Method for controlling a conveyor for hollow bodies through a heating station and associated conveyor

A method for controlling a conveyor (20) of hollow bodies (12) through a heating station (14) for an installation (10) for producing containers of thermoplastic material, comprising:

• a heating tunnel (18) defining a heating path;
• the conveyor (20) comprising at least one moving track (22), each of the at least one moving track forming one closed circuit, the conveyor further comprising a plurality of shuttles (24) associated with said at least one moving track, each of the shuttles of the associated plurality of shuttles being structured to travel along said at least one moving track (22) and to carry at least one hollow body (12), each shuttle (24) being controlled individually in movement along the closed circuit, independently from the other shuttles of the plurality of shuttles, the at least one moving track (22) having a heating section (22B) for the conveying of the hollow bodies (12) along the heating path;
• an input device (32) for the hollow bodies (12) to be heated that brings the hollow bodies (12) to a loading section (22A) of the at least one moving track (22) for their loading on the shuttles (24), two successive shuttles (24) traveling with a first determined input separation (E1) on the loading section (22A);
• an output device (38) for the hot hollow bodies (12) that recovers the hollow bodies (12) carried on the shuttles (24) that travel on an off-loading section (22C) of the at least one moving track (22);
• wherein the two successive shuttles (24) traveling on the off-loading section (22C) are spaced by a determined output separation (E3) that is different from the first input separation (E1).