subject: Blow Molding Machine [print this page] A blow moulding machine for blow moulding a container having an integrally formed handle; said container blow moulded from a previously injection moulded preform; said preform comprising a body portion and said integrally formed handle; said machine including a preform loading station at which said preform is oriented by a preform orienting apparatus; said apparatus orienting said preform to align said handle with a predetermined orientation; said apparatus including a vertical cylindrical sleeve provided with a handle guiding slit along one side of said sleeve; said sleeve further provided with upper edges sloping down to said handle guiding slit
Single-stage equipment is capable of processing PVC, PET, and PP. Once the parison is formed (either extruded or injection moulded), it passes through conditioning stations which bring it to the proper orientation temperature. The single-stage system allows the process to proceed from raw material to finished product in one machine, but since tooling cannot be easily changed, the process is best suited for dedicated applications and low volumes.
Oriented PVC containers most commonly are made on single-stage, extrusion-type machines. The parison is extruded on either single- or double-head units Temperature conditioning, stretching, and thread forming are done in a variety of ways depending on the design of the machine. Many of the processes presently in use are proprietary.
Many oriented PET containers are produced on single-stage machines. Preforms are first injection moulded, then transferred to a temperature conditioning station, then to the blow moulding machine operation where the preforms are stretch-blown into bottles, and finally to an eject station.
With the two-stage process, processing parameters for both preform manufacturing and bottle blowing can be optimized. A processor does not have to make compromises for preform design and weight, production rates, and bottle quality as he does on single-stage equipment. He can either make or buy preforms. And if he chooses to make them, he can do so in one or more locations suitable to his market. Both high-output machines and low output machines are available. Heretofor two stage extrusion-type machines generally have been used to make oriented PP bottles. In a typical process, preforms. are re-extruded, cooled, cut to length, reheated, stretched while the neck finish is being trimmed, and ejected.
It is an object of the present invention to produce a practical, readily implementable injection, stretch blow moulding machine container made from an orientable plastics preform material incorporating a handle joined in a loop at at least two points to the preform.
