Method for making a carbonated soft drink bottle with an internal web and hand-grip feature
First Claim
1. A method for blow molding on a blow-molding machine a bottle with an internal web structure positioned between two handgrip depressions, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a preform having a neck portion with an open end, a body portion depending from said neck portion, a bottom portion depending from said body portion and forming a closed end, said neck portion, body portion, and bottom portion defining a hollow space and having a common longitudinal axis, said preform also including an internal web portion extending completely across said hollow space between opposing sides of said body portion;
in-feeding said preform into said machine;
selectively heating said body portion, bottom portion, and internal web portion of said preform;
inflating said preform in a bottle blow mold cavity defining said handgrip depressions to form said bottle having handgrip depressions;
subjecting said internal web structure to enhanced cooling while said bottle is located within said blow mold cavity; and
removing said bottle from said bottle blow mold cavity.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A machine and method for blow molding a polyester bottle for carbonated beverages with an internal web structure positioned between two hand-grip depressions. The machine and method uses an injection-molded preform having a web feature and maintains the web of the preform in a precise position during heat-treatment and eventual blow molding into the bottle. Heat-treatment involves an oven capable of heating and cooling selected regions of the preform by using a combination of shields, heat energy reflective surfaces, and cooling airflows. Bottle blow molding involves precise placement of the preform relative to hand-grip surfaces in a blow mold cavity and cooling airflow of the internal web structure before bottle removal.
28 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A method for blow molding on a blow-molding machine a bottle with an internal web structure positioned between two handgrip depressions, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a preform having a neck portion with an open end, a body portion depending from said neck portion, a bottom portion depending from said body portion and forming a closed end, said neck portion, body portion, and bottom portion defining a hollow space and having a common longitudinal axis, said preform also including an internal web portion extending completely across said hollow space between opposing sides of said body portion;
in-feeding said preform into said machine;
selectively heating said body portion, bottom portion, and internal web portion of said preform;
inflating said preform in a bottle blow mold cavity defining said handgrip depressions to form said bottle having handgrip depressions;
subjecting said internal web structure to enhanced cooling while said bottle is located within said blow mold cavity; and
removing said bottle from said bottle blow mold cavity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for blow molding on a blow molding machine a bottle with an internal web structure positioned between two handgrip depressions, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a preform having a neck portion with an open end, a body portion depending from said neck portion, a bottom portion depending from said body portion and forming a closed end, said neck portion, body portion, and bottom portion defining a hollow space, said preform including an internal web portion extending completely across said hollow space between opposing sides of said body portion, and said neck portion includes a handling ring with a notch in alignment with said web portion;
in-feed and aligning said preform in said machine utilizing said notch in said handling ring;
heating said preform in an oven unit a series of heating units, each said heating unit containing an energy source and with an energy reflector surface for heating said body portion, bottom portion, and internal web portion;
rotating said preform about an axis while simultaneously moving said preform through said oven unit, said internal web portion being kept in a controlled relationship with said oven unit as said preform rotates;
inflating said preform in a bottle blow mold cavity defining said handgrip depressions;
cooling said internal web structure of said bottle; and
removing said bottle from said bottle blow mold cavity. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for blow molding on a blow molding machine a bottle with an internal web structure positioned between two handgrip. depressions, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a preform having a neck portion with an open end, a body portion depending from said neck portion, a bottom portion depending from said body portion and forming a closed end, said neck portion, body portion, and bottom portion defining a hollow space with a common axis, an internal web portion extending completely across said hollow space between opposing sides of said body portion, and said neck portion includes a handling ring with a notch in alignment with said web portion;
in-feeding and aligning said preform utilizing said notch in said handling ring;
heating said preform in an oven unit with a series of heating units, each said heating unit contains an energy source and an energy reflector surface for heating said body portion, bottom portion, and internal web portion;
rotating said preform about said common axis while simultaneously moving through said oven unit and said internal web portion is kept in a controlled relationship with said oven unit as said preform rotates;
transferring said preform from said oven unit into a bottle blow mold cavity;
aligning said web portion between a first molding surface of said handgrip depressions and a second molding surface of said handgrip depressions in said blow mold cavity;
moving a hollow stretch rod with two tongs at one end defined by a clearance slot so as to straddle said web portion, said tongs engaging an interior surface of said bottom portion;
supplying preform preblow air entering through an air nozzle in contact with said neck portion;
supplying high pressure air entering through said air nozzle to inflate said preform and form said bottle;
circulating cooling air within said bottle from said air nozzle to an opening facing said internal web structure within each of said tongs of said hollow stretch rod and exhausting said cooling air out of said bottle through said hollow stretch rod; and
transferring said bottle from said bottle blow mold cavity to a bottle output device. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification