The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 22, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 08, 1998
Gregory S O'Dell, Lewisburg, OH (US);
7345 Corp., Sylvania, OH (US);
Abstract
A mandrel assembly for holding a preform, including a mandrel having a collar for locating within an interior surface defined by a finish portion of the preform, a plurality of preform guides pivotably mounted to the mandrel for generally radial movement and contact with the interior surface, a plurality of resilient members for biasing the preform guides for contact against the interior surface with a preselected frictional force, so that the preform may be held by the mandrel against forces less than the preselected frictional force and the preform is capable of movement relative to the mandrel upon application of forces greater than the preselected frictional force, each resilient member attached to the mandrel and bearing against and biasing at least one of the preform guides for rotation generally radially outward. A method for holding a reorienting a preform, including engaging the finish portion with the mandrel so that the finish portion generally surrounds the collar, biasing preform guides for generally radial movement outward from the collar to bear against the interior surface with a preselected frictional force, rotating the preform with respect to the mandrel so that the preform guides are in sliding contact with the interior surface, applying a force greater than the preselected frictional force to the preform until the preform is oriented at a desired position, and holding the preform at the desired position by frictional contact of the preform guides against the interior surface.