Patent ID: 8118475

Claim:
A kneading degree adjusting apparatus disposed in a kneading treatment equipment including a kneading screw rotatable about a rotational axis for kneading a material while feeding the material to the downstream side, thereby to adjust a kneading degree of the material, comprising: a gate member having an opposed face confronting an outer circumference of a cylindrical segment along the length of the kneading screw and movable toward and away from the outer circumference of the cylindrical segment in a perpendicular direction which is perpendicular to an axial direction parallel to the rotational axis, thereby to change the area of a material passage to be formed between the opposed face and the outer circumference of the cylindrical segment; a convex part extending convexly from one of the outer circumference and the opposed face in the perpendicular direction; and a concave part recessed concavely from the other of the outer circumference and the opposed face in the perpendicular direction, wherein each of the convex part and the concave part has at least one side face extending in the perpendicular direction, wherein the passage is formed into a bent shape so that a material being kneaded by the kneading treatment equipment and traveling in the axial direction through the material passage formed between the opposed face and the outer circumference of the cylindrical segment is caused to meander and travel in the perpendicular direction, whereby the flow resistance is increased.