Apparatus and method for producing plastic containers

An apparatus for producing plastic containers, comprising:

• a forming machine for producing plastic preforms;
• a blow-moulding machine for blowing the preforms to obtain containers, provided with a blow-moulding carousel having a plurality of blow-moulding moulds that expand the preforms to obtain the containers;
• a thermal conditioning station interposed between the forming machine and the blow-moulding machine;
• a storage station, configured for receiving and containing preforms;
• a supplying system for feeding the thermal conditioning station with preforms contained in the storage station.

A method for producing plastic containers, comprising the following steps:

• producing plastic preforms through a forming machine;
• conditioning the preforms in a thermal conditioning station;
• blow-moulding the preforms to obtain containers;
• storing the preforms in a storage station;
• feed the preforms stored in the storage station to the conditioning station, whereby, after the step of producing the preforms, it is possible to conserve the preforms for any period of time that is desired, postponing the blow-moulding of the preforms to a subsequent moment.