Patent ID: 8597553

Claim:
A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, said method comprising: (A) providing a multi-screw extruder that comprises: (i) a first satellite screw extruder, said first satellite screw extruder comprising a first satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said first satellite screw; (ii) a second satellite screw extruder, said second satellite screw extruder comprising a second satellite screw that is mounted to rotate about a central axis of said second satellite screw; and (iii) a pressure regulation system that is adapted to maintain a pressure within said first and second satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 1.8 millibars; (B) using said pressure regulation system to reduce a pressure within said first and second satellite screw extruders to between about 0 millibars and about 1.8 millibars; (C) while maintaining said pressure within said first and second satellite screw extruders between about 0 millibars and about 1.8 millibars, passing a melt comprising recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder so that: (1) a first portion of said melt passes through said first satellite screw extruder, and (2) a second portion of said melt passes through said second satellite screw extruder; and (D) after said step of passing said melt of recycled polymer through said multi-screw extruder, forming said recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament.