Patent ID: 8240180

Claim:
An apparatus for continuously forming an extruded sheet product, the apparatus comprising: an extruder assembly with a sheet die through which flowable material is delivered for sheet product formation; a roll stand assembly comprising a main frame and a plurality of rolls on the main frame that cause flowable material from the sheet die to be formed into a sheet layer that makes up a sheet product, the roll stand assembly having upstream and downstream ends and laterally spaced sides, the plurality of rolls comprising first and second rolls between which a nip location is defined at which flowable material is delivered by the sheet die; and a vertical height positioning mechanism through which a vertical relationship between the sheet die and nip location can be selectively varied, the vertical height positioning mechanism comprising first and second lift components that cooperate with the main frame at first and second laterally spaced locations, the first and second lift components each movable in first and second opposite paths relative to a subjacent support for the apparatus in: a) a first direction to thereby reposition the main frame in a first manner through force application at the first and second locations to thereby elevate the nip location relative to the sheet die; and b) a second direction to thereby cause the main frame to reposition in a second manner to thereby lower the nip location relative to the sheet die, the vertical height positioning mechanism further comprising an actuating system that is operable to selectively and simultaneously cause the first and second lift components to move in the first direction.