A three-dimensional (3D) drawing pen can include a housing that has a port that permits insertion of a strand of material into the housing, an actuator for controlling a movement of the strand, and a nozzle assembly configured to permit the strand to be extruded out of the 3D drawing pen in a form that retains its shape against gravity in free space to draw a 3D object.

A three-dimensional (3D) drawing pen can include a housing that has a port that permits insertion of a strand of material into the housing, an actuator for controlling a movement of the strand, and a nozzle assembly configured to permit the strand to be extruded out of the 3D drawing pen in a form that retains its shape against gravity in free space to draw a 3D object.

An extrusion system (10) is provided that has first and second extruders (12,14) with first and second extrusion barrels (50,52). First and second extruded components (24,26) are transferred through the barrels (50,52) to a die (22) to coextrude tire tread (20) from the first and second extruded components (24,26). A horizontal plane (70) is located above ground in a vertical direction (40) and extends through both the first extrusion barrel (50) and the second extrusion barrel (52).

The invention relates to a device and a method for controlling the feed of polymer melt, which has been discharged from an extruder, to a plastics processing machine formed from at least two subunits (1, 2), to which the polymer melt discharged from the extruder is fed via a distributor (13) which is positioned downstream of the extruder and which serves for splitting up the polymer melt into partial streams corresponding to the number of subunits. According to the invention, the partial streams are each fed to a subunit by means of a gearwheel pump (11, 12). The volume flows fed to the subunits (1, 2), which are of substantially identical design, can be respectively separately controlled in open-loop or closed-loop fashion through control of the drive rotational speed of the respective gearwheel pump (11, 12) in a manner dependent on operating parameters and/or the configuration of the respective subunit (1, 2).

The invention relates to a device and a method for controlling the feed of polymer melt, which has been discharged from an extruder, to a plastics processing machine formed from at least two subunits (1, 2), to which the polymer melt discharged from the extruder is fed via a distributor (13) which is positioned downstream of the extruder and which serves for splitting up the polymer melt into partial streams corresponding to the number of subunits. According to the invention, the partial streams are each fed to a subunit by means of a gearwheel pump (11, 12). The volume flows fed to the subunits (1, 2), which are of substantially identical design, can be respectively separately controlled in open-loop or closed-loop fashion through control of the drive rotational speed of the respective gearwheel pump (11, 12) in a manner dependent on operating parameters and/or the configuration of the respective subunit (1, 2).

A system for adjusting a gap in a slot die for producing a polymeric web. The system includes a slot die that has a polymer reservoir that extends between a polymer inlet and a melt outlet. The melt outlet has a first edge and a second edge that each extend longitudinally along the melt outlet. The second edge is opposite the first edge. A plurality of actuators move the second edge along a plurality of positions along a length of the second edge. The first edge is spaced apart from the second edge by a gap that has an adjustable profile. A pressure sensor communicates with the reservoir and measures the pressure of the polymer in the reservoir. A control unit with an algorithm correlates the profile of the gap to the pressure in the reservoir. The algorithm is configured to generate control signals to cause the profile of the gap to be uniform.

A three-dimensional (3D) drawing pen can include a housing that has a port that permits insertion of a strand of material into the housing, an actuator for controlling a movement of the strand, and a nozzle assembly configured to permit the strand to be extruded out of the 3D drawing pen in a form that retains its shape against gravity in free space to draw a 3D object.

A three-dimensional (3D) drawing pen can include a housing that has a port that permits insertion of a strand of material into the housing, an actuator for controlling a movement of the strand, and a nozzle assembly configured to permit the strand to be extruded out of the 3D drawing pen in a form that retains its shape against gravity in free space to draw a 3D object.

The extrusion installation is configured for manufacturing a complex profiled-element strip, such as a tread, based on elastomer compounds by co-extrusion, and comprises multiple extruders feeding elastomer compounds to an extrusion head. The extrusion head receives a proportion of elastomer compound of between 2 and 25% of the total volumetric throughput of the installation from at least one Archimedean-screw extruder and the rest from positive-displacement extruders.

A method for extruding a semi-finished product made of elastomeric material. An elastomeric material is fed to an inlet channel of a gear pump with an inlet pressure value and dispensed through an exit channel of the gear pump with an exit pressure value greater than the inlet pressure value. The method detects the exit pressure value and adjusts the operation of the gear pump to maintain a predetermined pressure difference between the exit pressure and the inlet pressure based on the detection of the exit pressure value.