A hopper charged with a powder material, a screw arranged below the hopper and exposed at a supply port formed at the bottom of the hopper, and a rolling element in contact with the screw at the supply port are provided. The rolling element is larger than a space between end portions of the supply port and a screw groove of the screw.

A torpedo for an extruder comprises: longitudinal member (9) which is provided at the periphery thereof with a plurality of thread portions (12) which protrude outwards and which are spaced apart in the circumferential direction; a plurality of sluice blades (19) which are mounted so as to be movable on the longitudinal member and which are partially engaged in apertures (18) of the longitudinal member, the longitudinal member (9) and the sluice blades (19) being provided with complementary radial guiding surfaces (13, 14, 18) which are in contact with each other; and adjustment means (28) for radially displacing the sluice blades relative to the longitudinal member. The sluice blades extend through the spaces between the thread portions, respectively. The thread portions (12) and the sluice blades (19) are provided with complementary radial guiding surfaces (13, 14, 18).

Provided is a shaping material supply device for use in a three-dimensional shaping apparatus, which includes a first flow path through which a shaping material flows, a nozzle that communicates with the first flow path and discharges the shaping material, and a flow rate regulation mechanism that includes a butterfly valve provided in the first flow path.

A plasticizing device includes a drive motor, a rotor that is rotated by the drive motor and has a groove formed face with a groove formed therein, a barrel that is opposed to the groove formed face and has a communication hole, a heating portion that heats a material in a pellet form supplied between the groove and the barrel, and a control unit that controls the drive motor and the heating portion so as to plasticize the material supplied between the groove and the barrel and cause the material to flow out from the communication hole. The heating portion has a first heating portion and a second heating portion disposed closer to the communication hole than the first heating portion, and the barrel has a first region and a second region that is closer to the communication hole than the first region. The control unit individually controls the first heating portion and the second heating portion so that a temperature of the second region is higher than a temperature of the first region.

A system and method to dispense, mix, and inject liquids and force them into a vented investment pattern mold cavity comprises a source of raw materials in fluid communication with an injection unit for metering and delivering the raw materials. A mixing and injection head receives and mixes the metered raw materials. A movable molding cart upon which an investment pattern mold is mounted is disposed adjacent the injection unit and proximate the mixing and injection head. The movable molding cart includes a fill cup that may be engaged by the mixing and injection head. A displaceable gating tray provides fluid communication with the fill cup and a sprue aligned with an investment port on a lower portion of the investment pattern mold. The system also includes a digital computer control by which the injection process may be controlled.

A hopper charged with a powder material, a screw arranged below the hopper and exposed at a supply port formed at the bottom of the hopper, and a rolling element in contact with the screw at the supply port are provided. The rolling element is larger than a space between end portions of the supply port and a screw groove of the screw.

Provided is a three-dimensional shaping apparatus comprising a nozzle having a discharge port through which a shaping material is discharged, and a flow rate regulation mechanism that includes a butterfly valve provided in a flow path upstream of the discharge port.

A mixer apparatus for the treatment of a polymer material to generate the Maxwell effect therein, at a rotor-stator interface in a mixer. The mixer comprises an alternating series of stators and rotors arranged along an elongated driveshaft supported within an elongated housing. The stators and rotors each having at least one helically arranged channel extending from an upstream end of the stator to an end location near the downstream end of that stator, those helically arranged channels preferably are arranged on the surface of the bore extending through the stator. A further generally radially directed channel from the end location of that helically arranged channel to a peripheral surface discharge at the downstream end of that stator is arranged to supply the polymer passing therethrough, to the upstream end of an adjacent rotor having a plurality of helically directed channels arranged on its outer periphery, those channels being inclined radially outwardly and of tapered dimension from an upstream end to a widened downstream end.

A torpedo for an extruder comprises: longitudinal member (9) which is provided at the periphery thereof with a plurality of thread portions (12) which protrude outwards and which are spaced apart in the circumferential direction; a plurality of sluice blades (19) which are mounted so as to be movable on the longitudinal member and which are partially engaged in apertures (18) of the longitudinal member, the longitudinal member (9) and the sluice blades (19) being provided with complementary radial guiding surfaces (13, 14, 18) which are in contact with each other; and adjustment means (28) for radially displacing the sluice blades relative to the longitudinal member. The sluice blades extend through the spaces between the thread portions, respectively. The thread portions (12) and the sluice blades (19) are provided with complementary radial guiding surfaces (13, 14, 18).

A plastic melt machine includes a feed screw rotatably mounted in a barrel and driven in rotation about a longitudinal screw axis of the feed screw by a screw drive to plasticize material, and an apparatus for driving a device independently of the feed screw. The device can be any rotatable device associated with the feed screw wherein the device is rotatable about a drive axis and is in fluid communication with the barrel to receive the plasticized material. The drive axis is one of parallel to and offset from the screw axis and extending at an angle relative to the screw axis. A drive shaft couples the device to the device drive for rotating the device independently of the rotation of the feed screw by the screw drive.