CA1119367A - Orientation-blow molding equipment and jig used therefor - Google Patents
Orientation-blow molding equipment and jig used thereforInfo
- Publication number
- CA1119367A CA1119367A CA000318820A CA318820A CA1119367A CA 1119367 A CA1119367 A CA 1119367A CA 000318820 A CA000318820 A CA 000318820A CA 318820 A CA318820 A CA 318820A CA 1119367 A CA1119367 A CA 1119367A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- jig
- orientation
- piece
- core
- blow molding
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
An apparatus for producing biaxially oriented plastic containers by blow moulding, in which an injection moulded container is heated to a temperature below the crystallization point of the material in a heating chamber and then transferred to an orientation blow moulding machine which is provided with an axially moveable core which imparts longitudinal orientation to the plastic material. Subsequently compressed air is blown into the container, in the mould, so as to radially expand it and effect lateral orientation of the plastic material.
An apparatus for producing biaxially oriented plastic containers by blow moulding, in which an injection moulded container is heated to a temperature below the crystallization point of the material in a heating chamber and then transferred to an orientation blow moulding machine which is provided with an axially moveable core which imparts longitudinal orientation to the plastic material. Subsequently compressed air is blown into the container, in the mould, so as to radially expand it and effect lateral orientation of the plastic material.
Description
,' ~111936ff7ff 1 ~ACKGROUND OF T}IE INVENTION
2 '
3 l The present invention relates to an equipment for
4 I producing thin-walled and transparent plastic containers 1 having a high impact resistance by orientation-blowing 6 1I p~lyethylene terephthalate.
!l In ordinary blow molding processes, the upper and f 8 ff lower parts of an extruded parison are heid by a mold and 9 ~ compressed air is blown into the thus held parison to radially ¦
expand the same for forming it into a container or the like 11 product- !
12 ~! In sucll processes, however, since the parison is 3 oriented only uniaxially, the resultant products are inevitably 14 inferior in their strength or transparency. Accordingly, a so-called orientation-blow molding process in which a parison 16 ~ is oriented ~oth laterally and longitudinally in blow-molded 17 corltnirler having an increased strengt~l and toughrless as well 18 as irnproved gas impermeability and transparency.
9 I 'rhe orientation-blow molding can be roughly divided into l' an extrusion blow molding process using an extruded parison 21 and an injection blow molding-process using an injected 22 parison. The extrusion blow molding process is rather ~ 1 complicated because it requires more steps including a pipe 24 extrusion, cooling and cutting to obtain cold parison, its reheating, top and bottom forming, longitudinal orientation, ~26 and blowing. While, the injection blow molding is relatively ~27 simplified because it contains a less number of steps such :` ; !
28 as a parison injection, cooling, reheating, longitudinal 29 orientation, and blowing. The present invention is based on the lather process, namely, the injection blow molding.
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1 SUMMARY O~ Tl~ INVENTION
3 The present invention has its object to ~rovide an 4 equipment wh:ich can produce in a simplified manner plastic containers having excellent strength, toughness and trans-6 ; parency by allowing an injected parison (or injection-molded 7 il piece) to be evenly heated and accurately oriented both 8 1 laterally and longitudinally in the mold.
9 1 Another object of the present invention i5 to provide which facilitates processing operations in the aforesaid rnolding equipment.
12 ~ In the prior art orientation-blow molding process as 3 described previously, such plastic materials, for example 14 polyethylene terephthalate, that have a high crystallizability and show a high rate of crystallization at molding temperatures, 16 I the resultant products cannot have a nuiform quality because 17 they are susceptible to post-mo1ding shrinkage.
18 ' Intrinsically, polyethylene terephthalate has a high crystalli-19 zability, thermal resistance and weather as well as chemical resistance7 and has a wide range of application to transparent 21 ; films and textile fibers. In producing containers from 22 polyethylene terephthalate by biaxially orienting the naterial, ~ it is very important to maintain the material temperature 24 within a range sui-table for the orientation. The inventors have successfully improved heating apparatus for the material 26 to be oriented so as to secure a even and uniform heating 27 function.
28 The material to be processed in the equipment according 29 to the present invention is a.polyethylene terephthalate polymer having an intrinsic viscosity of at least O.55 or its , j, , .
.
11~9367 1 crystallizable copolymer or mixed polymer.
2 This polymer i9 first molded through an injection molding 3 machine into an injected parison or injection-molded piece 4 ~ (hereinarter, shall be briefly referred to as piece) of ll a cylinder shape having a round closed-end. Preferably, 6 the resultant piece has a crystallinity of 4 - 7%.
? ;I This is because if its crystallinity is lower than 4~
8 a sufficient orientation cannot be achieved, while if its 9 crystallinity is higher than 7~ cannot produce a container O l~aving a required strength when processed through the 11 succeeding beaxial orientation. Thus, an injected piece of 12 polyethylene terephthalate polymer having a crystallinity 13 of nearly 5~ will result in a desired result.
14 '~ The afor0said plastic piece is fed into a heating chamber to be heated to a temperature lower than -the crystalline 16 melting point of the plastic material, namely, in the range 17 o f` .1 4o - 220 C before being transferre~l to the succeeding 18 1l blow-~olding step. In the heating chamber, a large number 19 ~! f core metals for holding a jig to be described later are Il disposed so that they are recirculated. Futher, several sets 21 l of bar heater and heat exhausting damper are disposed along 22 ~ the course of recirculated transfer of the core metals in ,: , ~ such a manner that they divide the heating chamber into 24 I several temperature zones for permitting the heating temperature to be controlled stepwise thereby. For example, the first 26 zone has a maintained temperature of 140 - 160C, the second 2~ ; zone 160 - 190C, the third zone 200 - 220 C, and the fourth zone 180 - 200C.
~ 29 The plastic piece passes through the heating and : molding processes while being attached to the jig with :'~ ' ;, ' l - 4 -.. '~
: .
,~' : ", : . ' 1 its neck portion side down. In the heating proce~s, suctl 2 sl)ecial core metals that advance in the heating chamber while 3 llolding the mandrel of the jig and that can impart a rotational 4 movement to the jig are used for heating the piece evenly and uniformly. The jig iY mainly composed of a mandrel, neck 6 1I support and core shaft for orientation. The mandrel is that 7 ~I part of the jig which is engaged with holding parts of 8 1 a conveyor, core metals, loading and unloading devices 9 1 and also functinns to support the piston of the core shaft.
o l The neck support is used to hold the neck of the piece and constitutes an embracing ~closing) part together with the 12 i mold. The core shaft is provided to longitudinally orient 13 l the piece by an upward movement of a cylinder rod disposed 14 at the underside and to radially orient the piece by intro-ducing compressed air through air holes formed in the core 16 shaft into the piece, in a state in which the jig is placed 17 1 in the mold. Those parts to be assembled onto the ~jig 18 l~ other than mandrel may be changed in accordance with the shape and size of moldings.
!I Prevention of an irregular temperature distribution 21 1 accurrable due to partial cooling Or the heated piece when 22 it is transferred from the heating apparatus to the mold "
gives a desirable result for the succeedlng beaxial orientation.
24 , For this purpose, according to the present invention, a shielding plate which is synchronously rotated without 26 contacting the piece moving from the exit of the heating 27 apparatus is provided for preventing the piece, coming out 28 from the exit and no more rotating, from being partially 29 l heated.
Ij The mold is provided in a plurality spaced at an equal l 5 ~
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-`. 1119367 1 interval on the peripheral part of a large turntable wl~icl~
is tactically rotated.
;, Each mold can be separated into two sections along the 4 l longitudinal direction, as usual. At the lower part of the ,~ mold, provided are a piston rod which moves upwards the 6 ~I core shaft of the jig for axially orienting the piece and 7 ¦1 a compressed air feeding device for radially orienting the 8 1 l pi e c e .
9 l' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DRAWINGS
11 ' Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a relationship 12 between the components of the orientation-blow molding 13 equipment according to the present invention;
14 Fig. 2 is a partially broken plan view of the , equipment according to the present invention;
16 ' Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a heating 17 1l apparatus used in the present invention;
18 l~ ~Fig. 4 is a front view of an injected parison (piece) 19 ll used in the present invention;
l' Fig. 5 is a partially broken front view of the jig 21 according to the present invention, showing its state in 22 ~ which the piece is attached thereto;
~ , Fig. 6 is a section of a core metal used in th0 24 present invention;
,' Fig. 7 is a p~an view of the core metal of Fig. 6;
26 ~ Fig. 8 is a plan view of a brake device used in the 27 '' present inven-tion;
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28 I Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the mold showing 29 ' a state in which the piece is longitudinally oriented;
Fig. lO is a similar longitudinal section of tlle mold '' 'I
, . . . . .
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1~936~ 1 1 ` showing a state in which the piece is laterally oriented; and 2 l Fig. 11 is a perspective of a product container 3 , which is molcled by the equipment according to the present 4 l l invention. I
!l In ordinary blow molding processes, the upper and f 8 ff lower parts of an extruded parison are heid by a mold and 9 ~ compressed air is blown into the thus held parison to radially ¦
expand the same for forming it into a container or the like 11 product- !
12 ~! In sucll processes, however, since the parison is 3 oriented only uniaxially, the resultant products are inevitably 14 inferior in their strength or transparency. Accordingly, a so-called orientation-blow molding process in which a parison 16 ~ is oriented ~oth laterally and longitudinally in blow-molded 17 corltnirler having an increased strengt~l and toughrless as well 18 as irnproved gas impermeability and transparency.
9 I 'rhe orientation-blow molding can be roughly divided into l' an extrusion blow molding process using an extruded parison 21 and an injection blow molding-process using an injected 22 parison. The extrusion blow molding process is rather ~ 1 complicated because it requires more steps including a pipe 24 extrusion, cooling and cutting to obtain cold parison, its reheating, top and bottom forming, longitudinal orientation, ~26 and blowing. While, the injection blow molding is relatively ~27 simplified because it contains a less number of steps such :` ; !
28 as a parison injection, cooling, reheating, longitudinal 29 orientation, and blowing. The present invention is based on the lather process, namely, the injection blow molding.
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1 SUMMARY O~ Tl~ INVENTION
3 The present invention has its object to ~rovide an 4 equipment wh:ich can produce in a simplified manner plastic containers having excellent strength, toughness and trans-6 ; parency by allowing an injected parison (or injection-molded 7 il piece) to be evenly heated and accurately oriented both 8 1 laterally and longitudinally in the mold.
9 1 Another object of the present invention i5 to provide which facilitates processing operations in the aforesaid rnolding equipment.
12 ~ In the prior art orientation-blow molding process as 3 described previously, such plastic materials, for example 14 polyethylene terephthalate, that have a high crystallizability and show a high rate of crystallization at molding temperatures, 16 I the resultant products cannot have a nuiform quality because 17 they are susceptible to post-mo1ding shrinkage.
18 ' Intrinsically, polyethylene terephthalate has a high crystalli-19 zability, thermal resistance and weather as well as chemical resistance7 and has a wide range of application to transparent 21 ; films and textile fibers. In producing containers from 22 polyethylene terephthalate by biaxially orienting the naterial, ~ it is very important to maintain the material temperature 24 within a range sui-table for the orientation. The inventors have successfully improved heating apparatus for the material 26 to be oriented so as to secure a even and uniform heating 27 function.
28 The material to be processed in the equipment according 29 to the present invention is a.polyethylene terephthalate polymer having an intrinsic viscosity of at least O.55 or its , j, , .
.
11~9367 1 crystallizable copolymer or mixed polymer.
2 This polymer i9 first molded through an injection molding 3 machine into an injected parison or injection-molded piece 4 ~ (hereinarter, shall be briefly referred to as piece) of ll a cylinder shape having a round closed-end. Preferably, 6 the resultant piece has a crystallinity of 4 - 7%.
? ;I This is because if its crystallinity is lower than 4~
8 a sufficient orientation cannot be achieved, while if its 9 crystallinity is higher than 7~ cannot produce a container O l~aving a required strength when processed through the 11 succeeding beaxial orientation. Thus, an injected piece of 12 polyethylene terephthalate polymer having a crystallinity 13 of nearly 5~ will result in a desired result.
14 '~ The afor0said plastic piece is fed into a heating chamber to be heated to a temperature lower than -the crystalline 16 melting point of the plastic material, namely, in the range 17 o f` .1 4o - 220 C before being transferre~l to the succeeding 18 1l blow-~olding step. In the heating chamber, a large number 19 ~! f core metals for holding a jig to be described later are Il disposed so that they are recirculated. Futher, several sets 21 l of bar heater and heat exhausting damper are disposed along 22 ~ the course of recirculated transfer of the core metals in ,: , ~ such a manner that they divide the heating chamber into 24 I several temperature zones for permitting the heating temperature to be controlled stepwise thereby. For example, the first 26 zone has a maintained temperature of 140 - 160C, the second 2~ ; zone 160 - 190C, the third zone 200 - 220 C, and the fourth zone 180 - 200C.
~ 29 The plastic piece passes through the heating and : molding processes while being attached to the jig with :'~ ' ;, ' l - 4 -.. '~
: .
,~' : ", : . ' 1 its neck portion side down. In the heating proce~s, suctl 2 sl)ecial core metals that advance in the heating chamber while 3 llolding the mandrel of the jig and that can impart a rotational 4 movement to the jig are used for heating the piece evenly and uniformly. The jig iY mainly composed of a mandrel, neck 6 1I support and core shaft for orientation. The mandrel is that 7 ~I part of the jig which is engaged with holding parts of 8 1 a conveyor, core metals, loading and unloading devices 9 1 and also functinns to support the piston of the core shaft.
o l The neck support is used to hold the neck of the piece and constitutes an embracing ~closing) part together with the 12 i mold. The core shaft is provided to longitudinally orient 13 l the piece by an upward movement of a cylinder rod disposed 14 at the underside and to radially orient the piece by intro-ducing compressed air through air holes formed in the core 16 shaft into the piece, in a state in which the jig is placed 17 1 in the mold. Those parts to be assembled onto the ~jig 18 l~ other than mandrel may be changed in accordance with the shape and size of moldings.
!I Prevention of an irregular temperature distribution 21 1 accurrable due to partial cooling Or the heated piece when 22 it is transferred from the heating apparatus to the mold "
gives a desirable result for the succeedlng beaxial orientation.
24 , For this purpose, according to the present invention, a shielding plate which is synchronously rotated without 26 contacting the piece moving from the exit of the heating 27 apparatus is provided for preventing the piece, coming out 28 from the exit and no more rotating, from being partially 29 l heated.
Ij The mold is provided in a plurality spaced at an equal l 5 ~
., ~
:. :
-:
-`. 1119367 1 interval on the peripheral part of a large turntable wl~icl~
is tactically rotated.
;, Each mold can be separated into two sections along the 4 l longitudinal direction, as usual. At the lower part of the ,~ mold, provided are a piston rod which moves upwards the 6 ~I core shaft of the jig for axially orienting the piece and 7 ¦1 a compressed air feeding device for radially orienting the 8 1 l pi e c e .
9 l' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DRAWINGS
11 ' Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a relationship 12 between the components of the orientation-blow molding 13 equipment according to the present invention;
14 Fig. 2 is a partially broken plan view of the , equipment according to the present invention;
16 ' Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a heating 17 1l apparatus used in the present invention;
18 l~ ~Fig. 4 is a front view of an injected parison (piece) 19 ll used in the present invention;
l' Fig. 5 is a partially broken front view of the jig 21 according to the present invention, showing its state in 22 ~ which the piece is attached thereto;
~ , Fig. 6 is a section of a core metal used in th0 24 present invention;
,' Fig. 7 is a p~an view of the core metal of Fig. 6;
26 ~ Fig. 8 is a plan view of a brake device used in the 27 '' present inven-tion;
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28 I Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the mold showing 29 ' a state in which the piece is longitudinally oriented;
Fig. lO is a similar longitudinal section of tlle mold '' 'I
, . . . . .
.'~ ' ` ' ~ ' ' ' : '''' :'' -., .
1~936~ 1 1 ` showing a state in which the piece is laterally oriented; and 2 l Fig. 11 is a perspective of a product container 3 , which is molcled by the equipment according to the present 4 l l invention. I
5 ll DESCRIPTION OF THE PREEERRED EMBODIMENTS
6 !~
7 1' In the description of the preferred embodiments
8 l~ of the present invention, a case in which polyethylene
9 'I terephthalate is used as the plastic material and its injected ll parison (piece) having a shape of closed-end cylinder is ¦
biaxially oriented to be formed into a transparent thin-walled 12 container.
13 I Referring now to the accompanying drawings, 14 ~l especially, to Fig. 1 illustrating the components the ¦ orientation-blow molding equipment according to the present 16 ~ invention in the sequence of proces~ing steps, the piece 10 17 I having a closed-end cylindrical shape which is prepared by 18 1I the preceding injection molding step and cooled is set 19 l upside down onto a jig which is carried in on a conveyor 11 20 ll and, then, the jig with the piece is fitted by a transfer 21 l apparatus 12 onto a core metal which is recirculated in 22 ll the heating chamber 13. In the heating chamber 13, the piece 23 ll lO is heated at a temperature lower than the crystalline 24 ll melting point of polyethylene terephthalate so as to avoid 25 ll causing irregular temperature distribution in it.
26 At the exit of the heating chamber 13, to avoid the thus 27 1I heated piece 10 from being partially cooled, it is given 28 a rotational movement by the core metal and, as it is rotated, ` 29 ~ loaded by a loading equipment into the mold of an orientation-blow molding machine 15.
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g36q 1 1¦ rmmediately after the mold being closed, an orienting mealls 2 1! core shaft) extending in the axial direction of the piece 3 ¦ is actuated to axially (longitudinally) orient the same and, 4 ¦ then, compressed air is blown into the piece to radially 1l (laterally) orient it. Thereafter, the mold is opened, and 6 ¦¦ the Jig holding the thus biaxially oriented piece is taken 7 1! out by an unloading equipment 16. The jig and piece is 8 1! transferred onto the conveyor 11, where a molded container 9 ¦1 20 is released from the jig. The thus separated jig i5 1I returned on the conveyor 11 to the original piece setting step.
12 ~INJECTION-MOLDED PIEC~) 13 The injection-molded piece lO is an intermedia-te 14 ~ molding cooled to an ambient temperature after being molded by an injection molding machine (not shown). As shown in 16 Fig. 4, it has a round bottom 17 at it~ upper end (as seen 7 1 in Fig. 4) and a circular protrusion 19 for mounting later 18 a cap (not showrl) of the container along its outer periphery 9 ,1 in close proximity to its neck opening 18. Also, the piece ~ has a barrel portion 21 having its diameter gradually ~21 j reduced from the neck opening 18 toward the bottom 17.
22 ' (SUMMARY OF THE ORIENTATION-BLOW MOLDING EQUIPMENT) 23 I Referring now to Fig. 2 which is a plan view of the 24 ' entirety of the orientation-blow molding equipment according ~ to the present invention, the molding equipment according ~26 to the present invention mainly comprises a conveyor 11, :, , 27 transfer apparatus 12, heating chamber 13, loading equipment ' 28 ; 14, orientation-blow molding machine 15, and unloading ; 29 ' equipment 16.
i The conveyor 11 comprises an endless chain 22 which .,.,. I
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.` ' .~ : , ` ~ 93~7 1 is provi(ied with a plurality of` attachlllellt hooks 23 equally 2 spaced apart from each other and each having arl almo~t 3 ~I rectangular U-shape. These attachments support a mandrel 4 26 of a jig 25 to be described later. The aforementioned I piece lO is set onto the ~jig 25 which is carried by the conveyor 11. That is to say~ as shown in Fig. 5, the piece lO is held 7 1 in its inverted position so that the neck opening 18 of the 8 piece lO is positioned at the neck support 27 of the jig 25.
9 I (JIG) a 10 ' As shown in Fig. 5, the jig 25 mainly comprises the 11 rnandrel 26~ neck support 27~ a core guide 28~ spacer ring 29, 12 ' and core shaft 3O for orientation.
. !
13 , The mandrel 26 is composed of a disk 31 of sword-guarcl . !, 14 shape, a cylinder 32 extending downward of the disk 31, ~l a circular groove 33 formed betweerl the llisk 31 and cylinder 32.
; 16 I The neck supl~ort 27 has a function to support the outside 17 l of the neck opening 18 and is disposed a~ove a heat-insulating 18 ' plate 34 provided on the top of the disk 31 Or the malldrel 26.
19 ! The core guide 28 which is disposed in the neck support 27 1 is made of Teflon or the like synthetic material for permitting 21 the core shaf`t 3O passing the center to ~e gui(led smootllly ~ 22 in its upward or downward movement. Onto tlle ~Inderside of .; 23 the core gui~te 28, fitted i9 the spacer rillg 29 f`or adjustirlg ll-le stroke of the core shaft 3O. While, at tlle upper end , of the core sllaf`t 3O, provided is a core top 35 made of`
26 a heat-insulating material (e.g. Teflol~ having an inverte(l 27 taper shape (inverted frusto-conical shape) ror cut;ting off 28 the heat conduction to and from the piece lO and for preventing r 29 the latter f`rom sticking onto the core ~;ha~`t when it is ;;~ su~jected to the longitudinal orientation.
~ 30 , . . - .
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`' 1119367 1 Also, the core sllaft 30 is p~ovided at i-ts lower end Wit}l 2 a nozzle holder 36 of piston shape which is fitted into 3 the cylinder 36 of the mandrel 26. Inside the lower part 4 of the core shaft 30, a hole of T-shape in section is bored, ~l and two air passages 39 of spline shape extend in the 6 1 outside surface of the shaft upwards from the opposite 7 1 openings 38 of the T-shape hole 37.
8 Instead of the air passages 39 of spline groove 9 shape, a passage may be passed through the center of the 0 ~ core shaft 30. Ilowever, since the blow pressure used in ll 1I the equipment is as high as 50kg/cm , a sufficient wall 12 l~ thickness and, therefore, mechanical strength cannot be 13 ll obtained with such a core shaft of hollow structure having 14 1¦ a central air passage. Also, since pores must be provided 1 at right angle or obliquely to the side wall in such 16 l~ a hollow type core shaft, air jets sp~uted out from such 17 ll pores causes dimple flaws on the inner wall ~urface of 18 the piece. While, if the air passages of spline shape are 19 provided in the outside surface of the core shaft as the air passages 39 according to the present invention, 21 ~ air jets are not concentrated locally and, thus, the inner 22 ¦ wall of the piece is free of a possibility of suffering 23 ~ dimple flaws.
24 ~I The jig ~5 holding the piece 10 make a round of 'I all processing steps and is used in a recirculated manner.
26 1I The core shaft 30 of the jig 25 is loaded in the mold 75 27 1 in the orientation process to be described later and, 28 11 as shown in Fig. 5, it is moved upwards by the actuation 29 1l of a cylinder rod 88 provided on the mold for longitudinally ~ orienting the piece lO.
biaxially oriented to be formed into a transparent thin-walled 12 container.
13 I Referring now to the accompanying drawings, 14 ~l especially, to Fig. 1 illustrating the components the ¦ orientation-blow molding equipment according to the present 16 ~ invention in the sequence of proces~ing steps, the piece 10 17 I having a closed-end cylindrical shape which is prepared by 18 1I the preceding injection molding step and cooled is set 19 l upside down onto a jig which is carried in on a conveyor 11 20 ll and, then, the jig with the piece is fitted by a transfer 21 l apparatus 12 onto a core metal which is recirculated in 22 ll the heating chamber 13. In the heating chamber 13, the piece 23 ll lO is heated at a temperature lower than the crystalline 24 ll melting point of polyethylene terephthalate so as to avoid 25 ll causing irregular temperature distribution in it.
26 At the exit of the heating chamber 13, to avoid the thus 27 1I heated piece 10 from being partially cooled, it is given 28 a rotational movement by the core metal and, as it is rotated, ` 29 ~ loaded by a loading equipment into the mold of an orientation-blow molding machine 15.
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g36q 1 1¦ rmmediately after the mold being closed, an orienting mealls 2 1! core shaft) extending in the axial direction of the piece 3 ¦ is actuated to axially (longitudinally) orient the same and, 4 ¦ then, compressed air is blown into the piece to radially 1l (laterally) orient it. Thereafter, the mold is opened, and 6 ¦¦ the Jig holding the thus biaxially oriented piece is taken 7 1! out by an unloading equipment 16. The jig and piece is 8 1! transferred onto the conveyor 11, where a molded container 9 ¦1 20 is released from the jig. The thus separated jig i5 1I returned on the conveyor 11 to the original piece setting step.
12 ~INJECTION-MOLDED PIEC~) 13 The injection-molded piece lO is an intermedia-te 14 ~ molding cooled to an ambient temperature after being molded by an injection molding machine (not shown). As shown in 16 Fig. 4, it has a round bottom 17 at it~ upper end (as seen 7 1 in Fig. 4) and a circular protrusion 19 for mounting later 18 a cap (not showrl) of the container along its outer periphery 9 ,1 in close proximity to its neck opening 18. Also, the piece ~ has a barrel portion 21 having its diameter gradually ~21 j reduced from the neck opening 18 toward the bottom 17.
22 ' (SUMMARY OF THE ORIENTATION-BLOW MOLDING EQUIPMENT) 23 I Referring now to Fig. 2 which is a plan view of the 24 ' entirety of the orientation-blow molding equipment according ~ to the present invention, the molding equipment according ~26 to the present invention mainly comprises a conveyor 11, :, , 27 transfer apparatus 12, heating chamber 13, loading equipment ' 28 ; 14, orientation-blow molding machine 15, and unloading ; 29 ' equipment 16.
i The conveyor 11 comprises an endless chain 22 which .,.,. I
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'. ,1 I
.` ' .~ : , ` ~ 93~7 1 is provi(ied with a plurality of` attachlllellt hooks 23 equally 2 spaced apart from each other and each having arl almo~t 3 ~I rectangular U-shape. These attachments support a mandrel 4 26 of a jig 25 to be described later. The aforementioned I piece lO is set onto the ~jig 25 which is carried by the conveyor 11. That is to say~ as shown in Fig. 5, the piece lO is held 7 1 in its inverted position so that the neck opening 18 of the 8 piece lO is positioned at the neck support 27 of the jig 25.
9 I (JIG) a 10 ' As shown in Fig. 5, the jig 25 mainly comprises the 11 rnandrel 26~ neck support 27~ a core guide 28~ spacer ring 29, 12 ' and core shaft 3O for orientation.
. !
13 , The mandrel 26 is composed of a disk 31 of sword-guarcl . !, 14 shape, a cylinder 32 extending downward of the disk 31, ~l a circular groove 33 formed betweerl the llisk 31 and cylinder 32.
; 16 I The neck supl~ort 27 has a function to support the outside 17 l of the neck opening 18 and is disposed a~ove a heat-insulating 18 ' plate 34 provided on the top of the disk 31 Or the malldrel 26.
19 ! The core guide 28 which is disposed in the neck support 27 1 is made of Teflon or the like synthetic material for permitting 21 the core shaf`t 3O passing the center to ~e gui(led smootllly ~ 22 in its upward or downward movement. Onto tlle ~Inderside of .; 23 the core gui~te 28, fitted i9 the spacer rillg 29 f`or adjustirlg ll-le stroke of the core shaft 3O. While, at tlle upper end , of the core sllaf`t 3O, provided is a core top 35 made of`
26 a heat-insulating material (e.g. Teflol~ having an inverte(l 27 taper shape (inverted frusto-conical shape) ror cut;ting off 28 the heat conduction to and from the piece lO and for preventing r 29 the latter f`rom sticking onto the core ~;ha~`t when it is ;;~ su~jected to the longitudinal orientation.
~ 30 , . . - .
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`' 1119367 1 Also, the core sllaft 30 is p~ovided at i-ts lower end Wit}l 2 a nozzle holder 36 of piston shape which is fitted into 3 the cylinder 36 of the mandrel 26. Inside the lower part 4 of the core shaft 30, a hole of T-shape in section is bored, ~l and two air passages 39 of spline shape extend in the 6 1 outside surface of the shaft upwards from the opposite 7 1 openings 38 of the T-shape hole 37.
8 Instead of the air passages 39 of spline groove 9 shape, a passage may be passed through the center of the 0 ~ core shaft 30. Ilowever, since the blow pressure used in ll 1I the equipment is as high as 50kg/cm , a sufficient wall 12 l~ thickness and, therefore, mechanical strength cannot be 13 ll obtained with such a core shaft of hollow structure having 14 1¦ a central air passage. Also, since pores must be provided 1 at right angle or obliquely to the side wall in such 16 l~ a hollow type core shaft, air jets sp~uted out from such 17 ll pores causes dimple flaws on the inner wall ~urface of 18 the piece. While, if the air passages of spline shape are 19 provided in the outside surface of the core shaft as the air passages 39 according to the present invention, 21 ~ air jets are not concentrated locally and, thus, the inner 22 ¦ wall of the piece is free of a possibility of suffering 23 ~ dimple flaws.
24 ~I The jig ~5 holding the piece 10 make a round of 'I all processing steps and is used in a recirculated manner.
26 1I The core shaft 30 of the jig 25 is loaded in the mold 75 27 1 in the orientation process to be described later and, 28 11 as shown in Fig. 5, it is moved upwards by the actuation 29 1l of a cylinder rod 88 provided on the mold for longitudinally ~ orienting the piece lO.
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11~7 urther, compressed air is blown from the cylinder rod 88 2 1I through the T-shape hole 37 and air passages 39 into the 3 " inside of the piece 10 for radially orienting the same.
4 1¦ ~TRANSFER APPARATUS) S ¦¦ The ~jig 25 on which the piece lO is set as shown in 6 ll Flg. 4 is fed on the conveyor 11 to the transfer apparatus 12.
7 ¦! The transfer apparatus 12 is provided with an arm 4O
8 I which has at its front end a hook for holding the cylinder 9 ,~, 32 of the jig 2S and which is pivotally rotated around ll a fulcrum 41. Inside the locus Or the hook motion, provided 11 l is an arcuate guide rail 42 having a magnet piece for
4 1¦ ~TRANSFER APPARATUS) S ¦¦ The ~jig 25 on which the piece lO is set as shown in 6 ll Flg. 4 is fed on the conveyor 11 to the transfer apparatus 12.
7 ¦! The transfer apparatus 12 is provided with an arm 4O
8 I which has at its front end a hook for holding the cylinder 9 ,~, 32 of the jig 2S and which is pivotally rotated around ll a fulcrum 41. Inside the locus Or the hook motion, provided 11 l is an arcuate guide rail 42 having a magnet piece for
12 l' imparting a slight rotatiohal motion to the jig 25 under 3 l being moved 80 as to cause it to be engaged with anci held 14 i by the core metal 44 in the heating chamber 13.
,~ ~CORE METAL~
16 ' ~ The core metal comprises a hollow holder 46 attached 17 11 to a rotary disk 45 and a hollow shaft 48 held by the llolder 18 ¦l 46 -via a pair of bearings 47, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
19 ~j An eJector pin 59 is inserted through the hollow shaft 48.
,¦ Onto the lower end of the ejector pin 5O, fixed is a ring 21 ,' 49. A spring 51 for pulling down the shaft 48 is interpose-l 22 in its contracted state between the ring 49 and the lower ,, i end of the shaft 48. Onto the upper end of the ejector ~: 24 , pin 5O, attached i9 a disk havlng a diameter larger than that of the shaft 48 for stopping the lowering of the .`: ' , .
26 ejector pin 5O. Tlle ejector pin 5O is pushed up by action ~ 27 of a cam (not ShOWII) to float up the jig 25 when the jig .,.. ,; .
; 28 is to be removeci from the core metal 44 at the exit of the ` 29 heating chamber 13 in the malmer to~be described l~ter ~ 30 11 in detail~
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1 At the lower end portion of the hollow shaft 48, 2 jl provided is a pinion 54 which i9 engaged with a gear 53 3 1~ as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, as the gear 53 is rotated, the 4 ~I pinion 54 is also rotated. The upper part of the shaft 48 1~ hold a cylindrical body 56 via a pair of bearings 55, and 6 ~ a portion of the cylindrical body 56 is extended so as to 7 ~l integrally form a support holder 57c The support holder 57 8 l¦ is slightly longer than the cy~linder 32 of the jig 25 and has at its upperend an arcuate projection 58 which is to 1I be engaged with the circular groove 33 of the jig 25.
11 Also, a magnet piece 59 which magnetically attracts the 12 I cylinder 32 is attached to an almott central part of the : , I
3 s~pport holder 32. Further, a cam follower 60 of roller ' shape is mounted onto the upper end face of the cylindrical ¦I body 56 at position thereon almost opposite to the support 16 'l holder 57. This cam follower 60 is arranged so as to be 17 ~ brought into contact with a braking device 73 provided 18 ¦ at the exit of the heating chamber 13 to be described 19 herein below.
20 - I (HEATING CI~MBER) 21 l As shown in Fig. 2, the heating chamber 13 comprises 22 1~ the rotary disk 45 on which a plurality of core metals 44 are attached along its peripheral edge and a cover 61 24 I placed over it. The heating chamber 13 is divided into several 25 1¦ heating zones, for example four zones of I, II, III and IV, 26 I which are disposed along the transfer course of the core metals 27 , 44 covered by the cover 61 and can be individually controlled, 28 ll so that the piece attached onto the jig z5 is heated under 29 ll optimum conditions for the succeeding orientation process.
In each heating zone, several (two, each one at , . .,;~ :,: : "
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.,' ' ` 1~19367 1 an upper and lower positions) bar heater elements comprising 2 ,l IR heating t~lbes 62 are horizontally provided on the interior 3 1¦ side of the transfer course of the metals 44.
4 lj While, on the exterior side of the transfer course, a plurality ~¦ of IR heating tubes 63 are vertically provided. Also, 6 i~ a heat-exhausting damper unit 64 is provided on the upper 7 ~ side of the cover 61 at each heating zone. That is to say, 8 a set of two heat-exhausting stacks is provided and a damper 9 1 66 is pivotally mounted in each heat-exhausting stack on 0 a .sllaft 67 which is associated with a driving device 68.
The temperature of each heating zone of the heating chamber 12 ll is detected by a the~mocouple 69 as shown in Fig. 3 which
,~ ~CORE METAL~
16 ' ~ The core metal comprises a hollow holder 46 attached 17 11 to a rotary disk 45 and a hollow shaft 48 held by the llolder 18 ¦l 46 -via a pair of bearings 47, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
19 ~j An eJector pin 59 is inserted through the hollow shaft 48.
,¦ Onto the lower end of the ejector pin 5O, fixed is a ring 21 ,' 49. A spring 51 for pulling down the shaft 48 is interpose-l 22 in its contracted state between the ring 49 and the lower ,, i end of the shaft 48. Onto the upper end of the ejector ~: 24 , pin 5O, attached i9 a disk havlng a diameter larger than that of the shaft 48 for stopping the lowering of the .`: ' , .
26 ejector pin 5O. Tlle ejector pin 5O is pushed up by action ~ 27 of a cam (not ShOWII) to float up the jig 25 when the jig .,.. ,; .
; 28 is to be removeci from the core metal 44 at the exit of the ` 29 heating chamber 13 in the malmer to~be described l~ter ~ 30 11 in detail~
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1 At the lower end portion of the hollow shaft 48, 2 jl provided is a pinion 54 which i9 engaged with a gear 53 3 1~ as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, as the gear 53 is rotated, the 4 ~I pinion 54 is also rotated. The upper part of the shaft 48 1~ hold a cylindrical body 56 via a pair of bearings 55, and 6 ~ a portion of the cylindrical body 56 is extended so as to 7 ~l integrally form a support holder 57c The support holder 57 8 l¦ is slightly longer than the cy~linder 32 of the jig 25 and has at its upperend an arcuate projection 58 which is to 1I be engaged with the circular groove 33 of the jig 25.
11 Also, a magnet piece 59 which magnetically attracts the 12 I cylinder 32 is attached to an almott central part of the : , I
3 s~pport holder 32. Further, a cam follower 60 of roller ' shape is mounted onto the upper end face of the cylindrical ¦I body 56 at position thereon almost opposite to the support 16 'l holder 57. This cam follower 60 is arranged so as to be 17 ~ brought into contact with a braking device 73 provided 18 ¦ at the exit of the heating chamber 13 to be described 19 herein below.
20 - I (HEATING CI~MBER) 21 l As shown in Fig. 2, the heating chamber 13 comprises 22 1~ the rotary disk 45 on which a plurality of core metals 44 are attached along its peripheral edge and a cover 61 24 I placed over it. The heating chamber 13 is divided into several 25 1¦ heating zones, for example four zones of I, II, III and IV, 26 I which are disposed along the transfer course of the core metals 27 , 44 covered by the cover 61 and can be individually controlled, 28 ll so that the piece attached onto the jig z5 is heated under 29 ll optimum conditions for the succeeding orientation process.
In each heating zone, several (two, each one at , . .,;~ :,: : "
- . . ",.:
.,' ' ` 1~19367 1 an upper and lower positions) bar heater elements comprising 2 ,l IR heating t~lbes 62 are horizontally provided on the interior 3 1¦ side of the transfer course of the metals 44.
4 lj While, on the exterior side of the transfer course, a plurality ~¦ of IR heating tubes 63 are vertically provided. Also, 6 i~ a heat-exhausting damper unit 64 is provided on the upper 7 ~ side of the cover 61 at each heating zone. That is to say, 8 a set of two heat-exhausting stacks is provided and a damper 9 1 66 is pivotally mounted in each heat-exhausting stack on 0 a .sllaft 67 which is associated with a driving device 68.
The temperature of each heating zone of the heating chamber 12 ll is detected by a the~mocouple 69 as shown in Fig. 3 which
13 I is electrically connected to a control unit 70.
14 ll The control unit 70 issues an instruction to drive the
15 ll driving device 68 for opening or closing each damper 66
16 'I depending upon the detected temperature so as to control
17 ~I the he~ting zone tempera~re to a preset temperature.
18 ~ For example, each zone of the heating chamber i9
19 ~ set to the following temperature: ¦
¦ zone I 140C - 160C
21 ¦ zone II 160 C - 180C
22 1~ zone III 180C - 220C
23 ll zone IV 160C - 200C
24 ll As shown in Fig. 3, the core metal 44 is held at the 25 l¦ peripheral portion of the disk 45. As described previously, 26 the pinion 54 provided at the lower end of the jig 25 is 27 engaged with the gear 53. Thus, as the disk 45 turns, 28 ¦ the gear 53 is rotated to give the core metal 44 a rotation 29 ¦ and revolution, .
'. --:` ' ' , ~' ' ' 1 ` (SHIELDING PLATE) 2 As shown in Fig. 2, a shielding plate 71 is provided 3 ~ at the exit of the heating chamber 13. The shielding plate 4 l has radial fin members which are rotated synchronously with the rnovement of the core shaft 44 to prevent the thermal 6 ~ atmospllere around the exit Or the heating chamber 13 from 7 1I suddenly disturbed. The piece 10 which has advanced to the 8 ~¦ exit of the heating chamber 13 while being rotated is then 9 moved while being fenced by the fins and its rotation is stopped. In this case, the fins act to prevent a partical I heating Or the piece 10.
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12 ~ (BRAKING DEVICE) 13 Il. At a po-ition succeeding to the shielding plate 71 14 ll at the exit of the heating chamber 13, provided is a braking ll device 73 for stopping the rotation of the core metal 44.
16 11 As shown in Fig. 8, the braking device 73 comprises a cam 17 l~ plate 74 and a spring. The cam plate 74 is brought into 18 contact with the cam follower 60 of the core metal 44 19 to brake the rotation of the core metal in such a manner that the support holder 57 of the core metal comes on the 21 back side. The core metal 44 has its position controlled 22 so that the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 comes on the front side ~ for causing lt to be accurately held by the holding means 77 24 upon loading.
~LOADING APPARATUS~
26 As shown at the central part of Fig. 2, the loading 28 apparatus 14 comprises a mechanical manipulator having four rotary arms. That is to say, four arms 76 are mounted an a rotatable shaft 75. Each arm 76 is provided with a pair of holding means 77 at its free end.
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I 1~19367 1 !1 Also, each arm 76 llas a cam follower 79 whic~t as the 2 rotatable shaft 75 is rotatecl, contacts a cam 78 so as to 3 lll extend or contract the arm 76 and to open or close the 4 1l holding means 77 in accordance with the configuration of ~ the cam 78.
6 ¦ At a position somewhat advanced from the exit o~ the 7 heating chamber 13, the holding means 77 are closed, and 8 1 the jig 25 i5 removed from the core metal 44 and the arm 9 ~¦ 76 is contracted towards the shaft 75. Then, the arm 76 0 l¦ is contracted to its initial length while being turned 1¦ in the direction of arrow 80. An arcuate guide rail 81 12 ~ for guiding the rotation of the holding means 77 is provided 13 ¦ along the circumference of the semicircle drawn by the free 14 ~ end of the arm 76. On the inner surface of the guide rail l,l 81, mounted is a magnet piece for attracting and holding 16 the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 so that the jig 25 is rotated 17 ' to prevent the partial cooling of the piece lO when the 18 arm 76 turns. The piece lO with the jig 25 held by the 19 free end of the arm 76 i9 placed in the mold 72, where ~ the jig 25 i9 released from the holding means 77 and inserted 21 I into the cavity 87 of the mold 72. From that position where 22 the piece 10 is inserted into the mold 72, through the 23 1l circumference of the semicircle opposite to the guide rail 24 ll 81, to the other position where the braked and stopped ll jig 25 is caught, the holding means 77 on the arm 76 26 ll maintain their ppened state. When the jig 25 held by the 27 ll holding means is pulled towards the shaft 75, the piece 10 28 ll held on the opposite arm is charged in the mold.
29 1~ ORIENTATION-BLOW MOLDING MACHINE
I The orientation-blow molding machine 15 is of a rotary : l I - 15- , ,- . : : ' . . ~
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,: , ' 1 station type, in which the mold 72 is provided at each of 1 2 eight stations on a turntable 82. However, it is to be 3 noted that the number of stations are not necessarily 4 ll limited to ei~ht as in the illustrated embodiment, but ten 5 ll or more stations may be provided as well.
6 ll As shown in Fig. 9, the mold 72 comprises two mold 7 1¦ halves 83 and 84 separable in the longitudinal direction ' and an upper mold member 85. One mold half 83 is fixed, 9 l~ while other mold half 84 is pivotally movable about a pivotal ; 10 l shaft 86 as shown in Fig. 2. The mold 72 is opened at the first and eighth stations, while it is kept closed at 12 1' the second through seventh stations. As a matter of course, 3 the upper mold member 85 is moved up and down correspondingly 14 as the mold 72 is opened and closed.
I Beneath the mold 72, there is providçd a cylinder t ~ 16 ll ro~ 88 which pushes up the core shaft 3O, and a compressed , 17 ~1 air introducing hole 89 is longitudinally passed through ;18 1! the cylinder rod 88. The cylinder rod 88 pushes up the core 19 l shaft 3O at the second station for longitudinally orienting ~ the piece lO and compressed air is introduced through the 21 ¦ hole 89 into the piece lO at the third station for laterally æ 11 orienting the same. Thereafter, the cylinder rod 88 is ~ l¦ lowered at the seventh station.
24 ll ( UNLOADING) 25 1I The mold 72 is opened at the eighth station of the ^ 26 ll blow molding machine, where the jig 25 holding the biaxially 27 ¦¦ oriented product is exposed outside. Then, the mandrel 32 ¦
28 1~ of the thus exposed jig 25 is caught by a pair of holding 29 means 9O of the unloading equipment 16 having two rotary arms to be taken out from the mold 72.
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l 1~193~7 1 T~le unloading equipment 16 has it~ two arms 92 extended 2 1, diametrically fro~ a member supported on a its rotatable 3 I shaft 91, and the openable and closable holding means 90 4 are mounted at the free ends of the arms 92. The jig 25 ll taken out from the mold 72 at the eighth station i9 held 6 1¦ by the holding means 90 and moved along the direction of 7 ~1 arrow 93 to be caught by the hook 23 of the conveyor 11, 8 1~ where the container 20 is removed from the jig 25.
9 ~1 (OPERATION~
¦I First, an empty jig 25 is transferred by the conveyor 11 ! 11 as shown in Fig. 2 to the setting position, where the 12 1 injection-molded piece 10 is mounted onto the jig 25 in its 13 ~! inverted position~ as shown in Fig. 5. The piece 10 has 14 l; its neck opening 18 gravitationally inserted into the gap lS ll 27a between the neck support 27 and core guide 28 of the 16 1I jig 25. However, since for this purpose, a depressing 17 l¦ means (not shown) which function interlockedly with the 18 transrer apparatus 12 is provided at a position immediately 19 succeeding to the transfer apparatus for lightly pushing down the piece 10 from above to ensure that its neck opening 21 18 is fitted in place onto_the jie 25.
22 I The transfer apparatus 12, with a swing motion of 23 its arm 40, transfers the jig 25 holding the piece 10 to 24 the core metal 44. It is provided with a guide rail 42 j~ having a magnet piece and drawing a gentle arc.
26 l~ ~he jig 25 mounted onto the core metal 44 by the 27 ~¦ transfer apparatus 12 is gravitationally engaged therewith 28 11 in the state as shown by the chain line in Fig. 6 and 29 ~I move~ through the heating chamber 13 while being imparted 1l a rotation and revolution from the gear 53 and pinion 54.
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~119367 1 In tllis case, as described previously, suc~l a jig tbat cannot bc suff'iciently engaged by gravity with the 3 core metal due to a strong magnetism of the magnet piece 59 4 ,l of the core metal 44 is lowered to a predetermined positioll j I by pushing down the upper end of the piece with the afore-; 6 ll mention~d depressing means (not shown).
Af'ter entering the heating chamber 13, the jig 25 " 8 ~l i9 advanced from the entrance near the transfer apparatus ~ 1l lZ towards the exit of the chamber 13 while being rotated i' lo li by the rotation and revolution of the core metal 44.
In the heating chamber 13, the piece lO mounted of the ,~' 12 , jig 25 is hea-ted in sequence at the respective heating 3 f zones render optimum temperature conditions for the succeeding ; l orientation process. As mentioned preveiously, two or three ~l heating tubes 62 are horizontally provided on the inner side 16 of each heating zone, while it is provided with several 17 ll vertical heating tubes 63 on its outer side.
18 1 These are necessary because the temperature will be undulatingly 9 distributed along the vertical direction of the piece lO
if only the lateral heating tubes are used, while a chevron-21 like distribution having its peak at the longitudinal 22 ! center of the piece and gradually' reduced temperatures 23 ~¦ towards its upper and lower ends will appear if only the 24 1~ vertical heating tubes are used. Thus, in the blow molding 1 25 equipment according to the present invention, a` combination ; 26 of vertical and horizontal heating tubes are adopted to 27 l secure an even and uniform temperature distribution over ' 28 1I the entire piece. These heating tubes 62 and 6~ are mounted 29 l' by the use of an assembly 95 with stands and screws so that - ' their mounting positions can be finely adjusted both laterally .~ I .
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- i~` 1119367 1 and longitudinally both in the vertical and ~lorizontal 2 I~ directions. The heating chamber 13 thlls heated by the 3 I vertical and horizontal heating tubes 62 and 63 has its 4 ll temperature adjusted by the operation of the heat-exhausting 5 1I damper 66 provided on the top of the cover. That is to say, 6 lj the temperature of each heating zone of the heating chamber 7 ~ 13 ls detected by the thermocouple 69, as shown in Fig. 3, 8 ~ which i8 connected to the control unit 70~
9 ll The driving device 68 is actuated by an instruction from ll the control unit 70 for opening or closing the damper 66 to correspondingly control the temperature of the heating zone.
12 ¦ The piece 10 evenly heated in the heating chamber 13 13 'I is advanced towards the exit of the chamber 13 while being 14 ¦I rotated and, when the core metal 44 comes up to the braking ¦ device 73 provided adjucently to the shieleling plate 71, 16 I the cam follower 60 comes into contact with the cam plate 74 17 ~ and core metal 44 is stopped with the cylinder 32 of the 18 jig 25 being positioned on the front si e of the support 19 holder 57.
The core metal 44 thus ~topped by the bra~ing device 21 73 actuates the ejector pin 50 provided below to move up the 22 jig 25 and, at the same time, closes the holding means 77 of the loading equipment 14 positioned at that position 24 ¦ where the core metal 44 is stopped for causing the holding l means 77 to catch the cylinder 32 of the jig 25.
226 l Then, the arm 76 is contracted and pivotally moved along the guide rail 81 to fit the jig 25 into the cavity 87 of the 28 mold 72. The guide rail 81 has a magnet piece which attracts 29 and holds the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 for continuously rotating the same as it is pivotally moved by the arm 76.
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~1~9367 1 As described previously, in the illustratecl embodiment having eight stations stepped by the mold 72, the jig 25 3 l~ onto which the heated piece 10 is mounted is placed into I the opened mold 72 and the mold is closed at the first 5 1 station. Then, as the mold 72 is being moved towards 6 1 the second staticn, the core shaft 30 is pushed up to 7 longitudinally orient the piece 10. Since the core shaft 30 has a core top 35 of inverted taper shape, the piece 9 j will not be bitten by the core shaft 30 and the piece lO
1 is longitudinally oriented properly by the core shaft 11 ! as it is pushed up.
li i 12 '~ Then, as shown in Fig. lO, compressed air is 13 ll, introduced through the air passage 39 formed in the core 14 l~ shaft 30 into the piece lO for laterally orienting the ¦
1 9ame.
16 I The air passages 39 is formed as a spline groove 17 on the outside of the core shaft 30. Instead of the spline 18 groove, a longitudinal hole opened at the side may be bored through the center of the core shaft 30. However, in a core shaft of such a hollow structure, the core shaft 21 30 cannot have a sufficient wall thickness and its machanical 22 strength will be insufficient when it is pushed up under ¦ higher blow pressure such as 50kg/cm or above.
24 In addition, if compressed air is blown out through pores 1 formed orthogonally or abliquely in the side wall of such 26 ~ a hollow type core shaft, compressed air will cause dimple 27 1¦ flaws on the moldings. Such dimples will remain and 28 ll damages their commercial value.
29 ¦l Alternatively, instead of the spline several air 30 ¦' passage grooves may be formed in the inner peripheral surface
¦ zone I 140C - 160C
21 ¦ zone II 160 C - 180C
22 1~ zone III 180C - 220C
23 ll zone IV 160C - 200C
24 ll As shown in Fig. 3, the core metal 44 is held at the 25 l¦ peripheral portion of the disk 45. As described previously, 26 the pinion 54 provided at the lower end of the jig 25 is 27 engaged with the gear 53. Thus, as the disk 45 turns, 28 ¦ the gear 53 is rotated to give the core metal 44 a rotation 29 ¦ and revolution, .
'. --:` ' ' , ~' ' ' 1 ` (SHIELDING PLATE) 2 As shown in Fig. 2, a shielding plate 71 is provided 3 ~ at the exit of the heating chamber 13. The shielding plate 4 l has radial fin members which are rotated synchronously with the rnovement of the core shaft 44 to prevent the thermal 6 ~ atmospllere around the exit Or the heating chamber 13 from 7 1I suddenly disturbed. The piece 10 which has advanced to the 8 ~¦ exit of the heating chamber 13 while being rotated is then 9 moved while being fenced by the fins and its rotation is stopped. In this case, the fins act to prevent a partical I heating Or the piece 10.
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12 ~ (BRAKING DEVICE) 13 Il. At a po-ition succeeding to the shielding plate 71 14 ll at the exit of the heating chamber 13, provided is a braking ll device 73 for stopping the rotation of the core metal 44.
16 11 As shown in Fig. 8, the braking device 73 comprises a cam 17 l~ plate 74 and a spring. The cam plate 74 is brought into 18 contact with the cam follower 60 of the core metal 44 19 to brake the rotation of the core metal in such a manner that the support holder 57 of the core metal comes on the 21 back side. The core metal 44 has its position controlled 22 so that the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 comes on the front side ~ for causing lt to be accurately held by the holding means 77 24 upon loading.
~LOADING APPARATUS~
26 As shown at the central part of Fig. 2, the loading 28 apparatus 14 comprises a mechanical manipulator having four rotary arms. That is to say, four arms 76 are mounted an a rotatable shaft 75. Each arm 76 is provided with a pair of holding means 77 at its free end.
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I 1~19367 1 !1 Also, each arm 76 llas a cam follower 79 whic~t as the 2 rotatable shaft 75 is rotatecl, contacts a cam 78 so as to 3 lll extend or contract the arm 76 and to open or close the 4 1l holding means 77 in accordance with the configuration of ~ the cam 78.
6 ¦ At a position somewhat advanced from the exit o~ the 7 heating chamber 13, the holding means 77 are closed, and 8 1 the jig 25 i5 removed from the core metal 44 and the arm 9 ~¦ 76 is contracted towards the shaft 75. Then, the arm 76 0 l¦ is contracted to its initial length while being turned 1¦ in the direction of arrow 80. An arcuate guide rail 81 12 ~ for guiding the rotation of the holding means 77 is provided 13 ¦ along the circumference of the semicircle drawn by the free 14 ~ end of the arm 76. On the inner surface of the guide rail l,l 81, mounted is a magnet piece for attracting and holding 16 the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 so that the jig 25 is rotated 17 ' to prevent the partial cooling of the piece lO when the 18 arm 76 turns. The piece lO with the jig 25 held by the 19 free end of the arm 76 i9 placed in the mold 72, where ~ the jig 25 i9 released from the holding means 77 and inserted 21 I into the cavity 87 of the mold 72. From that position where 22 the piece 10 is inserted into the mold 72, through the 23 1l circumference of the semicircle opposite to the guide rail 24 ll 81, to the other position where the braked and stopped ll jig 25 is caught, the holding means 77 on the arm 76 26 ll maintain their ppened state. When the jig 25 held by the 27 ll holding means is pulled towards the shaft 75, the piece 10 28 ll held on the opposite arm is charged in the mold.
29 1~ ORIENTATION-BLOW MOLDING MACHINE
I The orientation-blow molding machine 15 is of a rotary : l I - 15- , ,- . : : ' . . ~
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,: , ' 1 station type, in which the mold 72 is provided at each of 1 2 eight stations on a turntable 82. However, it is to be 3 noted that the number of stations are not necessarily 4 ll limited to ei~ht as in the illustrated embodiment, but ten 5 ll or more stations may be provided as well.
6 ll As shown in Fig. 9, the mold 72 comprises two mold 7 1¦ halves 83 and 84 separable in the longitudinal direction ' and an upper mold member 85. One mold half 83 is fixed, 9 l~ while other mold half 84 is pivotally movable about a pivotal ; 10 l shaft 86 as shown in Fig. 2. The mold 72 is opened at the first and eighth stations, while it is kept closed at 12 1' the second through seventh stations. As a matter of course, 3 the upper mold member 85 is moved up and down correspondingly 14 as the mold 72 is opened and closed.
I Beneath the mold 72, there is providçd a cylinder t ~ 16 ll ro~ 88 which pushes up the core shaft 3O, and a compressed , 17 ~1 air introducing hole 89 is longitudinally passed through ;18 1! the cylinder rod 88. The cylinder rod 88 pushes up the core 19 l shaft 3O at the second station for longitudinally orienting ~ the piece lO and compressed air is introduced through the 21 ¦ hole 89 into the piece lO at the third station for laterally æ 11 orienting the same. Thereafter, the cylinder rod 88 is ~ l¦ lowered at the seventh station.
24 ll ( UNLOADING) 25 1I The mold 72 is opened at the eighth station of the ^ 26 ll blow molding machine, where the jig 25 holding the biaxially 27 ¦¦ oriented product is exposed outside. Then, the mandrel 32 ¦
28 1~ of the thus exposed jig 25 is caught by a pair of holding 29 means 9O of the unloading equipment 16 having two rotary arms to be taken out from the mold 72.
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l 1~193~7 1 T~le unloading equipment 16 has it~ two arms 92 extended 2 1, diametrically fro~ a member supported on a its rotatable 3 I shaft 91, and the openable and closable holding means 90 4 are mounted at the free ends of the arms 92. The jig 25 ll taken out from the mold 72 at the eighth station i9 held 6 1¦ by the holding means 90 and moved along the direction of 7 ~1 arrow 93 to be caught by the hook 23 of the conveyor 11, 8 1~ where the container 20 is removed from the jig 25.
9 ~1 (OPERATION~
¦I First, an empty jig 25 is transferred by the conveyor 11 ! 11 as shown in Fig. 2 to the setting position, where the 12 1 injection-molded piece 10 is mounted onto the jig 25 in its 13 ~! inverted position~ as shown in Fig. 5. The piece 10 has 14 l; its neck opening 18 gravitationally inserted into the gap lS ll 27a between the neck support 27 and core guide 28 of the 16 1I jig 25. However, since for this purpose, a depressing 17 l¦ means (not shown) which function interlockedly with the 18 transrer apparatus 12 is provided at a position immediately 19 succeeding to the transfer apparatus for lightly pushing down the piece 10 from above to ensure that its neck opening 21 18 is fitted in place onto_the jie 25.
22 I The transfer apparatus 12, with a swing motion of 23 its arm 40, transfers the jig 25 holding the piece 10 to 24 the core metal 44. It is provided with a guide rail 42 j~ having a magnet piece and drawing a gentle arc.
26 l~ ~he jig 25 mounted onto the core metal 44 by the 27 ~¦ transfer apparatus 12 is gravitationally engaged therewith 28 11 in the state as shown by the chain line in Fig. 6 and 29 ~I move~ through the heating chamber 13 while being imparted 1l a rotation and revolution from the gear 53 and pinion 54.
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~119367 1 In tllis case, as described previously, suc~l a jig tbat cannot bc suff'iciently engaged by gravity with the 3 core metal due to a strong magnetism of the magnet piece 59 4 ,l of the core metal 44 is lowered to a predetermined positioll j I by pushing down the upper end of the piece with the afore-; 6 ll mention~d depressing means (not shown).
Af'ter entering the heating chamber 13, the jig 25 " 8 ~l i9 advanced from the entrance near the transfer apparatus ~ 1l lZ towards the exit of the chamber 13 while being rotated i' lo li by the rotation and revolution of the core metal 44.
In the heating chamber 13, the piece lO mounted of the ,~' 12 , jig 25 is hea-ted in sequence at the respective heating 3 f zones render optimum temperature conditions for the succeeding ; l orientation process. As mentioned preveiously, two or three ~l heating tubes 62 are horizontally provided on the inner side 16 of each heating zone, while it is provided with several 17 ll vertical heating tubes 63 on its outer side.
18 1 These are necessary because the temperature will be undulatingly 9 distributed along the vertical direction of the piece lO
if only the lateral heating tubes are used, while a chevron-21 like distribution having its peak at the longitudinal 22 ! center of the piece and gradually' reduced temperatures 23 ~¦ towards its upper and lower ends will appear if only the 24 1~ vertical heating tubes are used. Thus, in the blow molding 1 25 equipment according to the present invention, a` combination ; 26 of vertical and horizontal heating tubes are adopted to 27 l secure an even and uniform temperature distribution over ' 28 1I the entire piece. These heating tubes 62 and 6~ are mounted 29 l' by the use of an assembly 95 with stands and screws so that - ' their mounting positions can be finely adjusted both laterally .~ I .
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- i~` 1119367 1 and longitudinally both in the vertical and ~lorizontal 2 I~ directions. The heating chamber 13 thlls heated by the 3 I vertical and horizontal heating tubes 62 and 63 has its 4 ll temperature adjusted by the operation of the heat-exhausting 5 1I damper 66 provided on the top of the cover. That is to say, 6 lj the temperature of each heating zone of the heating chamber 7 ~ 13 ls detected by the thermocouple 69, as shown in Fig. 3, 8 ~ which i8 connected to the control unit 70~
9 ll The driving device 68 is actuated by an instruction from ll the control unit 70 for opening or closing the damper 66 to correspondingly control the temperature of the heating zone.
12 ¦ The piece 10 evenly heated in the heating chamber 13 13 'I is advanced towards the exit of the chamber 13 while being 14 ¦I rotated and, when the core metal 44 comes up to the braking ¦ device 73 provided adjucently to the shieleling plate 71, 16 I the cam follower 60 comes into contact with the cam plate 74 17 ~ and core metal 44 is stopped with the cylinder 32 of the 18 jig 25 being positioned on the front si e of the support 19 holder 57.
The core metal 44 thus ~topped by the bra~ing device 21 73 actuates the ejector pin 50 provided below to move up the 22 jig 25 and, at the same time, closes the holding means 77 of the loading equipment 14 positioned at that position 24 ¦ where the core metal 44 is stopped for causing the holding l means 77 to catch the cylinder 32 of the jig 25.
226 l Then, the arm 76 is contracted and pivotally moved along the guide rail 81 to fit the jig 25 into the cavity 87 of the 28 mold 72. The guide rail 81 has a magnet piece which attracts 29 and holds the cylinder 32 of the jig 25 for continuously rotating the same as it is pivotally moved by the arm 76.
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~1~9367 1 As described previously, in the illustratecl embodiment having eight stations stepped by the mold 72, the jig 25 3 l~ onto which the heated piece 10 is mounted is placed into I the opened mold 72 and the mold is closed at the first 5 1 station. Then, as the mold 72 is being moved towards 6 1 the second staticn, the core shaft 30 is pushed up to 7 longitudinally orient the piece 10. Since the core shaft 30 has a core top 35 of inverted taper shape, the piece 9 j will not be bitten by the core shaft 30 and the piece lO
1 is longitudinally oriented properly by the core shaft 11 ! as it is pushed up.
li i 12 '~ Then, as shown in Fig. lO, compressed air is 13 ll, introduced through the air passage 39 formed in the core 14 l~ shaft 30 into the piece lO for laterally orienting the ¦
1 9ame.
16 I The air passages 39 is formed as a spline groove 17 on the outside of the core shaft 30. Instead of the spline 18 groove, a longitudinal hole opened at the side may be bored through the center of the core shaft 30. However, in a core shaft of such a hollow structure, the core shaft 21 30 cannot have a sufficient wall thickness and its machanical 22 strength will be insufficient when it is pushed up under ¦ higher blow pressure such as 50kg/cm or above.
24 In addition, if compressed air is blown out through pores 1 formed orthogonally or abliquely in the side wall of such 26 ~ a hollow type core shaft, compressed air will cause dimple 27 1¦ flaws on the moldings. Such dimples will remain and 28 ll damages their commercial value.
29 ¦l Alternatively, instead of the spline several air 30 ¦' passage grooves may be formed in the inner peripheral surface
- 20 -.~. I
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~1~9367 ..
of the core guide. }lowever, such a ~tructure is disadvantageous 2 l in an aspect of working.
3 l~ In the second through seventh stations, the mold and 4 jigr are kept in the state as shown in Fig. 10. At the eighth station, the mold 72 is opened and the jig 25 holding 6 ~l a molded piece is taken out of the mold 72 by the unloading eq~ipment 16 having two arms as shown in Fig. 10.
8 ll As described previously, the unloading equipment 16 is 9 provided with the rotatable shaft 91 having diametrically o two arms 92 at its upper end. The arms 92 has holding 11 means 90 at their free ends. The unloading equipment 16, 12 ~ with its holding means 90, catches the jig 25 at the eighth 13 ` station and transfers it to the conveyor 11.
14 After being transferred to the conveyor 11, the molded I piece (container) is moved upwards to be released from the 16 jig 25. Then, the emptied jig 25 is carried by the conveyor l7 ; 11 in the direction of arrow 96 and, during the course of 18 ll this, a new injected parison (piece) is mounted onto the 19 l jig 25, and the new piece undergoes the same processings of heating and orinetation as those undergone by the previous
. ., T
~1~9367 ..
of the core guide. }lowever, such a ~tructure is disadvantageous 2 l in an aspect of working.
3 l~ In the second through seventh stations, the mold and 4 jigr are kept in the state as shown in Fig. 10. At the eighth station, the mold 72 is opened and the jig 25 holding 6 ~l a molded piece is taken out of the mold 72 by the unloading eq~ipment 16 having two arms as shown in Fig. 10.
8 ll As described previously, the unloading equipment 16 is 9 provided with the rotatable shaft 91 having diametrically o two arms 92 at its upper end. The arms 92 has holding 11 means 90 at their free ends. The unloading equipment 16, 12 ~ with its holding means 90, catches the jig 25 at the eighth 13 ` station and transfers it to the conveyor 11.
14 After being transferred to the conveyor 11, the molded I piece (container) is moved upwards to be released from the 16 jig 25. Then, the emptied jig 25 is carried by the conveyor l7 ; 11 in the direction of arrow 96 and, during the course of 18 ll this, a new injected parison (piece) is mounted onto the 19 l jig 25, and the new piece undergoes the same processings of heating and orinetation as those undergone by the previous
21 l¦ piece to be molded into a container.
æ ,I Fig. 11 shows a product container 20 molded by the 23 l~ orientation-blow molding equipment according to the present ~4 1 invention. As shown in Fig. 10, the container 20 has a neck 11 opening 18, a cylindrical barrel 20b having almost the same !
26 1 diameter throughout it~ length and a sholder portion 20a 27 1 extending between the neck opening 18 and barrel 20b and 28 , having gradually increased diameters from its top to bottom.
29 1 As described previously, this container i9 produced by heating ll an injection-molded piece and orienting it first longitudinally ' '' ~.
:, ~ : ' :
- :
1 and then laterally. Its barrel portion has almost an equal 2 ~I wall tllickness and the container ha~ an improved transparency 3 l~ and excellent impact resistance owing to the biaxial orientation ~; 4 !l processing - 5 1 As fully described hereinbefore, since the orientation-6 I blow molding equipment according to the present invention 7 11l can heat the injected parison (injection-molded piece) evenly 8 1l and accurately orient it longitudinally as well as laterally 9 ~ in the mold, plastic containers having an improved toughness, I
o 1 strength and transparency can be easily produced by it.
1l Also, since the heating chamber is divided into several 12 heatings zones so that the piece can be heated at temperatures 1 13 ~ which are controlled stepwise~ a heating operation under ; optimum temperature ccnditions for the succeeding orientation l process is feasible. Further, since the piece mounted on 16 the jig is rotated in the heating chamber for ensuring 17 an even and uniform heating, protected by the shielding 18 plate at the exit of the heating chamber to avoid a partial 19 heating and then put by the loading equipment into the orlentation-blow molding machine of rotary statiin type, 21 the molding accuracy can be improved in that the piece can
æ ,I Fig. 11 shows a product container 20 molded by the 23 l~ orientation-blow molding equipment according to the present ~4 1 invention. As shown in Fig. 10, the container 20 has a neck 11 opening 18, a cylindrical barrel 20b having almost the same !
26 1 diameter throughout it~ length and a sholder portion 20a 27 1 extending between the neck opening 18 and barrel 20b and 28 , having gradually increased diameters from its top to bottom.
29 1 As described previously, this container i9 produced by heating ll an injection-molded piece and orienting it first longitudinally ' '' ~.
:, ~ : ' :
- :
1 and then laterally. Its barrel portion has almost an equal 2 ~I wall tllickness and the container ha~ an improved transparency 3 l~ and excellent impact resistance owing to the biaxial orientation ~; 4 !l processing - 5 1 As fully described hereinbefore, since the orientation-6 I blow molding equipment according to the present invention 7 11l can heat the injected parison (injection-molded piece) evenly 8 1l and accurately orient it longitudinally as well as laterally 9 ~ in the mold, plastic containers having an improved toughness, I
o 1 strength and transparency can be easily produced by it.
1l Also, since the heating chamber is divided into several 12 heatings zones so that the piece can be heated at temperatures 1 13 ~ which are controlled stepwise~ a heating operation under ; optimum temperature ccnditions for the succeeding orientation l process is feasible. Further, since the piece mounted on 16 the jig is rotated in the heating chamber for ensuring 17 an even and uniform heating, protected by the shielding 18 plate at the exit of the heating chamber to avoid a partial 19 heating and then put by the loading equipment into the orlentation-blow molding machine of rotary statiin type, 21 the molding accuracy can be improved in that the piece can
22 ¦I maintain its heating temperature until the orientation
23 1l and molding process.
24 1' In addition, since a jig which has a neck support, Il, mandrel and core shaft and can hold the piece with its neck 26 opening positioned down in the gap between the neck support 27 11 and core guide, the mounting oflthe jig onto the core metal 28 ¦l in the heating chamber, its mounting onto the mold of the ` 29 Ij molding machine after it being taken out from the heating '; 30 ¦I chamber and its removal from the mold can be performed '., -F2- ~
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11~1 9367 r~ 1 more smoothly and, therefore, the containers can be produced ;-. 2 1. at a higher efficiency with an improved mo~ding speed.
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11~1 9367 r~ 1 more smoothly and, therefore, the containers can be produced ;-. 2 1. at a higher efficiency with an improved mo~ding speed.
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Claims (14)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. In an equipment for producing a biaxially oriented container by heating in a heating chamber an injection-molded plastic piece having a neck and a closed-end cylindrical shape at a temperature lower than the crystalline melting point thereof, transferring the thus heated piece to a mold by the use of a loading equipment and, in said mold, longitudinally orienting said piece and then blow-molding the same to effect a lateral orientation thereof, an orientation-blow molding equipment comprising:
a jig having a neck support which can hold the neck of said plastic piece positioned upside down, a mandrel provided beneath said neck support, and a core shaft for longitudinal orientation which is provided inside said mandrel so as to be freely moved up or down and which has a blow-molding air passage;
a core metal which is moved in a recirculated manner in said heating chamber, said core metal having a cylindrical holder, a hollow shaft freely rotatably supported at the center of said holder, a cylinder provided at the upper end of said shaft, a support holder extending from the top of said cylinder for supporting said mandrel of said jig, and a gear provided at the lower end of said shaft for transmitting rotational motion of the shaft to said core metal;
a heating chamber having a rotary disk to which a plurality of said core metals are attached, said heating chamber being provided with several sets of heating elements and heat-exhausting damper devices so as to provide therein several heating zones along a transfer passage of said core metals attached to said rotary disk for heating stepwise said piece mounted on said jig;
a shielding plate having radial fins which are rotated in association with the movement of said core metal for pre-venting the thermal atmosphere at the exit of said heating chamber from being suddenly disturbed and fencing the piece which has advanced to the exit of said heating chamber;
a support holder braking means for stopping the rotation of said core metal, said braking means being provided at a position a predetermined distance apart from said shielding plate in the direction of the rotation of said rotary disk;
a loading equipment which catches said jig holding the thermally processed piece for loading the same from the mandrel which has stopped rotating by the action of said support holder braking means to a mold of rotary station type;
a means for rotating said jig when said jig is loaded into said molding means;
a blow molding machine of rotary station type having a plurality of said molds and provided beneath said molds with a cylinder rod for pushing up said orienting core shaft of said jig placed in each said mold and for introducing compressed air into the same;
an unloading equipment for removing said jig from said mold at a final station of said blow molding machine;
a conveyor having a plurality of attachment hooks for removing the jig from said unloading equipment to release the molded container from said jig and for catching the mandrel of the thus released jig to mount a new piece thereonto; and a transfer apparatus provided at a corner of said conveyor for mounting said jig which has advanced to said corner onto the core metal positioned at the entrance of said heating chamber.
a jig having a neck support which can hold the neck of said plastic piece positioned upside down, a mandrel provided beneath said neck support, and a core shaft for longitudinal orientation which is provided inside said mandrel so as to be freely moved up or down and which has a blow-molding air passage;
a core metal which is moved in a recirculated manner in said heating chamber, said core metal having a cylindrical holder, a hollow shaft freely rotatably supported at the center of said holder, a cylinder provided at the upper end of said shaft, a support holder extending from the top of said cylinder for supporting said mandrel of said jig, and a gear provided at the lower end of said shaft for transmitting rotational motion of the shaft to said core metal;
a heating chamber having a rotary disk to which a plurality of said core metals are attached, said heating chamber being provided with several sets of heating elements and heat-exhausting damper devices so as to provide therein several heating zones along a transfer passage of said core metals attached to said rotary disk for heating stepwise said piece mounted on said jig;
a shielding plate having radial fins which are rotated in association with the movement of said core metal for pre-venting the thermal atmosphere at the exit of said heating chamber from being suddenly disturbed and fencing the piece which has advanced to the exit of said heating chamber;
a support holder braking means for stopping the rotation of said core metal, said braking means being provided at a position a predetermined distance apart from said shielding plate in the direction of the rotation of said rotary disk;
a loading equipment which catches said jig holding the thermally processed piece for loading the same from the mandrel which has stopped rotating by the action of said support holder braking means to a mold of rotary station type;
a means for rotating said jig when said jig is loaded into said molding means;
a blow molding machine of rotary station type having a plurality of said molds and provided beneath said molds with a cylinder rod for pushing up said orienting core shaft of said jig placed in each said mold and for introducing compressed air into the same;
an unloading equipment for removing said jig from said mold at a final station of said blow molding machine;
a conveyor having a plurality of attachment hooks for removing the jig from said unloading equipment to release the molded container from said jig and for catching the mandrel of the thus released jig to mount a new piece thereonto; and a transfer apparatus provided at a corner of said conveyor for mounting said jig which has advanced to said corner onto the core metal positioned at the entrance of said heating chamber.
2. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein an ejector pin is inserted in said shaft of said core metal to move up said jig which has advanced to said loading equipment for ensuring a positive holding of said jig under being loaded, and a cam follower contacting said braking means is provided at a position opposite to the position where said support holder is mounted in said cylinder.
3. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said support holder of said core metal is provided with a magnet piece for attracting the mandrel of said jig to ensure a positive holding of said jig.
4. An orientation blow molding equipment according to any one of the preceding claims 1 through 3, wherein said support holder of said core metal has a width equal to half a diameter of said cylinder and a length slightly larger than that of said mandrel of said jig and wherein an arcuate pro-jection to be engaged with the shoulder of said mandrel of said jig is provided on the top of said support holder.
5. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein a temperature detecting means is provided in each of said heating zone of said heating chamber and a control unit is provided for controlling the temperature of said heating zone by comparing the thus detected temperature with a preset temperature to correspondingly drive said heat-exhausting damper.
6. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said heating elements provided in each heating zone of said heating chamber each comprise an infrared heating tubes of bar type and two or three tubes are disposed horizontally and several tubes are disposed vertically in each heating zone.
7. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said support holder braking device comprises an arcuate cam plate and a spring which are provided at the exit of said heating chamber so that the cam follower of the core metal is brought into contact with said cam plate for stopping the rotation of said jig always in such a position thereof in which said jig supported by said support holder of said core metal faces the front.
8. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said loading equipment has four arms which can be extended or contracted by the action of a cam and a pair of freely openable and closable holding means are mounted on the free end of each said arm for holding said mandrel as it is moved from the exit of said heating chamber to the mold, an arcuate guide rail having a magnet piece for rotating the jig being provided along the periphery of a circular course which is traced by said jig holding means.
9. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said unloading equipment is provided with a pair of holding means for catching said jig by cam action and holding the same as it is moved from said mold placed at said final station to said conveyor.
10. An orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said transfer apparatus comprises an arm which is pivotally moved around a fulcrum, a hook provided at the free end of said arm and a guide rail having a magnet piece and disposed along the periphery of the course traced by said hook.
11. Orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 1, wherein said jig comprises a neck support which can hold an injection-molded plastic piece with the neck portion thereof positioned down, a mandrel provided beneath said neck support and a core shaft for longitudinal orientation provided in said mandrel so as to be freely moved up or down and having blow-molding air passage, said neck support having therein a cylindri-cal core guide of heat-resistant synthetic resin which functions as a guide member for said core shaft moving upwards or downwards, said core guide being provided at the inner lower part thereof with a spacer ring for the adjustment of the stroke of said core shaft, said neck support having the top thereof shaped so that the top is closely contacted with the lower end of the mold when the jig is mounted onto the latter.
12. Orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 11, wherein said mandrel of said jig comprises a disk and a cylinder, a circular groove engaging with an arcuate projection on the support holder top of said core metal being formed in the underside of said disk.
13. Orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 11 or 12, wherein a heat-insulating plate is interposed between said neck support and said disk of said mandrel.
14. Orientation-blow molding equipment according to claim 11, wherein a core top of a heat-insulating material having an inverted taper shape is provided at the upper end of said core shaft for cutting off heat conduction to and from said plastic piece and preventing the core shaft from being wrapped with said piece when it is longitudinally oriented and a nozzle holder which is loosely fitted into the cylinder of said mandrel is provided at the lower end of said core shaft, said core shaft having therein a T-shaped hole at the lower part thereof and at least one blow-molding air passage on the outside there-of above the opening of said T-shaped hole.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000318820A CA1119367A (en) | 1978-12-29 | 1978-12-29 | Orientation-blow molding equipment and jig used therefor |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000318820A CA1119367A (en) | 1978-12-29 | 1978-12-29 | Orientation-blow molding equipment and jig used therefor |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1119367A true CA1119367A (en) | 1982-03-09 |
Family
ID=4113201
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000318820A Expired CA1119367A (en) | 1978-12-29 | 1978-12-29 | Orientation-blow molding equipment and jig used therefor |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1119367A (en) |
-
1978
- 1978-12-29 CA CA000318820A patent/CA1119367A/en not_active Expired
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| MKEX | Expiry |