Patent ID: 6893602

Claim:
Apparatus for blow molding containers from a thermoplastic material, said apparatus comprising: extruder means for continuously extruding a spaced apart plurality of tubes of the thermoplastic material downwardly along a spaced apart plurality of vertical axes; a first mold, said first mold having a first set of mold halves that open and close relative to each other to define, when closed, a plurality of first mold cavities; a second mold, said second mold having a second set of mold halves that open and close relative to each other to define, when closed, a plurality of second mold cavities; means for moving said first mold along a first closed path to present said first mold at a first position to engage, when open, a plurality of first finite lengths of the thermoplastic tube for blowing of the plurality of first finite lengths of the thermoplastic tubes into a plurality of containers as the first mold moves from the first position to a second position of the first closed path; and means for moving said second mold along a second closed path to present said second mold at the first position to engage, while open, a plurality of second finite lengths, of the thermoplastic tube for blowing the plurality of second finite lengths, of the thermoplastic tubes into a plurality of containers as the second mold moves along the second closed path to a second position of the second closed path; the first position of the first closed path and the first position of the second closed path being the same, and the second position of the first closed path and the second position of the second closed path being the same, said apparatus comprising no more than two molds.