The invention concerns a method of manufacturing a container in a blowing mould, the blown container having a neck and a bottom aligned along a longitudinal axis and being enclosed within a blowing mould, the blowing mould comprising two side halves which are in contact with each other along a joint plane when the blowing mould is in a closed position, the blown container having at least one transverse dimension in a longitudinal cross-section including the longitudinal axis, characterized in that the method comprises a step of moving apart the two side halves of the blowing mould along a substantially transverse direction, the two side halves being moved apart from the joint plane over an overall distance that is less than the greatest transverse dimension of the blown container and that enables extraction of the blown container from the blowing mould.

A blow molding apparatus is provided with a mold carriage movable in a path between an extruder station and a blow-and-fill station. The mold carriage can have one or more mold assemblies. Each mold assembly has opposed first and second mold halves that together define a mold cavity. The first mold half is fixed to the mold carriage while the second mold half is independently movable relative to the first mold half within the mold carriage to open and close the mold assembly.

A method of manufacturing a container by liquid blow molding includes: a liquid blow molding step of supplying a pressurized liquid to inside of a preform placed in a mold, and molding the preform into a container body containing the liquid; a placement step of placing the container body in a cup for containing a bottom part of the container body, at a mold opening position of the mold; and a conveyance step of conveying the cup holding the container body from the mold opening position to a capping position.

A method of manufacturing a container by liquid blow molding includes: a liquid blow molding step of supplying a pressurized liquid to inside of a preform placed in a mold, and molding the preform into a container body containing the liquid; a placement step of placing the container body in a cup for containing a bottom part of the container body, at a mold opening position of the mold; and a conveyance step of conveying the cup holding the container body from the mold opening position to a capping position.

A method of manufacturing a container by liquid blow molding includes: a preform placement step of placing a preform in a mold; a liquid blow molding step of supplying a pressurized liquid to inside of the preform placed in the mold, and molding the preform into a container body containing the liquid; a grasp and conveyance step of grasping the container body by a grasping device at a mold opening position of the mold, and conveying the container body grasped by the grasping device to a cup capable of containing a bottom part of the container body to hold the container body; and a cup conveyance step of conveying the cup holding the container body to a capping position.

A method of manufacturing a container by liquid blow molding includes: a preform placement step of placing a preform in a mold; a liquid blow molding step of supplying a pressurized liquid to inside of the preform placed in the mold, and molding the preform into a container body containing the liquid; a grasp and conveyance step of grasping the container body by a grasping device at a mold opening position of the mold, and conveying the container body grasped by the grasping device to a cup capable of containing a bottom part of the container body to hold the container body; and a cup conveyance step of conveying the cup holding the container body to a capping position.

A method for controlling a molding unit (10) for the forming of a container made of thermoplastic material by blow molding of a preform, with the unit (10) including: a carriage (24) that carries, in a stationary manner, a mold bottom (16); at least one stationary cylinder (32) housing a piston (98) that slides between a lower rest position and an upper boxing position in which it pushes the carriage (24) from an intermediate position to an upper molding position; actuating elements for moving the carriage (24) from its upper molding position to a lower extraction position;
with the method including an extraction step (E4) wherein the movement of the carriage (24) toward its lower extraction position is initiated while the piston (98) has not yet returned into its lower rest position.

A method for controlling a molding unit (10) for the forming of a container made of thermoplastic material by blow molding of a preform, with the unit (10) including: a carriage (24) that carries, in a stationary manner, a mold bottom (16); at least one stationary cylinder (32) housing a piston (98) that slides between a lower rest position and an upper boxing position in which it pushes the carriage (24) from an intermediate position to an upper molding position; actuating elements for moving the carriage (24) from its upper molding position to a lower extraction position;
with the method including an extraction step (E4) wherein the movement of the carriage (24) toward its lower extraction position is initiated while the piston (98) has not yet returned into its lower rest position.

A method of forming a container, the method comprising the steps of: providing an injection moulded preform composed of a biaxially-orientable thermoplastic material, the preform being substantially planar and having a peripheral edge and a central portion; clamping at least a portion of the peripheral edge of the preform in a frame; heating the preform; stretch blow moulding the heated preform, clamped with the frame, within a mould cavity defined by a first female mould to form an intermediate article having a bottom wall and an annular sidewall beneath an upper edge clamped within the frame, the stretch blow moulding step using a stretch rod to engage an inner side of at least the central portion of the preform and axially to stretch at least a part of the central portion of the preform prior to blowing a pressurized gas against the inner side which urges the opposite side of the preform radially outwardly against the mould; and shrinking the intermediate article, clamped with the frame, onto a second male mould to form a container having a bottom wall, defining a base, and an annular sidewall, defining a body portion, beneath the upper edge clamped within the frame, the container comprising biaxially oriented thermoplastic material in the annular sidewall and at least an outer portion of the bottom wall. Also disclosed is a wide mouth container which may be formed by the method.

A method of forming a container, the method comprising the steps of: providing an injection moulded preform composed of a biaxially-orientable thermoplastic material, the preform being substantially planar and having a peripheral edge and a central portion; clamping at least a portion of the peripheral edge of the preform in a frame; heating the preform; stretch blow moulding the heated preform, clamped with the frame, within a mould cavity defined by a first female mould to form an intermediate article having a bottom wall and an annular sidewall beneath an upper edge clamped within the frame, the stretch blow moulding step using a stretch rod to engage an inner side of at least the central portion of the preform and axially to stretch at least a part of the central portion of the preform prior to blowing a pressurized gas against the inner side which urges the opposite side of the preform radially outwardly against the mould; and shrinking the intermediate article, clamped with the frame, onto a second male mould to form a container having a bottom wall, defining a base, and an annular sidewall, defining a body portion, beneath the upper edge clamped within the frame, the container comprising biaxially oriented thermoplastic material in the annular sidewall and at least an outer portion of the bottom wall. Also disclosed is a wide mouth container which may be formed by the method.