Patent ID: 8177540

Claim:
Apparatus for the production of a coherent virtually full density polyolefin sheet suitable for further processing by drawing to produce a high tenacity, highly oriented film, tape, fiber, ribbon or sheet from a polyolefin powder comprising: a) a hopper for the containment and feeding of polyolefin powder; b) a pair of horizontally disposed counter rotating heated calender rolls each having a periphery and pressed together defining a roll nip there between and a roll nip reservoir, said roll nip reservoir including an amount of polyolefin powder sitting above said roll nip; c) a metering mechanism including a doctor blade for regulating the flow of polyolefin powder from said hopper to said periphery of a first of said counter rotating rolls; and d) a plurality of sensors for controlling said doctor blade, said sensors including a sensor for determining the amount of polyolefin powder in said nip roll reservoir and a sensor for determining the pressure between said calender rolls, wherein polyolefin powder is transported about said periphery of said first of said rolls into said roll nip reservoir and thence into said roll nip and a coherent polyolefin film, tape, fiber, ribbon or sheet emerges from the nip.