Patent ID: 8329082

Claim:
A process for the production of a hollow body of thermoplastic material for the production of a fuel tank of plastic material, comprising the steps of: providing one or more heated preforms in web or band form of plasticized plastic material; providing a multi-part tool forming a mould cavity having an internal contour; shaping said one or more preforms in said multi-part tool by expansion of said one or more preforms thereby causing said preforms to bear against the internal contour of the mould cavity to form two mutually complementary intermediate products in the form of shell portions which face towards each other in the tool; providing at least one respective built-in fitment component capable of being secured to respective insides of the shell portions, wherein at least some of said built-in fitment components are respectively of mutually complementary configuration; securing said at least one respective built-in fitment component to said respective inside wall of said shell portions while the shell portions face towards each other in the tool; assembling said shell portions while the shell portions face towards each other in the tool in such a manner that said mutually complementary built-in fitment components engage into each other and/or come into operative connecting relationship with each other such that said mutually complementary built-in fitment components are joined to provide an assembled component or to provide a functional unit; wherein bracing strut elements for stabilising the hollow body are used as the mutually complementary built-in fitment components, the bracing strut elements having a configuration to lock each other together when the half-shell portions are joined together, and having a configuration to counteract deformation of the hollow body due to an increase in pressure within the hollow body; wherein said bracing strut elements comprise a latching projection within a latching receiving means; wherein said latching projection includes at least one protrusion located along an axial length of said latching projection; wherein said latching receiving means includes at least one opening located along an axial length of said latching receiving means to receive the at least one protrusion; and wherein said at least one protrusion is located in said at least one opening to lock the latching projection and latching receiving means together.