Methods to expand polymer tubing with desirable or optimum morphology and mechanical properties for stent manufacture and fabrication of a stent therefrom are disclosed.

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.

An apparatus for controlling a tempering device of a blow-molding machine for tempering at least one blow mold member of a blow mold or a blow mold member carrier to a target temperature, with a device for receiving a temperature actual value of the blow mold member or the blow mold member carrier, where the temperature actual value is measured by a temperature measuring device in the blow mold member or the blow mold member carrier, devices for receiving a temperature target value of the blow mold member or the blow mold member carrier, analyzing the received temperature actual value and the received temperature target value, calculating a setting value for the tempering device from the received temperature actual value and the received temperature target value, and transmitting the setting value to the tempering device.

A plant for making containers of thermoplastic material in continuous cycle comprises: a rotary molding machine (1) configured to make parisons (2) of thermoplastic material having a body (3) with a closed bottom and a neck (4) which defines an opening; an oven (5) for heating the parisons (2), connected to the molding machine (1) and equipped with heating means (6) operating on the body (3) of the parisons (2); a rotary blow-molding machine (7) configured to receive the parisons (2) heated in the oven (5) and to blow-mold them in molds (8) to make the containers; and a management unit (9) for the plant (10), configured to switch off the oven (5) heating means (6) during a shutdown period of the blow-molding machine (7) but without interrupting the operation of the molding machine (1), so as to enable the parisons (2) located in the oven (5) to cool down during their transit through the oven (5).

A medical stent mold includes a tube having an interior passage sized and dimensioned to receive a stent assembly disposed at least partially about a central portion of a stent balloon. The medical stent mold may also include a housing forming a chamber through which the tube extends. The tube may include a thermally conductive material and may have a body portion that extends within the chamber and an end portion that is proximate the body portion and that extends away from the housing. Forced convection may be used to quickly heat and cool the tube. Methods of increasing retention of an expandable stent assembly on a stent balloon and of detecting a leak in a stent balloon are also included.

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.

The present invention provides a method for producing a resin bottle formed from a preform as a prototype by a blow molding process. The method comprises: a first step of measuring each of weights or wall thicknesses of a plurality of inspection parts set in a body portion of the preform; a second step of comparing each of the weights or the wall thicknesses measured by the first step with a preset set value, and thereby inspecting a difference between each of the weights or the wall thicknesses measured by the first step and the set value for each of the inspection parts; and a third step of adjusting a condition for blow molding in the blow molding process in accordance with an inspection result of each of the inspection parts.

A method for producing containers from preforms. In example embodiments, the containers can have different formats. In example embodiments, the method includes thermal conditioning of a preform made of a thermoplastic material, moulding by blow-moulding or stretch blow-moulding of the container by means of a unit for forming containers, and calibration. The calibration includes providing a sample preform for said format; placing, on said sample, at least two reference markers distributed along the height of said sample; thermally conditioning the sample and blow-moulding the sample in order to obtain a container according to said format; reading off the position of the reference markers on said container obtained; and assigning each of the heating means to at least one of the three portions on the basis of the position of the reference markers on said container obtained. The invention also relates to a facility implementing the production method.

A method for producing containers made of thermoplastic material from preforms. In example embodiments, the method includes comparing a thickness measurement with a stored thickness setpoint, by use of a control unit, and modifying an electrical power of at least two rows of radiation sources while keeping the sum of the electrical powers being supplied to all rows of radiation sources the same, by use of the control unit, if the measured thickness is different from the thickness setpoint. A computer program product and data processing device using the method is also disclosed.

Provided is a method for heating a succession of preforms. The method includes heating a body of a first preform using two heating elements that each heat a heated area of the body. The method includes determining a target heating temperature for each heated area according to the container to be produced, measuring the temperature of one of the heated areas of the body upon completion of the heating step, and modifying the heating power of the heating element corresponding to the heated area of the body if the measured temperature of the heated area is different from the target heating temperature. The method further includes heating the body of the other preforms of the succession of preforms with the modified heating power.