Patent ID: 7125238

Claim:
An apparatus for melt spinning a plurality of strand-like filaments in a yarn forming operation, comprising a nozzle holder which defines a downwardly open spinneret receptacle, with said receptacle defining an inner wall having a melt outlet extending therethrough, a spinneret comprising a housing which is formed of a single piece of material, said housing includes a central connecting piece having a melt inlet opening extending therethrough, an annular wall extending radially outwardly from the connecting piece, and a collar extending about the outer periphery of the annular wall, said spinneret further comprising a nozzle plate containing a plurality of nozzle openings and mounted to or adjacent said collar of said housing in spaced relation below said annular wall so as to define a diffuser chamber between said annular wall and said nozzle plate, said spinneret being mounted within the receptacle of the nozzle holder with the central connecting piece of the housing abutting the inner wall of the receptacle and so that the melt inlet of the housing communicates with the melt outlet of the nozzle holder, and wherein said annular wall of said housing is sufficiently thin to be elastically deformable when a melt is conducted under pressure into the diffuser chamber of the housing via said melt outlet and said melt inlet, and so as to press the central connecting piece of the spinneret against the inner wall of the receptacle and seal the melt inlet against the melt outlet.