Patent ID: 7083320

Claim:
A kneading apparatus for kneading by fluidizing a material to be kneaded under a shearing force to obtain a kneaded product in a desired kneaded state comprising: a barrel having a cylindrical cavity chamber; a double-screw screw set rotating in said chamber to knead the material to be kneaded under a shearing force and extrude the material to be kneaded to the downstream side; a plurality of kneading blades combined with said screw set, for kneading the material to be kneaded in a wedge-shaped space between the inner wall of said chamber and said screw set and in a tip clearance; charging ports provided at a plurality of positions of said barrel, for supplying the material to be kneaded into said chamber; a feeder for supplying the material to be kneaded through a selected one of said plurality of charging ports; and at least one cover member adapted to be fitted to at least one of said plurality of charging ports other than said selected one of said charging ports, wherein the at least one cover member is shaped to conform to the shape of said cavity chamber when the at least one cover member is fitted to said at least one of said plurality of charging ports.