Ball Corporation

Craig P Davis

Stephen R Lynn

Michael L Vaughn

Daniel M Futral

George R Conrad

William J Peek

Mihaela Penescu

John P Henderson

Mary L Hughes-Olson

Spencer Minton

Edward R Roberts

Norm Van Horn

Stephen C Ramey

Eddy Roberts

A testing apparatus for testing the level of retained gas at elevated pressure in plastic containers for carbonated beverages includes a manifold assembly for engaging the mouth of a test set of the containers. The apparatus additionally includes a gas supply for supplying a desired quantity of a selected gas to each container, the gas preferably helium. The apparatus further includes pressure measuring units for measuring the pressure in each container, and a data collection system coupled to the pressure measuring units for periodically collecting pressure data along with ambient temperature data as a function of time. The collected data can be analyzed to determine shelf life of the containers. Using helium, the shelf life determination can be accomplished in about 1/7the time of conventional shelf life tests.

Shelf life testing unit

A method for inspecting the material distribution of a sequence of stretch blow molded containers or other articles in a continuous production process, by providing injection molded parisons, each parison having at least one indicator, typically two or more indicators, for detecting material distribution at a predetermined position along the axial extent of the parison. Each of the parisons is subjected to a heating stage in the continuous production process, generally by exposure to infrared heating. Each heated parison is then subjected to a blow molding process, which can be a stretch blow molding process, so that each material distribution indicator is transformed to a corresponding position along the axial extent of the blow molded article. A detector is positioned to detect the location of each indicator on each blow molded article from a given mold in the production process. A computation is then made to determine for each blow molded article a material distribution outcome or profile based on the detected locations of each indicator. This information on material distribution is them matched to a prescribed profile for the particular container design and any discrepancy beyond some preset tolerance value is employed to reject the out of tolerance item from the production line, and to modify a step of the manufacturing process such as the infrared heating pattern.

Automated material distribution control for stretch blow molded articles

A plastic container comprises a lower base forming portion that includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced downwardly convex segments (,) and a plurality of intervening, circumferentially spaced, totally convex, hollow foot forming portions (,) that extend radially from the central bottom portion (,) and downwardly from the downwardly convex segments to form a clearance (,) for the central bottom portion. The downwardly convex segments have smoothly curved cross sections, in radially extending planes through their central regions and coplanar with the container's longitudinal axis (,). The clearance forming portion (,) of each foot forming portion includes a compound curved offset formed with opposing radii of curvature lying in a range of about 15% to over about 30% of foot contact diameter, the compound curved offset curving downwardly and outwardly about a center of curvature (,) below the bottom forming portion before curving about a center of curvature (,) above the bottom forming portion.

Plastic container for carbonated beverages

An improvement for a stretch blow molding apparatus, including a cryogenic liquid pulse pump disposed in sealed fluid connection between a cryogenic liquid reservoir and a stretch blow molding machine, a subcooler connected between the reservoir and the pulse pump for supplying cryogenic liquid at a preselected temperature, a vacuum jacket casing disposed generally surrounding a stretch blow rod, the reservoir, and the pulse pump for preventing vaporization of cryogenic liquid prior to delivery into a container, and control means for controlling the pulse pump to deliver a preselected amount of cryogenic liquid into the container through the stretch rod during a predetermined time interval beginning at a preselected time after formation of the container.

Apparatus and method for cooling plastic containers

Plastic bottle including a grip portion

A non-destructive, direct method and apparatus for producing stretch blow molded articles having at least one physical dimension within a preselected range. The apparatus includes an injection mold defining an injection mold interior surface having a first differentially dimensioned portion disposed at a preselected location thereon and capable of producing a parison having a parison exterior surface including a first marker formed by contact with the first differentially dimensioned portion, and a stretch blow mold defining a stretch blow mold interior surface having a second differentially dimensioned portion disposed at a predetermined location thereon and capable of producing the article from the parison including a second marker formed by contact with the second differentially dimensioned portion. Relative position of the first marker with respect to the second marker indicates whether a dimension is within a preselected range. The method includes injection molding a parison so that a parison exterior surface includes a first marker disposed at a preselected position thereon and formed by contact with a first differentially dimensioned portion disposed at a preselected location on an injection mold interior surface, and stretch blow molding an article from the parison so that an article exterior surface includes a second marker disposed at a predetermined position thereon and formed by contact with a second differentially dimensioned portion disposed at a predetermined location on a stretch blow mold interior surface.

Method and apparatus for producing stretch blow molded articles

Growing community of inventors

Atlanta, GA, United States of America

Craig P Davis