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US 7,093,411 B2Granted
Method for storing thermoplastic preforms in a container
AssigneeAmcor Limited
InventorAndrew Wallis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to store thermoplastic preforms in a container, the outside faces of the preforms are treated so as to make said outside faces more slippery, and the preforms are stored in bulk in the container, with the outside faces of the preforms after treatment presenting a coefficient of friction that is low enough to ensure that the packing density, i.e. the number of preforms stored per unit volume, is greater than the packing density that would be obtained under the same conditions with non-treated preforms.
Claims8
A method of storing thermoplastic preforms in a storage container, said method comprising the steps of:
- transferring preforms from an injection-molding machine via a conveyor;
- unscrambling and sequentially orienting said preforms received from an end of said conveyor opposite said injection-molding machine;
- transferring said unscrambled and oriented preforms sequentially through a transfer system substantially one preform at a time;
- spraying a lubricant onto said preforms substantially individually as said preforms transfer through said transfer system;
- dropping said preforms with applied lubricant individually from said transfer system into a storage container;
- and
- filling the storage container with said preforms to a predetermined level;
- wherein said preforms with applied lubricant orient themselves by sliding one over another thereby allowing the storage container to hold a quantity of preforms that is at least ten percent (10%) greater in number than a substantially identical storage container filled to said predetermined level with preforms that are similarly configured and shaped to said preforms without the applied lubricant.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.