Provided is a carbon fiber reinforced plastic material having excellent rigidity, flexibility and improved heat resistance and a method of manufacturing the same. The present invention provides a carbon fiber reinforced plastic material containing 2 parts by mass or more and 30 parts by mass or less of a nanofiller with respect to a total of 100 parts by mass of 30 parts by mass or more and 90 parts by mass or less of a polymer material and 70 parts by mass or more and 10 parts by mass or less of carbon fibers, an average aspect ratio (length/width) of the nanofiller being 20 or more. The average aspect ratio (length/width) of the nanofiller may also be 50 or more.

Extruder feed system. The system includes a pair of spaced-apart, internally and oppositely threaded rotatable elements for receiving and engaging a plastic filament material. Sn electric motor rotates the rotatable elements in opposite directions thereby to drive the filament into a liquefier chamber for subsequent discharge through a nozzle. The system provides very accurate layer-by-layer build up.

The present invention provides a kneader/extruder that is provided with a heating cylinder (16), a screw (17) housed in the heating cylinder (16) so as to be capable of rotation and forward/backward movement, and a die (18) attached to the tip of the heating cylinder (16), and generates a plastic compound (6) having a reinforcement fiber kneaded therein, said kneader/extruder being provided with a shutter member (19) that opens and closes a compound extrusion port (18a) provided in the die (18), and performing kneading and extrusion of the compound (6) intermittently. The shutter member (19) may be provided with a scraper (20) that scrapes the compound (6) off from the surface of the die (18). Due to this, this kneader/extruder can generate a one-press portion of the compound and can be easily maintained.

An additive manufacturing (AM) extrusion die system having an extrusion die configured to receive a material to be extruded. The extrusion die includes a main body having a cylindrical section and a distal tapered section terminating at an extruder tip. The main body is configured to mount to a barrel of an additive manufacturing system. The die further includes a central extruder channel extending axially along the main body configured to receive the material at the cylindrical section of the main body and output the material at the extruder tip of the main body, and a cartridge heater slot formed within the main body and generally parallel to the central extruder channel. The cartridge heater slot configured to receive a cartridge heater therein for imparting thermal energy to the material within the central extruder channel. A cooling system is provided for controlling a temperature of the material.

A slot die assembly for applying at least one material onto a substrate includes an adapter having a passive heat transfer device, a shim package fluidically connected to the adapter, the shim package having a first material discharge slot and a second material discharge slot, and a die plate having a one or more fluid channels fluidically connected to the shim package. The assembly also includes one or more mounting studs extending from the adapter, the mounting studs configured to engage a parent machine.

A tubular parison for forming a medical device balloon. The parison is formed of a polymeric material, for instance a thermoplastic elastomer. The parison has an elongation at break which is not more than 80% of the elongation of the bulk polymeric material. The elongation of the parison is controlled by altering extrusion conditions. Balloons prepared from the parisons provide higher wall strength and/or higher inflation durability than balloons prepared from conventional parisons of the same material.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing of waste and in particular processing involving a volumetric reduction of waste materials. There is an apparatus for processing waste material comprising a compaction compartment for receipt of waste material, the compaction compartment have a screw vane for processing waste material through the compaction compartment and a waste material outlet. In one aspect the apparatus comprises a heating zone including an arrangement for heating the waste material received from the waste outlet, the apparatus further comprising a cooling zone including a cooling arrangement for cooling the waste material received from the heating zone. In another aspect, at least one of the screw vane or wall comprises one or more ports therein for transfer of liquid from the waste material, the one or more ports having a port inlet and a port outlet, wherein the area of the opening defined by the port inlet is different to the area of the opening defined by the port outlet. In a further aspect, a heating zone for receiving waste material from the waste material outlet is provided where the heating zone includes an arrangement for heating the waste material in the heating zone, and a blocking element for impeding movement of waste material from the heating zone.

A fiber reinforced polymer part is fabricated by rastering a deposition head over a substrate, and additively forming part features by extruding a polymer having an entrained continuous reinforcement from the deposition head onto a substrate.

A tubular parison for forming a medical device balloon. The parison is formed of a polymeric material, for instance a thermoplastic elastomer. The parison has an elongation at break which is not more than 80% of the elongation of the bulk polymeric material. The elongation of the parison is controlled by altering extrusion conditions. Balloons prepared from the parisons provide higher wall strength and/or higher inflation durability than balloons prepared from conventional parisons of the same material.

Automatic process control of additive manufacturing. The system includes an additive manufacturing device for making an object and a local network computer controlling the device. At least one camera is provided with a view of a manufacturing volume of the device to generate network accessible images of the object. The computer is programmed to stop the manufacturing process when the object is defective based on the images of the object.