An apparatus (1) for handling and cooling plastic preforms comprising a rotatable handling station (2), provided with a plurality of retaining and cooling pins (3) for preforms and adapted to cooperate with an extraction plate (4) adapted to extract the preforms from an injection mold; an aeraulic circuit (5) connected to said station and comprising an aspiration duct (6) for aspirating air from the inside of the station; a delivery duct (7) for sending air to said station; cooling means (8) arranged along the delivery duct for cooling the air sent to said station; aspiration means (9, 19, 29) connected at least to the aspiration duct and to the delivery duct, and wherein switching means are further provided, to pass from a first circuit configuration, in which there is an air passage from the delivery duct to the inside of the station, to a second circuit configuration in which there is an air passage from the inside of the station to the aspiration duct, whereby, in the first configuration, air is blown by means of the plurality of pins, while, in the second configuration, air is aspirated by means of said plurality of pins.

In a method for manufacturing a resin container, in the adjusting the temperature of the preform, the preform is accommodated in a cavity mold, a refrigerant introduction member is inserted into the preform, the refrigerant introduction member including a first flow path and a second flow path which are different in introduction or discharge position of a refrigerant, the preform is cooled by bringing the preform into close contact with an inner wall of the cavity mold at a pressure of the refrigerant introduced from the refrigerant introduction member. When the preform is cooled, cooling is performed by switching between a first cooling blow for introducing the refrigerant from the first flow path and discharging the refrigerant from the second flow path and a second cooling blow for introducing the refrigerant from the second flow path and discharging the refrigerant from the first flow path.

A cooling plate for an injection molding machine includes a plate body, a plurality of sockets in the plate body for receiving respective spigot portions of a plurality of cooling tubes, and a cooling fluid conduit system in the plate body for cooling the cooling tubes. The cooling plate further includes an air conduit system in the plate body for providing air flow communication with the cooling tubes. Each socket forms a blockable flow passage between the cooling fluid conduit system and the air conduit system.

A device for the cooling and extraction of preforms for the manufacture of plastic containers, including at least one grip assembly which forms a number of receptacles for respective preforms and a component for transferring the preforms that are still warm from an injection molding device to the grip assembly, and a cooling and extraction assembly which includes a cooling plate supporting a number of cooling channels. The cooling and extraction assembly includes an unloading plate which is arranged on the opposite side of the grip assembly with respect to the cooling plate, and supporting grip bodies which can be moved on command in order to pass through the cooling plate so as to engage selectively, with the cooling plate in the closer position, with a respective preform in order to allow its extraction from the respective receptacle.

Provided is a resin container manufacturing method including: an injection molding process of injection molding a plurality of preforms along a predetermined arrangement direction; a temperature adjustment process of adjusting a temperature of the preform; and a blow molding process of molding a resin container from the preform. After the injection molding process, the preform and the container are conveyed along a conveying direction intersecting the arrangement direction over the temperature adjustment process and the blow molding process. The temperature adjustment process includes a first temperature adjustment process of adjusting the temperature of the preform, a second temperature adjustment process of adjusting the temperature of the preform under a condition different from that of the first temperature adjustment process, and a fine adjustment process of finely adjusting the temperature of the preform.

An injection molding machine includes a machine base extending along a horizontal machine axis; a stationary platen fixed to the base; a moving platen supported by the base; a center section supported by the base axially intermediate the stationary and moving platens; at least one mold stroke actuator for translating the moving platen and the center section along the machine axis between a mold-open position and a mold-closed position; a two-stage first injection unit supported by the base behind the stationary platen for injecting a first resin through the stationary platen; and a two-stage second injection unit supported by the base behind the moving platen for injecting a second resin through the moving platen. The second injection unit is translatable along the machine axis to accommodate translation of the moving platen during movement between the mold-open and mold-closed positions.

In a method for manufacturing a resin container, in the adjusting the temperature of the preform, the preform is accommodated in a cavity mold, a refrigerant introduction member is inserted into the preform, the refrigerant introduction member including a first flow path and a second flow path which are different in introduction or discharge position of a refrigerant, the preform is cooled by bringing the preform into close contact with an inner wall of the cavity mold at a pressure of the refrigerant introduced from the refrigerant introduction member. When the preform is cooled, cooling is performed by switching between a first cooling blow for introducing the refrigerant from the first flow path and discharging the refrigerant from the second flow path and a second cooling blow for introducing the refrigerant from the second flow path and discharging the refrigerant from the first flow path.

An injection molding machine includes a machine base extending along a horizontal machine axis; a stationary platen fixed to the base; a moving platen supported by the base; a center section supported by the base axially intermediate the stationary and moving platens; at least one mold stroke actuator for translating the moving platen and the center section along the machine axis between a mold-open position and a mold-closed position; a two-stage first injection unit supported by the base behind the stationary platen for injecting a first resin through the stationary platen; and a two-stage second injection unit supported by the base behind the moving platen for injecting a second resin through the moving platen. The second injection unit is translatable along the machine axis to accommodate translation of the moving platen during movement between the mold-open and mold-closed positions.

A cooling and retaining pin (1) for cooling, by air blowing, and retaining, by air suction, a plastic preform, the pin comprising a body (2), defining a longitudinal axis and having a first opening (5) at a first end thereof, coaxial to said longitudinal axis and adapted to be connected to a handling station; a movable element (3) adapted to slide at least partially inside said body; at least one air passage gap provided at a second end of the body or at said first end; wherein the movable element (3) is adapted to move from a first position, to which a first air passage section corresponds, to a second position, to which a second air passage section corresponds, which is smaller than said first section, so as to adjust a blowing air flow during the cooling step and a suction air flow during the step of retaining the preform.

The present invention concerns a handling plate for handling or aftertreatment of a plurality of mouldings, wherein the handling plate has a plurality of handling and/or aftertreatment tools arranged in columns and rows. In order to provide a treatment plate which can be used in relation to different tools it is proposed according to the invention that the spacings between the handling and/or aftertreatment tools are variable within the columns and/or within the rows.