METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AND OPTIMIZING MICROWAVE HEATING OF PLASTIC SHEET

1 . A method for processing a thermoplastic material, the method comprising:

passing a thermoplastic material through a microwave heating apparatus at a selected feed rate;

wherein the microwave heating apparatus comprises:

a microwave emitter for supplying microwave energy to a resonant cavity;

the resonant cavity comprising at least one inlet and at least one outlet, the inlets and outlets collectively forming a passageway for passing the thermoplastic material through the resonant cavity; and

a movable piston configured to adjust a length of the resonant cavity;

exposing the thermoplastic material to microwaves in the resonant cavity, wherein the exposing causes an increase in temperature of at least a portion of the thermoplastic material;

measuring an e-field generated by the microwave emitter; and

adjusting a position of the movable piston in response to the measured e-field; and, processing the thermoplastic material.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring a temperature of the thermoplastic material; and,

adjusting at least one of a position of the movable piston, a power input to the microwave generator, and a feed rate of the thermoplastic material in response to the measured temperature.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a programmable logic controller to effect the adjusting in response to at least one of the measured e-field and the measured temperature.

4 . (canceled)

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the movable piston further comprises a fluttering piston, the method further comprising fluttering the fluttering piston.

6 . The method of claim 1 , the microwave heating apparatus further comprising a variable power source operatively coupled to the microwave emitter, the method further comprising controlling a power input to the microwave emitter from the variable power source.

7 . The method of claim 1 , the microwave heating apparatus further comprising at least one additional tuning device comprising at least one of an iris plate, a phase shifter, an EH tuner, a twin stub tuner, a four stub tuner, and a movable piston to adjust a length of a resonant cavity, and the method further comprising tuning a frequency of the microwave energy using the at least one additional tuning device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising cooling the thermoplastic material.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected feed rate is within the range from 1 to 75 mm/second.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing comprises at least one of sheet extrusion, co-extrusion, foam extrusion, injection molding, foam molding, blow molding, injection stretch blow molding, and thermoforming.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a position of the thermoplastic material in the resonant cavity.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining a position of a maxima in E-field within the resonant cavity.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a composition of the thermoplastic material in response to at least one of the measured e-field and the measured temperature.

14 . An apparatus for heating a thermoplastic material, wherein the thermoplastic material comprises a microwave-sensitive polymeric region, the apparatus comprising:

a microwave emitter for supplying microwave energy to a resonant cavity;

the resonant cavity comprising at least one inlet and at least one outlet, the inlets and outlets collectively forming a passageway for passing the thermoplastic material through the resonant cavity;

a movable piston configured to adjust a length of the resonant cavity;

an e-field sensor for measuring an e-field generated by the microwave emitter; and

a control system for adjusting a position of the movable piston based on data received from the e-field sensor.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the movable piston comprises a fluttering piston.

16 . (canceled)

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the control system is a closed loop control system configured to provide real time tuning of a resonant frequency of each cavity to a frequency of the microwave energy generated while heating the thermoplastic material.

18 . The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising a variable power source operatively coupled to the at least one microwave emitter.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the control system is configured to adjust a power input to the microwave emitter.

20 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the microwave emitter comprises a microwave generator selected from the group consisting of a magnetron, a klystron, a gyrotron, a traveling wave tube, a microwave launcher, or combinations thereof.

21 . The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising at least one additional tuning device selected from the group consisting of an iris plate, an EH tuner, and a four stub tuner.

22 . The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising at least one of an e-field probe, an infra-red pyrometer, a thermal imaging device, and a phase shifter.

23 . (canceled)