Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus and method for coextruding substrate and coating materials having different temperature dependent properties, wherein one or more predetermined amounts of the coating are metered onto one or more predetermined surfaces of the substrate. A facefed coextrusion die, including a die plate for sizing and shaping the substrate and a feed block/metering tube assembly nested in the die plate for metering the coating onto the substrate, is mounted adjacent to an outlet opening of an extruder for the substrate. The metering tube is rotatably adjustably mounted in the feed block at one of its ends, and communicates with an extruder for the coating material at its other end. The metering tube has a pair of spaced gates formed therein which are generally alignable with a pair of spaced channels formed in the feed block to enable coating material to flow through the metering tube feed block and into contact with the substrate being extruded through the die plate. The metering tube thermally isolates the coating material from the substrate material until just prior to contact therebetween to prevent premature cure of the substrate, and is manually rotatable for adjusting the position of the tube gates with respect to the feed block channels. Selective rotation of the metering tube in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction restricts the flow of coating material through one of the pairs of generally aligned metering tube gates and feed block channels while flow of the coating material through the other pair remains unrestricted.

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First Claim