A screw extruder for extruding a kneaded material includes a screw and a casing housing the screw and having a material supply port on an upstream side in an extrusion direction of the kneaded material and a tip-side opening on a downstream side in the extrusion direction. A pressure sensor for measuring a pressure inside the casing is provided between a downstream end of the supply port and the tip-side opening of the casing. A rotational speed of the screw is controlled depending on the pressure measured by the pressure sensor.

A distributor device for use in a filling shoe for filling a mould cavity of a powder compression die, the distributor device having an inlet portion connectable to a powder supply; an outlet portion with an outlet opening; and a distributor portion arranged between the inlet portion and the outlet portion. The distributor portion includes one or more guide elements arranged to divide the distributor portion into a plurality of distributor channels. The distributor channels have an input with an input cross-sectional area at an upstream end of the distributor channel and an output with an output cross-sectional area at a downstream end of the distributor channel, wherein the input cross-sectional area differs from the output cross-sectional area for at least one of the distributor channels.

Continuous compression molding machines (CCMMs) and methods of continuous compression molding a consolidated thermoplastic matrix composite material are disclosed herein. The CCMMs include a mold, a heat zone heating structure, a consolidation zone heating structure, and a stress relaxation zone heating structure. The CCMMs also include a press structure, a demold structure, and a supply structure. The methods include providing a thermoplastic matrix composite material (TMCM) that includes a thermoplastic material to a CCMM. During the providing, the methods also include heating the TMCM within a heat zone of the CCMM, cooling and consolidating the TMCM within a consolidation zone of the CCMM, relaxing stress within the TMCM within a stress relaxation zone of the CCMM, demolding the TMCM within a demold zone of the CCMM at a mold temperature that is greater than a glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic material, and periodically compressing the TMCM.

A method of controlling a control apparatus for controlling a forming apparatus operable to form a layer of a formable material on a substrate is provided. The method includes acquiring data that specifies a drop amount and a drop position on the substrate of each of droplets, calculating a spread of each of the droplets assuming that a spread shape of each of the droplets is a polygon, and calculating a surface area of an overlapping region in which a region of a droplet that spreads into the polygon and a region of a recessed portion in the mold to be filled with the formable material overlap, and correcting, based on a result of the calculation, the data so that the recessed portion is filled with the formable material.

A method for manufacturing an electrode disclosed herein includes: steps of forming a coating film composed of an electrode material by passing the electrode material through a gap between a rotating first roll and a rotating second roll; adhering the coating film to the second roll and conveying the coating film; and transferring the conveyed coating film onto an electrode current collector conveyed by a conveying device to form an electrode mixture layer composed of the coating film. The speed ratio between a peripheral speed of the second roll and a conveying speed of the electrode current collector is changed by changing the peripheral speed of the second roll on the basis of the thickness of the coating film or the width of the gap. The timing of the change in the speed ratio is allowed to be based on the Equation (1) described in the description.

Continuous compression molding machines (CCMMs) and methods of continuous compression molding a consolidated thermoplastic matrix composite material are disclosed herein. The CCMMs include a mold, a heat zone heating structure, a consolidation zone heating structure, and a stress relaxation zone heating structure. The CCMMs also include a press structure, a demold structure, and a supply structure. The methods include providing a thermoplastic matrix composite material (TMCM) that includes a thermoplastic material to a CCMM. During the providing, the methods also include heating the TMCM within a heat zone of the CCMM, cooling and consolidating the TMCM within a consolidation zone of the CCMM, relaxing stress within the TMCM within a stress relaxation zone of the CCMM, demolding the TMCM within a demold zone of the CCMM at a mold temperature that is greater than a glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic material, and periodically compressing the TMCM.

A compression molding device compression-molds resin to a workpiece in which components are mounted on a carrier via connection members, and produces packages each having at least one component resin-sealed therein. The compression molding device comprises: a measuring part measuring the weight of the workpiece; a calculation part calculating the supply amount of the resin based on the weight of the workpiece measured by the measuring part; a supply part supplying the resin in the supply amount calculated by the calculation part; and a molding die for compression-molding, to the workpiece, the resin supplied by the supply part. The calculation part calculates the total volume of mounted objects, including the components and the connection members, based on the weight of the workpiece and calculates the supply amount of the resin based on the total volume of the mounted objects.

Methods and devices of fabricating a stringer for a vehicle. The stringer can be constructed from two charges that are formed together into the stringer. During fabricating, the ends of the charges can be formed in a die cavity. When the ends are misaligned in the die cavity, one of the charges can be moved in the die cavity to align the ends. The device used for fabricating the charges can include a punch with separate punch plates that move the ends of the charges into the die cavity. The punch plates can be separately moved to adjust the position of the charges and align the ends.

A molded product production system includes at least two measuring feeders configured to simultaneously adjust an amount of a discharged powdery material to a target value and feed the powdery material, a mixer configured to mix at least two powdery materials fed from the measuring feeders to obtain mixed powdery materials, a filler configured to fill, with the mixed powdery materials obtained by the mixer, a die bore of a compression-molding machine configured to compress a powdery material to mold a molded product, a sensor configured to measure a mixing degree of the mixed powdery materials obtained by the mixer, and a controller configured to adjust an amount of at least one of the powdery materials fed by the measuring feeders, or motion speed of a mixing member configured to agitate powdery materials in the mixer in accordance with the mixing degree of the mixed powdery materials measured by the sensor.

A method for material handling and mold filling is provided which directs the flow of molten plastic material from an extruder and allocates the molten material to a plurality of nozzles through the use of independently operated, variable valves. The method therefore provides independent streams of molten plastic material having variable temperatures and flow rates or volumes to particular sections or regions of the mold. This independent temperature or flow of molten plastic material facilitates the complete, rapid and accurate filling of the molds, reducing turbulence and other temperature or flow-related imperfections in the finished components. A method of using a multiphase material handling system is also disclosed for expeditious sequential and simultaneous filling and pressing of the mold and extracting the completed component from the system.