Take-out and cooling apparatus

A molded article handling apparatus for removing hollow plastic articles from an injection molding machine, the injection molding machine including at least two molding elements movable between a closed conformation wherein the hollow plastic articles are molded and an open conformation wherein the hollow plastic articles are released in a space between the molding elements, the molded article handling apparatus comprising:

• a base including an arm coupled to an injection molding machine,
• an carriage mounted on the arm for movement in a first dimension into and out of the space between the molding elements when in said spaced conformation,
• a molded article engagement apparatus coupled to the carriage for engaging the molded hollow plastic articles as they are released from the molding machine, the engagement apparatus including a cooling assembly for cooling the molded hollow plastic articles while they are engaged by the engagement apparatus,
• a first motor coupled to the arm for moving the carriage and engagement apparatus between said space between the molding elements and any of a preselected plurality of positions along the first dimension located outside the molding machine, and
• a transfer assembly including a plurality of sets of article grabbers, each set of the article grabbers mounted for movement with respect to the base to any of a corresponding separate preselected plurality of remote positions, for grabbing the hollow plastic articles from the molded article engagement apparatus, a set of the article grabbers being positioned to confront the articles held by the engagement apparatus at each of said preselected plurality of positions along the first dimension and to grab and move the confronted articles to any of the corresponding separate preselected plurality of remote positions, so that operation of the first motor moving the carriage and the engagement apparatus to one of the preselected plurality of positions located outside the molding machine achieves a selection of at least one of the corresponding separate preselected plurality of remote positions for deposit of the molded articles.

A molded parison handling apparatus for removing hollow plastic parisons used in the manufacture of oriented plastic bottles from an injection molding machine, the injection molding machine including at least two molding elements movable between a closed conformation wherein the parisons are molded and an open conformation wherein a set of the parisons are released in a space between the molding elements, the molded parison having a body portion and a finish portion, the handling apparatus comprising:

• a base including an arm coupled to an injection molding machine,
• an carriage mounted on the base for movement in a first dimension into and out of the space between the molding elements when in said spaced conformation,
• a molded parison engagement apparatus coupled to the carriage for engaging the set of parisons as they are released from the molding machine, the engagement apparatus including a cooling assembly for cooling the body portion of the set of molded parisons while they are engaged by the engagement apparatus,
• a first motor coupled to the arm for moving the carriage and engagement apparatus between said space between the molding elements and any of at least two preselected positions along the first dimension located outside the molding machine, and
• a transfer assembly including at least two sets of grabbers, each set of the grabbers mounted for movement with respect to the base to any of corresponding separate at least two preselected remote positions, for grabbing the finish portion of the parisons from the parison engagement apparatus, a set of the article grabbers being positioned to confront the parisons held by the engagement apparatus at each of said preselected positions along the first dimension and to grab and move the confronted parisons to any of the corresponding separate at least two preselected remote positions, so that operation of the first motor moving the carriage and the engagement apparatus to one of the at least two preselected positions located outside the molding machine achieves a selection of at least one of the corresponding separate at least two preselected remote positions for deposit of the parisons.

A transfer assembly for transferring articles from a first position to a second position, the transfer assembly comprising:

• a base plate having a first side and a second side,
• at least one pair of gripper bars situated on the first side of the base plate, each pair of gripper bars including confronting surfaces having opposing contact regions for gripping the articles,
• at least two pins fixed to each gripper bar, each pin penetrating through a slot in the base plate between the first side and the second side, the slots allowing reciprocal movement of the pins and gripper bar in a direction generally perpendicular to said confronting surfaces,
• at least one cam element situated on the base plate second side, each cam element engaging at least one pin fixed to each of the gripper bars forming one of said pair of gripper bars, and
• at least one actuator coupled to all the cam elements engaging a selected pair of gripper bars to cause coordinated movement of the cam elements to drive the reciprocal movement of the pins and gripper bars.