Split mold device for blow-molding crooked articles

A split mold device for blow-molding a crooked article from a synthetic resin parison, comprising a pair of mounting plates having confronting surfaces and which are capable of relative movement in a horizontal direction, a pair of split molds mounted on the confronting surfaces of the mounting plates, each of said split molds having an upper member, a lower member and a centrally positioned main member, mounting means which mount the main member on the mounting plate separately from the upper and lower members and which urges the main member beyond the upper and lower member when the split mold device is in an open mold position, each of the three members of each split mold having a confronting surface with a recessed portion which forms, when the split mold device is closed and the confronting surface of each member of the split mold is in contact with the corresponding members of the other split mold, an upper portion, a lower portion and a main portion, respectively, of a continuous vertically aligned crooked cavity in which the parison is blow molded;

• an opening in the body of the split mold providing communication between a source of compressed air for the blow molding step and one end of the crooked cavity;
• means for moving the mounting plates and the split molds mounted thereon horizontally from an open mold position to a first closed mold position where only the confronting surfaces of the main members of the split molds are in a contacting position;
• means including a current of air for inserting the parison into and partially through the crooked cavity in the main members while the split mold is in the first closed mold position;
• the means for moving the mounting plates being adapted to move the upper and lower split molds mounted thereon horizontally, while the main members remain in a closed position and a parison is positioned in the crooked cavity therein, to a second closed mold position, where the confronting surfaces of the upper and lower members of the split molds as well as those of the main members are in contacting positions;
• and means for blow molding the parison while the split mold is in the second closed mold position.