Nozzle Height Adjustment Apparatus and Method for an Extruder Assembly

An extruder assembly comprising:

• an extruder including a nozzle;
• and
• a stand for supporting the extruder, the stand having at least one pivot and having a height adjuster adapted to raise and to lower the nozzle by rotating the stand about the pivot,
• wherein the height adjuster is a vernier adjustment height adjuster having a manually operated hand wheel turnable by a user to enable the raising and the lowering of the nozzle.

A method for extruding a product comprising the steps of:

• extruding a product through a nozzle of an extruder, the extruder including a height adjuster;
• measuring a weight of the extruded product;
• if the weight of the extruded product is greater than a target range of weight, raising the height of the nozzle using the height adjuster by rotating the extruder about a pivot;
• and
• if the weight of the extruded product is less than the target range of weight, lowering the height of the nozzle using the height adjuster by rotating the extruder about the pivot.

A method for height adjustment of an extruder producing a product comprising:

• determining a target range for a weight of an extruded product;
• extruding the product through a nozzle of an extruder assembly, the extruder assembly having an extruder, a scale and having a motorized height adjuster in communication with the scale;
• measuring the weight of the extruded product using the scale;
• and
• if the weight is outside of the target range, sending a communication from the scale to the motorized height adjuster so that the motorized height adjuster automatically raises or lowers the nozzle as needed to change the weight of subsequent extruded products.