Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
159 words
A single-screw extruder comprising: a housing; a sleeve defined by said housing; a feed screw mounted within said sleeve; an eccentric filling aperture defined by the housing being positioned tangentially to said feed screw; a plurality of grooves defined by said housing being in communication with said sleeve and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve, said plurality of grooves decreasing in depth along the longitudinal axis of the sleeve; a first zone of said sleeve positioned adjacent to said eccentric filling aperture wherein said plurality of grooves are spaced about the circumference of said sleeve; and a second zone of said sleeve including said eccentric filling aperture wherein some of said plurality of grooves are spaced about a portion of the circumference of said sleeve, said portion of the circumference of the sleeve extending from one edge of the eccentric filling aperture to a point radially opposite to the one edge of the eccentric filling aperture.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
159 words
A single-screw extruder comprising: a housing; a sleeve defined by said housing; a feed screw mounted within said sleeve; an eccentric filling aperture defined by the housing being positioned tangentially to said feed screw; a plurality of grooves defined by said housing being in communication with said sleeve and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve, said plurality of grooves decreasing in depth along the longitudinal axis of the sleeve; a first zone of said sleeve positioned adjacent to said eccentric filling aperture wherein said plurality of grooves are spaced about the circumference of said sleeve; and a second zone of said sleeve including said eccentric filling aperture wherein some of said plurality of grooves are spaced about a portion of the circumference of said sleeve, said portion of the circumference of the sleeve extending from one edge of the eccentric filling aperture to a point radially opposite to the one edge of the eccentric filling aperture.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ends of the plurality of grooves positioned only in the first zone of the sleeve are deepest in depth adjacent to the eccentric filling aperture.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feed screw positioned in said first zone and said second zone of said sleeve defines at least three feeding threads.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
71 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a third zone of said sleeve having a smooth wall and said feeding screw positioned in said third zone of said sleeve defining a single thread and said at least three feeding threads defined by the feeding screw in said first zone of said sleeve being half the width of the single feeding thread in said third zone of said sleeve.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
51 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 4, wherein a lead angle of the feeding threads of the feed screw in said first and second zones of said sleeve is greater than the lead angle of the single feeding thread of the feed screw in said third zone of said sleeve.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 5, wherein the lead angle of the feeding threads of the feed screw in said first and second zones of said sleeve is approximately 1.1 times greater than the lead angle of the feeding thread of the feed screw in said third zone of said sleeve.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
A single-screw extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the eccentric filling aperture in the longitudinal direction is approximately equal to the diameter of the feed screw.