The objects of this invention are to set a predetermined height position for the portion of parison or preform that is the first to come in contact with body molding planes of a split mold and to prevent air from being trapped between in-mold labels and the container which is blow molded from the parison or the preform. In-mold labels are fixed to the entire outer surface of body of main container. An annular thinnest wall portion is formed in the wall of the body so that the thinnest wall portion is the first to come in contact with the body molding planes of a split mold. Under this construction, no bulge of air is formed between the body and the in-mold labels fixed to the entire surface of the body.

Method for making blow molded articles having a predetermined feature incorporated into the wall provided by variations in the thickness of the wall of the article corresponding to a predetermined pattern etched into the preform from which the article was formed.

Method of making a blow molded article from a preform including: a) providing a preform of a thermoplastic material having a plurality of effect structures each having an effect surface having a normal with an orientation, the preform having a body with one or more walls and an opening, wherein at least a portion of the one or more walls of the preform has a three-dimensional pattern of cavities and/or protrusions thereon; and b) blow molding the preform to form a blow molded article, wherein the step of blow molding the preform changes the orientation of the normal of at least some of the effect surfaces of the effect structures to create a visual effect in at least one wall of the blow molded article.

A plural preform assembly having nested preforms with an inner preform and an outer preform. The preforms are sealably joined together, defining a volume between the preforms. Propellant is disposed in the volume between the preforms. The preforms are later blow molded to provide a bag in bottle, bottle in bottle or similar container. The propellant charge is already present when blow molded, preventing the need for a later propellant filling step.

A synthetic resin-made container is a synthetic resin-made container that has an outer layer body and an inner layer body separably laminated on an inner surface of the outer layer body and is formed by stretch blow molding, and includes: a tubular mouth portion; a barrel portion connected to and located below the mouth portion; and a bottom portion closing a lower end of the barrel portion, wherein the outer layer body contains polyethylene terephthalate, the inner layer body contains polyethylene terephthalate, a laminate containing polyethylene terephthalate, or a blend containing polyethylene terephthalate, and has a vapor-deposited film having a gas barrier property on an inner surface thereof, and a rib that prevents the inner layer body from peeling away from the outer layer body when forming the vapor-deposited film is formed in at least one of a lower part of the barrel portion and the bottom portion.

The invention relates to a preform (1) for a container (2) made of plastic, wherein the preform (1) comprises a body part (3) comprising a wall having a thickness (e1) which extends along a longitudinal axis (X) and which is connected, via a periphery (8), to a closed bottom part (5) which has an apex (10). According to the invention, the bottom part (5) has ribs (11) which each extend from the apex (10) of the bottom part (5) to the periphery (8) so as to form a star, and a substantially triangular zone (12) arranged between two adjacent ribs (11) and a portion (8a) of the periphery (8) has a thickness (e3) which is less than the thickness (e1).

A plastic container includes a hollow body portion including a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; and a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, at least one thread, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In embodiments, a closure may be provided to form an assembly. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

A synthetic resin-made container has an outer layer body and an inner layer body separably laminated on an inner surface of the outer layer body and is formed by stretch blow molding, and has: a tubular mouth portion; a shoulder portion located below the mouth portion and increasing in diameter downward; a barrel portion connected to and located below the shoulder portion; and a bottom portion closing a lower end of the barrel portion, wherein the mouth portion has an outside air introduction hole for introducing outside air into a space between the outer layer body and the inner layer body, and the inner layer body is made of a crystalline resin, and has, in at least a part of the mouth portion in the inner layer body, a crystallized region having a higher degree of crystallinity than other regions.

A method for heating a preform (1) comprising a body portion (4) extending along a longitudinal axis (A1). The method comprises the following steps:—introducing the preform (1) into a heating apparatus (5) comprising an array of infrared emitters (50) arranged in multiple columns (Cj) and rows (Ri); —setting power levels of the infrared emitters (50) so as to divide said array into subsets of columns (SCn); and—heating the preform while translating it in a direction parallel to the rows (Ri), and simultaneously rotating it around its longitudinal axis, the rotation and translation speeds, and the power levels of the infrared emitters (50) being set so that the power levels of the subsets of columns (SCn) facing zones (42) of the body portion extending longitudinally are different from the power levels of the subsets of columns facing the rest of the body portion, said zones extending relative to one another in a polygonal array.

Method for heating a preform (1) comprising: introducing the preform (1) into a heating apparatus (5) comprising an array of infrared emitters (50) arranged in multiple columns (Cj) and multiple rows (Ri), orienting angularly the preform at an input angular position by rotating the preform around the longitudinal axis; setting power levels of the infrared emitters (50) so as to divide the array of infrared emitters (50) into subsets of columns (SCn), each subset of columns (SCn) generating heat at a different power level from an adjacent subset of columns (SCn); and heating the preform (1) with the array of infrared emitters (50) while translating the preform (1) in a direction parallel to the rows (Ri) of the array at a translation speed, and simultaneously rotating said preform (1) around its longitudinal axis (A1) in front of said infrared emitters (50) at a rotation speed.