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Plastic Blow Moulding: PET Bottles and HDPE Drums
Hollow plastic is blown. A PET drinks bottle starts as an injection-moulded preform, a thick test tube with the finished screw neck; it is reheated, usually with infrared heaters, above its glass transition temperature, stretched by a core rod and blown with high-pressure air against a cold metal mould. Drums and jerrycans are extrusion blow moulded: a hot tube, the parison, is extruded, closed in the mould and blown out.
Advanced
Seconds per bottle
Instructions
1
1
Preforms
Preforms
PET preforms come from injection moulding with the neck finished; they are dried and stored.
Materials for this step:
PET Preform100 pieces2
2
Reheat
Reheat
Preforms pass infrared heaters until soft, just above PET's glass transition temperature.
Tools needed:
Benchtop Blow Molding Machine3
3
Stretch and blow
Stretch and blow
In the closed bottle mould a rod stretches the preform lengthwise while high-pressure air blows it out to the mould wall, which cools it.
Tools needed:
Benchtop Blow Molding Machine
Blow Mould4
4
Extrusion blow moulding
Extrusion blow moulding
For HDPE drums, a parison is extruded downward, the mould closes on it, pinching the bottom, and air blows it out.
Materials for this step:
HDPE Pellets20 kgTools needed:
Plastic ExtruderBlow Mould5
5
Check
Check
Bottles are checked for even wall thickness and leaks.
Tools needed:
Digital Caliper 6-InchMaterials
2- 100 piecesPlaceholder
- 20 kgPlaceholder
Tools Required
4- Placeholder
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