A polymeric container including a base, a body, a finish, finish threads, and a tamper lip. The finish threads are at an outer surface of the finish, and are configured to cooperate with closure threads of a closure to secure the closure to the finish. The tamper lip extends from the outer surface of the finish, and is configured to replace the support flange during handling, and to cooperate with a tamper band of the closure. A recess is below the tamper lip. The recess retains the tamper band below the tamper lip when the closure is removed from cooperation with the finish. A gripper groove between the finish threads, the gripper groove configured to cooperate with a gripper for grasping the finish.

A method for controlling a machine block comprising a blow-moulding machine for producing bottles and comprising a filler for filling a liquid product into bottles, and a corresponding machine block. Accordingly, the blow-moulding machine comprises an electronic blow-moulding machine controller and an even number of circulating blow-moulding stations, and the filler comprises an electronic filler controller and an even number of circulating filling stations. Since the blow-moulding machine controller specifies a division selection, and the filler controller automatically selects, on the basis of the division selection, one of several filler operating modes all of the machine controllers in the region of the machine block can be instructed in a superordinate manner by the blow-moulding machine controller to automatically adjust the respective operating mode.

Even when the filling rate is high, the surface temperature of molded bottles is kept at a certain temperature or higher, and the bottles can be adequately sterilized with a sterilizer.

A preform is heated, the heated preform is sealed in a neck portion mold, a trunk portion mold and a bottom portion mold at a predetermined temperature range, and the preform sealed in the molds is blow-molded into a bottle. Any bottle is removed which has been molded in the neck portion mold, the trunk portion mold and the bottom portion mold the temperature of any of which is outside the predetermined temperature range, and a sterilizer is blasted to any bottle for sterilization which has been molded in the neck portion mold, the trunk portion mold and the bottom portion mold the temperature of all of which is in the predetermined temperature range.

The invention relates to a spacing star wheel for transporting and transferring containers, comprising a plurality of gripping elements for gripping one container each and a curve guide, where the spacing star wheel is configured such that, during operation, the gripping elements, guided by the curve guide, revolve around the axis of rotation of the spacing star wheel along a curved path. By activating at least one curve guide segment, the shape of the curve guide can be adjusted such that the spacing distance between two adjacent gripping elements in the region of the curve guide segment changes.

A method of controlling a preform for stretch blow-moulding a container with an integrally formed handle; the preform comprising a body portion and the integrally formed handle; the preform transferred from a perform supply source to a blow moulding die for blowing the container; the method including the steps of passing the preform through a preform handle orientating apparatus, transferring the preform to a preform transportation system, maintaining orientation of the preform handle imposed by the perform handle orientating apparatus during transfer to the perform transportation system and transfer to the blow moulding die, rotating the preforms during transport along the transportation system past an array of preform heating elements while shielding the integrally formed handle from excessive exposure to the heating elements, transferring the preform from the transportation system to the blow moulding die, and wherein the handle comprises a loop of orientable material extending between an upper connection region and a lower connection region on the body portion of the preform; characterised in that the handle has a generally uniform cross section from proximate the lower connection region to a gradually widening cross section approaching the upper connection region; the cross section reaching and maintaining a maximum width proximate the upper connection region.

An apparatus for treating containers with a first treatment device configured to treat the containers in a predetermined first manner, with a transport device which transports the containers in a predetermined transport direction, wherein the transport device transports the containers in a transport stream extending in the transport direction, and with a reject device arranged after the first treatment device, which is configured to reject a plurality of containers arranged one after the other in the transport direction from the transport stream, wherein the apparatus has a second treatment device which is arranged before the first treatment device in the transport direction of the containers. The apparatus has a gap generating device which is arranged in front of the first treatment device in the transport direction of the containers and which generates at least one gap in the transport stream of the containers.

This extracting device 30 is for extracting a small and lightweight molded article 10 from a molding machine 20, and is provided with a first extracting member 40a, a second extracting member 40b, a first drive mechanism 50, and a second drive mechanism 60, wherein the first extracting member 40a and the second extracting member 40b are provided with accommodating portions 41a, 41b for accommodating the molded article 10, and shutter plates 42a, 42b for opening and closing the accommodating portions 41a and 41b.

A method for inspecting a device for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers, the device having a transport unit, at which a plurality of forming stations for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers is arranged, and an inspection unit that is arranged after the forming stations in a transport direction of the plastic containers and that determines a wall thickness of these plastic containers in at least one region of the plastic containers produced, includes the following steps: introducing at least one test container that has a predetermined and/or known wall thickness a least in sections, and determining a first wall thickness in at least one area of the container by the inspection unit.

A method of controlling a preform for stretch blow-moulding a container with an integrally formed handle; the preform comprising, a body portion and the integrally formed handle; the preform transferred from a perform supply source to a blow moulding die for blowing the container; the method including the steps of passing the preform through a preform handle orientating apparatus, transferring the preform to a preform transportation system, maintaining orientation of the preform handle imposed by the perform handle orientating apparatus during transfer to the perform transportation system and transfer to the blow moulding die, rotating the preforms during transport along the transportation system past an array of preform heating elements while shielding the integrally formed handle from excessive exposure to the heating elements, transferring the preform from the transportation system to the blow moulding die, and wherein the handle comprises a loop of orientable material extending between an upper connection region and a lower connection region on the body portion of the preform; characterised in that the handle has a generally uniform cross section from proximate the lower connection region to a gradually widening cross section approaching the upper connection region; the cross section reaching and maintaining a maximum width proximate the upper connection region.

An apparatus including a conveyor track for upright containers, which is constituted by a horizontal, rotating conveyor belt, a vertical conveyor belt rotating in the same direction, which is arranged on one side of the horizontal conveyor belt and a vertical, fixed belt on the opposite side of the horizontal conveyor belt, where a distance between the vertical conveyor belt and the fixed belt is smaller than an outer diameter of the upright containers so that the upright containers rotate about a vertical axis as the upright containers pass between the rotating, vertical conveyor belt and the fixed, vertical belt and are laterally compressed so that the inner bags detach abruptly from the outer containers.