Patent ID: 7311504

Claim:
A material handling apparatus in the nature of a material extruder or mold combination for shaping the material exiting a hydrolyzer, the apparatus comprising: an extrusion chamber; a plunger assembly attached to the extrusion chamber and further including; a working cylinder having a cylinder shaft and positioned to exert a working shaft force on the material; and a ram operably connected to the shaft enabling the ram to move the material within the extrusion chamber upon actuation of the cylinder and the extension of the shaft therefrom; an extrusion assembly slideably engaging the extrusion chamber and including: a block extruding section in fluid communication with the extrusion chamber and aligned to enable the ram to move the material within the block extruding section: an extrusion cylinder attached to the block extruding section and positioned to exert an extrusion cylinder force on the material; and a stop plate positioned to reciprocate within and traverse a majority of the block extruding section and operably connected to the extrusion cylinder, the stop plate serving as a backstop of the ram of the plunger assembly such that material interpositioned between the ram and the stop plate is compressed; wherein the working shaft is positioned to exert the working shaft force through the ram and the material to the stop plate and extrusion cylinder; and wherein compression is completed when the working shaft force transferred through the material to the stop plate overcomes the extrusion cylinder force.