Abstract: Pellets of polymeric material are fed into the hopper of a screw extruder to produce a molten extrudate, and a liquid additive, particularly a molten lubricant, is introduced downstream of the hopper into the root of a screw flight, particularly in the feed section of the screw longitudinally and internally of the screw shaft.

Abstract: The invention comprises an accumulator for receiving and storing tenuous material, such as thin plastic strapping band, from a processing apparatus wherein the material is extruded through a die to a desired cross-sectional shape, and is thereafter subjected to further treatment, such as stretch heating, compression, annealing and the like, prior to being wound on a winder spindle for storage or transportation. The accumulator comprises a long tube having an entrance positioned adjacent to the moving band prior to its arrival at the winder spindle, and includes an eductor apparatus positioned adjacent to the exit end of the accumulator and adapted to draw air into the accumulator entrance and consequently suck the band into the entrance end of the accumulator and into the accumulator a predetermined amount to store a quantity of band so that processing of the band may continue while feed of the band to a spindle is interrupted to permit removal of a full reel and assembly of an empty reel.