Biodegradable drinking straws and methods of making biodegradable drinking straws. The drinking straws are thin and functional, having a tactile feel similar to conventional drinking straws, and are biodegradable in 12 months or less. The drinking straws use less material while maintaining high thickness uniformity, reducing cost and increasing structural integrity.

The present disclosure provides a pellet. In an embodiment, the pellet includes a body having a first end and an opposing second end. The body is composed of a polymeric material. The body has a length, a diameter (body diameter) and a channel. The channel has a diameter (channel diameter), the channel extends through the body from the first end to the second end. An additive in is the channel.

A group of hollow modules through which the material to be extruded flows, is provided that includes at least: a rectangular heating-shaping module, in which the material undergoes a temperature increase and takes on the desired shape; and a tubular cooling-solidification module, in which the material changes from liquid to solid. A heating-reaction module is provided upstream of the heating-shaping module. The heating-reaction module includes an interchangeable hollow tube with an external heating system. The heating-shaping module includes detachable parts and includes another external heating system based on the auto-acceleration of the curing reaction and of the heat supply from said external heating system. The tubular portion between the heating-reaction module and the heating-shaping module includes a shaping coupling equipped with a through-hole. The extrusion module includes a circuit through which the polymer flows into at least two push compartments.

The present invention relates to an extrusion die and a method for extruding a sheet using the same, and according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an extrusion die comprising a storage part configured to hold a raw material, the storage part defining a first width, a pressure part configured to move the raw material through the storage part, a first die defining a second width less than the first width, such that a flow width of the raw material becomes narrower, a second die in fluid communication with the first die, the second die defining a width that increases from the second width to a third width, such that the flow width of the raw material passing through the first die becomes wider and a flow thickness becomes smaller, and a heating part configured to heat the raw material passing through the second die.

A novel process is disclosed for extruding an absorbable glycolide/lactide block copolymer into multifilament suture fibers. The block copolymer preferably consists of about 50/50 mole % of Glycolide/Lactide in the center segment and the overall composition of the copolymer is about 90/10 mole % Glycolide/Lactide. The novel extrusion process comprises the steps of maintaining the temperatures of at least two, preferably three or more, of the extrusion zones in the range of about 5-50° C. below the polymer melting point. The multifilament suture made with the invention process from the segmented, glycolide-rich, poly(glycolide-co-lactide) copolymers of A-B-A type, where the B-segment is an amorphous prepolymer of glycolide and lactide in the molar ratio of about 50/50 glycolide/lactide, exhibit exceptionally high breaking strength retention (BSR) at 42 days post-implantation.

A polymer optical fiber is provided which shows improved hydrolytic stability. This fiber comprises a polymeric optical core and cladding layer, surrounded by a polymeric overcladding layer which comprises a miscible blend of one or more hydrolytically stable amorphous polymers. By varying the ratios of the component polymers in the overcladding blend, the glass transition temperature and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the overcladding layer may be tuned to optimize the attenuation and bandwidth of the plastic optical fiber.

A nozzle includes a tubular, temperature-controlled outer casing, centered on an axis. For a more compact and efficient design, the nozzle also includes an inner member coaxially arranged inside the outer casing and mounted rotatably about the axis relative to the outer casing, such that a downstream portion of the inner member extends outside the outer casing and engages with a drive motor to rotate about the axis, and such that a channel having an annular cross section and centered on the axis is defined between the outer casing and the inner member. The channel has an upstream end and a downstream end between which the material flows into the channel when it is pushed through the nozzle such that, when the material is pushed through the nozzle, the material moves through the channel from the upstream end to the downstream end whereby the material axially exits the channel.

A novel process is disclosed for extruding an absorbable glycolide/lactide block copolymer into multifilament suture fibers. The block copolymer preferably consists of about 50/50 mole % of Glycolide/Lactide in the center segment and the overall composition of the copolymer is about 90/10 mole % Glycolide/Lactide. The novel extrusion process comprises the steps of maintaining the temperatures of at least two, preferably three or more, of the extrusion zones in the range of about 5-50 C. below the polymer melting point. The multifilament suture made with the invention process from the segmented, glycolide-rich, poly(glycolide-co-lactide) copolymers of A-B-A type, where the B-segment is an amorphous prepolymer of glycolide and lactide in the molar ratio of about 50/50 glycolide/lactide, exhibit exceptionally high breaking strength retention (BSR) at 42 days post-implantation.

Printing devices and methods are provided that utilize high throughput extrusion to generate a printer material, such as a three-dimensional object. High-throughput extrusion systems as provided volumetrically pre-heat an extruded filament to a desired pre-heat temperature, and then either maintain or heat the extruded filament to a desired melt temperature prior to having the filament extruded out of the system and onto a surface, such as a build platform. By pre-heating the filament prior to heating it to the temperature at which it is excluded, it helps increase the throughput of the system. Likewise, by doing the heating volumetrically, it further helps increase the throughput of the system. Various embodiments of devices and methods typically used for printing in conjunction with the disclosed high throughput systems are also provided.

A group of hollow modules through which the material to be extruded flows, is provided that includes at least: a rectangular heating-shaping module (6), in which the material undergoes a temperature increase and takes on the desired shape; and a tubular cooling-solidification module (8), in which the material, which has taken on the desired shape, changes from liquid to solid with said shape. A heating-reaction module (2) is provided upstream of module (6). The heating-reaction module (2) includes an interchangeable hollow tube (3) with an external heating system (4). The heating-shaping module (6) includes detachable parts (7) and includes another external heating system (4) based on the auto-acceleration of the curing reaction and of the heat supply from said system (4). The tubular portion between module (2) and module (6) includes a shaping coupling (5) equipped with a through-hole. The extrusion module includes a circuit through which the polymer flows into at least two push compartments (20).