Blow molding device

A method of blow molding a preform into an article of predetermined shape, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a series of preforms having a closed bottomed cylindrical shape formed of resin material;
• sequentially heating the series of preforms in a heating furnace;
• sequentially exiting the series of preforms from the heating furnace;
• defining batches of preforms from the series of the preforms exiting the heating furnace each batch including a first preform to exit the heating furnace and a last preform to exit the heating furnace;
• as a unit, transferring a first batch of the batches of preforms into a first batch mold that is open, the first batch mold having a plurality of cavities each of which receives one preform of the first batch of preforms;
• as a unit, transferring a second batch of the batches of preforms into a second batch mold that is open, the second batch mold having a plurality of cavities each of which receives one preform of the second batch of preforms;
• closing the first and second batch molds to retain the preforms therein, the closing of the first and second batch molds occurring within a range of 5 to 11 seconds after the first preform of a respective batch of the preforms exits the heating furnace;
• injecting a pressurized liquid into each of the preforms in the first and second batch molds using a single injection head thereby radially and axially expanding the preforms into conformity with the cavities and forming first and second batches of articles of the predetermined shape;
• and
• removing the articles from the first and second batch molds with the injected liquid located within the articles.

A method of blow molding a preform into an article of predetermined shape, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a series of preforms having a closed bottomed cylindrical shape formed of resin material;
• sequentially heating the series of preforms in a heating furnace;
• sequentially exiting the series of preforms from the heating furnace;
• defining a batch of preforms from the series of the preforms exiting the heating furnace, the batch including a first preform to exit the heating furnace and a last preform to exit the heating furnace;
• simultaneously transferring the batch of the preforms into a batch mold that is open, the batch mold having a plurality of cavities each of which receives a preform of the batch of preforms;
• closing the batch mold to retain the batch of preforms therein, the closing of the batch mold occurring within a range of 5 to 11 seconds after the first preform of the batch of preforms exits the heating furnace;
• defining a second batch of preforms from the series of the preforms exiting the heating furnace;
• simultaneously transferring the second batch of the preforms into a second batch mold that is open;
• in the simultaneously transferring steps, successive batches of preforms being alternatingly transferred to the batch mold and the second batch mold;
• closing the second batch mold to retain the second batch of preforms therein, the closing of the second batch mold occurring within a range of 5 to 11 seconds after a first preform of the second batch of preforms exits the heating furnace;
• injecting a pressurized liquid into each preform of the batch of preforms in the batch mold from an injection head thereby radially and axially expanding the preforms into conformity with the cavities and form a batch of articles of the predetermined shape;
• injecting a pressurized liquid into each preform of the second batch of preforms in the second batch mold from the injection head thereby radially and axially expanding the preforms into conformity with the cavities and form a second batch of articles of the predetermined shape;
• alternatingly displacing the batch mold and second batch mold to a position adjacent to the injection head prior to the injecting step;
• and
• removing the articles from the batch mold and the second batch mold with the injected liquid located within the articles.