A preform for a container has a hollow cylindrical main body having a first thickness, a hollow cylindrical thick portion having a second thickness greater than the first thickness, and a curved end portion. Inner surfaces of the main body, the thick portion, and the end portion form a cavity.

A preform for a container has a hollow cylindrical main body having a first thickness, a hollow cylindrical thick portion having a second thickness greater than the first thickness, and a curved end portion. Inner surfaces of the main body, the thick portion, and the end portion form a cavity.

A preform for a container has a hollow cylindrical main body having a first thickness, a hollow cylindrical thick portion having a second thickness greater than the first thickness, and a curved end portion. Inner surfaces of the main body, the thick portion, and the end portion form a cavity.

Multi-barrier bottles having tabbed preforms, as well as methods of forming the same are disclosed. A tabbed preform includes an elongate body extending into a cavity of a first barrier, where the cavity is defined by at least one piece having a recess therein. The tabbed preform further includes at least one preform extension piece extending from the elongate body at a predetermined distance from a top surface of the elongate body. The at least one preform extension piece is sized and shaped to correspond to a size and a shape of the recess.

An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid container, in which a nozzle unit has a seal body disposed in a supply path, the seal body has an annular first seal portion, an annular second seal portion and a spare supply path extending from a flow inlet located between the first seal portion and the second seal portion to a flow outlet located closer to a tip side of the seal body than the second seal portion, and the seal body can move between a blocked position where the first seal portion sits on the supply path, a spare supply position where the first seal portion separates from the supply path and the second seal portion sits on the supply path and an open position where the first seal portion separates from the supply path and the second seal portion separates from the supply path.

A method includes injection molding a preform using a two phase injection system having a first phase in which a material is injected into the preform and a second phase in which the material is injected into the preform. The preform is disposed in a mold. The preform is blow molded into an intermediate article. The intermediate article is trimmed to form a finished container. The first phase includes injecting a material into the preform to form a single layer of the preform and the second phase includes injecting the material to form inner and outer layers and an intermediate layer between the inner and outer layers. The inner and outer layers include the material and the intermediate layer includes at least one additive. Finished containers are disclosed.

A method includes injection molding a preform using a two phase injection system having a first phase in which a material is injected into the preform and a second phase in which the material is injected into the preform. The preform is disposed in a mold. The preform is blow molded into an intermediate article. The intermediate article is trimmed to form a finished container. The first phase includes injecting a material into the preform to form a single layer of the preform and the second phase includes injecting the material to form inner and outer layers and an intermediate layer between the inner and outer layers. The inner and outer layers include the material and the intermediate layer includes at least one additive. Finished containers are disclosed.

A preform molding system is disclosed that includes a cavity half that is mountable to a stationary platen of an injection molding machine and a core half that is mountable to a moving platen of the injection molding machine. The preform molding system includes a mold stack assembly having a cavity portion and a core portion. The cavity portion is coupled to the cavity half and includes a cavity insert, and the core portion is coupled to the core half and includes a core insert, a pair of neck rings, and a stripper ring. The core insert has an undercut that defines an annular protrusion on an internal surface of a preform that is created in the mold stack assembly. The preform molding system is configured to permit in sequence, retraction of the pair of neck rings away from the core insert and ejection of the preform from the core insert via the stripper ring.

Disclosed are preforms which incorporate improvements in the region of the neck and upper segment of the body to allow the production of lightweight containers, such as bottles suitable for containing water or other beverages. In accordance with certain embodiments, the improvements include a thinner neck finish area than conventional bottles, where the thinner area is extended into the upper segment of the body portion below the support ring. Reducing the thickness in these areas of the bottle allows for less resin to be used in forming the preform and bottle.

A blow molded synthetic resin bottle has a body and an elongated neck with the body providing a shoulder extending about the base of the neck. The neck has a first collar extending thereabout spaced adjacent the shoulder and at least one additional collar extending thereabout adjacent the upper end of the neck. The resin in the neck is substantially unoriented. To produce the bottle, a synthetic resin preform is injection molded with a generally tubular body and the elongated neck. This preform is placed in a blow mold cavity having a body receiving portion and a neck receiving portion that has a recess extending thereabout seating the first collar therein. The additional collar is disposed outwardly of the mold cavity and is disposed on the upper surface of the mold.