CN211843358U - Novel double-screw extruder - Google Patents

Novel double-screw extruder Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN211843358U
CN211843358U CN201922481787.9U CN201922481787U CN211843358U CN 211843358 U CN211843358 U CN 211843358U CN 201922481787 U CN201922481787 U CN 201922481787U CN 211843358 U CN211843358 U CN 211843358U
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
guide cylinder
screw extruder
wall
feed cylinder
screw rod
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
CN201922481787.9U
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
陈进
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Guangzhou Mingjian High Tech Materials Co ltd
Original Assignee
Guangzhou Mingjian High Tech Materials Co ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Guangzhou Mingjian High Tech Materials Co ltd filed Critical Guangzhou Mingjian High Tech Materials Co ltd
Priority to CN201922481787.9U priority Critical patent/CN211843358U/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN211843358U publication Critical patent/CN211843358U/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Landscapes

  • Extrusion Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

The utility model relates to a twin-screw extruder technical field just discloses novel twin-screw extruder, which comprises a base plate, the top fixed mounting of base plate has first guide cylinder, the inner wall bottom fixed mounting of first guide cylinder has damping spring, damping spring's top and with the inner wall movable mounting of first guide cylinder have the second guide cylinder, the equal fixed mounting in top of first guide cylinder and the bottom of second guide cylinder has the buffer block, the top fixed mounting of second guide cylinder has the mounting panel. This novel double screw extruder, through damping spring's elastic stretching drive second guide cylinder slide about first guide cylinder is inside and slow down mounting panel and driving motor's vibration range, reaches preliminary absorbing effect, and rethread buffer block elastic deformation slows down the striking dynamics of second guide cylinder and the striking dynamics of mounting panel and first guide cylinder, reaches simple and convenient multiple shock attenuation and anti effect of hitting.

Description

Novel double-screw extruder
Technical Field
The utility model relates to a double screw extruder technical field specifically is a novel double screw extruder.
Background
The screw extruder is a machine which can concentrate a series of chemical basic unit processes, such as solid conveying, pressurization, melting, exhaust, dehumidification, melt conveying, pumping and other physical processes on a screw in the extruder, compared with a single screw extruder, the double screw extruder can more fully mix melt, so that the application is wider, and the split type co-directional parallel double screw extruder has the remarkable characteristics that: the machine barrel can be split, the screw and the inner bushing of the machine barrel can be combined at will, the screw and the machine barrel of the main machine of the split double-screw extruder are designed in advanced building block mode, the screw is formed by combining screw blocks of various forms sleeved on the mandrel, the inner bushing in the machine barrel can be adjusted according to the difference of the screw blocks, so that an ideal threaded element structure form is flexibly combined according to process requirements of material varieties and the like, various process processes of conveying, plasticizing, refining, shearing, exhausting, pressure building, extruding and the like of materials are achieved, the contradiction between universality and specificity of the screw which is difficult to consider at the same time is well solved, and the purposes of one machine with multiple functions and one machine with multiple functions are achieved.
Traditional double screw extruder does not generally have vibration/noise reduction function, and double screw extruder produces vibration at the during operation and causes the wearing and tearing of double screw extruder serious and lead to the condition such as life weak point to take place easily, so proposes a novel double screw extruder and solves above-mentioned problem.
SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
Technical problem to be solved
The utility model provides a novel double screw extruder possesses advantages such as vibration/noise reduction, has solved traditional double screw extruder and has generally not had shock-absorbing function, and double screw extruder produces vibration at the during operation and causes the problem that the condition takes place such as double screw extruder wearing and tearing are serious and lead to life weak point easily.
(II) technical scheme
For the purpose that realizes above-mentioned vibration/noise reduction, the utility model provides a following technical scheme: the novel double-screw extruder comprises a base plate, wherein a first guide cylinder is fixedly arranged at the top of the base plate, a damping spring is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the inner wall of the first guide cylinder, a second guide cylinder is movably arranged at the top of the damping spring and is movably arranged with the inner wall of the first guide cylinder, a buffer block is fixedly arranged at the top of the first guide cylinder and at the bottom of the second guide cylinder, a mounting plate is fixedly arranged at the top of the second guide cylinder, a driving motor is fixedly arranged at the top of the mounting plate, a speed reducer is fixedly arranged at the top of the mounting plate and on the left side of the driving motor, the driving motor is in transmission connection with the speed reducer through a shaft coupling, a driving wheel is sleeved on an output shaft of the speed reducer, a support column is fixedly arranged at the top of the base plate and on the left side of the first guide, the left side and the right side of the inner wall of the charging barrel are both fixedly provided with a sealing bearing seat, the inner part of the sealing bearing seat is movably provided with a first screw rod which penetrates through and extends to the right side of the charging barrel, the inner part of the sealing bearing seat is movably provided with a second screw rod which is positioned above the first screw rod, the outer walls of the first screw rod and the second screw rod are sleeved with a radial bearing which is positioned at the left side of the sealing bearing seat, the outer walls of the first screw rod and the second screw rod are sleeved with an axial bearing which is positioned at the left side of the radial bearing, the outer wall of the first screw rod is sleeved with a first gear which is positioned at the right side of the charging barrel, the outer wall of the second screw rod is sleeved with a second gear which is in transmission connection with the first gear, the outer wall of the first screw rod is sleeved with a driven wheel which is in transmission connection with the driving wheel through a belt, the bottom fixed mounting of feed cylinder has the communicating steam intake pipe with the heat exchange tube air inlet, the bottom fixed mounting of feed cylinder has the communicating condensation drain pipe with the heat exchange tube outlet, the outer wall of feed cylinder has cup jointed the insulation cover.
Preferably, the number of the first guide cylinders and the number of the second guide cylinders are four, and the four first guide cylinders are distributed on the top of the substrate in a rectangular array.
Preferably, the buffer blocks are made of annular porous polyurethane, the number of the buffer blocks is eight, and the number of teeth of the first gear is the same as that of the second gear.
Preferably, the top of feed cylinder just is located the right side fixed mounting of heat exchange tube and runs through and extend to the inside feeder hopper of feed cylinder, the bottom of feed cylinder just is located the left side high-mounting of condensation drain pipe and arranges the material pipe.
Preferably, the heat exchange tube is a spiral metal tube, the top of the charging barrel and the left side of the heat exchange tube are fixedly provided with a vacuum pump, and the air inlet of the vacuum pump is fixedly connected with the air outlet of the charging barrel through a steel tube.
Preferably, the heat preservation cover is glass fiber, the belt is the triangle rubber belt, the mounting groove that corresponds with the belt is all seted up to the outer wall of driven wheel and drive wheel.
(III) advantageous effects
Compared with the prior art, the utility model provides a novel double screw extruder possesses following beneficial effect:
the novel double-screw extruder drives the second guide cylinder to slide up and down in the first guide cylinder through elastic expansion of the damping spring and reduce vibration amplitude of the mounting plate and the driving motor, achieves an initial damping effect, achieves simple and convenient multiple damping and anti-collision effects through elastic deformation of the buffer block and reduction of collision force between the second guide cylinder and the first guide cylinder and between the mounting plate and the first guide cylinder, improves stability of the double-screw extruder, seals and guides the first screw and the second screw through the sealing bearing seat, enables air tightness of the double-screw extruder to be better, and enables the vacuum pump to pump air out of the interior of the charging barrel through the steel pipe by starting the vacuum pump, so that materials enter the charging barrel to be stirred and extruded more uniformly, and bears axial force and radial force of the first screw and the second screw through the radial bearing and the axial bearing, further improvement this double screw extruder's stability, simultaneously keep warm and fall the noise to the feed cylinder through the insulation cover, reach simple and convenient high-efficient shock attenuation and the effect of making an uproar that falls, carry steam to the heat exchange tube inside through the steam intake pipe, and heat transfer to the feed cylinder inside through the heat exchange tube, steam condensation back is integrated into the drop of water and is discharged through the condensation drain pipe, reach the simple and convenient effect of accuse temperature heating, thereby the convenience in use of this double screw extruder has been improved, compare with traditional electrical heating, this double screw extruder structure is simpler, it is more convenient to maintain, thereby double screw extruder's maintenance cost has been reduced.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of the present invention;
fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a position a in the structure diagram 1 of the present invention.
In the figure: the device comprises a base plate 1, a first guide cylinder 2, a damping spring 3, a second guide cylinder 4, a buffer block 5, a mounting plate 6, a driving motor 7, a speed reducer 8, a shaft coupler 9, a driving wheel 10, a supporting column 11, a charging barrel 12, a sealing bearing seat 13, a first screw 14, a second screw 15, a radial bearing 16, an axial bearing 17, a first gear 18, a second gear 19, a driven wheel 20, a belt 21, a heat exchange tube 22, a steam inlet tube 23, a condensation water outlet tube 24 and a heat insulation sleeve 25.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative work belong to the protection scope of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1-2, the novel twin-screw extruder comprises a base plate 1, a first guide cylinder 2 is fixedly installed at the top of the base plate 1, a damping spring 3 is fixedly installed at the bottom of the inner wall of the first guide cylinder 2, a second guide cylinder 4 is movably installed at the top of the damping spring 3 and the inner wall of the first guide cylinder 2, the number of the first guide cylinder 2 and the number of the second guide cylinder 4 are four, the four first guide cylinders 2 are distributed on the top of the base plate 1 in a rectangular array, buffer blocks 5 are fixedly installed at the top of the first guide cylinder 2 and the bottom of the second guide cylinder 4, an installation plate 6 is fixedly installed at the top of the second guide cylinder 4, a driving motor 7 is fixedly installed at the top of the installation plate 6, a speed reducer 8 is fixedly installed at the top of the installation plate 6 and on the left side of the driving motor 7, and the driving motor 7 is in transmission connection with the, a driving wheel 10 is sleeved on an output shaft of the speed reducer 8, a supporting column 11 is fixedly installed at the top of the base plate 1 and positioned at the left side of the first guide cylinder 2, a charging cylinder 12 is fixedly installed at the top of the supporting column 11, a sealing bearing seat 13 is fixedly installed at the left side and the right side of the inner wall of the charging cylinder 12, a first screw 14 penetrating through and extending to the right side of the charging cylinder 12 is movably installed inside the sealing bearing seat 13, a second screw 15 is movably installed inside the sealing bearing seat 13 and positioned above the first screw 14, a radial bearing 16 is sleeved at the outer wall of the first screw 14 and the outer wall of the second screw 15 and positioned at the left side of the sealing bearing seat 13, an axial bearing 17 is sleeved at the outer wall of the first screw 14 and positioned at the right side of the charging cylinder 12, a first gear 18 is sleeved at the outer wall of the first screw 14, a second gear 19 in transmission connection with the first gear 18 is sleeved at the outer wall of the second screw 15, the buffer block 5 is made of annular porous polyurethane, the number of the buffer block 5 is eight, the number of teeth of the first gear 18 is the same as that of the second gear 19, the driven wheel 20 is sleeved on the outer wall of the first screw 14 and positioned on the right side of the first gear 18, the driven wheel 20 is in transmission connection with the driving wheel 10 through a belt 21, a heat exchange tube 22 is fixedly installed inside the charging barrel 12, the heat exchange tube 22 is a spiral metal tube, a vacuum pump is fixedly installed at the top of the charging barrel 12 and positioned on the left side of the heat exchange tube 22, an air inlet of the vacuum pump is fixedly connected with an air outlet of the charging barrel 12 through a steel tube, a steam inlet tube 23 communicated with an air inlet of the heat exchange tube 22 is fixedly installed at the bottom of the charging barrel 12, a condensation drain tube 24 communicated with a water outlet of the heat exchange tube 22 is fixedly installed at, a discharging pipe is highly installed at the bottom of the charging barrel 12 and on the left side of the condensation drain pipe 24, a heat insulation sleeve 25 is sleeved on the outer wall of the charging barrel 12, the heat insulation sleeve 25 is made of glass fiber, the belt 21 is made of triangular rubber belt, mounting grooves corresponding to the belt 21 are formed in the outer walls of the driven wheel 20 and the driving wheel 10, the second guide barrel 4 is driven to slide up and down in the first guide barrel 2 through elastic expansion and contraction of the damping spring 3 and the vibration amplitude of the mounting plate 6 and the driving motor 7 is reduced, a primary damping effect is achieved, the impact force between the second guide barrel 4 and the first guide barrel 2 and the impact force between the mounting plate 6 and the first guide barrel 2 are reduced through elastic deformation of the buffer block 5, a simple and convenient multiple damping and anti-collision effect is achieved, the stability of the double-screw extruder is improved, the first screw 14 and the second screw 15 are sealed and guided through the sealing bearing seat 13, the double-screw extruder is better in air tightness, the vacuum pump is started to pump out air in the material cylinder 12 through the steel pipe, so that materials can be uniformly stirred and extruded in the material cylinder 12, the axial force and the radial force of the first screw 14 and the second screw 15 are borne through the radial bearing 16 and the axial bearing 17, the stability of the double-screw extruder is further improved, meanwhile, the heat preservation and noise reduction are carried out on the material cylinder 12 through the heat preservation sleeve 25, the simple, convenient and efficient shock absorption and noise reduction effects are achieved, steam is conveyed into the heat exchange pipe 22 through the steam inlet pipe 23, heat is transferred into the material cylinder 12 through the heat exchange pipe 22, steam is condensed and then integrated into water drops, the water drops are discharged through the condensation drain pipe 24, the simple and convenient temperature control heating effect is achieved, the use convenience of the double-screw extruder is improved, compared with the traditional electric heating, the double-screw extruder is simpler in structure, the maintenance is more convenient, thereby reducing the maintenance cost of the double-screw extruder.
To sum up, this novel twin-screw extruder, elastic expansion through damping spring 3 drives second guide cylinder 4 and slides from top to bottom and slows down mounting panel 6 and driving motor 7's vibration range in first guide cylinder 2 is inside, reach preliminary absorbing effect, rethread buffer block 5 elastic deformation and slow down the striking dynamics of second guide cylinder 4 and first guide cylinder 2 and the striking dynamics of mounting panel 6 and first guide cylinder 2, reach simple and convenient multiple shock attenuation and anti effect of hitting, thereby this twin-screw extruder's stability has been improved, seal and lead first screw 14 and second screw 15 through sealed bearing frame 13, make this twin-screw extruder's gas tightness better, and through starting the vacuum pump, the vacuum pump takes out feed cylinder 12 inside air through the steel pipe, thereby make the material get into feed cylinder 12 inside stirring extrusion more even, bear the axial force and the radial direction of first screw 14 and second screw 15 through radial bearing 16 and axial bearing 17 The stability of the double-screw extruder is further improved, and the charging barrel 12 is insulated and denoised by the insulation sleeve 25, so as to achieve the effects of simple, convenient and efficient shock absorption and noise reduction, steam is conveyed to the inside of the heat exchange tube 22 through the steam inlet tube 23, heat is transferred to the inside of the charging barrel 12 through the heat exchange tube 22, water drops are formed after the steam is condensed and are discharged through the condensation water discharge tube 24, the effect of simply and conveniently controlling the temperature and heating is achieved, the use convenience of the double-screw extruder is improved, compared with the traditional electric heating, this double screw extruder structure is simpler, and it is more convenient to maintain to reduced double screw extruder's maintenance cost, solved traditional double screw extruder and generally not had shock-absorbing function, double screw extruder produces vibration at the during operation and causes the problem that the wearing and tearing of double screw extruder are serious easily and lead to the condition such as life weak point to take place.
It is noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (6)

1. Novel twin-screw extruder, including base plate (1), its characterized in that: the damping device is characterized in that a first guide cylinder (2) is fixedly mounted at the top of the base plate (1), a damping spring (3) is fixedly mounted at the bottom of the inner wall of the first guide cylinder (2), a second guide cylinder (4) is fixedly mounted at the top of the damping spring (3) and movably mounted with the inner wall of the first guide cylinder (2), a buffer block (5) is fixedly mounted at the top of the first guide cylinder (2) and at the bottom of the second guide cylinder (4), a mounting plate (6) is fixedly mounted at the top of the second guide cylinder (4), a driving motor (7) is fixedly mounted at the top of the mounting plate (6) and positioned at the left side of the driving motor (7), a speed reducer (8) is fixedly mounted at the top of the mounting plate (6) and in transmission connection with the speed reducer (8) through a coupler (9), and a driving wheel (10) is sleeved on an output shaft of the speed reducer (8), the top of base plate (1) and the left side fixed mounting that is located first guide cylinder (2) have support column (11), the top fixed mounting of support column (11) has feed cylinder (12), the equal fixed mounting in inner wall left side and the right side of feed cylinder (12) has sealed bearing frame (13), the inside movable mounting of sealed bearing frame (13) has first screw rod (14) that runs through and extend to feed cylinder (12) right side, the inside of sealed bearing frame (13) and the top movable mounting that is located first screw rod (14) have second screw rod (15), the outer wall of first screw rod (14) and second screw rod (15) and the left side that is located sealed bearing frame (13) have cup jointed journal bearing (16), the outer wall of first screw rod (14) and second screw rod (15) and the left side that is located journal bearing (16) have cup jointed axial bearing (17), the outer wall of first screw rod (14) and the right side that is located cup joint feed cylinder (12) have first gear (18) The utility model discloses a heat preservation sleeve, the outer wall of second screw rod (15) just is located the right side of feed cylinder (12) and has cup jointed second gear (19) of being connected with first gear (18) transmission, the outer wall of first screw rod (14) just is located the right side of first gear (18) and has cup jointed follower (20), follower (20) are connected with drive wheel (10) transmission through belt (21), the inside fixed mounting of feed cylinder (12) has heat exchange tube (22), the bottom fixed mounting of feed cylinder (12) have with heat exchange tube (22) air inlet communicating steam intake pipe (23), the bottom fixed mounting of feed cylinder (12) has with heat exchange tube (22) outlet communicating condensation drain pipe (24), the outer wall of feed cylinder (12) has cup jointed heat preservation cover (25).
2. The new twin-screw extruder according to claim 1, characterized in that: the number of the first guide cylinders (2) and the number of the second guide cylinders (4) are four, and the four first guide cylinders (2) are distributed on the top of the base plate (1) in a rectangular array.
3. The new twin-screw extruder according to claim 1, characterized in that: the buffer blocks (5) are made of annular porous polyurethane, the number of the buffer blocks (5) is eight, and the number of teeth of the first gear (18) is the same as that of the second gear (19).
4. The new twin-screw extruder according to claim 1, characterized in that: the top of feed cylinder (12) just is located the right side fixed mounting of heat exchange tube (22) and has the feeder hopper that runs through and extend to feed cylinder (12) inside, the left side height-mounting that just is located condensation drain pipe (24) of the bottom of feed cylinder (12) has the row of material pipe.
5. The new twin-screw extruder according to claim 1, characterized in that: the heat exchange tube (22) is a spiral metal tube, the top of the charging barrel (12) is fixedly provided with a vacuum pump on the left side of the heat exchange tube (22), and an air inlet of the vacuum pump is fixedly connected with an air outlet of the charging barrel (12) through a steel tube.
6. The new twin-screw extruder according to claim 1, characterized in that: the heat preservation cover (25) is glass fiber, the belt (21) is a triangular rubber belt, and the mounting grooves corresponding to the belt (21) are formed in the outer walls of the driven wheel (20) and the driving wheel (10).
CN201922481787.9U 2019-12-31 2019-12-31 Novel double-screw extruder Active CN211843358U (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201922481787.9U CN211843358U (en) 2019-12-31 2019-12-31 Novel double-screw extruder

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201922481787.9U CN211843358U (en) 2019-12-31 2019-12-31 Novel double-screw extruder

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN211843358U true CN211843358U (en) 2020-11-03

Family

ID=73209419

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN201922481787.9U Active CN211843358U (en) 2019-12-31 2019-12-31 Novel double-screw extruder

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN211843358U (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113001938A (en) * 2021-03-01 2021-06-22 姚旋 High-speed extrusion single screw for polypropylene
CN113883502A (en) * 2021-11-10 2022-01-04 杭州智兴热电有限公司 Heat preservation mechanism of circulating fluidized bed boiler

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113001938A (en) * 2021-03-01 2021-06-22 姚旋 High-speed extrusion single screw for polypropylene
CN113883502A (en) * 2021-11-10 2022-01-04 杭州智兴热电有限公司 Heat preservation mechanism of circulating fluidized bed boiler
CN113883502B (en) * 2021-11-10 2024-04-12 杭州智兴热电有限公司 Thermal insulation mechanism of circulating fluidized bed boiler

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
CN211843358U (en) Novel double-screw extruder
CN110805754B (en) High-rigidity antistatic hollow wall winding pipe and processing technology thereof
CN102093590B (en) Waste plastic conditioning and viscosity modifying system
CN111774458B (en) Forming process of superfine long corrugated pipe
CN109927265B (en) Continuous processing and forming equipment and process for Kela pipe
CN205326238U (en) Tapered double screw extruder that large -scale high efficiency was extruded
CN210279918U (en) Cleaning equipment is used in rubber sheet production and processing
CN213382844U (en) Stable and reliable extruder for polypropylene filaments
CN110228180A (en) A kind of plastics-production extrusion shaping machine
CN113400614A (en) High-efficient screw extruder
CN208146073U (en) A kind of three-roll grinder for RTV processing
CN209534095U (en) Sealing strip production system
CN113715293A (en) Rubber tube extrusion system
CN208667570U (en) A kind of waste tire rubber recycling desulfurization process device
CN206780963U (en) A kind of PVB double screw extruders
CN220517374U (en) PE foaming equipment
CN111744444A (en) Device after high viscosity material mixing ejection of compact
CN212097041U (en) Raw material granulator for processing high-hardness low-pressure-change nitrile rubber composition
KR100257334B1 (en) Apparatus for reclaimed waste plastic materials
CN214681602U (en) A raw materials distributor for producing polyurethane stoste
CN216032378U (en) Packaging buffer material molding extrusion mechanism
CN218535531U (en) Energy-saving environment-friendly plastic extruder
CN217777445U (en) Thermosetting plastic molding cooling machine with anti-bubble structure
CN113997543B (en) Production process of ultra-micro glass fiber cotton reinforced HDPE double-wall corrugated pipe
CN212045436U (en) High-efficient environment-friendly material is extrusion device for mixing

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant