| CPC B29C 49/58 (2013.01) [B29C 49/4289 (2013.01); B29C 2049/465 (2013.01); B29K 2105/253 (2013.01); B29L 2031/712 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
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1. A blow molding apparatus comprising:
a mold for blow molding;
a blow nozzle placed above the mold;
a sealing body configured to open and close the blow nozzle;
a pressurized fluid supply unit configured to supply a pressurized incompressible fluid to the blow nozzle;
a blow nozzle moving unit configured to move the blow nozzle relative to the mold between a connected position, in which the blow nozzle is connected to a mouth of a preform placed into the mold, and a standby position, in which the blow nozzle is above and away from the mouth;
a drawing and discharging flow path connected to a drawing orifice;
a fluid drawing source connected to the drawing and discharging flow path, the fluid drawing source being configured to apply drawing force to the drawing and discharging flow path, after blow molding is completed and after and/or while the blow nozzle is moved from the connected position to the standby position while the blow nozzle is closed by the sealing body, so as to draw the incompressible fluid adhering to the blow nozzle into the drawing and discharging flow path; and
a pressurized gas supply source connected to the drawing and discharging flow path, the pressurized gas supply source being configured to supply a pressurized gas to the drawing and discharging flow path, after blow molding is completed and after a blow molded container is removed from the mold and a next preform is placed into the mold, so as to cause the incompressible fluid that has been drawn into the drawing and discharging flow path by the fluid drawing source to flow out through the drawing orifice toward the inside of the next preform or toward the inside of a container into which the next preform is to be blow molded,
wherein
the pressurized incompressible fluid is supplied into the preform from the pressurized fluid supply unit through the blow nozzle that is in the connected position, so as to blow mold the preform into a container having a shape corresponding to a cavity of the mold,
the blow molding apparatus is configured to, before the preform is blow molded, perform an air discharge step of supplying the incompressible fluid into the preform to thereby discharge air inside the preform to the outside through an open flow path, and the drawing and discharging flow path and the open flow path are separately connected to the blow nozzle.
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