Patent ID: 6422379
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: B29C,B29K,B65G,Y10S

Abstract:
An apparatus for continuously transferring preforms, comprising:a closed-loop conveyor chain formed of a plurality of support elements for carrying the preforms, each of said support elements having a pick-up plug for picking-up, holding, and releasing a respective preform, said conveyor chain being operable to be driven in a continuous motion; a closed-loop conveyor belt for guiding said conveyor chain, said conveyor belt including: a first horizontal stretch; a second horizontal stretch parallel to said first horizontal stretch; a first curved stretch arranged on the same horizontal plane as said first horizontal stretch and said second horizontal stretch and arranged to connect an end of said first horizontal stretch to an end of said second horizontal stretch; a second curved stretch shaped as a half-circle and arranged in a first vertical plane and extending into said first horizontal stretch; a third curved stretch shaped as a half-circle and arranged in a second vertical plane and extending into said second horizontal stretch; and a fourth curved stretch on a horizontal plane and connected to an end of said second curved stretch and an end of said third curved stretch; a loading station for loading the preforms onto said support elements; an unloading station for separating the preforms from said support elements, said loading station and said unloading station being arranged along said conveyor belt such that a preform can be picked-up by and released from a respective one of said pick-up plugs while the preform is in a vertical position and a neck portion of the preform is turned upwards; a temperature conditioning station provided along said conveyor belt between said loading station and said unloading station so as to treat the preforms carried by said support elements; and a moving component for moving said conveyor chain including said support elements forward along said conveyor belt, each of said support elements being operable to rotate as said moving component moves said conveyor chain such that when each of said support elements is moved through said temperature conditioning station, a respective preform carried by said each of said support elements is in a vertical position and a neck portion of the preform is turned downwards.