A fuel tank production apparatus includes a forming mold and a cooling mold. The forming mold has a protruding ridge portion on a molding surface thereof and is configured to form a primary molded article while forming a bead-shaped portion so as to provide a recess on an outer surface. The cooling mold is configured to cool the primary molded article while crushing the bead-shaped portion by cooling blow pressure and deforming the bead-shaped portion into a rib-shaped portion.

A modular system for blow molding a container. The system may include a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. The first portion and second portion may each include a shell, a mold removably coupled to the shell, and a top plate. The third portion may include a base and a base mold. The molds may be 3D printed. The molds together may define a blow mold cavity. The modular system may be used at lab scale, pilot scale, or full production scale. The molds may be durable and smooth enough for full production scale. Some embodiments are directed to methods for making a modular system for blow molding a container.

A preform is heated, the heated preform is sealed in a sealing apparatus including a neck portion mold, a trunk portion mold and a bottom portion mold at a predetermined temperature range, and the heated preform sealed in the molds is blow-molded into a bottle. Any molded bottle is removed if the mold surface temperature of the neck portion mold, the trunk portion mold and the bottom portion mold are outside of the predetermined temperature range. A sterilizer is blasted to any molded bottle not removed when the mold surface temperature of all of the molds is in the predetermined temperature range.

The injection-blow-moulding mould comprises: a punch (1) having a blow opening (3) connected to a first conduit (5) which is in communication with a first source of pressurised gas supply (6) configured to supply pressurised gas through the blow opening (3) at an overpressure (OP) above a blowing pressure (BP) suitable to blow a preform (30a) into a container (30b) and an exhaust opening (4) connected to a second conduit (7) which is in communication with a pressure-limiting device set at the blowing pressure (BP); a blow-moulding cavity (2) configured to receive therein the punch (1) with a hot and soft preform (30a) arranged thereon; and a cooling device associated to the blow-moulding cavity (2). Gas inside the container (30b) exceeding the blowing pressure (BP) is allowed to escape through the exhaust opening (4) thereby a cooling gas stream is created from the blow opening (3) to the exhaust opening.