Injection stretch blow molding method and apparatus for producing internally threaded containers

Ejection station tooling for an injection stretch blow molding machine, said ejection station tooling comprising:

• a carrier plate;
• a plurality of carrier assemblies secured to said carrier plate, each of said carrier assemblies configured to carry an internally-threaded molded article;
• and
• a rotation assembly integrated with said carrier plate, wherein said rotation assembly is configured to remove each of the molded articles from its respective carrier assembly by causing the molded article to rotate with respect to a portion of its carrier assembly,
• wherein each of said carrier assemblies comprises a carrier insert and a pinion insert, with said carrier insert and said pinion insert configured to cooperatively secure one of the internally-threaded molded articles therebetween, and wherein said pinion insert includes protrusions or slots for engagement with a respective molded article such that rotation of said pinion insert is configured to cause a corresponding rotation the respective molded article.

A method of ejecting an internally-threaded molded article from an injection stretch blow molding machine, wherein injection stretch blow molding machine includes a carrier assembly comprising a carrier insert and a pinion insert, with the carrier insert and the pinion insert configured to cooperatively secure the molded article therebetween, wherein the carrier insert includes a thread-forming portion configured to form internal threads on the molded article, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) shifting a drive mechanism into engagement with a rotation assembly;
• (b) causing one or more components of said rotation assembly to rotate;
• (c) imparting rotation from the rotation assembly to the pinion insert of the carrier assembly,
• wherein during said imparting of step (c), the molded article is disengaged from the carrier assembly by the pinion insert causing the molded article to rotate with respect to the carrier insert of the carrier assembly.