Patent ID: 8297964

Claim:
A process for cleaning a die of an extruder, the extruder having a die out of which polymer extrudate flows and having an exit face and one or more extrusion orifices, each orifice having a cross section; and a rigid wire having a diameter that is no more than 20 percent of the maximum dimension of the cross section of any of the one or more extrusion orifices, wherein the rigid wire: is in the vicinity of and oriented in a plane parallel to the exit face of the die and parallel to the one or more extrusion orifices, the process comprising: moving a wire across the exit face of the die and the one or more extrusion orifices of said die thereby dislodging polymer extrudate from the exit face without breakage of, or interruption of, the polymer extrudate flowing out of the die.