Apparatus for extruding flowable materials

摘要

A light weight extruder (20) is suitable for high production, in-line extrusion of flowable materials with high precision in the placement and control of the extruded material. The extruder uses a high torque hydraulic motor (72) to drive a feed screw (88) in dispensing highly viscous but flowable material through an extrusion die (126) of preselected configuration. A plurality of heating bands (114-118) surrounding the barrel (86) of the extruder provide precise control over the material temperature at the point of extrusion. In an alternate embodiment, an injection nozzle (120a) is provided with a plurality of independently controllable extrusion dies (128, 130, 132). The extruder is sufficiently light and manipulable such that it can be mounted on the end of the arm of a robot (122).