Apparatus for moulding hollow containers of a molecularly orientable plastics material

Abstract: The compact apparatus for the moulding of hollow containers in molecularly orientatable plastics material according to this invention comprises a plurality of units (2, 3, 4) for forming the containers and a dis­ charge unit (5) for the formed containers, and is characterized by the fact that said units (2, 3, 4, 5) are aligned at least in a row, there being present a conveyor device adapted for linking said units, comprising a plurality of carriages (6) having support jaws for the containers during the forming phase, the carriages (6) being slidable on rectilinear guides (12, 17) along a first path linking the aligned units, and a second path parallel to same, linking the remaining unit or units, trans­ latory means being present for moving the carriages (6) from one of the parallel paths to the other at their relative ends, there being also present a step feed actuator for the carriages (6) along the first path, bringing the carriages holding the containers during the moulding phase from one unit to the next of the aligned units.

Description: The subject of the present invention is an apparatus for the forming of hollow containers of a molecularly orientatable plastics material, according to the preamble of claim 1. Such an apparatus is known from US-A-4 365 950. For numerous purposes, containers of plastics materials are used, adapted for containing liquids such as, for example, drinks and the like. Such drinks frequently have additions of carbon dioxide or they may contain gases which can be released if the temperature is varied or the liquids are agitated, thus raising the container to pressure. Containers suitable for this purpose must, therefore, be resistant to the internal pressure applied to them and, moreover, they must be impermeable over periods of time to the gases dissolved in the contained liquids. A plastics material suitable for this purpose is polyethylene terephthalate, known by the abbreviation PET, which may be subjected to mechanical drawing deformations at an appropriate temperature, which deformations impart to it an orientated molecular structure, adapted for providing properties of mechanical strength and impermeability to gases substantially better then those of the non-orientated polymer and suitable for use in aforementioned containers. For this purpose it is especially advantageous to realize a molecular orientation in two orthogonal directions in the material, by which the best results of mechanical strength and impermeability to gases are achieved, which are of fundamental importance to the containers for liquids comprising gases in solution. The problem therefore arises of realizing an apparatus for the forming or moulding of containers, which shall make possible the achieving of an orientated molecular structure in the greater part of the container, the apparatus being suitable for carrying out in automatic manner the successive operations necessary for the forming of a container with the aforementioned characteristics, with a rapid production cycle and a construction which shall have reduced bulk. There is also known an apparatus adapted for producing containers having the characteristics described above, but said apparatus has appreciable overall dimensions, principally because of the device for carrying out conveying of the workpieces during the phase of moulding from one operating unit to the other, and this constitutes a limitation to its field of use, especially for small manufacturers who do not have available adequate space for this purpose. From US-A-4.365.950 it is known an apparatus for moulding hollow containers having a closed feed path, said apparatus is suitable for two stage equipment and cannot be included into single stage equipment. Also known by US-A-4.484.884 and DE-A-30 06 064 are rectilinear single path for turning preforms operated through a continuous chain along a linear path from which the preforms never come out in a transversal direction. The object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus, which shall carry out the complete cycle of moulding automatically within a reduced space. This object is achieved according to the invention by the apparatus as defined in claim 1. The discharge unit for the finished containers is disposed at one end of a pair of slide guides, the guides being disposed on a path parallel to the alignment path of the moulding units, an actuator being present for transferring the carriages along said path between its two ends, corresponding to the positions for the means for transfer of the carriages to the parallel path. The means for transfer of the carriages between the parallel paths are constituted each of a slide slidable on fixed guides transversely to the paths themselves, said slide being equipped with support guides adapted for carrying one of the carriages, the slide being furthermore equipped with an actuator for traverse between a position with the relative support guides for the carriages in alignment with the guides of one of the paths and a position of alignment of the guides themselves of the slide with the guides of the other of the parallel paths. Further details will become apparent from the following description, with reference to the attached drawings, in which are shown: in Figure 1, a schematic lateral view of an apparatus according to this invention; in Figure 2, a front view of the machine of Figure 1, in section on the plane II-II of same; in Figure 3, a plan view of the apparatus; in Figure 4, the apparatus seen in plan, in section on the plane IV-IV of Figure 1; in Figure 5, a detail of the lateral traverse unit, in section on the plane V-V of Figure 4; in Figure 6, a section on the plane VI-VI of Figure 5; in Figure 7, a detail of the longitudinal transfer unit, in section on the plane VII-VII of Figure 4; in Figure 8, a section on the plane VIII-VIII of Figure 7. As shown in Figures 1, 2 and in plan in Figure 3, the apparatus for the production of blown hollow containers of plastics material with biaxial molecular orientation according to this invention comprises, essentially, an extruder 1, capable of being connected to an injection moulding unit 2, one or more thermal conditioning and axial elongation units 3, a blowmoulding unit 4 and a discharge station 5; said units are linked to one another by a conveyor device adapted for transferring the carriages 6, carrying the containers during the forming phase, to the successive stations. The carriages 6 are equipped with one or more seatings for securing the containers; in the form of embodiment illustrated, the carriages 6 possess four seatings. The injection moulding unit produces, by moulding, the hollow bodies 7, termed "preforms", which are adapted for being subjected to the succeeding moulding operations. Said preforms remain, after moulding, suspended from the support jaws of the carriages 6, which jaws form a part of the mould, forming the neck of the container, which receives its definitive shape already in the injection moulding stage. The preforms 7 are then transferred by the conveyor device to the thermal conditioning and axial elongation unit 3, where they are raised to the temperature necessary for carrying out on them a first elongation with molecular orientation in the axial direction; this temperature usually lies, for polyethylene terephthalate, between 90 and 110 o C. The blowmoulding unit 4 then carries out the shaping of the blown containers 8, which remain suspended from the jaws of the carriages; the blowing for the forming of the containers 8 produces a tension in the walls of the container itself in a direction perpendicular to the tension produced by the elongation, that is to say in a circumferential direction on the lateral surface of the container, thus producing containers with walls drawn in two mutually perpendicular directions, thereby achieving an optimum molecular orientation. After moulding, the containers are transferred to the discharge station 5, by which they are placed on a conveyor belt 9 or the like and are removed from the apparatus. As can be seen from Figure 3, the injection moulding unit 2, the thermal conditioning and axial elongation unit 3 and the blowmoulding unit 4 are aligned and contiguous, spaced apart by steps equal to the length of the carriages, in such a manner that the carriages carrying the containers during the moulding phase are disposed each beneath one of the units, remaining adjacent to and in contact with one another. The conveyor apparatus for the carriages, as will be seen from Figures 3 and 4, is constituted basically of a support frame 10, equipped with an upper plate 11, to which there are secured the units 2, 3, 4, 5; below this plate, and in correspondence with the injection moulding, thermal conditioning and blowmoulding units, there is present a pair of support guides 12 for the carriages, fixed to the plate 11, these guides being adapted for permitting the carriages themselves to slide from one of the aforementioned units to the other. Access for the operating members of the various units to the containers being moulded and supported on the carriages below the plate 11 is assured by corresponding openings in the plate itself. At the ends of the plate 11, there are present a pair of slides 13a, 13b, the one preceding the injection moulding unit and the other following the blowmoulding unit, these slides being slidable transversely to the direction of the guides 12 on associated support arms 14; the slides 13 are also themselves equipped with guides 15, adapted for receiving and supporting a carriage 6 beneath each slide. As is shown more clearly in Figure 5, each slide 13 is equipped with an associated actuator 16, adapted for causing translatory movement or traversing of the slide from a position where the carriage 6 supported by it is in alignment with the carriages supported by the guides 12, to a position of alignment with the guides 17, supported beneath the plate 11 parallel to the guides 12 behind them, as viewed in the direction of Figure 2. At the rear end of the stroke of the slide 13b, that is to say in correspondence with its position of alignment with the guides 17, the discharge unit 5 for the finished containers is situated. As Figure 4 shows, in the front zone of the frame 10 there is present an actuator 18, having a double rod 19; at the ends of the rods 19 there are pusher arms 20, acting on the end face of the carriages 6 aligned beneath the slides 13 and beneath the guides 12. As Figures 7 and 8 show, the pusher arms 20 are equipped with guide rollers 21, engaging on rails 22 fixed to the frame 10. The arm 20 bears, with its own end 23, against the carriage 6, in the space between the guides 15, and causes the carriage to slide on the guides themselves. The stroke of the actuator 18 is equal to the length of a carriage and its operation causes the carriages aligned between the pusher arms 20 to pass from a position beneath one of the moulding units 2, 3, 4 or beneath the slide 13a to the next; when a carriage 6 has been brought beneath the slide 13b, the slide is traversed by the associated actuator 16 into the rear zone, beneath the discharge unit 5. In the rear zone of the frame 10 there is present further linear actuator 24, for example of the screw type, to the movable part of which there is attached a fork 25, adapted for engaging with the carriage 6 carried by the slide 13b beneath the unit 5; the complete stroke of the fork 25 under the action of the actuator 24 causes traversing of the carriage 6 engaged by it from the support position beneath the slide 13b to the support position beneath the slide 13a. The operating cycle of the apparatus therefore provides that three carriages 6 shall be disposed beneath the units 2, 3 and 4, and a further carriage shall be supported by the slide 13a; the carriages 6 situated beneath the units 3, 4 support the containers in the associated moulding phases, while the carriages 6 situated beneath the slide 13a and beneath the injection moulding unit 2 are initially empty. After the units 2, 3 and 4 have simultaneously carried out the associated operations, the actuator 18 executes its stroke, transferring the empty carriage 6a, carried by the slide 13a, into position beneath the injection moulding unit 2; this carriage 6a, in turn, pushes the carriage 6b, carrying the preforms that have just been moulded, to the thermal conditioning and axial elongation unit 3, the carriage 6b in its turn pushes the carriage 6c carrying the preforms that have been subjected to thermal conditioning and elongation into position beneath the blowmoulding unit 3, and moving away from this unit the carriage 6d, carrying the finished containers 8, and pushing it beneath the slide 13b, which at this instant is empty in the advanced position. The actuator 16 then traverses the slide 13b into the rear position, beneath the discharge unit 5, where the carriage 6d is opened and the containers 8 are discharged and removed. Beneath the discharge unit 5, the carriage 6d is situated with its jaws 26, projecting downwards and adapted for gripping the neck of the container, in engagement with the fork 25; the actuator 24, in the next phase of the cycle, then transfers the carriage along the guides 17 to bring it into position beneath the slide 13a, which in the mean time has been brought into the rear position by means of the associated actuator 16. The slide 13a then brings the empty carriage 6d, held by the fork 25, into the advanced position preceeding the injection moulding unit 2, while the fork 25 is brought back into its initial position to receive a new carriage traversed by the slide 13b. At each operation of the actuator 18, therefore, a carriage is moved from one station to the next, bringing the finished containers into the discharge position each time and supplying the injection moulding unit with an empty carriage, ready for receiving the containers in the course of moulding. The construction of the apparatus according to this invention enables the production cycle for the containers to be carried out in accordance with the thermal and mechanical requirements directed towards achieving a molecular structure which shall offer the best characteristics of the material, disposing the necessary operating units in a configuration which gives to them the least possible overall size, without the devices for automatic transfer of the workpieces during moulding from one station to the next demanding, for example, distances that cannot be reduced between the units themselves. If further stations or operating units should be required on the production line, whether in an intermediate phase or after completion of moulding of the containers, said units can be inserted into the apparatus, increasing the stroke of the actuator 24 and the length of the guides 12 and 17, and adding the necessary number of carriages, without requiring further modifications to the construction of the overall complex. The construction and operating characteristics of the individual units constituting the apparatus may be of known type, for example in accordance with what has been described in the known apparatus as mentioned above, and therefore have not been described in detail. Numerous variants can be introduced, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention in its general characteristics.

Claims: An apparatus for molding hollow containers of a molecularly orientatable plastic material, comprising in combination a support frame (10); a molding line operatively connected with said support frame (10), said line including a plurality of contiguous molding units (2, 3, 4) aligned in a row having respective zones of action for forming the containers (8) and a discharging unit (5) spaced from said molding units (2, 3, 4,); a conveyor device linking said units (2, 3, 4, 5) and including: two mutually parallel elongated linear sections (12, 17) spaced apart and two spaced apart and mutually parallel transverse sections bridging said linear sections (12, 17), each of said sections being provided with respective rectilinear guides forming a closed path on said frame (10), one (12) of said elongated sections (12, 17) linking said aligned units (2, 3, 4) of said molding line, a plurality of carriages (6) sliding along said guides (12) and having respective support jaws (26) for the containers (8) along said one of elongated sections, characterised by the fact that said carriages (6) being of uniform length and being in end-to-end relationship along said one (12) of elongated sections (12, 17) and by the fact of comprising a first actuating means (18) provided with a pusher arm (20) for acting upon a first of said carriages (6) along the guide (12) of said one of the elongated sections (12, 17), said first actuating means (18) producing a stroke equal to said uniformed length of each of the carriages (6), so that said units (2, 3, 4, 5) with the respective zones of action spaced at the distance equal to said uniformed length of said carriages (6) are in correspondence with at least some of said carriages (6) along said one of the elongated sections (12, 17), second actuating means (24) for advancing the carriages (6) along the respective guide of the other elongated section (17) between said transversal sections by a single stroke produced by said second actuating means (24), a respective slide (13a, 13b) provided with a respective support guide (14) for carrying one of said carriages (6) along each of said transverse sections of said closed path between said parallel elongated sections (12, 17) of said closed path, each of the slides (13a, 13b) being equipped with a respective actuator (16) for transferring said carriages (6) between positions where each of the support guides (14) of the respective slide (13a, 13b) is in alignment with the respective guiding means of said elongated sections (12, 17) of said closed path, said units (2, 3, 4) of said molding line extending along said line with a length equal to said uniform length of said carriages (6), said discharging unit (5) being above said elongated section (17) of said path parallel to said one elongated section (12) linking said units (2, 3, 4) of the molding line. Apparatus for moulding hollow containers of a molecularly orientatable plastics material according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the discharge unit (5) for the finished containers (8) is disposed at one end of a pair of slide guides of the elongated section (17), disposed on a path parallel to the path of alignment of the moulding units, (2, 3, 4) the actuator (16) being present for transferring the carriages (6) along said path between its two ends, corresponding to the positions of the slide (13b) for traversing the carriages (6) to the parallel path (17). Apparatus for moulding hollow containers of a molecularly orientatable plastics material according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that said slide (13) is equipped with support guides (15) adapted for carrying one of the carriages (6), whereby the actuator (16) traverses between a position where the associated support guides (15) for the carriages (6) are in alignment with the guides of one of the sections (12, 17) and a position of alignment of said guides (15) of the slide (13) with the guides of the other of the parallel sections (17, 12).

Inventors: GIACOBBE FERRUCCIO, GIACOBBE, FERRUCCIO
Applicants: FERRUCCIO GIACOBBE, GIACOBBE, FERRUCCIO
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B29C49
IPC codes: B29C49, B29B11, B29L22