US 4,902,217 A · Rotary blow molding machine with rotary take-out mechanism having expandible take-out pin

Abstract

The blow molding machine includes a rotary carousel having a plurality of mold stations thereon with each mold station including a pair of openable and closeable mold sections. A rotary take-out mechanism removes a blown article from each pair of mold sections as they pass the take-out mechanism. In particular, the take-out mechanism includes a take-out member inserted into the blown article to grip same while the mold sections are closed. The take-out member is carried on a turret arm rotated in oscillatory manner about the axis of revolution of the carousel and in synchronism therewith to cause the inserted take-out member to follow rotation of the mold sections as they are opened. When the mold sections are sufficiently opened, the take-out member is rotated about another axis so as to remove the blown article from between the opened mold sections. The take-out member is carried on a spindle that is rotatably indexable on the turret arm about the other axis. A rack and pinion mechanism operatively associated with the spindle is actuated by oscillatory movement of the turret arm to rotatably index the spindle and the take-out member thereon at the proper times.

Claims46

Dependent claims

A rotary blow molding machine comprising:

(a) a base,
(b) a carousel rotatably supported on the base about an axis of revolution,
(c) means for rotating the carousel,
(d) a plurality of mold stations mounted on the carousel in circumferentially spaced apart relation thereon, said mold stations each comprising a pair of mold sections closeable and openable by relative movement toward and away from one another for defining, when closed, a blowing cavity in which a parison is blown to form a blown article and a mold mouth communicating with the blowing cavity and through which the blown article is accessible, and
(e) means for opening and closing the mold sections of each mold station, and
(f) a take-out mechanism for removing the blown article from a respective pair of mold sections as they are rotated therepast, said take-out mechanism comprising a take-out member for gripping the blown article when said respective pair of mold sections is closed, means for rotating the take-out member about the axis of revolution of the carousel in synchronism therewith to cause the take-out member gripping the blown article between the closed mold sections to track rotation of said mold sections as they are opened, and means for rotating the take-out member gripping the blown article between the opened mold sections about another axis of revolution to remove the blown article from between the opened mold sections.

3 more elements

A rotary blow molding machine comprising:

(a) a base,
(b) a carousel rotatably supported on the base about an axis of revolution,
(c) means for rotating the carousel,
(d) a plurality of mold stations mounted on the carousel in circumferentially spaced apart relation thereon, said mold stations each comprising a pair of mold sections openable and closeable to define, when closed, a blowing cavity in which a parison is blown to form a blown article and a mouth communicating with the blowing cavity and through which the blown article is accessible from outside the closed mold sections, and
(e) a take-out mechanism for removing the blown article from a respective pair of closed mold sections as said pair is indexably rotated therepast, said take-out mechanism comprising a turret arm rotatable in oscillatory manner about the axis of revolution of the carousel, a spindle disposed on the turret arm for rotation about a spindle axis and including a plurality of take-out members thereon, means for rotating the spindle about the spindle axis to a gripping station where a respective one of the take-out members is aligned with the mouth of a respective pair of closed mold sections having a blown article in the blowing cavity thereof, means for moving said respective one of the take-out members into the mouth to grip the blown article from the inside, means for rotatably oscillating the turret arm about the axis of revolution of the carousel in synchronism with rotary indexing of the carousel to cause said spindle and said respective one of the take-out members to follow rotation of said respective pair of closed mold sections from the gripping station as they are opened for eventual removal of the blown article by rotation of the spindle about the spindle axis and then to return the spindle to the gripping station so that another take-out member can be aligned with the mouth of a successive pair of closed mold stations indexed to the gripping station.

2 more elements

A rotary blow molding machine comprising:

(a) a base,
(b) a carousel rotatably supported on the base about an axis of revolution,
(c) means for rotating the carousel,
(d) a plurality of mold stations mounted on the carousel in circumferentially spaced apart relation thereon, said mold stations each comprising a pair of mold sections openable and closeable to define, when closed, a blowing cavity in which a parison is blown to form a blown article and a mouth communicating with the blowing cavity and through which the blown article is accessible from outside the closed mold sections, and
(e) a take-out mechanism for removing the blown article from a respective pair of closed mold sections as said pair is indexably rotated therepast, said take-out mechanism comprising a turret arm rotatable in oscillatory manner about the axis of revolution of the carousel, a turret carried on the turret arm for oscillatory rotation therewith, a spindle disposed on the turret for rotation about a spindle axis and including a plurality of take-out members thereon, means for rotating the spindle about the spindle axis to a gripping station where a respective one of the take-out members is aligned with the mouth of a respective pair of closed mold sections, means for moving the take-out member into the mouth to grip the blown article from the inside, means for rotatably oscillating the turret arm about the axis of revolution of the carousel in synchronism with rotary indexing of the carousel to cause the spindle to follow rotation of said respective pair of closed mold sections from the gripping station as they are opened for removal of the blown article by rotation of the spindle about the spindle axis and to return the spindle to the gripping station so that another take-out member can be aligned with the mouth of a successive pair of closed mold stations indexed to the gripping station.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Rotary blow molding machine with rotary take-out mechanism having expandible take-out pin

Life of this patent

Rotary blow molding machine with rotary take-out mechanism having expandible take-out pin

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims46