A cluster pack comprises at least two containers connected by a glued joint. One of the containers has a thickened wall region in the region of the glued joint. This region acts as a well reinforcement to reduce the risk of tearing a container during detachment from the cluster pack.

A plastic container is provided that includes a hollow body portion including a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; and a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, at least one thread, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In embodiments, a closure may be provided to form an assembly. In embodiments, the container may be comprised of PET, the weight of the neck portion from the lower surface of the support flange to a top of the dispensing opening may be 3.0 grams or less, and/or the vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the lower surface of the support flange may be 0.580 inches or less. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

A blow mold system including a mold body and a base portion. The mold body includes a central bore extending from a first end of the mold body to a second end of the mold body along a longitudinal axis. The first end is configured to receive a mold preform. The base portion includes a recess, and the base portion is arranged at the second end of the mold body such that the central bore and recess define a blow mold cavity in which a container may be formed from the mold preform. In embodiments, the blow mold system has at least two interchangeable base portions that allow for containers with differently-sized or differently-shaped necks to be formed.

Disclosed are preforms which incorporate improvements in the region of the neck and upper segment of the body to allow the production of lightweight containers, such as bottles suitable for containing water or other beverages. In accordance with certain embodiments, the improvements include a thinner neck finish area than conventional bottles, where the thinner area is extended into the upper segment of the body portion below the support ring. Reducing the thickness in these areas of the bottle allows for less resin to be used in forming the preform and bottle.

Preform assembly for blow moulding a container, comprising at least a first and a second perform, wherein the first perform is positioned inside the second perform before blow moulding the performs into the container, wherein each perform has a body forming portion having a wall thickness of less than about 8 millimetres, preferably less than about 6 mm.

A nozzle tool system for extrusion blow molding has an intermediate module and at least first and second nozzle outlet units, each forming an adjustable nozzle outlet gap between a mandrel extending axially and a deformable sleeve. The units can be connected with the intermediate module as replacements for one another, and have a first outlet diameter and a larger second outlet diameter different from one another. At least one setting drive for reversible deformation of the sleeve is arranged on the intermediate module and can be connected with the deformable sleeve by way of a releasable coupling arrangement. The first nozzle outlet unit delimits a first setting path of the setting drive, using at least one inner mechanical stop, and the second nozzle outlet unit delimits a second setting path of the setting drive, greater than the first setting path, using at least one inner mechanical stop.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a preform (1). The method includes injecting into a cavity of a mold through the gate: (i) a first colored resin (R1) for a first predetermined time period, and (ii) a second colored resin (R2), having a color different from that of the first colored resin, for a second predetermined time period.

Blow molded articles having a predetermined feature incorporated into the wall provided by variations in the thickness of the wall of the article corresponding to a predetermined pattern etched into the preform from which the article was formed. Also, etched preforms for making blow molded articles and methods for making such preforms and articles.

A plastic container includes a hollow body portion including a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; and a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, at least one thread, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In embodiments, a closure may be provided to form an assembly. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

A plastic preform includes a hollow body portion including a closed base portion and a lower portion and a lower portion extending upwardly from the closed bottom portion; and a neck portion extending upwardly from the lower portion. The neck portion includes a dispensing opening positioned at a top of the neck portion, threads positioned below the dispensing opening, a tamper-evident formation having a lower surface and positioned directly below the threads, and a support flange having an upper surface and a lower surface and positioned below the tamper-evident formation. In an embodiment, the plastic preform is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and a vertical distance from the lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the lower surface of the support flange is from 0.125 to 0.150 inches. Containers and methods for molding preforms and making containers are also disclosed.