Monsanto Company

Solutia Incorporated

John C Hoagland

Peter H Farmer

David Paul Bourcier

Harold H Hopfe

David A Fabel

Robert A Esposito

Jon D Yonko

Timothy J Fowler

Julia Claire Schimmelpenningh

Robert Rutkowski

Rocco M Carabetta, Jr

Frederick F Valego, Jr

Chester L Woodworth

Apparatus for continuously filtering molten polymer comprising: an arbor seated in a fixed support, the arbor having inlet and outlet ports for respectively receiving contaminated and discharging filtered melt, the ports communicating with openings in a pair of housings rotatably mounted on the arbor; a plurality of filter pod assemblies outwardly of and mounted on the rotatable housings, each assembly having a filter for contaminated melt and intake and discharge openings intermittently alignable with the ports on rotation of the housings to position a clean filter in the path of the contaminated melt and to remove the filter from the path when blocked with contaminants; passages associated with the inlet and outlet ports of the arbor and the housings for gradually establishing a flow of melt into a clean filter as it is rotated into filtering position; and thermally dilatable seal between the rotatable housings and the arbor to seal the housings and the arbor during the filtering of contaminated melt by a filter element of a filter pod assembly and to establish a clearance between the housings and arbor as a result of thermal expansion of the thermally dilatable seal to allow rotary movement of each housing to replace a blocked filter with a clean filter. A continuous filter process is provided by operation of the above apparatus.

Continuous polymer melt filtration

A method of embossing thermoplastic sheet by continuously advancing thermoplastic sheet through an embossing nip defined by a rotating embossing roll with an engraved surface at elevated embossing temperature and an opposite fixed rigid concave member and pneumatically forcing the sheet against the engraved surface while within and continuously passing through the nip.

Pneumatic embossing

A safety glass structure which is resistant to extreme wind- and impact-conditions. In particular, the safety glass structure comprises a frame forming an opening and defining an outer rigid channel; a laminated glass panel within the opening comprising first and second glass layers bonded to an interlayer of plasticized polyvinyl butyral; an inner rigid channel within the frame circumscribing the periphery of and bonded to said laminated glass panel by a self-sealing adhesive which permits no or minimal relative movement between the border area of the panel and said inner rigid channel; and said inner rigid channel being mounted in and bonded to the outer rigid channel with a resilient material which permits the panel to flex within its border when exposed to said extreme wind- and impact-conditions. The safety glass structure of the present invention may be used in residential or commercial structures to preserve the integrity of the building in extreme weather conditions.

Safety glass structure resistant to extreme wind and impact

A thermoplastic interlayer, such as of polyvinyl butyral, has a regular pattern of deairing channels formed in each side which are angularly arranged with respect to each other wherein, to avoid moire, the angle of intersection is at least 25 degrees, preferably 90 degrees.

Rough-surfaced interlayer

A hot melt adhesive applicator capable of dispensing relatively large volumes of molten adhesive at relatively fast rates, comprising a barrel and rotary valve block mounted in a housing and a rotary valve to control the flow of the molten adhesive through the barrel. Heaters attached to the barrel maintain the adhesive in the molten state. Advantageously an arm may be mounted on the spindle of the rotary valve, capable of being moved manually, by electrical or mechanical means to open and close the valve. Compression seals mounted on the valve spindle prevent seepage of molten thermoplastic from the valve block. The passage in the rotary valve can be selected to provide a low pressure drop in the applicator.

Hot melt adhesive applicator

Apparatus for dispensing a hot melt thermoplastic consists of a hopper containing granular thermoplastic, an extruder for melting the molten thermoplastic and delivering it to a manifold and then to an applicator for dispensing the molten thermoplastic. Optionally an accumulator can be attached to allow the molten thermoplastic to accumulate during off-periods of the applicator. Operation of the applicator controls operation of the extruder and the accumulator.

Hot melt adhesive delivery system

The invention relates to a process and apparatus for producing a colored band in an extruded thermoplastic sheet. In the process, a probe is inserted in a sheet extrusion die manifold and a colored melt is injected into the polymer melt such that a sheet with an encapsulated colored band is obtained.

Extruding colored thermoplastic resin sheets

A flexible lip die blade is provided in which local flexing of the blade is brought about by activation of heaters located in connector members connecting the flexible lip with the body of the die blade.

Expansion deformable extrusion die blade

A filter assembly for extruded polymer melts is described which comprises a filter having retained between inlet and outlet manifolds with a contact pressure that can be varied. A primary seal device between the manifold and the housing is located in a rabbet in either the housing or the manifold at the contact plane. This seal responds to pressure from the polymer melt flow by deforming and increasing the contact pressure between the manifold and the housing. Thus the greater the pressure at which the melt is extruded, the tighter is the seal.

Filter assembly

An improved slit die for extruding thermoplastic sheet and having the capacity for fine gauge control comprises a die blade and an opposed surface in which the local separation between the two is variable by the generation of localized expansion and contraction forces in the body of the die blade while isolating the die blade lip from temperature variations by the provision of a heat barrier means.

Extrusion die blade

In transfer apparatus for receiving lightweight articles such as containers made of plastic material, from a chute, and delivering them to a conveying means, the combination is provided of a turntable or dial having partition members forming circularly disposed receiving pockets rotatable in a generally horizontal plane below and successively in registry with the chute discharge opening, such pockets arranged for removal of the articles by the conveying means in a horizontal direction on reaching a discharge area on an arcuate path of travel thereof. Pocket loading means synchronized with movement of the dial are preferably used. The method involves successively feeding the articles individually at regular intervals to the rotating pockets, advancing the articles in the pockets along an arcuate path to a discharge area and continuously moving each article out of such discharge area in a direction generally tangential to the arcuate path.

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Longmeadow, MA, United States of America

John C Hoagland