Systems and methods control the operation of a blow molder. An indication of a crystallinity of at least one container produced by the blow molder may be received along with a material distribution of the at least one container. A model may be executed, where the model relates a plurality of blow molder input parameters to the indication of crystallinity and the material distribution and where a result of the model comprises changes to at least one of the plurality of blow molder input parameters to move the material distribution towards a baseline material distribution and the crystallinity towards a baseline crystallinity. The changes to the at least one of the plurality of blow molder input parameters may be implemented.

Provided is a method for calibrating at least one processing element, in a processing station for processing plastic preforms, includes providing: a first measurement preform establishing at least one first measurement value of the measurement preform before processing by the processing station, and a second measurement value of the measurement preform is measured by the measuring element or a further measuring element before or after processing by the processing station, and using at least these two measurement values, a mathematical temperature curve, is recorded by the measuring element, wherein at least one calibration device determines a deviation of the measured temperature curve from a mathematical standard temperature curve, and eliminates this deviation at least partially by adaptation of processing parameters of the processing station.

Systems and methods for controlling the operation of a blow molder are disclosed. An indication of a crystallinity of at least one container produced by the blow molder may be received along with a material distribution of the at least one container. A model may be executed, where the model relates a plurality of blow molder input parameters to the indication of crystallinity and the material distribution and where a result of the model comprises changes to at least one of the plurality of blow molder input parameters to move the material distribution towards a baseline material distribution and the crystallinity towards a baseline crystallinity. The changes to the at least one of the plurality of blow molder input parameters may be implemented.

A method of thermal imaging a preform for a blow molding operation is provided. The method involves heating a preform and measuring its temperature along is longitudinal axis and around its circumference and converting the temperature measurements into a two-dimensional thermal image.

The present disclosure relates to a container treatment system for regulating a temperature of a preform, wherein the container treatment system comprises a production machine for producing a preform, in particular an injection molding machine, a heating apparatus arranged downstream of the production machine, a blow molding machine arranged downstream of the heating apparatus, and a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to regulate an operating parameter of at least one component of the container treatment system based on an actual temperature of the preform at a position upstream of the blow molding machine in order to achieve a target temperature of the preform at the blow molding machine.

The invention relates to a control circuit (1) for an apparatus comprising a heating device for preforms, a blow molding machine for producing containers from preheated preforms, a first measuring device (15) for determining an actual temperature of the heated preforms and a second measuring device (9) for determining an actual light transmission of the containers, wherein the control circuit for controlling the light transmission of containers comprises: A higher-level control circuit having a first comparator (4) for determining a first control difference (5) from a target light transmission (2) and an actual light transmission (3) and having a first controller (6) which, based on the first control difference as a first input variable for a system (16), outputs a first adaptation (7) of a process parameter of a station of the blow molding machine as a first output variable and controls the process parameter of the station of the blow molding machine in accordance with the first adaptation. The first controller also outputs a target temperature (8) of the heated preform as a second output variable, based on the first control difference as an input variable. A subordinate control circuit having a second comparator (11) for determining a second control difference (12) from the target temperature and the actual temperature and having a second controller (13) which, based on the second control difference as a second input variable for a system (16), outputs a second adaptation (14) of a heating behavior of the heating device as a third output variable and controls the heating behavior of the furnace in accordance with the second adaptation (14).

A control system (34) for a unit (9) for forming containers (2) from blanks (3) provided with a series of forming stations (10) each provided with a mold (11), the system (34) including a master control unit (36) and a series of slave controllers (37) each associated with at least one forming station (10), each controller (37) being programmed to: control the or each associated forming station (10) according to a forming command (CF) loaded in the controller (37); take into account a pressure measurement in the mold (11), from this measurement, establish a blowing curve describing the change in the fluid pressure in the mold (11), analyze the blowing curve and extract therefrom the coordinates of at least one singular point (S); communicate the singular point (S) to the control unit (36).

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing containers from thermoplastic materials by blow moulding or extrusion blow moulding a preform that has been pre-heated in a furnace then placed in a mould consisting of two half-moulds that define a moulding cavity, said preform being blown into the mould, optionally with a pre-blowing step. Said steps of heating the preforms, pre-blowing and blowing are controlled by a control unit on the basis of various control parameters such as the temperature in the furnace, the blowing pressure in the mould and/or the pre-blowing pressure and/or the pre-blowing flow rate and/or the speed of the stretching rod, for example. Said method is characterised in that it comprises at least the following steps: i) measuring the wall thickness of said containers at at least two different heights upon exiting the mould; ii) comparing the thickness measurements with setpoint values determined for each height of the containers; iii) if the difference between the thickness measurements and the determined setpoint values is greater than a determined threshold, modifying at least one of the control parameters, said modified control parameter(s) being selected at least by calculating the theoretical effects of the variation for each parameter on the thicknesses, then selecting the parameter or parameters that cause the smallest difference between the measured thickness values and the theoretical thickness values; iv) steps i) to iii) are repeated until the differences between the thickness measurements and the determined setpoint values are below said determined threshold.

A method of analyzing preforms for potential bursting during forming and filling by injecting an incompressible liquid to shape the successive heating preforms into containers and fill the containers. The method defines at least one stress parameter correlated to the internal stress of the thermoplastic material of the preform and defines a range of acceptable values for the stress parameter. The method includes analyzing each successive initial preform and each successive heated preform, determining a value of the stress parameter, comparing the determined value to a range of acceptable values, and emitting an output signal when the determined value is outside the acceptable range of values.

A machine for manufacturing containers from blanks of plastic material, which includes an oven furnished with a plurality of radiation sources for heating blanks as they travel through at a predetermined speed of travel and heating profile, and a programmed control center for modifying the speed of travel and heating profile based on a temperature measurement made on a blank leaving the oven, and a pressure measurement made in the blank during a subsequent blowing.