Continuous extrusion of complex articles

A frictional extrusion apparatus for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising;

• a frictional extrusion source defining a plurality of passageways, each passageway of said plurality of passageways including an entry point for introduction of a feed material and an exit point for release of frictionally extruded feed material;
• a plurality of chambers for holding the frictionally extruded material, each holding chamber of said plurality of chambers in communication with the respective passageway of said plurality of passageways;
• a plurality of outlet conduits, each outlet conduit of said plurality of outlet conduits having a first end in communication with an exit end of the respective holding chamber of said plurality of passageways;
• sealing means disposed in each said outlet conduit;
• means defining a plurality of die chambers, each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers containing an inlet port defined by a surface of the die chamber, each said inlet port in communication with a second end of the respective outlet conduit of said plurality of outlet conduits for receiving extruded feed material;
• means for monitoring filling of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, the monitoring means capable of generating an output signal;
• and
• means responsive to the output signal of the monitoring means for moving each said sealing means from a first open position to a second closed position.

A frictional extrusion apparatus for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising;

• a frictional extrusion source defining a plurality of passageways, each passageway of said plurality of passageways including an entry point for introduction of a feed material and an exit point for release of frictionally extruded feed material;
• a plurality of chambers for holding the frictionally extruded material, each holding chamber of said plurality of chambers in communication with the respective passageway of said plurality of passageways;
• a plurality of branched outlet conduits, each branched outlet conduit of said plurality of branched outlet conduits having a central passageway having a proximate end in communication with an exit end of the respective holding chamber and a plurality of branched passageways, each branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageway having a first end in communication with a distal end of the central passageway and each branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageways terminating at a second end distal to the respective holding chamber;
• sealing means disposed in each said branched passageway;
• means defining a plurality of die chambers, each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers containing an inlet port defined by a surface of the die chamber, each said inlet port in communication with the second end of the respective branched passageway of the respective branched outlet conduit for receiving extruded feed material;
• means for monitoring filling of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, the monitoring means capable of generating an output signal;
• and
• means responsive to the output signal of the monitoring means for moving each said sealing means from a first open position to a second closed position.

A frictional extrusion apparatus for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising;

• a frictional extrusion source defining a passageway, the passageway including an entry point for introduction of a feed material and an exit point for release of frictionally extruded feed material;
• a chamber for holding the frictionally extruded material, the holding chamber in communication with the passageway;
• a branched outlet conduit, the branched outlet conduit having a central passageway having a proximate end in communication with an exit end of the holding chamber and having a plurality of branched passageways, each branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageways having a first end in communication with a distal end of the central passageway and each of branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageways terminating at a second end distal to the respective holding chamber;
• sealing means disposed in each said branched passageway;
• means defining a plurality of die chambers, each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers containing an inlet port defined by a surface of the die chamber, each said inlet port in communication with the second end of the respective branched passageway of the branched outlet conduit for receiving extruded feed material;
• means for monitoring fig of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, the monitoring means capable of generating an output signal;
• and
• means responsive to the output signal of the monitoring means for moving each said sealing means from a first open position to a second closed position.

A method for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising:

• introducing a feed material into a frictional extrusion source;
• receiving the extruded feed material in at least one chamber for holding frictionally extruded material;
• providing means defining a plurality of die chambers for receiving extruded material from the holding chamber;
• directing extruded material from the holding chamber to each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers for selectively filling each said die chamber with extruded feed material;
• and
• monitoring falling of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, whereby upon filling a first die chamber of said plurality of die chambers, extruded material is directed from the holding chamber to a subsequent die chamber of said plurality of die chambers.

A method for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising:

• providing a frictional extrusion source defining a plurality of passageways, each passageway of said plurality of passageways including an entry point for introduction of a feed material and an exit point for release of frictionally extruded feed material;
• extruding a feed material into a first chamber of a plurality of chambers for holding the frictionally extruded material;
• directing the feed material through a first outlet conduit of a plurality of outlet conduits into a means defining a first die chamber of a plurality of die chambers, each outlet conduit of said plurality of outlet conduits having a first end in communication with an exit end of the respective holding chamber and each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers containing an inlet port defined by a surface of the die chamber, each said inlet port in communication with a second end of the outlet conduit of the respective holding chamber for receiving extruded feed material;
• monitoring filling of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, whereby upon filling of the first die chamber of said plurality of die chambers, the first outlet conduit of said plurality of outlet conduits is sealed and a subsequent outlet conduit of said plurality of outlet conduits is opened and whereby a feed material is extruded into a subsequent holding chamber of said plurality of holding chambers for filling a subsequent die chamber of said plurality of die chambers.

A method for continuous extrusion of shaped articles, comprising:

• providing a frictional extrusion source defining a plurality of passageways, each passageway of said plurality of passageways including an entry point for introduction of a feed material and an exit point for release of frictionally extruded feed material;
• extruding a feed material into a plurality of chambers for holding the frictionally extruded material, each holding chamber of said plurality of chambers in communication with a respective passageway by way of a first conduit connecting an aperture defined in an interior surface of the respective passageway with an entry end of the respective holding chamber;
• directing the feed material through a first branched outlet of a plurality of branched outlet conduits into a means defining a first die chamber of a plurality of die chambers, each of said branched outlet conduits having a central passageway having a proximal end in communication with an exit end of the respective holding chamber, each said branched outlet conduit having a plurality of branched passageways, each said branched passageway having a first end joined at a distal end of the central passageway and each of said branched passageways terminating at a second end distal to the respective holding chamber and each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers containing an inlet port defined by a surface of the die chamber, each said inlet port in communication with a second end of the respective branched passageway of each branched outlet conduit for receiving extruded feed material;
• monitoring filling of each die chamber of said plurality of die chambers with extruded feed material, whereby upon filling of the first die chamber of said plurality of die chambers, the first branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageways is sealed and a subsequent branched passageway of said plurality of branched passageways is opened and whereby a feed material is directed into a subsequent die chamber of said plurality of die chambers.