Preform preheater
AssigneeBall Corporation
InventorsMichael L. Vaughn, Khalid Mejrhirh, Eddie R. Roberts
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A housing is mounted to a slide that transports a series of preforms downward under the influence of gravity through a pre-heating apparatus toward a reheat blow molding machine. The housing is coupled to the slide so that a selected portion of each of the series of preforms is shielded from the general enviroment, and heating elements and directing elements are fixed within the housing so that heat from the heating elements is directed toward the selected portion of each series of preforms as the preforms desend down the slide to achieve a persistent thermal gradient in the preforms prior to the re-heating and blow-molding of the preform.
Claims19
Pre-heating apparatus for coupling to an input apparatus connected to a reheating portion of a reheat-blow molding machine to preheat a selected portion of preforms traveling through the input apparatus, the pre-heating apparatus comprising:
- a housing having a first longitudinal wall fixed to a first side of the input apparatus, and a second longitudinal wall hinged to the first longitudinal wall and releasably coupled to a second side of the input apparatus,
- heating elements coupled to the longitudinal walls for preheating a selected portion of preforms, gravitationally traveling through the input apparatus, to a defined temperature gradient prior to introduction of the preforms into the reheating section of the reheat-blow molding machine, and
- shielding elements located adjacent to the heating elements for inhibiting the heating of chosen portions of each of the preforms.
In a reheat-blow molding machine including a reheating section and an input apparatus coupled to the reheating section for introducing a series of preforms to be blow-molded, the improvement comprising pre-heating apparatus coupled to the input apparatus for preheating a selected portion of each preform as the preform moves through the input apparatus, the pre-heating apparatus comprising
- a housing coupled to the input apparatus, and
- heating elements situated within the housing and directed toward a selected locus of points situated in relation to the input apparatus to define a path along which the selected portion of each preform travels as the preform moves through the input apparatus.
Pre-heating apparatus for pre-heating a selected portion of each of a series of preforms prior to re-heating and blow-molding the preform, the pre-heating apparatus comprising:
- a gravitational slide for transporting the series of preforms downward under the influence of gravity,
- a housing coupled to the slide so that the selected portion of each of the series of preforms is shielded from the general environment,
- heating elements fixed within the housing so that heat from the heating elements is directed toward the selected portion of each of the series of preforms as the preforms descend down the gravitational slide,
- lens elements coupled adjacent to the heating elements for focusing infrared emissions from the heating elements toward said selected portions of each of the series of preforms, and
- reflective shielding elements located adjacent to the heating elements for inhibiting the heating of other than the selected portions of the preforms to achieve a defined temperature gradient in each of the preforms prior to introduction of the preforms into a reheating section of an adjacent reheat-blow molding machine.
A method for increasing the rate of production of blow-molded articles in a reheat-blow process, the process comprising the steps of reheating preforms to a blow-molding temperature and blowing the reheated preforms within a mold until the preform conforms to the mold interior configuration, the method comprising the steps of:
- preheating a selected portion of each preform prior to the reheating step to generate a temperature gradient between the selected portion and the remainder of the preform, and
- initiating said reheating step while the temperature gradient is still present in the preform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.