A blow molding apparatus includes: an injection molding section for injection molding a plurality of preforms at a time; a cooling section for cooling the preforms; a heating section for heating the preforms while continuously transporting them along a transport line; and a blow molding section for blow molding the preforms to form hollow containers. The blow molding section includes a primary blow molding section which is equipped with a heat-treating blow mold and blow molds the preforms moved from the transport line into the heat-treating blow mold to form intermediate molded products, and a secondary blow molding section which is equipped with a final blow mold and blow molds the intermediate molded products moved from the heat-treating blow mold into the final blow mold to form the hollow containers.

The unit (1) for processing hollow-body plastic blanks (2) includes a chamber (6) wherein the blanks (2) move along a predetermined path. The chamber (6) is defined, on both sides of the path, by two side walls (3, 4) having inner surfaces (5) that face each other. The chamber (6) includes a main section (9) wherein at least one of the walls (3, 4) is provided with a plurality of electromagnetic radiation sources (10). The side walls (3, 4) define therebetween, on at least one end of the chamber, an opening (8) for the preforms to pass therethrough. The chamber (6) includes at least one optical confinement section (12) that extends between the main section (9) and the opening (8) and wherein the inner surfaces (5) of the side walls (3, 4) are optically reflective and converge toward the opening (8).

A blow molding apparatus comprises: a continuous transport section 150 provided with a loop-shaped transport path 151 for continuously transporting a preform 200; an intermittent transport section 160 for intermittently transporting the preform 200 to a blow molding section 140; and a delivery section 170 for holding the preform 200 being transported on the transport path 151, and delivering it to the intermittent transport section 160. The delivery section 170 is equipped with a cooling means 300 for jetting a cooling fluid from a first nozzle member 301 onto an outer surface of the preform 200 to cool the preform 200 locally.

A method for manufacturing a bottle including forming the bottle (10) that is formed in a bottomed tubular shape and has a bottom wall section (19) provided with a contact part (18) positioned at an outer circumferential edge thereof and a deformable tube part that is of a multilevel topped tubular shape, is provided upright at the contact part (18), and blocks an inside of the contact part (18); the method having a primary blow molding process of performing biaxial stretch blow molding on a preform to obtain a primary intermediate molded article; a heat treatment process of heating the primary intermediate molded article to be forcibly shrunken and molded into a secondary intermediate molded article; and a secondary blow molding process of performing blow molding on the secondary intermediate molded article to obtain the bottle (10).

An apparatus and method for forming a plastic container is provided. The method includes disposing a preform into a primary mold cavity and applying pressurized air to urge the preform to conform to the shape of the primary mold cavity to form a primary article. The primary article is then permitted to shrink to a predetermined volume. The method can further include exposing the primary article to an internal vacuum to facilitate shrinking to a predetermined volume. The method further includes disposing the primary article into a second mold cavity and applying pressurized air to urge the primary article to conform to the second mold cavity to form an intermediate article. Finally, at least a portion of the intermediate article is trimmed off to form a final container.

A method and apparatus for the formation of double-walled containers with the structure of two integrally connected and adjacent containers extending in the same direction with an air gap between them, stretch-blow moulded as single bodies out of thermoplastic material, and suitable for mass-production. A thermoplastic tubular blank is formed and then heat-conditioned. The heat-conditioned tubular blank is then mechanically stretched longitudinally and blow-formed outwards by gas pressure to conformingly and stretchingly assume the tubular blank to the shape of a first dual-container shaped mould cavity set in order to form a stretch-blow moulded first container integrally connected to a second container, with both containers extending in opposite directions. Next, additional heat-conditioning is applied to further heat-condition as necessary the stretch-blow moulded second container and if deemed an advantage, at least part of the first container. Then at least one profiled inversion piston shaped as a male mould member with an outer surface configuration that defines the inner surface configuration of the article being formed and a second container shaped mould cavity set with a single-container shaped configuration are provided along with one or more wall stability devices which are applied to at least part of the wall surface(s) of either or both of the two integrally connected stretch-blow moulded containers, such that the second smaller container side wall(s) are at least substantially not in contact with the second container shaped mould cavity set and may be inverted at least partially inside-out, while at the same time the second smaller container bottom wall at least substantially does not invert, in order for the second smaller container to become a substantially mirror-image inverted second smaller container extending in the same direction as, and interior to, the first container.

An apparatus for reheating and conditioning an elongate preform for forming a blow molded container, said apparatus comprising: a receiver including an elongate annular non-cylindrical inner surface portion, wherein the surface portion defines a cavity and is adapted to engage with an elongate outer surface of an elongate preform to transfer heat thereto by conduction from said surface portion, wherein the surface portion includes a three-dimensional relief to provide substantially non-uniform contact between the receiver and the elongate preform; and means for heating said receiver.

A preform heating apparatus has cover members 164 provided to close upper parts of two transport lines arranged in parallel, heating units 162 each having heaters 166 for heating preforms 200, and a first supply section for supplying cooling air into the cover members 164. The heating units 162 are each provided within each cover member 164 on a side between the transport lines. The first supply section introduces cooling air from air delivery spaces 169 provided between the transport lines into the cover members 164 through gaps between the heaters 166 to supply the cooling air toward the preforms 200.

A heat-resistant and biaxially stretched blow-molded plastic container includes a base movable to accommodate vacuum forces generated within the container and thereby decrease the volume of the container. Embodiments of a container include a push-up portion, and first and second parting lines that are separated from one another by a gap and that extend on opposite sides of the push-up portion. Embodiments of such a container exhibit one or more of the following: (a) a distance between each parting line and the center of the base is not more than 20 mm; (b) a distance between the two parting lines is not more than 40 mm; and/or (c) a distance between the two parting lines is less than 50% of the transverse dimension of the base measured between the two outermost points of the parting lines. Methods for blow molding heat-resistant plastic containers are also disclosed.

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.