Patent ID: 11865753
Assignee: MILACRON LLC
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 12:
13. A method for cooling molded preforms, comprising:
a) transferring a first set of preforms of a first injection cycle from a mold to retained engagement in first plate cavities of a take-out plate, the preforms having exterior surfaces and interior surfaces targeted for cooling, the first plate cavities contacting the outer surfaces targeted for cooling;
b) retracting the take-out plate away from the mold;
c) drawing together the take-out plate and a transfer shell to insert transfer pins of a shell first side of the transfer shell into the preforms, the transfer pins connected to a suction source for urging a flow of ambient air along the inner surfaces targeted for cooling, and the transfer shell spaced away from the mold and rotatable about a shell axis;
d) releasing the preforms from the take-out plate and transferring the preforms to retained engagement on the transfer pins of the shell first side of the transfer shell;
e) rotating the transfer shell 180 degrees about the shell axis to move the shell first side to a supplemental cooling position,
f) drawing together a supplemental cooling device and the transfer shell to insert the preforms into second plate cavities of the supplemental cooling device, the second plate cavities contacting the outer surfaces targeted for cooling;
g) releasing the preforms from the transfer shell and transferring the preforms to retained engagement in the second plate cavities of the supplemental cooling device; and
h) releasing the preforms from the supplemental cooling device and transferring the preforms back to retained engagement on the transfer shell.