In today’s manufacturing world, plastic extruding machines are the essential equipment of producing for profiles, sheets, and granules. Whether you’re in packaging, automotive, construction, or electronics, plastic extrusion is a cost-effective and versatile way to shape thermoplastics into continuous, uniform products.
An extruder machine is one equipment which pushes or pulls plastic raw material through a shaped die, melting it down and finally forms a continuous length of product and cross section as desired.
plastic extrusion can produce a very high-volume output and meet high demand products in the market. The plastic extrusion process is widely used to produce many products including plastic tubing, plastic sheets, and many other products.
Since plastic extrusion is so common in our daily ,but how do it works?
What Is Plastic Extrusion?
Plastic extrusion is a continuous manufacturing process in which raw plastic material ( usually in the form of pellet or granule ) is melted and forced through a shaped die to form a continuous profile. The plastic extrusion process is highly efficient and suitable for mass production of both rigid and flexible plastic products.
Key Components of a Plastic Extruding Machine
A standard plastic extruding machine consists of the following parts:
1. Hopper (Feeding Zone):
The raw material usually fed in the form of plastic granules or pellets into the hopper of extruder machine, which then delivers them to the screw.
2. Extruder Barrel & Screw:
The barrel screw is the heart of the screw extrusion machine. The screw rotates inside a heated barrel, gradually conveying the plastic raw material forward, at the same time , applying heat and pressure in the barrel. The screws have three different zones to move materials along the extrusion process:
1.Feed Zone: This is where the plastic material gets gravity fed into the extrusion machine.
2.Melting Zone: This is the section where the plastic materials are melted to the desired temperature.
3.Metering Zone: This is the area where plastic are melted and mixed ,so that create a uniform temperature and composition before it going into the next step cooling system process.
3. Heaters and Thermocouples:
The barrel are heated to melt the plastic material to high temperatures, usually between 160°C and 280°C, which depend on the polymer material.
4. Die Head:
The molten plastic material is pushed through a shaped die under high temperature and pressure , and finally forms to the desired shape ,such as granule , pipe, film, sheet, rod etc.
5. Cooling System:
The extruded plastic come out the die and then need to be go through cooling system , either by water baths or air cooling way, to cool into the desired shape.
In conclusion, a plastic extruding machine is an essential tool in plastic rubber manufacturing due to its feature of scalability, precision, and efficiency.
If you want to know more about plastic extruding services, contact us for more information.