A process for drying polymeric granular material (2) comprises the steps of: introducing into said drying hopper (10) a process gas having a predefined flow rate so as to heat and dry the polymeric granular material, discharging a portion of the heated polymeric granular material into a transformation unit (100) for the polymeric material; loading an amount of fresh polymeric granular material (2a) into the drying hopper. The process gas flow rate is regulated by measuring the inlet temperature of the fresh polymeric granular material (2a) and comparing it with a predefined inlet temperature of the fresh polymeric granular material, on the basis of which the predefined process gas flow rate has been calculated. If the measured inlet temperature is different from the predefined inlet temperature, the flow rate of the process gas is regulated on the basis of the measured inlet temperature.

The invention relates to a method for the indirect determination of a specific formulation with an extrusion process in an extrusion device (10) comprising the following steps: determination of measurement data of at least one processing parameter of the extrusion process of the extrusion device (10), comparing the determined measurement data with saved data saved in relation to the specific formulation of the same processing parameter, determination of the deviation of the measurement data from the saved data of the same processing parameters and comparing of the deviation with a predefined deviation threshold.

The invention relates to the determination of the optical quality of a film. On the one hand, a correlation of the obtained measured values with the production parameters, which are detected in a time-synchronous manner at the extrusion plant, is carried out. On the other hand, a correlation of said obtained measurement data with the geometric and/or functional properties of a film, for example the water vapor permeability, is carried out. The obtained correlation of data is used in the process for controlling the running production process of the film to an optimum operating point. Consequently, the resulting functional properties of a film are improved in an automated manner and met according to the desired specifications. The operator can predetermine which geometric and/or functional properties of a film are accepted as a control variable.

A method of cleaning a powder coating production line, the method including: providing a powder coating production line including equipment, an automatic cleaning tool, and a monitoring device; receiving, by the equipment, an instruction of automatic cleaning, and allowing the equipment to enter an automatic cleaning mode; cleaning, by the automatic cleaning tool, the equipment of the powder coating production line; monitoring, according to a preset monitoring condition and by the monitoring device, whether the automatic cleaning is completed; stopping the automatic cleaning when the monitoring device indicates the automatic cleaning has been completed, or continuing the automatic cleaning of the equipment; and turning off the automatic cleaning mode of the equipment.

Plasiticized polyvinylacetal films with grater film-to-film uniformity are produced by a process of extruding a melt stream containing a polyvinyl acetal and a plasticizer at 150-250 C., the film having a predefined melt viscosity at 60-170 C., by providing a first melt stream of at least a first plasticizer and a first polyvinyl acetal resin and measuring its melt viscosity at 60-170 C. online; and adjusting the 60-170 C. melt viscosity by adding a second plasticizer and/or a second polyvinyl acetal resin to the first melt stream in an amount to provide a second melt stream with a melt viscosity at 60-170 C. having a difference of at most 20% to the predefined melt viscosity at 60-170 C.

A planetary roller extruder with planetary spindles and stop ring. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. 1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. 1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading Abstract of the Disclosure. The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

Method and apparatus for removing bubbles from a molten substrate. The molten substrate from a furnace passes through a downtube to reach additional manufacturing tools, such as an extrusion bushing. One or more ultrasonic sensors are arranged along the downtube. The ultrasonic sensor(s) transmit ultrasonic energy into the molten substrate and measure a characteristic of the ultrasonic energy, such as a propagation time for the ultrasonic energy to be reflected back to the ultrasonic sensor(s). A bubble is detected when a change in the characteristic of the ultrasonic energy is detected. When a bubble is detected, flow through the downtube is diverted to a duct to remove a slug of molten substrate that includes the bubble.

An apparatus (1) for optical inspection of a mass of polymeric material (2) passing through an extruder (3) having a hollow extrusion cylinder (4) extending elongately in a longitudinal direction comprises an optical sensor (8) which can be operatively coupled to the extrusion cylinder (4) and having an infrared light emitter (8a) and a receiver (8b) configured to measure a measurement parameter representing an optical property of the polymeric material (2) inside the extrusion cylinder (4) and is characterized in that it comprises a plurality of the optical sensors (8) which can be operatively coupled to the extrusion cylinder (4) in a plurality of measurement sites located in succession and spaced from each other along the longitudinal direction and a processor (9) programmed to acquire a plurality of measurement signals containing the measurement parameters measured by the corresponding optical sensors (8) and programmed to process the plurality of measurement signals in order to calculate a corresponding plurality of values of a control parameter indicating a physical state of the polymeric material (2) as a function of a longitudinal position.

Method for removing bubbles from a molten substrate. The molten substrate from a furnace passes through a downtube to reach additional manufacturing tools, such as an extrusion bushing. One or more ultrasonic sensors are arranged along the downtube. The ultrasonic sensor(s) transmit ultrasonic energy into the molten substrate and measure a characteristic of the ultrasonic energy, such as a propagation time for the ultrasonic energy to be reflected back to the ultrasonic sensor(s). A bubble is detected when a change in the Characteristic of the ultrasonic energy is detected. When a bubble is detected, flow through the downtube is diverted to a duct to remove a slug of molten substrate that includes the bubble.

Method and apparatus for removing bubbles from a molten substrate. The molten substrate from a furnace passes through a downtube to reach additional manufacturing tools, such as an extrusion bushing. One or more ultrasonic sensors are arranged along the downtube. The ultrasonic sensor(s) transmit ultrasonic energy into the molten substrate and measure a characteristic of the ultrasonic energy, such as a propagation time for the ultrasonic energy to be reflected back to the ultrasonic sensor(s). A bubble is detected when a change in the characteristic of the ultrasonic energy is detected. When a bubble is detected, flow through the downtube is diverted to a duct to remove a slug of molten substrate that includes the bubble.