Patent ID: 7185559

Claim:
A gear mechanism for a twin screw extruder having two screw shafts that are disposed at an angle to one another, said gear mechanism comprising: a multi-stage reduction gearbox; a distribution gearbox having two output lines connectable to said screw shafts, wherein a first output line comprises a first, through output shaft, wherein an angularly movable coupling, which is fixed against rotation, is disposed in a second output line, and wherein said second output line is placed at the angle of said screw shafts, relative to said first output line, via said coupling; a first gear fixedly disposed on said first output shaft; a second gear fixedly disposed on a first partial shaft of said second output line; a drive gear of said reduction gearbox, wherein said drive gear is disposed between, and is in engagement with, said first gear and said second gear; and a multi-part gearbox housing, wherein said reduction gearbox and said distribution gearbox are disposed, without spatial separation, in a common interior space of said multi-part gearbox housing.