Apparatus for Manufacturing Plastics Blanks

This invention relates to apparatus for manufacturing blanks from a synthetic plastics material which is injected under pressure into a mould cavity formed between a mandrel and an outer mould.

Blanks of this kind are needed as a basic product in the manufacture of containers, in particular plastics bottles. The blank is normally a relatively long thin-walled structure, the wall strength of which should be as uniform as possible.

In the manufacture of plastics blanks, it is known to inject plastics material into a cavity formed between a separable outer mould and a fixed mandrel. Thus the injection of the plastics material takes place centrally of the blank and at the end of the cavity adjacent the free end of the mandrel.

It has become apparent that, with high pressure injection of the plastics material, the mandrel can be bent or warped because of uneven rates of flow of the plastics material around the mandrel. Blanks with considerably varying wall thickness and strength are produced by bending of the mandrel and this causes difficulties in the subsequent blow-moulding process. The warp on the mandrel is all the more apparent, the longer the mandrel. The length of the mandrel can be five to ten times as much as its diameter. With continued use of blanks with varying wall strengths and thicknesses the quality of the bottles being manufactured is considerably reduced and the productivity of the bottle producing machine suffers accordingly.

Moreover, streaks and swirls can form in the blanks as a result of uncontrolled injection of the plastics material, which streaks and swirls adversely affect the quality of the blanks.

According to the invention there is provided apparatus as referred to above wherein a retractable sleeve is provided within the cavity and is displaceable within the cavity at a rate dependent on the rate of injection of plastics material into the cavity.

Thus the sleeve is in a forward position in the cavity at the beginning of the process of injection of the plastics material and the mandrel is supported substantially throughout its length by the sleeve. As soon as the plastics material enters the forward end of the cavity and fills it the sleeve is displaced rearwardly. This rearward motion of the sleeve is controlled so that the volume of the cavity thereby vacated is always equal to the volume of the amount of plastics material which has been injected. Inadmissibly high and uneven injection speeds and correspondingly uneven rates of flow are avoided by the equal volume displacement of the sleeve. During the entire filling process the plastics material is injected much more evenly and at a constant speed into the cavity around the head of the mandrel.

By this equal volume displacement of the sleeve the manufacture of blanks is made much more accurate and the influence of uncontrolled events during injection is avoided as are the consequences connected therewith, such as streaks or swirls in the blank and bending of the mandrel.

The apparatus for manufacturing blanks can be developed in a number of ways. Thus the equal volume displacement of the retractable sleeve may be effected in dependence on the forward movement of an extruder screw or injection piston. Rearward displacement of the retractable sleeve and forward movement of the extruder screw or injection piston for the plastics material must occur in equal volume relationships. In this way, the plastics material does not shoot in an uncontrolled manner into the empty mould cavity, but is fed into it at a constant rate, since the volume inserted is always equal to the volume of the cavity vacated by the sleeve.

The equal volume displacement of the retractable sleeve can also be dependent on forward movement of the outer mould. Thus the plastics material may be displaced upon movement of the outer mould from a chamber into the mould cavity, the rearward movement of the sleeve being of equal volume relationship to the displaced volume of plastics material. The required relationship between the outer mould feed movement and the sleeve displacement is thereby maintained.

According to a further feature of the invention, the outer mould is movable relative to a fixed cylinder containing a chamber which is connected to a supply nozzle in which the connection between the chamber and the mould cavity is controlled by a displaceable shaft. The chamber in the cylinder is initially filled with the plastics material through the supply nozzle while the opening for the flow of plastics material into the mould cavity is blocked by the shaft. The sleeve is in its forward position near the end wall of the mould cavity, which end wall is formed at least in part by the adjacent surface of the shaft. After the shaft has been pulled back and the outer mould is inserted into the cylinder, the plastics material is caused to flow out of the chamber into the mould cavity where the equal volume displacement of the sleeve takes place. Inward movement of the outer mould is completed as soon as it engages the shaft which bears against a stop so the mould cavity is thereby blocked off.

According to a further feature of the invention a mould part is provided axially adjacent the outer mould, within which mould part is a recess containing two split ring moulds for forming the necks of the blanks. A hydraulic piston and cylinder mechanism controls movements of the sleeve, and the mould part acting on the outer mould, and to separate the split ring moulds.

The construction of the apparatus is particularly facilitated if the outer mould and the mould part are each of unitary construction. Means may be provided whereby the mould part can be pulled back away from the outer mould to enable the removal of the moulded blank from the outer mould. Assuming that the split ring moulds are then opened, moulded blanks can be taken off the mandrel by retraction of the sleeve. Both split ring moulds are preferably movable within the undivided mould part so that the opening movement thereof takes place uniformly so as to avoid any damage to the necks of the moulded blanks during said opening movement.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the moulding apparatus at the beginning of the moulding process,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the relative positions of the parts of the apparatus at the end of the moulding process, and

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

The apparatus shown in the drawing includes an outer mould 10 of unitary construction and a mandrel 11, which between them define an annular mould cavity. A sleeve 14 is disposed between the outer mould 10 and the mandrel 11 such that it can be displaced longitudinally. In FIG. 1 the sleeve 14 is shown in its forward position, in which the mandrel is supported substantially throughout the whole of its length and only the inner end portion of the cavity 12 is empty. FIG. 1 also schematically illustrates the hydraulic system for reciprocating sleeve 14.

The mandrel 11 and the sleeve 14 extend through a bore in a mould part 15 which is of unitary construction and is retractable longitudinally quite independently of the outer mould 10. The mould part 15 is formed with a recess 16 in which two split ring moulds 17 and 18 are arranged, and the split moulds 17 and 18 can be opened, in the manner shown in FIG. 3, to permit removal of a moulded blank. The split ring moulds 17 and 18 are formed with rebates as shown and these rebates serve to form the neck of a moulded blank. The mandrel 11 and the sleeve 14 are mounted on a fixed base structure (not shown) on which the mould part 15 is also mounted.

The front portion of the outer mould 10 is displaceable within a cylinder 19 containing a chamber 20 which is filled with plastics material through an opening 21 by means of an injection nozzle 22. In the cylinder 19 there is a longitudinally displaceable shaft 23, the forward end surface of which constitutes an end wall 12a of the mould cavity 12. In the position shown in FIG. 1, the shaft 23 separates the chamber 20 from the mould cavity 12. The shaft 23 includes a collar 50 which is connected to a piston rod 52 of a hydraulic ram arrangement 54 so that the shaft 23 can be pushed back against a stop 24 to provide an opening through which the plastics material can flow into the mould cavity 12.

The process of manufacturing a moulded blank, for use in, for example, a blow-moulding apparatus, is such that the plastics material is first of all injected into the chamber 20 within the cylinder 19 through the injection nozzle 22 and the temperature is controlled in that chamber by heating elements (not shown). The chamber 20 is closed, during injection of the plastics material, by the shaft 23 which abuts a frusto-conical surface of the outer mould 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The chamber 20 is of somewhat larger volume than the moulded blank to be manufactured.

After the chamber 20 has been filled with hot plastics material, communication is established between the chamber 20 and the mould cavity 12 by retracting the shaft with the hydraulic ram 54 so that the shaft bears against the stop 24. Simultaneously the mould part 15 is pushed forwards together with the outer mould 10 by a hydraulic piston and cylinder mechanism (not shown) and the plastics material displaced by insertion of the outer mould 10 into the chamber 20 is caused to flow into the mould cavity 12 through an opening of fairly large section. The outer mould 10 and the sleeve 14 are displaced by related amounts and the relationship between the rate of forward movement of the outer mould 10 and the rate of backward movement of the sleeve 14 must be so fixed that the volume of plastics material caused to flow into the mould cavity is equal to the volume of the sleeve 14 effectively withdrawn from the cavity 12.

A biassing force initially acts on the sleeve 14 to urge it into the position shown in FIG. 1 and this must be overcome during retraction, so that no cavities are formed in the moulded blank. The biasing force may be applied as follows. An arm 60 is connected to a rear portion of sleeve 14, as ahown in FIG. 1. A piston rod 62 is connected to the arm 60 and extends rearwardly into a cylinder 64, which contains hydraulic fluid. Cylinder 64 may be rigidly connected to mold part 15. Further, arm 60 could be eliminated so that sleeve 14 is connected directly to a piston rod 63. As plastic material enters the mold cavity 12, pressure is exerted on the terminal end of sleeve 14, and this pressure is transmitted through arm 60, piston rod 62, and piston 63 to the hydraulic fluid in cylinder 64. As the pressure increases, the biasing force of a conventional relief valve 66, such as a one-way spring-biased ball valve, is overcome and hydraulic fluid flows from cylinder 64 through flow line 68 and 70 to a sump 72. Thus, inadmissibly high uneven injection speeds are avoided by retraction of the sleeve 14 and advance of the outer mould 10 at controlled rates. The plastics material is caused to flow into the mould cavity 12 around the head of the mandrel at a constant speed throughout the entire moulding process. Since the sleeve 14 is initially in the forward position, the plastics material cannot squirt or flow rapidly into the adjacent portion of the mould cavity and therefore produce inadmissibly high and uneven rates of flow which can result in bending of the mandrel 11, which is, moreover, substantially supported throughout its length by the sleeve 14.

When the outer mould 10 and the mould part 15 have reached their final positions as shown in FIG. 2, (wherein the hydraulic biasing means is not shown) the process of filling the mould cavity 12 is completed and the passage for the flow of the plastics material out of the chamber 20 is blocked by the shaft 23, which is situated against the stop 24. When the outer mould 10 is in this positon, the sleeve 14 is in its final position between the split ring moulds 17 and 18 whereby a neat neck is formed on the moulded blank. This final position of the sleeve 14 is determined by a stop, not shown. The blank 25 manufactured in this way is then allowed to harden or set. The coolant channels required for this are not shown.

After the moulded blank has hardened or set the mould part 15 is withdrawn axially together with the sleeve 14 and the blank 25 on the mandrel 11, the outer mould 10 being urged back to engage a stop 27 by springs 26. At the same time the shaft 23 returns to its final forward position by hydraulic ram 54 as shown in FIG. 1.

When the moulded blank has been withdrawn sufficiently so as to be clear of the outer mould 10 the split ring mould parts 17 and 18 are opened and the sleeve 14 is moved back towards its initial position, as shown in FIG. 1. This is accomplished by supplying hydraulic fluid to cylinder 64 from the sump 72 through flow line sections 74 and 76 by a pump P. The moulded blank 25 is released from the mandrel 11 by this movement of the sleeve and can fall into a container. The mould part 15, the mandrel 11 and the sleeve 14 are then returned to their initial positions and the injection process is repeated after the chamber 20 has been refilled with the plastics material. Stops (not shown) are provided for determining the final position of the sleeve.

In FIG. 3 both split ring mould parts 17 and 18 are shown in end view; they are fixed to two arms 28 and 29 which span the recess 16 of the mould part 15. The ends of the arms 28 and 29 are pivotally connected at 30 for pivotal movement relative to the mould part 15, while the free ends of the arms 28 and 29 are spaced apart and connected together by a parallelogram linkage which is made up of four separate links 31 which are connected to the arms by pivotal connections 32 and to each other by pivotal connections 33 and 34. The connection 34 is fixed to the mould part 15. The split ring mould parts 17 and 18 are opened and closed evenly and uniformly by a hydraulic piston and cylinder mechanism 35 situated between the connections 33 and 34.

An important advantage of the apparatus is its space-saving construction, so that it is especially suited to the simultaneous injection of several blanks. In addition, only the small ring mould for making the neck portion of the blank needs to be made in two parts, while the outer mould 10 and the mould part 15 are not split. Production and operating costs are thereby reduced.