Alignment assembly for heating lamps of a blow molding apparatus and method of use

A method for precisely measuring the position of heating lamps in a heating lamp assembly intended for use in an oven of a blow molding machine, the heating lamp assembly comprising a chassis removably positionable in at least one preselected location in the machine and including a vertical array of generally horizontally disposed lamps held in position by a lamp holder coupled to each end of each lamp, the method comprising the steps of

• coupling the chassis of the lamp assembly to a baseplate located outside the blow molding machine, the baseplate having indicator means carried by the baseplate adapted to contact said lamp holders for indicating the relative position of the lamp holders,
• vertically aligning a gauge member of the indicator means to confront each lamp holder,
• horizontally positioning each gauge member in contact with a confronting lamp holder, and
• reading vertical and horizontal scales of the indicator means indicating the position of each gauge member relative to the baseplate.

A method for precisely positioning the heating lamps in a heating lamp assembly intended for use in an oven of a blow molding machine, the heating lamp assembly comprising a chassis removably positionable in at least one preselected location in the machine and including a vertical array of generally horizontally disposed lamps held in position by a lamp holder coupled to each end of each lamp, the method comprising the steps of

• coupling the chassis of the lamp assembly to a baseplate located outside the blow molding machine, the baseplate having indicator means carried by the baseplate adapted to contact said lamp holders for indicating the relative position of the lamp holders,
• vertically aligning each lamp holder to confront a gauge member of the indicator means,
• horizontally positioning the baseplate so that each lamp holder is in contact with a confronting gauge member,
• reading vertical and horizontal scales indicating the position of each gauge member relative to the baseplate, and adjusting at least the horizontal position of each lamp holder to a preselected position based upon the readings of the scales.