backflow and sideways lateral movement and may incorporate a passage to allow increase particulate material flow rate. The mixing baffles can selectively deploy between an angle of 20 degrees to 70 degrees to enable the mixing inclined belt conveyor to have a transfer-speed-maximizing mode and a mixing mode.

An inclined belt conveyor capable of mixing particulate material, such as agricultural seed or fertilizer. Inserting a plurality of mixing baffles into the stream of the particulate material induces a backflow of the particulate material. In the case of wet, freshly treated plant seed, this backflow causes a mixing, polishing, and drying of the plant seed. The mixing distributes the seed treatment into an even coat by rubbing the individual seeds of the seed flow stream together. The inclined belt conveyor may also be used to blend multiple varieties or types of particulate material. The mixing baffles are oriented to induce backflow and sideways lateral movement and may incorporate a passage to allow increase particulate material flow rate. The mixing baffles can selectively deploy between an angle of 20 degrees to 70 degrees to enable the mixing inclined belt conveyor to have a transfer-speed-maximizing mode and a mixing mode.

A plastics material transformation plant (100) comprises a transformation machine (10) for the plastics material by means of moulding or extrusion, a feeding hopper (13) which is positioned upstream of the transformation machine and a metering device (1) which is arranged to add a liquid additive to the transformation machine. The metering device (1) comprises a container (4) in which the liquid additive is contained, a metering pump (5) which is connected to the container in order to take the liquid additive and to supply it to the transformation machine (10), and a thermo-regulation system of the liquid additive which is arranged to maintain the temperature of the liquid additive in a range of 2° C. more or 2° C. less than a predetermined temperature value.

A process for treating polymer granular material (2) comprising the steps of heating and drying the polymer granular material in a drying hopper (10) by means of a drying gas, discharging a portion of the polymer granular material into an extruder (101), inside which the polymer granular material is brought to a molten or semi-molten state and transported along the extruder by a rotating screw (104) in order to be injected into a mould (102) or caused to pass through an extrusion head. The process provides for measuring a control parameter which is correlated with the rotation of the screw inside the extruder and regulating the flow rate of the drying gas on the basis of the control parameter.

Additive manufacturing apparatus and methods for mixing and dispensing materials, and articles with controlled particle concentrations. Additive manufacturing apparatus includes a mixer; a reservoir in fluidic communication with the mixer; and a build plate parallel to the reservoir. Additive manufacturing apparatus includes a mixer and a solid particle dispensing system and/or a slurry dispensing system. A method for handling precursors during additive manufacturing includes (a) providing first and second precursor materials and/or a slurry to a mixer; (b) mixing the materials in the mixer; (c) transporting the mixed materials directly to a reservoir disposed in parallel with a build plate; (d) curing at least a portion of the transported and mixed materials; and (e) repeating step (d) at least once. An article includes a plurality of adjacent layers, a concentration of particles in each layer defining a controlled concentration gradient and/or vary by no more than ±50%.

A method changes the material from a feed mixture to a subsequent mixture in a feed device of an extruder, the method comprising the steps of detecting a change request for changing the material, emptying a mixing area of a mixing device of the feed device, identifying the completion of the emptying of the mixing area, and filling the mixing area of the mixing device with the subsequent mixture after the completion of the emptying has been identified.

A method changes the material from a feed mixture to a subsequent mixture in a feed device of an extruder, the method comprising the steps of detecting a change request for changing the material, emptying a mixing area of a mixing device of the feed device, identifying the completion of the emptying of the mixing area, and filling the mixing area of the mixing device with the subsequent mixture after the completion of the emptying has been identified.

A method for producing thermally crosslinkable polymers in a planetary roller extruder is presented. The planetary roller extruder has a filling part and a compounding part made of a roller cylinder region that comprises at least two, preferably at least three coupled roller cylinders, planetary spindles of which are driven by a common central spindle. The polymers are supplied in a plasticized state. The filling part is supplied with a vacuum. The flow temperatures of the central spindle and the at least two roller cylinders under a vacuum are set such that the polymers to be degassed remain in the plasticized state. One or more liquids, such as thermal crosslinkers, crosslinking accelerators, dye solutions, or dye dispersions, are metered to the plasticized polymers downstream of the vacuum degassing, preferably in a continuous manner. Finally, the resulting mixture is directly supplied to a coating assembly.

The invention describes an advanced mixing and metering technology with online analytics for a supply of formulated liquid thermosetting resins into an open or closed mold. The application addresses where a precise control of the composition of formulated components is required. Composite structures used in primary and secondary structural aerospace applications manufactured in Infusion or RTM processes are possible examples.