Patent ID: 7361298

Claim:
A method of trimming blow molded products while in the mold, said method comprising: placing a parison between two mold halves of a mold; moving the two mold halves together to form a cavity defined by the interior of the two mold halves and a cutting portion of a cutter, said cutting portion of said cutter substantially conforming to the shape of the portion of the interior of one of the two mold halves adjacent to said cutting portion and enclosing a portion of the parison within said cavity when the two mold halves move together; blowing gas under pressure into the parison to expand the parison within said mold and thereby form a blow molded product; using a vacuum supplied by a plurality of vacuum vents with at least one of the plurality of vents located on a first side of the cutter and at least one of the plurality of vents located on a second side of the cutter to hold at least two portions of the product located adjacent to the first side of the cutter and the second side of the cutter, respectively, against the interior of the mold; trimming a portion of said product while it is in the mold and being held adjacent to both the first side of the cutter and the second side of the cutter by said vacuum by moving the cutter across and through the cavity and across the portion of the product to be cut; separating the mold halves; and removing the trimmed product from the mold.