A heating apparatus and a heating method for preforms are provided which eliminate poor sterilization of a mouth portion of a preform to which a disinfectant has been blown.

A heating section that heats the preform is provided with a mouth portion heating section, and a mouth portion of the preform is heated to a temperature from 50 C. to 70 C.

An object of the present invention is to propose a device capable of automatically insetting a tube into a bending die instead of doing so manually, even if the shape of a product exceeds two meters in length, the device comprising a bending die having a tube insetting portion, and a traveling body that includes a guide mechanism guiding a tube to an upper portion of the tube insetting portion, an auxiliary guide mechanism keeping the tube in the upper portion of the tube insetting portion, a insetting roll insetting the tube in the tube insetting portion, a pair of drive wheels rolling along lower rails, and a drive mechanism, wherein the traveling body moves and insets a tube into the bending die while having the auxiliary guide mechanism and the drive wheels grip the bending die.

An oven (10) for the heat treatment of preforms and a method for operating an air-cooling device (42) fitted to such an oven includes controlling elements (58) to vary the cooling air flow rate onto the body (18) and bottom (20) of the preforms (12) along the heating path.

The invention relates to a device for heating preform bodies or flat or preformed semi-finished products from thermoplastic material (3), comprising at least one base body (1.0, 2.0), on the surface of which at least a first layer or coating is formed, which comprises at least one electric heating resistor in the form of a flat, geometrically arranged conductor loop. The base body also has contact elements, by which the at least one heating resistor can be connected to a power source, wherein, as a result of the geometrically arranged conductor loop(s), a defined temperature profile can be generated, which can be transmitted contactlessly to the preform body or the semi-finished product by an outer contact layer formed on the first layer or coating, by contact the surface of a preform body or semi-finished product and/or by using convection or thermal radiation. During a transmission of the defined temperature profile, the preform body or the semi-finished product is arranged at a distance to the contact layer(s).

A method for implementing a channel (56) includes providing a preform (20) having a recess (22) therein and heating a channel implementation element (30) to a temperature greater than a melting temperature of a material of the preform (20). An external contour of the channel implementation element (30) at least regionally corresponds to an internal contour of the channel (56) to be implemented. The method then moves the heated channel implementation and/or the preform (20) in relation to one another so that the heated channel implementation element (56) at least regionally moves into the recess (22) in a moving-in direction. The material of the preform (20) is at least partially melted in a region around the recess (20) and is at least partially displaced by the channel implementation element (30), wherein at least a part of the channel (56) to be implemented is thus implemented.

An Infrared heating system (101) designed for the efficient heating of preformed plastic tubes (106). The system comprises an infrared housing unit with multiple longitudinal strips (107N) of infrared heating elements (103), surpassing the length of the preformed tubes. A handling arrangement involving a series of rollers (202) facilitates the simultaneous oscillation and rotation of the plastic pipes. The inner surface of the infrared housing (102) features strategically positioned reflectors (109N) to enhance the infrared heating effect. The handling arrangement includes longitudinally spaced motorized rollers for axial movement, and motorized wheels (110) and tracks (111) for transverse movement. The infrared housing unit offers multiple temperature zones to suit the characteristics of the plastic pipes and employs temperature sensors (114N) for uniform and precise temperature control. A corresponding process for heating preformed plastic pipes is also described, integrating these features for effective and controlled heating.

Apparatus for heating plastic preforms, having a microwave generating device which generates microwaves, and having a resonator device which forms a receiving space into which the plastic preforms can be introduced so as to be acted upon by the microwaves in the resonator device in order to be heated, wherein the apparatus has a reflector element which is arranged at least partially in the receiving space and which is suitable and intended for conducting microwaves in the direction of a base region of the plastic preforms. According to the invention, the reflector element is movable relative to the receiving space and the apparatus has a drive device for moving the reflector element relative to the receiving space.

In one embodiment, a system for conditioning a preform for molding includes a heating cavity for receiving the preform, a heater configured to heat a gas, and a blower configured to force the gas heated by the heater into the heating cavity. In another embodiment, a method of conditioning a preform for molding includes positioning the preform in a heating cavity and forcing a heated gas into the heating cavity onto an exterior surface of the preform.

Method for thermal conditioning, within a thermal conditioning unit that is equipped with a row of adjacent emitters that each comprise a number of monochromatic electromagnetic-radiation sources, of a queue of preforms of containers having a head preform or a tail preform, with this method comprising the following operations: Periodically determining the position of the head preform, or, respectively, of the tail preform; As the queue of preforms moves along, gradually igniting the emitters that are located downstream and in the vicinity of the head preform or, respectively, gradually extinguishing the emitters that are located upstream and in the vicinity of the tail preform.

Methods and systems are provided for heating a dielectric preform material. An exemplary method includes inserting the preform material into a microwave cavity along a longitudinal axis of the microwave cavity and supplying the microwave cavity with microwave power having a frequency that corresponds to an axial wavelength along the longitudinal axis of the microwave cavity. The axial wavelength is greater than a length of the preform material along the longitudinal axis. The method includes heating the preform material within the microwave cavity by the microwave power and determining temperatures of the preform material at one or more locations on a surface of the preform material. The method further includes adjusting, based on the temperatures of the preform material, the microwave frequency to achieve substantially uniform heating at least on a sidewall of the preform material along the longitudinal axis.