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US 12,728,582 B2Granted
Systems and methods for rotary blow-fill-seal (BFS) machine mold positioning
AssigneeKoska Family Limited
InventorJeff Price
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for rotary Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) mold positioning that utilize fixed-position filling mandrels and upward moving molds to form mandrel-molded BFS product features utilizing a modified mold positioning path profile.
Claims31
A rotary blow-fill-seal (BFS) manufacturing system, comprising:
- a first mold comprising a first mold half and a second mold half;
- a positioning system coupled to the first mold and constructed to move the first and second mold halves along a first direction toward or away from each other and along a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction;
- at least one filling mandrel constructed to fill at least one BFS product molded by the rotary BFS manufacturing system with a fluid;
- a parison system constructed to extrude a parison tube surrounding the at least one filling mandrel;
- and
- a controller operatively coupled to the positioning system, the at least one filling mandrel, and the parison system, the controller comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to:
- (a) move, via the positioning system, the first and second mold halves along the first direction toward each other and mold a first portion of the parison tube disposed therebetween to form a first portion of the at least one BFS product, the formed first portion of the at least one BFS product comprising at least one chamber;
- (b) move, via the positioning system, the first and second mold halves along the second direction toward the at least one filling mandrel, such that part of the first portion of the parison tube is engaged between the first mold and the at least one filling mandrel so as to form a second portion of the at least one BFS product;
- (c) move, via the positioning system, the first and second mold halves along the second direction away from the at least one filling mandrel, such that the second portion of the at least one BFS product disengages from the at least one filling mandrel and such that a dispensing end of the at least one filling mandrel remains disposed within the at least one BFS product within the first mold;
- and
- (d) dispense, via the at least one filling mandrel, a fluid from the dispensing end so as to fill the at least one BFS product,
- wherein a position of the dispensing end of the at least one filling mandrel along the second direction is the same throughout (a) through (d).
9 more elements
A method comprising:
- (a) moving first and second mold halves of a first mold along a first direction toward each other with a first portion of a parison tube therebetween;
- (b) molding, via the first and second mold halves, the first portion of the parison tube so as to form a first portion of at least one BFS product, the formed first portion of the at least one BFS product comprising at least one chamber;
- (c) moving the first and second mold halves along a second direction toward at least one filling mandrel such that part of the first portion of the parison tube is engaged between the first mold and the at least one filling mandrel so as to form a second portion of the at least one BFS product, the second direction being substantially perpendicular to the first direction;
- (d) moving the first and second mold halves along the second direction away from the at least one filling mandrel such that the second portion of the least one BFS product disengages from the at least one filling mandrel and such that a dispensing end of the at least one filling mandrel remains disposed within the at least one BFS product within the first mold;
- and
- (e) dispensing a fluid from the dispensing end of the at least one filling mandrel so as to fill the at least one BFS product,
- wherein a position of the dispensing end of the at least one filling mandrel along the second direction remains the same throughout (a) through (e).
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.