Entering injection moulded preforms in a mould of a high-efficiency blow-moulding apparatus

Apparatus for blow moulding hollow plastic containers, comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of openable and closable half-moulds capable of being coupled to each other and clamped together, said pairs being associated to an appropriate central structure,
• devices to handle, transfer and introduce the preforms in said corresponding half-moulds as these are kept in their open position,
• a pick-up device adapted to remove the blow-moulded container from the pair of half-moulds upon them being opened, ie. separated,
• a mould opening and closing mechanism adapted to close, ie. clamp said half-moulds together upon them having passed through the position in which preform insertion is carried out, and to open said half-moulds from each other in correspondence of the mechanism provided to remove the finished container therefrom,
• means adapted to arrange a respective preform in a pre-defined position suitable for blow moulding, and to hold it in this position regardless of the position and mutual relation of said respective pair of half-moulds, in particular when said half-moulds are at least partially open, ie. separated from each other, characterized in that said means comprise:
• a fork member joined to a respective stationary half-mould and provided with a receptacle adapted to place the respective preform into said respective pre-defined position,
• a pincer-like gripper adapted to transfer a respective preform from an external position and automatically fit it into said receptacle of the respective fork member, as well as to automatically disengage from said preform upon the latter having been firmly fitted into said respective receptacle,
• a small-tube assembly adapted to move into inserting in the mouth portion of said preform when the latter is so restrained in said respective receptacle.