Advanced visco-seals for single screw extruders

Abstract

Embodiments of an extruder comprise an extruder housing having an internal wall and a single screw coaxially disposed within the extruder housing, the single screw comprising a shank, wherein the shank and/or a region of the internal wall proximate the shank comprises helical channels. The extruder further comprises a feed channel downstream of the shank, and a visco-seal comprising the helical channels and the annular gap between the shank and the internal wall, wherein the annular gap is variable across its length.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.