A material deposition system for additive manufacturing including an extruder that defines a first input passage for supplying a first material, a second input passage for supplying a second material, a chamber for combining the first and second materials to form a combined deposition material, and an extrusion port for extruding the combined deposition material. The system further includes an adjustable sleeve that is movable between a first position and a second position to vary the interaction between the first material and the second material in the chamber. For example, the adjustable sleeve may be configured to separate the first and second materials in the chamber, and can vary the point at which the materials interface with each other prior to deposition based on the sleeve position. Such a system may enable a varying degree of infiltration, encapsulation, or other interaction between the first and second materials prior to deposition.

Provided is a production apparatus capable of producing a flexible tube whose hardness is naturally varied along the length direction thereof. This mixing valve includes: a first valve configured to distribute a first resin to a resin supply path and a resin discharge path; and a second valve configured to distribute a second resin to the resin supply path and the resin discharge path. In the mixing valve, the mixing proportion between the first resin and the second resin is increased or decreased in association with molding of the flexible tube, by changing a distribution ratio of the first resin in the first valve and a distribution ratio of the second resin in the second valve while keeping constant the total of the supply mounts of the first resin and the second resin supplied to a die.

The invention provides an appartus for adjusting the thickness of a resin film exiting an extrusion lip of a blown film extruder, the apparatus comprising: a gear motor configured to provide a rotational movement in any one of two directions; an actuation unit connected with a first side to the gear motor and with a second side to the extrusion lip, wherein the actuation unit is configured to convert the rotational movement of the gear motor into an axial movement, and wherein the actuation unit is further configured to adjust a local width of the extrusion lip by the axial movement for adjusting the thickness of the resin film exiting the extrusion lip of the blown film extruder.

A method of forming a film (1) of molten polymer material, by extruding said material in a direction (2) out of a narrow exit slot (3), which is an integral part of a wider die chamber (4) of which the major dimension of extension is parallel with the major dimension of the exit slot (3), characterized in that the molten polymer material is formed into one or more flows generally parallel with said major dimension of the exit slot (3), each said flow being pumped in a re-circulating arrangement from the chamber inlet (7) to the outlet (8) through conduits connecting the inlet to the outlet, while fresh molten polymer material is administered from a reservoir into each re-circulating flow.

A system is disclosed for additively manufacturing a composite structure. The system may include a support, and a print head operatively connected to and moveable by the support. The print head may include an outlet configured to discharge a material in a trajectory along a central axis of the outlet, and a compactor disposed downstream of the outlet relative to the trajectory and configured to press the material transversely against an adjacent surface. The outlet may be configured to translate relative to the compacting module.

In-line inspection and control system to in-situ monitor an extrudate during extrusion. A light beam illuminates a line on the outside circumference of the extrudate skin recording the curvature. A master profile of the illuminated defect-free skin is recorded and compared to successive monitoring of the illuminated skin. Differences from the comparison indicate skin and/or shape defects. A real-time feedback to automatically adjust process control hardware reduces or eliminates the skin and shape defects based on the monitoring and comparison.

An improved rotary head extruder has at least one rotatable auger disposed within a single barrel and having an upstream end and a downstream end. The extruder has a die assembly that includes (i) a stator having a stator head at the downstream end of the at least one rotatable auger and a stationary plate surrounding an outlet end of the stator downstream from the single barrel and (ii) a rotatable plate downstream and spaced apart from the stationary plate to define a die gap. The apparatus includes a heating mechanism to maintain, within a predefined temperature range, one or more of the temperature of the die assembly or an extrudable composition disposed in the die gap.

A feedblock including a first packet creator that forms a first packet including a first plurality of polymeric layers, the first plurality of layers including at least four first individual polymeric layers; and a second packet creator that forms a second packet including a second plurality of polymeric layers, the second plurality of layers including at least four second individual polymeric layers, wherein the first and second packet creators are configured such that, for each packet creator, respective individual polymeric layers of the plurality of polymeric layers are formed at approximately the same time. The feedblock may include a packet combiner that receives and combines the first and second primary packets to form a multilayer stream. In some examples, at least one of the first and second primary packets may be spread in the cross-web direction prior to being combined with one another.

Provided is a blow-molding method capable of suppressing generation of blister-like bubbles and producing a high quality hollow molded article when forming a thick hollow molded article by blow-molding. A blow-molding method includes setting a die-slit interval in a die head according to a target wall thickness of a hollow molded article to be molded, extruding a molten resin in an accumulator into a cylindrical shape from the die slit to form a parison, and molding the parison in a mold. The die-slit interval is made smaller than a value set according to the target wall thickness at start of extrusion, and then is increased to match the value set according to the target wall thickness. The value set according to the target wall thickness is preferably corrected considering wall thickness reduction due to drawdown. The wall thickness of the hollow molded article is preferably 3.5 mm or more.

In an apparatus for manufacturing a hybrid scaffold, a first strand having bin compatible polymer and a second strand having a mixture of bio compatible material and cells alternate with each other. Thus, mechanical strength of the hybrid scaffold is improved, and the cells uniformly grow among entire region of the scaffold. Furthermore, diameters of the first and second strands and interval between the first and second strands are precisely controlled. Thus, the hybrid scaffold is precisely manufactured according to a scaffold design.