CA1042170A - Balloon blow molding tooling - Google Patents

Abstract

BALLOON BLOW MOLDING TOOLING

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

This invention relates to blow molding apparatus for making plastic articles. It circulates cooling fluid through core rods for cooling blown articles from the inside, pre-ferably with the blown article on the outside of a balloon that is permanently connected with the core rod. The connec-tion of the balloon to the core rod is constructed so that there is no axial pull on the balloon during stripping of the blown article from the core rod and balloon. The inven-tion provides constructions for admitting air between the balloon and a blown parison to break the vacuum when the balloon is to be collapsed. Fluid is also circulated over the outside of the blown parison to cool it, and this can be done in a perforated shroud that serves as a blowing mold, particularly for flexible wallcontainers.

Description

lO~Z170 Conventional in~jection blow molding apparatus operates through a cycle beginning with the injection of plastic material into an injection mold containing a core rod. A parison is formed around the core rod, and the injection mold then opens and permits the core rod to move to the next performance sta-tion.

The second station is usually a blowing mold in which the parison is blown to the desired shape of a finished article; and when the blown article cools sufficiently, it is ]o removed from the blowing mold and transferred to a stripper station. At the stripper station the blown article is removed from the core rod.

One of the limitations on the speed Or a conventional cycle is the time required to cool the blown article suffi-ciently to remove it from the blowing mold and to the stripper station. One of the principal purposes of this invention is to cool the blo~n article more quickly and thereby reduce time cycle of the machine and correspondingly increase the production of the blow molding machine.

2~ This invention includes, in its preferred embodiment, - an elastic balloon which is attached to a core rod assembly in position to hug the core rod when the balloon is deflated.
When a parison is formed over the core rod, it is applied over the outside of the collapsed balloon and over a short length of the core rod assembly beyond the end of the balloon.
This short length of the parison is the portion which forms the mouth or neck of the article to be blown and it is a portion of the parison which is not expanded in the blow mold.

The balloon has two important advantages. One is that it permits the blown article to be cooled from the ~side. Cooling ~ i. .

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fluid can be circulated through the inside of the balloon during a blowing operation and immediately after the comple-tion of the blowing operation. The core rod of this invention is constructed so that cooling fluid flows from inside the core rod into the space between the core rod and the expanding balloon and parison; and this cooling fluid exhausts through other passages communicating with exhaust openings in the side of the core rod. If desired, fluid of any temperature can be circulated for the purpose Or obtaining an orientatlon temperature of the parison before its final expansion to the shape of the desired article.

Part of the cons~ruction of this invention relates to the way in which the balloon is attached to the core rod as-sembly in such a way that the balloon connection to the core rod assembly is not subjected to any axial pull when the blown article is being stripped from the core rod. In the preferred ; construction, a sleeve which has a shoulder on one end, serves as part of the parison supporting surface of the core rod as-sembly. The balloon is attached to the core rod assembly in an undercut cavity at the shoulder of the sleeve and the dia-meter of the collapsed balloDn is less than that of the sleeve so that the balloon is protected from axial pull when an article blown on the core rod assembly is stripped from the core rod ` assembly by a stripper plate bearing against the part of the '- blown article that is formed on the surface of the sleeve.

The invention also includes several provisions for admitting air between the blown parison and the outside sur-face Or the balloon so that the balloon can collapse after the parison is fully blown to the shape of the desired article.

10~2170 Without provision for admitting air between the outside surface of the balloon and the blown parlson, the balloon would be pre-vented from collapsing, independently of the blown parison, be-cause of the existence of vacuum batween the parison and the balloon.

; One modification of the invention has provision for cir-culating fluid within the parison to control the temperature and more specifically to reduce the temperature quickly. This modification also has provis~on for cooling the parison from the outside by circulating cooling fluid into contact with ; the outside of the parison in the blowing mold. A special type of blowing mold can be used in which the article is blown ; within a shroud having a multitude of openings into which fluid enters to form a fluid cushion, preferably an air cushion, inside the shroud. The article is blown into contact with this cushion which increases in pressure as the parison ex-pands toward the inside surface of the shroud. This blowing . of the parisOn against an air cushion instead of into contact with a solid surface is intended especially for use with con-tainers having rigid mouth or neck portions and flexible and pliant body portions.
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Other objects, features and advantages of the invention ~J will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

j In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate correspondin~ rarts in all the views:

~igure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing a core ' rod support and core rod assembly with a balloon and blown -parison on the core rod assembly and with provision for admit-10~2170 ting air between the balloon and the blown parison to permit collapse of the balloon while the blown parison retains its blown shape;
Figure 2 and 3 are sectional views taken on the lines 2-2 and 3-3, respectively, of Figure l;
Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure l;
Figure S is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure l;
Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a mo-dified end construction for the core rod of Figure 1 and a . connection of an open-ended balloon with the core rod, the structure being shown within a blowing mold;
Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view of a modified form of the sleeve shown in Figure 1 with the balloon attached in a different way;
Figure ~ is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the connection of the balloon to the sleeve in Figurel;
Figure 9 is a greatly enlarged sectional view showing the connection Or the balloon to the sleeve of Figure 7;
Figure 10 is a diagrammatic, sectional view, partly broken away, showing a core rod assembly, similar to that in Figure 1, placed in a unique blowing mold in which the parison is expanded against a fluid cushion instead of into contact with a solid surface; and Figure 11 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the structure shown in Figure 10.

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Figure 1 shows a core rod support 12, such as an indexing hsad. A core rod assembly 14 is connected to the ~upport by fastening means such as screws 16.

.. -, 10~2170 The core rod assembly 14 includes a base flange or spacer block 1~ to which is connected a sleeve 20. This sleeve 20 has a flange 22 which is attached to the spacer block 1~ by the screws 16.

The sleeve 20 also has a shoulder 22 and an end face 24.

Within the sleeve there is a core rod 26. In the illus-trated construction the base flange or spacer block 1~ is an integral part of the core rod 26 and there is an inner end portion 2~ of the core rod which fits into a recess 30 in the core rod support 12. Thus the core rod is attached to the support 12 by the screws 16.
i For the portion of the core rod nearest to the support there is a pipe or tube 32 extending coaxially along the length of the core rod, and with the outside diameter of the tube 32 somewhat less in diameter than the hollow interior ~3 34 of the core rod. Near the outer end (right hand in Figure 1) of the tube 32 the interior diameter of the core rod is reduced at a location 3~. The tube 32 fits tightly into the core rod at this reduced diameter 36; and beyond the end of the tube 36, much of which is broken away in Figure 1, there is a chamber 3~ enclosed by the core rod.

i There are a multitude of openings 40a and 40b. The openings 40a communicate with the chamber 3~ within the core rod. The openings 40b communicate with an annular chamber ¦ which comprises the space between the tube 32 and the larger interior diameter portion 34 of the core rod.

Fluid, either liquid or gas, flows through the tube 32 in the direction indicated by the arrows 42and this fluid flows out through the openings 40a in directions indicated by the arrows 42 near the end Or the core rod 26. This circula-.;.............. ~ . ~.. . , . , . ~ -iO~Z170 tin~ fluid which flow out of the core rod 26 through the open-ings 40a ~lows back into the annular chamber between the tube 32 and the interior larger diameter portion 34 of the core rod as indicated by the arrows 44. This exhaust flow is indicated by the arrows 44 along the outside of the tube 32 in Figure 1.

As long as the pressure of the fluid supply to the core rod is adjusted with respect to the back pressure of the fluid exhaust so that pressure builds up within the space surrounding - the core rod, a parison 4~ will be blown and expanded. The 10 core rod structure shown in Figure 1 can be used in several ways. Fluid can be circulated continuously through the open-ings 40a and 40b so as to cool the parison 4~ from the inside, -1 or to bring it to a particular temperature desired for orien-tation of the parison, or a given quantity of liquid can be in~ected into the parison from the openings 40a while liquid in the exhaust passage of the core rod is blocked.

When a given volume of liquid is thus introduced into the -~ parison from the core rod, while exhaust of liquid from the passages 40b is blocked, then the parison will be blown to a predetermined volume depending upon the volume of the liquid.
The shape of the blown article, under such circumstances, can be determined by a balloon 50 attached to the core rod assembly -in a manner which will be explained. The thickness and elas-ticity of the walls of the balloon 50, which can be different at different locations if desired, determines the shape to which the balloon expands and thereby determines the shape of the article blown from the parison 4~, even though the blowing is not performed in a blowing mold.

The balloon 50 is an elastic balloon which is permanently co~ected to the core rod assembly and this balloon hugs the ., :
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iO~Z170 outside surface of the core rod 26 when the balloon is col-lapsed.

-- The use of such a balloon is advantageous even when blow-ing the parison in the cavity of a blow mold because it per-mits the circulation of cooling fluid inside the balloon and parison at substantial velocities for rapid cooling and such circulation of cooling fluid could not be used if in direct contact with the molten parison 4~. Another advantage Or the ' balloon 50 is that it permits the parison to be expanded by ' 10 the use of much higher pressures than are conventional and .~ the use of such hi~her pressures makes possible the blowing of the parison at orientation temperatures where the plastic , material of the parison is beginning to solidify and the parison cannot be expanded except by the use of much higher pressures than are used for conventional blow molding. Such pressures could not be used without the balloon because of the risk of bursting the wall of the parison at points whlch were somewhat weaker than other points.

~: The balloon 50 is attached to the core rod assembly by having a mouth portion 52 of the balloon 50 bear against : the end face 24 (Figure ~) of the sleeve 20. The end of the mouth portion of the balloon extends into an undercut recess 54 of the sleeve 20 and as an additional feature for increasing the strength of this connection there are screw threads 56 -~ as part of the wall of the undercut recess S4. While the portion of the balloon bulges into the undercut recess 54 is jammed between the sleeve 20 and the core rod that the sleeve surrounds, as shown in Figure 1, adhesive is also preferably ¦ used to obtain a tight connection between the balloon 50 and the sleeve 20, _ ~_ lO~Z170 In s~ite of the strong connection provided by the con-struction shown in Figure ~, wear and tear on the balloon is - -further red~ced by having the outside surface 60 of the sleeve 20, which is beyond the shoulder 22, serve as a part of the parison supporting surface of the core rod assembly. After the parison is blown to its full size, and the balloon 50 is collapsed into position hugging the core rod, the outside diameter of the balloDnis less than the diameter of the sleeve surface 60 so that the mouth portion of the blown article can be stripped axially from the core rod assembly without imposing any axial pull on the collapsed balloon 50.

In order to collapse the balloon 50, after a blowing ~ .
operation, it is essential that provision be made for admitting air between the outside of the balloon and the inside of the -~; blown article. Otherwise reduced pressure within the balloon -. will not collapse the balloon because vacuum will prevent the ! balloon 50 from pulling away from the blown parison ~

, Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate means for admitting air between the balloon and the blown parison, and air supply tube 62 communicates with a passage 64 in the core rod support 12. There is a circumferential groove 66 around the outside of ~ the flange 1~ within the socket 30 Thiscircumferential groove J communicates through a passage 6~ whichcsmn~nicates with anotherpassage 70 formed by a groove in the outside surface of the core rod 26. This groove passage 70 leads to another circum-ferential groove 72 in the outside surface of the core rod 26.
~( ~. There are angularly spaced openings throu~h the sleeve 20 ;~ leading from the annular groove 72 through a part of the out-side surface of the sleeve 20 over thich the parison ~ extends.
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lO~Z170 Small poppet valves 7h in the openings 74 prevent plastic material from bein~ in~jected into the openings 74 when the core rod structure is extendin~ into an injection mold.

When pressure is supplied from the tube 62 through the passages 64, 66, and connecting passages to the radial pas-sages 72, at the end of a blowing operation, this pressure moves the poppet valves 76 outwardly far enough to permit air to enter between the blown parison and the balloon. Channels 7~ in the outside surface 60 Or the sleeve 20 can b~ provided leading axially from the openings 72; however these channels ;~ are not essential because the air pressure expands the mouth portion of the parlson, when the blow mold opens, and permits free flow of air axially to the out~ide surface of the balloon 5Q.
The inner end of the core rod 20 is in axial alignment `- with a tube ~2 that forms a continuation of the center passage ~'7 through the tube 32. This tube g2 has a splined outer surface ~4 for providing continuation of the annular chamber through which fluid exhausts along the core rod. The portion of the tube 32 near the inner end of the core rod is preferably made ~ with a splined surface from the location ~6; this surface -~ being similar to that shown in Figure 5 and for the purpose of maintaining the coaxial relation of the tube 32 in the core rod.

Figure 6 shows a modified construction for introducing air between the balloon and the blown parison. In Figure 6 ~ a balloon 50' is covered by a parison 4~'; and the parison - 4g' is shown blown to its full size in a blowing mold g6.
7 The end wall of the balloon 50' has an opening ~ at its center.
There is a bead 90 formed on the edge of the openlng ~ of the --1 0_ . ~ , - , .. .: ., ~ , - . . . . . . ~ . . .. --iO~Z170 balloon and this bead is held in an undercut slot 92. The under-cut slot is formed in an end portion of a core rod 94 which may be similar in construction to the core rod in Figure 1 except for the open end with a tapered seat 96 against which a poppet valve 9~ closes.

In the construction illustrated, there is a flange 100 on the end of the core rod 94 to prevent the portion of the balloon near the opening from flexing and to provide a surface against the parison 4g' along which the air flows initally on its way to the interface between the parison 4~' and the balloon 50'.
The valve 9~ is operated by a valve stem 102 leading back into Y the support for the core rod and to actuating mechanism that opens the valve in response to the control means for the cycle j of the machine.

l Figure 7 shows a sleeve 20' which ls similar to the sleeve 20 shown in Figure 1. Other structure in Figure 7, which cor-responds to that in Figure 1, is indicated by the same reference character with a prime appended. The sleeve 20' is shown with-i out any core rod in it; but a balloon 50l is secured to an end , 20 face 24' shown in greater detail in Figure 9. The connection of the balloon 50' to the sleeve 20' is a simpler construction than that shown in Figure B. The face 24' is formed with a Vee depression which increases the surface area of the end face 24'.
The mouth of the balloon, which contacts with the face 24', is thicker than the rest of the balloon 50' and is shaped to fit into the Vee groove in the face 24'. This provides a large sur-face area for an adhesive connection of the balloon 50' to the end face 24'.

The construction shown in Figure 9 is not as strong a connection as that shown in Figure ~; but for many purposes it 104Zl~0 is more than adequate and it is easier to construct.

Figure 10 shows diagrammatically the core rod assembly 14 of Figure 1 used with a parison 4~a from a different injec-tion mold than that used for the parison 4~ of Figure 1.
Figure 10 also shows a blowing mold indicated generally by the reference character 106. An upper mold part 10~ separates from a lower mold part 110 along a plane 112 in order to open the mold.

' The mold 106 encloses a cavity 112 which contains a shroud 114 of circular cross section at right angles to the longi-tudlnal axis of the core rod 26. The shroud 114 is made in two parts, one of which is attached to the upper mold sec-- tion 10~ and the other to the lower mold section 110. The parts of the shroud 114 separate along the plane 112 in the same manner as the upper and lower sections of the mold 106.

Air or other gas is introduced into the cavity 112 through a supply pipe 11~ in the direction irdicated by the arrow 120. This air enters the cavity 112 around the outside -' of the shroud 114 which is smaller than the cavity 112 in ~? 20 both its vertical and horizontal extent. There is clearance around the shroud 114 both behind and in front Or the shroud as viewed in Figure 10 so that the air circulates freely and the pressure is substantially the same in both the upper and i lower parts of the cavity 112.

Figure 11 shows a portion of the shroud 114 on a larger scale. There are a multitude of small openings 124 through ~ -7 the shroud 114 over substantially the entire area of the shroud. These openings 124 are not shown in Figure 10 be-cause the scale of Figure 10 is too small.

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Figure 11 shows the way in which air entering the inside of the shroud 114 impinges on the surface of the parison 4~a.
The air flow is indicated by arrows 126; and the jets of air flowing into the inside of the shroud 114 through the openings 124 are strong enou~h to build up an air cushion in the shroud 114. The parison 4ga is expanded by the balloon 50 against this cushion of air.

The pressure of the cushion of air within the shroud 114 increases as the parison 4~a is expanded until the pressure -~ 10 approaches the upstream pressure of the air at the upstream - sides of the openings 124.
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~ The temperature of the air introduced into the chamber .,, -.
112 can be at the orientation temperature of the material of .`r:' the parison 4~a so that the parison is blown at its orienta-.
-~ tion temperature to produce a stronger container wall. Cold air can be introduced into the chamber 112 toward the end of the ~,j; blowing period to cool the parison 4~a quickly to a temperature below its melting point so as to facilitate collapse of the c,;; balloon 50 and removal of the core rod assembly, balloon and ~- 20 parison from the blowin~ mold.

~t' ~ Air is withdrawn from the inside of the shroud 114 through ~- an exhaust pipe 130 at a controlled rate which depends upon , the pressure buildup desired within the shroud 114.

The operation illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, in which the parison is blown against an air cushion instead of being ~` blown into contact with a solid wall of a blow mold cavity is intended primarily for making containers which have thin - walls that are pliant and flexible in the finished container.
~; Such containers are made with a thick- and rigid neck or mouth ,,~ 30 portion 134 as illustrated in Figure 10. This mouth portion ,. ~
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~ 0 ~ Z 1 7 0 134 as illustrated in Figure 10. This mouth portion 134 is, however, made of the same material as the rest of the parison and is therefore of one-piece construction with the flexible walls of the container. Such a construction is obtained by having an injection mold with more space for parison material in the region of the neck than in the portion that will form the side wall of the container, or by designating the apparatus so as to expand the wall portion substantially more than with theusual blown plastic container.
, . 10 The preferred embodiments of the invention have been illus-trated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.
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Claims (12)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. Blow molding apparatus including a core rod support, a core rod assembly including a core rod, means near one end of the core rod for connecting it with the core rod support, an elastic balloon that fits closely over the core rod when said balloon is deflated, a connection between the balloon and the core rod assembly, passages within the core rod, including a first passage for introducing fluid into the core rod and another passage for withdrawing fluid from the core rod, and openings through the side of the core rod at loca-tions within the surface of the core rod that is covered by the balloon, including an opening that leads to the first passage and another opening that leads to the other passage.

2. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 1 cha-racterized by portions of said passages forming chambers with-in the core rod, a plurality of openings from one chamber through the core rod at the end thereof furthest from the means for connecting with the core rod support, and a plurality of other openings from said other chamber and through the core rod at a location within the part of the core rod that is covered by the balloon and adjacent to the end of the balloon that is connected with the core rod assembly.

3. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 2 characterized by the openings from one chamber being fluid supply openings for supplying fluid to space between the core rod and the balloon during a blowing operation, and the open-ings from the other chamber being fluid exhaust openings through which fluid flows out of the space between the core rod and the balloon.

4. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by means for supplying fluid under pressure to the interior of the balloon to expand the balloon and a parison covering a portion of the length of the balloon, and means for changing the temperature of the fluid supply to the core rod for inflating and cooling the balloon and the parison coated on the balloon.

5. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 2 characterized by the core rod having different inside diameter at different parts of its length, the end most remote from the core rod support having a lesser inside diameter and constituting the first of said chambers, a tube that fits into one end of the lesser diameter portion of the core rod with a fluid tight fit, the second chamber being an annular space between the outside of the tube and the inside surfacd of the portion of the core rod having greater diameter than the first chamber.

6. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 5 characterized by the tube and the core rod extending lengthwise thereof to a location adjacent to the end of the core rod that connects with the core rod support, and the annular space around the outside of the tube extending to a location adjacent to the end of the tube, and passages in the core rod support that register with the end of said tube and with the annular space around the tube.

7. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 6 characterized by means for supplying fluid under pressure to the first of the passages in the core rod support, and means for controlling the pressure and the temperature of the fluid supply to said first package.

8. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the core rod assembly including a sleeve that surrounds a portion of the core rod at the end of the core rod that is nearer to the core rod support, and a recess in the end portion of the sleeve that is remote from the core rod support, one end of the balloon being connected with the sleeve in said recess.

9. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 8 characterized by the end portion of the sleeve that is remote from the core rod support being along the length of the core rod assembly over which a parison is located when a parison is applied to the core rod, the portion of the parison that overlies the sleeve being the neck portion of an article that is to be formed from said parison.

10. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 9 characterized by the outside diameter of the balloon beyond the sleeve, when deflated and hugging the core rod, being less than the outside diameter of the sleeve so that the neck portion of an article blown from said parison will be loose from the balloon as the blown article is stripped from the core rod assembly at a stripper station.

11. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by one of the passages being a center axial pas-sage in the core rod, and the other passage being of annular cross section and surrounding a part of the length of the wall that encloses the first passage, each of said passages having a plurality of openings through the circumference of the core rod at axially spaced locations around the core rod for flow of fluid into and out of the balloon that surrounds the core rod.

12. The blow molding apparatus described in claim 11 characterized by each of the passages having a plurality of groups of said angularly spaced openings axially spaced from one another to obtain wider distribution of the fluid flow to and from the balloon.