Improvements in the extrusion of thermohardenable materials are achieved by cooling the material in the initial zone of the extruder and reducing residence time by use of a prescribed length to diameter ratio and screw speed, particularly useful for intermittent application during robotically controlled mass production.

A filament is fed to an extrusion head. The filament has a semi-crystalline polymeric reinforcement portion and a polymeric matrix portion. The reinforcement and matrix portions run continuously along a length of the filament. The reinforcement portion has a higher melting point and a higher crystallinity than the matrix portion. The temperature of the filament is raised in the extrusion head above the melting point of the matrix portion but below the melting point of the reinforcement portion so that the matrix portion of the filament melts within the extrusion head, thereby forming a partially molten filament within the extrusion head. The partially molten filament is extruded from the extrusion head onto a substrate, the reinforcement portion of the partially molten filament remaining in a semi-crystalline state as it is extruded from the extrusion head. Relative movement is generated between the extrusion head and the substrate as the partially molten filament is extruded onto the substrate in order to form an extruded line on the substrate. The matrix portion of the extruded line solidifies after the extruded line has been formed on the substrate.

An apparatus is intended to produce a multi-layer extrudate comprising an intermediate material interposed between at least two layers of outer material. The apparatus comprises an arrangement of ducts which includes a first duct and a second duct through which respective lateral flows of outer material can flow. The arrangement of ducts also includes a further duct through which a central flow comprising at least the intermediate material can flow. The apparatus further comprises at least one obstructing element for interacting at least with the central flow while the central flow is advancing in an advancement direction. The at least one obstructing element is movable with a movement having a component directed transversally to the advancement direction, so as to obstruct the central flow in the advancement direction at preset intervals.

An extruder has a valve assembly configured to move pins to open and close the nozzles in a multi-nozzle extruder head independently. The pins of the valve assembly that are driven by actuators into and out of engagement with nozzles in the extruder head are positioned within sleeves that extend between the valve assembly and the extruder head. A gap is provided between the extruder head and the end of the sleeves proximate the extruder head to enable thermoplastic material leaking from the extruder that contacts the pins to remain in a melted or plastic state so the thermoplastic material does not interfere with the movement of the pins.

This disclosure describes co-extruded multilayer articles including at least one continuous layer and one discontinuous layer, as well as systems and techniques for the manufacture of co-extruded multilayer articles. For example, a co-extruded multilayer article is described that includes a body having a plurality of layers, where a first layer of the plurality of layers is formed from a first material and is continuous along a longitudinal axis of the body, and a second layer of the plurality of layers is formed from a second material and is discontinuously co-extruded along the longitudinal axis.

Improvements in the extrusion of thermohardenable materials are achieved by cooling the material in the initial zone of the extruder and reducing residence time by use of a prescribed length to diameter ratio and screw speed, particularly useful for intermittent application during robotically controlled mass production.

A compression moulding machine comprises: an extrusion unit configured to extrude a rod of pasty polymeric material; a cutting element, configured to portion the rod into individual charges; a rotary carousel, including a plurality of moulds, each mould being configured to receive a respective charge and to form a corresponding object from the charge; a feeder, configured to convey each charge to a respective mould at a feed position; an inspecting device, configured to capture inspection data, representing a composition of the rod or of the charges.

The invention relates to a device and a method for semi-continuous blow moulding of fiber-reinforced, thermoplastic, endless, hollow-profile-shaped components with longitudinally constant or varying cross-sections, consisting of at least one consolidation tool, which, in its closed state, encloses a preform enclosing an elastically moldable pressure chamber.

A resin-laminated board includes a front-side sheet and a backside sheet layered on each other with a hollow part interposed therebetween. The backside sheet is recessed toward the hollow part to provide a plurality of first recesses and a plurality of second recesses. The front-side sheet and the backside sheet are connected to each other with plural ribs by welding bottoms of the first recesses and the second recesses to the front-side sheet. The resin-laminated board has a thin-plate part having the first recesses with small depth and a thick-plate part having the second recesses with large depth, and the first recesses and the second recesses are arranged at substantially the same pitch.

In a method of manufacturing an object, a filament is fed to an extrusion head. The filament has a semi-crystalline polymeric reinforcement portion and a polymeric matrix portion. The temperature of the filament is raised in the extrusion head above the melting point of the matrix portion but below the melting point of the reinforcement portion so that the matrix portion of the filament melts within the extrusion head, thereby forming a partially molten filament within the extrusion head. The reinforcement portion of the partially molten filament remains in a semi-crystalline state as it is extruded from the extrusion head. Relative movement is generated between the extrusion head and the substrate as the partially molten filament is extruded onto the substrate in order to form an extruded line on the substrate. The matrix portion of the extruded line solidifies after the extruded line has been formed on the substrate.