Method of and apparatus for continuous friction-actuated extrusion

Claim 1

A continuous friction-actuated extrusion process comprising forming a passageway extending from an entry end to an exit end between an arcuate first member and a second member in the form of a wheel having a circumferential groove formed in its peripheral surface into which groove the first member projects while rotating the wheel in such a direction that those surfaces of the passageway constituted by the groove travel from the entry end towards the exit end, feeding metal into the passageway at the entry end and extruding it from the passageway through at least one die orifice located in or adjacent to an abutment member extending across the passageway at the exit end thereof characterised by the facts that the abutment member (instead of being large enough to block the end of the passageway) is of substantially smaller cross-section than the passageway and leaves a substantial gap between the abutment member and the groove surface and that the metal is allowed to adhere to the groove surface, whereby a substantial proportion of the metal (as distinct from the inevitable leakage of flash through a working clearance) extrudes through the clearance and that this metal remains as a lining in the groove to re-enter the passageway at the entry end while the remainder of the metal extrudes through the die orifice(s).