Extrusion Screw with Motorized Roller for Elastomer Flow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing extrusion devices for elastomeric materials used in tire production face challenges with maintaining a consistent flow rate and pressure gradient, especially with low viscosity materials, leading to material adhesion, overheating, and production stoppages due to the need for longer extrusion screws and discontinuous processes.
Innovation Solution
The extrusion device incorporates a motorized roller for forced feeding of elastomeric material into the extrusion screw, allowing for a shorter screw length while maintaining continuity and consistency of flow rate, and includes a cooling unit to prevent adhesion, along with a gear pump and nozzle for precise material deposition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a longer extrusion screw is used to maintain consistent flow rate and pressure gradient, then the flow consistency is improved, but the device complexity and overheating risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion system is divided into two independent feeding mechanisms: a auger feeder for initial material feeding and a motorized roller for forced feeding. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, replacing the need for an excessively long single screw while maintaining flow consistency through coordinated dual-feeding action.
Solution Approach 2:
A motorized roller is introduced as an intermediary forced-feeding mechanism between the hopper and the extrusion screw. This roller actively pushes material into the screw, ensuring consistent feeding without requiring the screw itself to be overly long, thus maintaining pressure gradient while reducing overall device complexity.
2Productivity
If the extrusion process is made continuous to improve productivity, then the production efficiency is improved, but material adhesion and overheating worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The motorized roller performs preliminary forced feeding of material into the extrusion screw before the material enters the heating zone. This preliminary action ensures complete filling of the screw channel, preventing air pockets and ensuring continuous flow without excessive residence time in the heating zone, thereby reducing adhesion while maintaining continuous production.
Solution Approach 2:
The system independently controls the rotation speed of the motorized roller and the extrusion screw through separate motors. By adjusting these parameters, the material feed rate can be optimized to match the extrusion rate, ensuring continuous production while controlling residence time and temperature exposure to prevent adhesion and overheating.
3Reliability
If separate motor control is implemented for the roller and screw to optimize flow rate, then the flow consistency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic independent control of the motorized roller and extrusion screw through separate motors. This allows real-time adjustment of feed rates to match production demands and maintain optimal flow consistency, with the added complexity justified by the significant improvement in process control and product quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration ensures continuous and consistent flow rates, reduces material waste, and allows for compact device design, even with low viscosity materials, by optimizing the length-to-diameter ratio of the extrusion screw and using separate motor control for the roller and screw.
Implementation Method 1
a motorised roller (40) arranged at an inlet portion (50a) of the extrusion screw (50) and configured to receive the elastomeric material from the hopper (30) and feed it to the extrusion screw (50)
Implementation Method 2
includes a cooling unit to prevent adhesion
Implementation Method 3
an extrusion screw (50) extending along a longitudinal axis X and configured to move the elastomeric material inside the extrusion body (10) along a feeding direction A
Implementation Method 4
a gear pump and nozzle for precise material deposition
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates an extrusion device (100) for extruding a semi¬finished product made of elastomeric material, comprising an extrusion body (10) extending along a feeding direction (A) and a pump (20) arranged downstream of the extrusion body (10) along said feeding direction (A). The extrusion body (10) comprises a hopper (30) for loading an elastomeric material and an extrusion screw (50) extending along said feeding direction (A) and having an inlet portion (50a) arranged close to the hopper (30) and an exit portion (50b) arranged close to the pump (20). The extrusion body (10) also comprises a motorised roller (40) arranged at the inlet portion (50a) of the extrusion screw (50) and configured to receive the elastomeric material from the hopper (30) and feed it to the extrusion screw (30). The extrusion screw (50) has a length and a diameter such that the ratio between length and diameter is comprised between 4 mm and 8 mm. The invention also relates to an extrusion process carried out through the aforementioned extrusion device (100).