Patent ID: 8267682

Claim:
An extrusion system comprising: an extruder for moving plastic internally toward an end thereof; an accumulator, connected downstream to the extruder, for receiving plastic from the extruder, the accumulator comprising a housing and a piston within the housing; a gear pump, connected downstream to the accumulator, for receiving plastic from the accumulator; a controller being in communication with the extruder and the gear pump, the controller being operable to cause the extruder to operate in response to the operation of the gear pump; and a die, connected downstream to the gear pump, for receiving plastic from the gear pump and for thereafter forming the plastic into an extrudate, wherein the accumulator collects plastic from the extruder in response to a first operating condition of the gear pump, wherein the accumulator provides plastic to the gear pump in response to a second operating condition of the gear pump, wherein the accumulator is a first in first out accumulator, and wherein the path of flow of plastic from the extruder into the accumulator includes a passage through the piston to a plastic accumulation location in the accumulator.