A preform assembly includes: an outer preform that includes an outer mouth portion and a stretch portion connected to the outer mouth portion and in which a recess extending in a vertical direction is provided on an inner surface of the stretch portion; and an inner preform that includes an inner mouth portion and a stretch portion connected to the inner mouth portion, wherein an outside air introduction port communicating with a part between the outer preform and the inner preform is provided in a mouth portion composed of the outer mouth portion and the inner mouth portion located on an inner side of the outer mouth portion.

Method for making 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.

A preform for molding a dual container, in which an inner preform is inserted into an outer preform in a state in which a mouth portion of the inner preform is fitted into a mouth portion of an outer preform, the inner preform is formed of a crystalline resin, a crystallized region is provided in at least a portion of the inner preform, the crystallized region having a degree of crystallization greater than that of the other portion, the portion of the inner preform adjacent to the mouth portion from below the mouth portion and located below the outside air introduction hole, a step portion facing upward and a rib extending upward from the step portion are formed on an inner circumferential surface of the inner preform, and at least a part of the rib is adjacent to the crystallized region from above the crystallized region.

A method and device for producing an optimized neck contour on preforms below the neck which is optimal for subsequent stretch blow molding. The geometry has a significantly thinner wall thickness than the neck itself. The preform can only be produced in the injection molding tool, when axial channels are used on the point or the vanes produce the thin points on the preform during injection molding. The thin-walled geometry on the preform can be produced outside of the mold during post-cooling by embossing. The preform is then removed in a cooled receiving sleeve and is cooled in the body by intensive contact cooling while no cooling contact is made with the preform neck due to the initial position of the embossing element. Due to the reheating of the neck they can be mechanically deformed into a new geometry advantageous for blow molding and thus wall thickness can be influenced.

Method of making a blow molded article from a preform including: a) providing a preform of a thermoplastic material having a plurality of effect structures each having an effect surface having a normal with an orientation, the preform having a body with one or more walls and an opening, wherein at least a portion of the one or more walls of the preform has a three-dimensional pattern of cavities and/or protrusions thereon; and b) blow molding the preform to form a blow molded article, wherein the step of blow molding the preform changes the orientation of the normal of at least some of the effect surfaces of the effect structures to create a visual effect in at least one wall of the blow molded article.

A plural preform assembly having nested preforms with an inner preform and an outer preform. The preforms are sealably joined together, defining a volume between the preforms. Propellant is disposed in the volume between the preforms. The preforms are later blow molded to provide a bag in bottle, bottle in bottle or similar container. The propellant charge is already present when blow molded, preventing the need for a later propellant filling step.

A method for heating a preform (1) comprising a body portion (4) extending along a longitudinal axis (A1). The method comprises the following steps:—introducing the preform (1) into a heating apparatus (5) comprising an array of infrared emitters (50) arranged in multiple columns (Cj) and rows (Ri); —setting power levels of the infrared emitters (50) so as to divide said array into subsets of columns (SCn); and—heating the preform while translating it in a direction parallel to the rows (Ri), and simultaneously rotating it around its longitudinal axis, the rotation and translation speeds, and the power levels of the infrared emitters (50) being set so that the power levels of the subsets of columns (SCn) facing zones (42) of the body portion extending longitudinally are different from the power levels of the subsets of columns facing the rest of the body portion, said zones extending relative to one another in a polygonal array.

Disclosed herein, amongst other things, is a molded article, such as a preform that is blow moldable to form a container, and a related method of forming and recycling a container. The structure and steps includes injection molding a molded article having tubular body.

Method for heating a preform (1) comprising: introducing the preform (1) into a heating apparatus (5) comprising an array of infrared emitters (50) arranged in multiple columns (Cj) and multiple rows (Ri), orienting angularly the preform at an input angular position by rotating the preform around the longitudinal axis; setting power levels of the infrared emitters (50) so as to divide the array of infrared emitters (50) into subsets of columns (SCn), each subset of columns (SCn) generating heat at a different power level from an adjacent subset of columns (SCn); and heating the preform (1) with the array of infrared emitters (50) while translating the preform (1) in a direction parallel to the rows (Ri) of the array at a translation speed, and simultaneously rotating said preform (1) around its longitudinal axis (A1) in front of said infrared emitters (50) at a rotation speed.

A mold stack comprises: a split mold insert split into parts, each having a mating face with an inner face region, an offset, and an outer face region, the insert further having a male projecting portion with a shutoff face and an outer surface, at least a part of the inner face region terminating at the shutoff face, the offset terminating at the outer surface; and an adjacent mold stack component having an associated a female receptacle, the insert having a cleaning configuration wherein: the shutoff face acts as a molding surface; the male projecting portion cooperates with the female receptacle to define a melt barrier; the complementary inner face regions are spaced apart to form an extension of the mold cavity terminating, at least in part, at the shutoff face; and the complementary offsets cooperate to prevent melt from passing therebetween and to guide melt towards the melt barrier.