Apparatus for blow molding containers

An apparatus for blow molding plastic containers, the apparatus comprising a blow molding carousel configured to rotate about a main rotation axis and operatively connected, at a first transfer station, to a feeding line of preforms that comprise a preform body and a preform mouth, said blow molding carousel supporting, at a peripheral region thereof, a plurality of forming units arranged around a main rotation axis, each forming unit comprising a mold formed by two mold parts configured to move with respect to each other in order to pass between an open position for feeding the preforms, and a closed position in which said forming unit defines at least one forming cavity, said first transfer station comprising a transfer carousel configured to rotate about an axis of the transfer carousel that is parallel to the main rotation axis, and supporting a plurality of grip elements associated with at least one respective grip body designed to pick up at least one respective preform from said feeding line in order to feed the respective preform to a respective forming cavity, said grip element comprising a first arm, which is supported so that said first arm rotates by said transfer carousel in order to rotate on command about a substantially vertical pivoting axis, and a second arm, which extends longitudinally and slides on command with respect to said first arm along an advancement/retraction direction which is substantially parallel to a direction of extension of said second arm, wherein said grip body supports a coupling element which is configured to stably hold said preform substantially by the preform mouth region, said coupling element being movable on command with respect to said second arm along a movement trajectory which has at least one component that is parallel to a vertical direction.