A heating device for the thermal conditioning of preforms made of a thermoplastic material at a temperature profile that is suitable for a blow molding, and a blow molding machine having such a heating device. The heating device includes a plurality of heating units arranged one behind another along a heating section. The preforms are transported on a transport path along the heating section and along the heating units. The heating section includes a first heating section portion provided with first heating units for the uniform heating of the preforms in their peripheral direction, and a second heating section portion provided with second heating units for the non-uniform heating of the preforms in their peripheral direction. A method for the thermal conditioning of preforms is also disclosed.

This invention discloses method of manufacture of balloon expandable stent made from bioabsorbable polymer with thin struts (strut thickness 130 m or less, preferably 100-110 m) with high fatigue and radial strength. The invention further discloses balloon expandable stent made from bioabsorbable polymer with thin struts (strut thickness 130 m or less, preferably 100-110 m) with high fatigue and radial strength.

A process is provided for making a blow-molded PET container comprising a wall having a density of between about 1.370 g/cc and 1.385 g/cc, a heat-induced crystallinity of from about 18% to about 25%, and a strain-induced crystallinity of from about 55% to about 75%, wherein the PET container, when filled with a liquid having a temperature of from about 100 C. to about 132 C. or when subjected to a pasteurization or retort process, will not experience a change in volume of greater than 3%.

An oven for preforms and in particular a preform rotation system heats portions of the preform in a preferential manner. An oven (1) for blowing or stretch-blowing preforms (P) to provide containers (C) with oval section includes a path (2) for the preforms (P), transfer system (3) of the preforms (P) from a transport system upstream of the oven (1) and a transfer system (4) of the heated preforms (P) from the oven (1) to a downstream transport. Mandrels (9) are slidingly carried along the path (2), the mandrels temporarily engage with the preforms (P) to conduct the preforms along the path (2). The oven (1) includes at least one first heating module (10) and at least one second heating module (10). The oven (1) includes elements (22, 25) for rotating the preforms (P) by 180, the elements being in median position of the second heating module (10).

A method for forming a container with an integral handle includes heating a preform having an integral handle in a first oven, stretching the preform, closing a first mold having a first mold recess and a second mold having a second mold recess around the preform, and blowing air into the preform. A handle pocket wedge block is inserted into a handle pocket of the integral handle of the preform within the first mold and the second mold.

An apparatus and method improves the production efficiency of crystallizer bottleneck cooling. The apparatus includes a cooling turntable, a plurality of cooling head assemblies, a cam plate of preform insertion, a cam plate of preform lifting and a cam plate of preform release, a protective sleeve on a crystallization chain. The preform is set in a protective sleeve with the preform neck exposed at the protective sleeve, and the cooling head assemblies are mounted on the cooling turntable and set at the top of the protective sleeve. The cooling head assembly includes a upper mounting plate and a lower mounting plate, a cooling shaft body, a guide shaft. The upper mounting plate is provided with an upper roller, the lower mounting plate is provided with a lower roller. The cam plate of preform insertion, cam plate of preform lifting and cam plate of preform release are mounted on the rotating path of the cooling head assembly.

The present disclosure provides a processing method for a polymer material to create a medical device with improved mechanical properties. This method allows better tailoring of the material's mechanical properties, hence a device to withstand greater structural loads in vivo. The method comprises providing an extruded polymer tube having an initial diameter and an initial length along a longitudinal direction, and longitudinally, bi-directionally straining the extruded polymer tube in a mold from the initial length to an expanded or extended length. The mold comprises a plurality of stationary heating elements. After longitudinally straining the tube, it is radially expanding in the mold from the initial diameter to an expanded diameter.

The invention relates to a heating device (H) for the thermal conditioning of preforms (1) made of a thermoplastic material at a temperature profile that is suitable for a blow molding and a blow molding machine (B) having a heating device (H) of this type. The heating device (H) has multiple heating units (30, 30) arranged behind one another along a heating section (24) and transport means (33) for transporting the preforms (1) on a transport path (55) along the heating section (24) and along the heating units (30, 30). The transport means (33) are connected in a chain-like manner to form a closed continuous transport chain (50) and have a rotary drive body (52) that cooperates with a first engaging device (51) that is driven and arranged such that it circulates at a distance to the transport chain (50) in order to introduce a rotational movement thereof about a longitudinal axis of the transport means (33) via engagement in the rotary drive body (52). The heating device (H) has a first heating section with first heating units (30) for the uniform heating of the preforms (1) in their peripheral direction and a second heating section with second heating units (30) for the non-uniform heating of the preforms (1) in their peripheral direction (preferential heating). The first engaging device (51) is arranged in such a way that it is engaged with the rotary drive body (52) in the region of the first heating section and is not engaged with the rotary drive body (52) in the region of the second section. The heating device (H) has a second engaging device (45, 45, 45) that can be driven and is arranged such that it circulates at a distance to the transport chain (50), said second engaging device being arranged in such a way that it is engaged with the rotary drive body (52) in the region of the second heating section and also has the translation speed of the transport chain (50). Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for the thermal conditioning of preforms.

A facility for the production of containers from blanks, which facility includes: a forming unit equipped with a rotating carrousel driven by a motor; a unit for heating blanks, equipped with infrared emitters and a power feed for each emitter; a control unit having in the memory a nominal speed setpoint .sub.N of the rotation of the carrousel and a nominal electrical power setpoint P.sub.N. The control unit is programmed for: controlling the rotation of the carrousel according to the nominal speed setpoint .sub.N. During its acceleration: taking into account the real instantaneous speed of rotation of the carrousel, and regulating the electrical power of the feed to an instantaneous value P such that:

[00001]$P\left(t\right)=P_N.Math.\frac{}{{}_N}$

The present disclosure provides a processing method for a polymer material to create a medical device with improved mechanical properties. This method allows better tailoring of the material's mechanical properties, hence a device to withstand greater structural loads in vivo. The method comprises providing an extruded polymer tube having an initial diameter and an initial length along a longitudinal direction, and longitudinally, bi-directionally straining the extruded polymer tube in a mold from the initial length to an expanded or extended length. The mold comprises a plurality of stationary heating elements. After longitudinally straining the tube, it is radially expanding in the mold from the initial diameter to an expanded diameter.