Patent ID: 7524179

Claim:
A heating assembly for a pelletizer having an extrusion die plate including a plurality of orifices through which molten polymer is extruded to exit at a downstream face of said die plate as a strand cut into pellets by a moving cutting assembly, said die plate having a hollow generally cylindrical central area separate from and encircled by said orifices that extends all the way through from an upstream face of said die plate to said downstream face, said heating assembly comprising a generally cylindrical central heating element in heat exchange relation to said hollow generally cylindrical central area of said die plate to retain the central area of the die plate and said extrusion orifices adjacent and exterior thereto at an elevated temperature and maintain the polymer passing through the orifices in a molten state as the polymer passes through the orifices, and a plurality of peripheral heating elements arranged in spaced relation around said plurality of orifices.