An injection-molded preform for forming an 8 ounce PET container includes a neck portion configured to engage a closure and having a first wall thickness and an elongated body portion having an upper segment adjacent the neck portion and a lower segment adjacent an end cap. The upper segment has a second wall thickness substantially similar to the first wall thickness. The lower segment has a third wall thickness greater than the second wall thickness. The preform has a total weight less than 7 grams.

Disclosed herein, amongst other things, is a method for converting a design of an original preform that is blow moldable to form a container into a converted preform having less molding material that is blow moldable to form the same container. The method includes retaining a neck finish and body of the original preform on the converted preform. The method further includes replacing the original base of the original preform with a converted base having an outer base surface that joins with an outer body surface of the body at an base split-line of the original base and that fits offset within an outer body surface of the original base, whereby the converted preform has a reduced total length, disregarding any gate vestige that may be formed thereon, relative to a total length of the original preform.

A mold device and a method related thereto for forming a plastic container from a preform. The mold device comprises a mold defining a mold cavity, an optional stretch initiation rod system for engaging an interior portion of the preform to define a stretch initiation area, and a centrally disposed pressure source positionable within the preform for introducing a pressurized fluid.

Preform (1) made of a plastic material for the manufacturing of a container (2) by blow molding or stretch-blow molding, the preform (1) including a sidewall (20) extending along a main axis (Z), an open neck (4) and a substantially hemispherical closed bottom (21) having a thickness (T) which varies at least locally around the main axis (Z).

A mold for blow molding a container from a preform, the container including a wall portion and a base including a high standing ring and a central outwardly-inclined invertible diaphragm, the mold including sidewalls forming a counter print of the wall portion of the container (1) and a mold base (36) having an upper surface (37) defining a counter print of the container base, wherein the upper surface (37) includes: an annular peripheral face (43) corresponding to an annular support flange of the container base; a frusto-conical outer face (44) corresponding to an inner portion (11) of the high standing ring, the outer face (44) protruding upwardly with a draft angle (A2) from an inner edge of the peripheral annular face (43) up to a sharp apex (45), and a frusto-conical downwardly inclined inner face (46) corresponding to the invertible diaphragm.

A method for injection molding a preform includes: a) loading a barrier membrane into a first mold cavity; b) injecting melt into the first mold cavity to undermold the barrier membrane and form a preform inner layer on an inside of the barrier membrane; c) moving the preform inner layer and the barrier membrane from the first mold cavity into a second mold cavity; and d) injecting melt into the second mold cavity to overmold the barrier membrane and form a preform outer layer on an outside of the barrier membrane. Preforms formed by the method and an injection molding machine to carry out the method are also disclosed.

Described are a mold and molding process for manufacturing devices and containers that are scalable, modular, and lockable laterally and vertically with other like devices or containers. The mold is formed with a cup mold and top end mold sections specially designed to allow for molding and demolding a container with an undercut. The cup mold includes, on a vertical wall, one or more undercuts. Multiple undercuts may further form tongues with undercuts each of which forms a groove with undercuts on the molded article, and/or one or more grooves with undercuts each of which form a tongue with undercuts in the molded article. Molding and Demolding of the article with undercuts is further enabled by utilizing an improved method of molding said article with an undercut, and demolding said article from the mold once it is molded, by improvements to each stage of the molding process, including the preform stage, the conditioning station stage, the blow stage and the release stage.

A preform configured to form a container by stretch blow molding. The preform includes a finish portion and a tip portion. The finish portion is at a first end of the preform and is a container finish of the container. The tip portion is at a second end of the preform opposite to the first end. The tip portion is configured to form a container base and a container heel of the container. An outer surface of the tip portion includes a flat surface, a first radius on a first side of the flat surface, a second radius between the first radius and the flat surface, a third radius extending from the flat surface on a second side of the flat surface, and a fourth radius extending from the third radius towards the second end of the preform through which a longitudinal axis of the preform extends.

The invention concerns a preform for a container made of plastic material, comprising a cylindrical body that extends along an axis of revolution of the preform and a bottom that closes the cylindrical body. The bottom has an outer profile with a central portion and a curved portion joining the central portion to the cylindrical body. The central portion has, in longitudinal cross-section, a first concave section. The curved portion has successively, in longitudinal cross-section, from the first concave section towards the cylindrical body, a first convex or frustoconical section, a second concave section and a second convex or frustoconical section.

An injection molding mold including a neck mold forming an outer surface of a neck portion of a hollow article, an injection cavity mold forming an outer surface of a body portion of the hollow article, and an injection core mold forming an inner surface of the hollow article, in which the injection core mold includes an outer core mold forming an inner surface of the neck portion including an inner screw portion and, while rotating along the inner screw portion, being movable along a rotation axis thereof, and an inner core mold forming an inner surface of the body portion of the hollow article having a smaller diameter than that of the neck portion and being linearly movable inside the outer core mold along the rotation axis.