Close-up view of the pump block of a six-position spinner used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. During the production of nylon, melt from the spinning machine typically dripped into pump blocks, from where it was forced through and extruded from a steel spinneret (a small metal plate with fine holes). In this photograph, the block's insulation has been removed to show its assorted components, including pumps, pump mounting surfaces, a pump drive shaft, temperature controller, and detail of the polymer manifold.