Patent ID: 8197744
Filing Date: 2012-06-12
Classification: B29C,B29L

Abstract:
1. A method of blow molding an article from a parison in a cavity of a blow mold comprising the steps of: providing a first pair of mold closures, each having a mold cavity surface and movable in the direction of a first axis between open and closed positions; providing a second pair of mold closures, each separate from the first pair of mold closures, each having an abutment surface and a separate mold cavity surface, and each being carried by the same one closure of the first pair of mold closures; providing a third pair of mold closures, each separate from both the first pair and the second pair of mold closures, each having an abutment surface constructed for engagement with the abutment surface of a respective one of the mold closures of the second pair of mold closures, each having a separate mold cavity surface, and each being carried by the same other closure of the first pair of mold closures; positioning a molten plastic parison with a plurality of layers including a fuel vapor barrier layer between the first, second, and third pairs of mold closures before the mold is closed; advancing the first pair of mold closures in the direction of the first axis to close the first pair of mold closures without pinching the parison and prior to blow molding the parison; advancing the second pair of mold closures and the third pair of mold closures into engagement of the abutment surfaces of the second pair of mold closures with the abutment surfaces of the third pair of mold closures without pinching the parison; and advancing relative to the first pair of mold closures the second pair of mold closures in the direction of a second axis and the third pair of mold closures in the direction of a third axis parallel to the second axis in order to close the blow mold and position their mold cavity surfaces to form a closed mold cavity, wherein the mold is closed without the abutment surfaces engaging the parison and without pinching the parison between any of the entirety of the abutment surfaces as a result of closing the blow mold and before blow molding the parison in the closed mold cavity so that the parison is blow molded in the closed mold cavity without forming any heavy flash and without rupturing the fuel vapor barrier layer, wherein the first, second, and third axes are separate from one another, and wherein the first axis is perpendicular to the second and third axes.