Patent ID: 8287786
Filing Date: 2012-10-16
Classification: B29C,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A method of cooling an extrusion, the method comprising: passing the extrusion through a cooling chamber including a back chamber and a front chamber, the cooling chamber having a closed-loop gas passageway, the closed-loop gas passageway having a diverging region and a converging region, the cooling chamber having a heat exchanger disposed in the gas passageway between the diverging region and the converging region, the heat exchanger being part of a mechanical vapor-compression refrigeration unit, the cooling chamber also comprising a fan disposed in the closed-loop gas passageway, the back chamber having an inclined surface on an upstream side of the heat exchanger and a declined surface on a downstream side of the heat exchanger, the fan located upstream of the inclined surface; utilizing the fan to circulate gas around the closed-loop gas passageway in a manner such that the gas loops from the diverging region, through the heat exchanger, then through the converging region, then along the extrusion, and then returns to the diverging region, the gas absorbing heat through convection from the extrusion as the gas passes along the extrusion, a portion of the inclined surface defining a diffuser duct configured to lower the velocity of the gas before passing through the heat exchanger, the declined surface is positioned immediately downstream of the heat exchanger, a portion of the declined surface having an outwardly angled side wall defining a convergence duct configured to reduce the cross section of the back chamber which increases the velocity of the gas before the gas is circulated over the extrusion, an end duct is located downstream of the declined surface, and a throat, through which the gas enters the front chamber, is located at the downstream end of the end duct; utilizing the heat exchanger to remove heat from the gas as the gas passes through the heat exchanger.