Method for producing a marked container comprising a step for marking a preform
AssigneeSidel Participations
InventorsGuy Feuilloley, Sebastien Fevre
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for producing a marked container (12), includes the following steps: a first step (E1) of heating, beyond a glass transition temperature, at least one shape-changing portion of the thermoplastic material wall (17) of a preform (14); and a second step (E2) of forming the container by injecting a pressurized fluid into the body (16) of the preform (14) such as to change the shape of the heated portion of the wall (17) by stretching it; and a step (E0) for marking the preform (14), during which a mark (39) is provided on the shape-changing portion of the wall (17) such that the mark (39) is stretched at the same time as the wall (17), during step (E2) after forming.
Claims10
A method for obtaining a series of marked containers (12) from a series of preforms (14), each preform comprising PET material and including a preform axis and a preform body (16) to be deformed for obtaining the marked container (12), the preform body (16) including a wall (17), the method comprising storing a master pattern of a mark of the marked container to be obtained and comprising the following steps for each preform:
- a first heating step (E1) of heating at least a portion, of the wall (17) of the preform body beyond a glass transition temperature of the PET material;
- a second stretch-blow molding step (E2) of stretch-blow molding the container by injection of a fluid under pressure into the preform body (16) for radially expanding the preform body and by using a stretching rod for axially stretching the preform body so as to deform the heated portion of the wall (17);
- prior to said stretch-blow molding step (E2), a marking step (E0) of marking the preform (14) during which a mark (39) is made on the portion of the wall (17) of the preform body to be deformed during said stretch-blow molding step (E2), so that the mark (39) is stretched at the same time as the wall (17) during the subsequent stretch-blow molding step (E2) such that the mark (39) made on the portion of the wall (17) of the preform body, after said stretching, has a shape that corresponds to a shape of the master pattern,
- the mark (39) being made on the portion of the wall (17) of the preform body by is made by local heating of the PET material at the portion of the wall (17) of the preform body using a laser (40) that emits a beam (42) at a power that is less than an ablation threshold beyond which the laser beam (42) begins to hollow out the wall (17) of the preform body;
- wherein the method further includes regulating the mark (39) provided on a further preform of the series of preforms depending on a comparison with the master pattern of an image of the marked container;
- wherein the marking step of each preform, the heating step of each preform, and the stretch-blow molding step of each container are performed by a single installation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.