Thermoplastic starch materials and methods of making the same are provided. The methods involve mixing a starch material, plasticizer and water in a low-shear mixer under conditions that will result in substantial gelatinization of the starch material. The melt formed within the mixer is discharged into an extruder for final processing. The methods prevent degradation of the starch material thereby resulting in the formation of a thermoplastic starch material having high strength, due at least in part to the preservation of the molecular weight characteristics of the starch, and improved elasticity due the ability to use higher water contents than conventional processes.

It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to provide: a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-based resin tube which exhibits excellent resistance to repeated bending; and a method for producing the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-based resin tube. The object is attained by providing a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-based resin tube which contains 95 wt % to 60 wt % of a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-based resin and 5 wt % to 40 wt % of an aliphatic-aromatic polyester-based resin and has an elongation at yield point in a tensile test, a tensile elongation of not less than 50% in the tensile test, and a thickness of 0.01 mm to 0.6 mm.

The invention provides a polyolefin-based resin film formed from a polypropylene-based resin composition and containing, in a total of 100 parts by weight of the polypropylene-based resin composition, 20-95 parts by weight of a propylene-α olefin random copolymer containing a metallocene-based olefin polymerization catalyst; 0-75 parts by weight of a propylene-α olefin random copolymer containing a Ziegler-Natta-based olefin polymerization catalyst; and 5-15 parts by weight of at least one type of an elastomer selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-butene copolymer elastomer, a propylene-butene copolymer elastomer, and an ethylene-propylene copolymer elastomer, wherein a heat shrinkage ratio in a direction in which a heat shrinkage ratio is larger among a longitudinal direction and a width direction of the polyolefin-based resin film is 1-10%, and an orientation coefficient ΔNx in an x-axis direction calculated from a refractive index of the polyolefin-based resin film is 0.0130-0.0250.

A heat shrinkable film shows a heat shrinkage rate in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction that is not high even at high temperature and is printable thereon. The heat shrinkable film includes a polyester resin, wherein the heat shrinkage characteristics in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction satisfy the following Relationships 1 and 2:
−15≤ΔT.sub.70-65≤0  Relationship 1
0≤ΔT.sub.100-95≤5  Relationship 2 wherein ΔT.sub.X-Y is a value obtained by subtracting heat shrinkage rate of the heat shrinkable film in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction after the heat shrinkable film is immersed in water bath for 10 seconds at Y° C. from heat shrinkage rate of the heat shrinkable film in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction after the heat shrinkable film is immersed in water bath for 10 seconds at X° C.

An extrusion device comprises at least one supply station suitable for containing a material to be extruded; a plurality of propellers operatively connected to at least one supply station for receiving the material to be extruded and at least one extrusion head connected to at least one propeller. Each propeller can also be selectively activated to modulate an extrusion speed and/or a quantity of material to be extruded as an output from the extrusion head.

A printhead a supplying portion with a supplying opening of a filament; a melting portion to melt a filament supplied; a discharging portion having a discharging opening to discharge the melted filament. A heat insulating portion between the supplying portion and the melting portion are integrally formed to effectively suppress heat in the melting portion conducting to the supplying portion even when the melting portion is heated to high temperature, to maintain the temperature of the supplying portion to an appropriate temperature, and to efficiently utilize heat by the melting portion as a result of heating the melting portion.

A method of manufacturing a polymer film includes melting a resin, extruding the melted resin through a die to produce a polymer film, shaping the polymer film, cooling the polymer film, capturing an image of a test pattern through the polymer film, calculating a modulation transfer function value from the image, and adjusting a process parameter of the melting, the extruding, the shaping, or the cooling based on the calculated modulation transfer function value.

The present disclosure relates to extruder systems and processes thereof. In at least one embodiment, a method of forming a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) composition includes introducing a thermoplastic polymer to an extruder through a feed throat. The elastomeric polymer is introduced to a melt feeder and an elastomeric polymer melt including the elastomeric polymer is formed. The melt feeder is coupled to the extruder. Elastomeric polymer melt from the melt feeder is introduced to the extruder. The thermoplastic polymer and the elastomeric polymer melt are fed separately to the extruder. The thermoplastic polymer and the elastomeric polymer melt in the extruder are mixed with a plurality of intermeshing screws having a plurality of mixing zones.

The invention relates to the use of polyamide 6 for reduction of the melt viscosity, to be determined at 260° C. to ISO 11443, and/or of the fill pressure, to be determined according to EN ISO 294-1, of compositions and moulding compounds in which there are 10 to 115 parts by mass of glass fibres per 100 parts by mass of poly-C.sub.1-C.sub.6-alkylene terephthalate.

Improvements in the extrusion of thermohardenable materials are achieved by cooling the material in the initial zone of the extruder and reducing residence time by use of a prescribed length to diameter ratio and screw speed, particularly useful for intermittent application during robotically controlled mass production.