Serrated kneading disk and kneading block

Abstract

A serrated kneading disk including a body having a perimeter that is an ellipse having truncated ends, the curved elliptical portions forming flanks and the truncated ends forming crests. The crests are curved to form the arc of a circle having a radius substantially the same as the radius of the bore of the extruder barrel with which the disk is to be used. The disk body has a cylindrical passageway extending through the middle thereof, the passageway having a configuration adapted to allow the kneading disks to be lockingly engaged on the shaft of an extruder screw. A plurality of grooves are formed in the flanks and crests. A serrated kneading block can be formed from a plurality of the serrated kneading disks, or formed as a single body having a plurality of lobes, each lobe being substantially identical to the serrated kneading disk.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.