A plastic container includes 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 tamper-evident formation, threads, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In embodiments, a closure may be provided to form an assembly. In an embodiment, the weight of the neck portion is 2.3 grams or less; a vertical distance from the lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to a top of the dispensing opening is 0.30 or less; and/or the container may be filled with a beverage. In embodiments, the volume of the container may be at least 500 ml. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

A container having varying material distribution or wall thickness is disclosed.

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.

A plastic container is provided that includes a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion; and a closure. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In an embodiment, the weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less; and the vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the lower surface of the support flange, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.580 inches or less. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

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.

Method for producing a plastic bottle, and preform and blowing mold suited therefore are disclosed. An exemplary process can produce a plastic bottle, for example, a PET bottle. Such a bottle can be produced from a preform which has a body which is closed on one side, which is connected to a neck section with a pour opening, in which the preform which has been produced in a plastic injection process or an extrusion process is placed in the mold cavity of a blow mold and inflated using the blow nozzle by overpressure according to the mold cavity. Sealing can take place between the blow nozzle and the preform within the preform.

A blow molding machine for blow molding a container having an integrally formed handle; said container blow molded from a previously injection molded preform; said preform comprising a body portion and said integrally formed handle; said machine including a preform loading station at which said preform is oriented by a preform orienting apparatus.

Injection stretch blow molding tooling for forming at least one parison and at least one stretch blown article having an integral handle. The tooling includes at least one cavity block, a body mold supported within the cavity block, a handle mold supported within the cavity block, and a thread split assembly positioned adjacent to said cavity block. The thread split assembly includes first and second thread split halves shiftable between an open position and a closed position. As such, the body mold, the handle mold, and the thread split assembly cooperatively define a parison-forming cavity, with such parison-forming cavity including a body cavity for forming a body of the parison and a handle cavity for forming a handle of the parison.

A preform configured to be blow-molded into a plastic bottle includes a neck section defining an opening, the neck section including a threaded portion configured to engage a closure, and a neck ring, a transition section having a first end positioned adjacent to the neck ring and a second end opposite the first end, a cylindrical body section extending from the second end of the transition section to a base, and a longitudinal axis extending from the opening through the base. The neck section, transition section, and the body section define a hollow channel positioned between the opening and the base. The transition section defines a tapered sidewall relative to the longitudinal axis, the tapered sidewall decreases a cross-sectional diameter of the hollow channel. The tapered sidewall of the transition section contains 20% to 30% of a total weight of the preform.

A plastic preform is provided that includes a closed bottom portion; a lower portion extending upwardly from the bottom portion; and a neck portion extending upwardly from the lower portion. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In an embodiment, the weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less; and the vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the lower surface of the support flange, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.580 inches or less. A container and method for making a container are also disclosed.