Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
170 words
Multiple extrusion head extrusion blow moulding apparatus comprising a plurality of extrusion heads for forming parisons of a thermoplastic material to be blown, each extrusion head being provided with: (a) an inlet orifice, (b) an accumulator chamber in communication with said inlet orifice, (c) an outlet orifice for the thermoplastic material, and (d) a piston slidably positioned within said accumulator chamber for emptying said accumulator through said outlet orifice to form a parison of said thermoplastic material, and means operatively associated with said pistons for driving all the pistons of all extrusion heads for identical and simultaneous movement in respect of position and/or speed during their parison-extruding strokes, said means comprising a plurality of drive means and position indicators, each of said plurality of drive means being associated with a respective one of the pistons, and wherein a comparator device is connected to receive the signals triggered by the position indicators of all extrusion heads for generating a comparison signal for controlling the various drive means in a common manner.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
170 words
Multiple extrusion head extrusion blow moulding apparatus comprising a plurality of extrusion heads for forming parisons of a thermoplastic material to be blown, each extrusion head being provided with: (a) an inlet orifice, (b) an accumulator chamber in communication with said inlet orifice, (c) an outlet orifice for the thermoplastic material, and (d) a piston slidably positioned within said accumulator chamber for emptying said accumulator through said outlet orifice to form a parison of said thermoplastic material, and means operatively associated with said pistons for driving all the pistons of all extrusion heads for identical and simultaneous movement in respect of position and/or speed during their parison-extruding strokes, said means comprising a plurality of drive means and position indicators, each of said plurality of drive means being associated with a respective one of the pistons, and wherein a comparator device is connected to receive the signals triggered by the position indicators of all extrusion heads for generating a comparison signal for controlling the various drive means in a common manner.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said comparator devices are connected to be responsive to the position of the piston of one of the extrusion heads which thereby serves as a reference piston for the control of the position and/or speed of the pistons of all other extrusion heads.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 and including closed-loop control means operatively associated with said pistons for subjecting the positions and/or speeds of the pistons of all extrusion heads to closed-loop control as a function of a mean reference value.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, and including a movable core within each accumulator chamber and a conjoint programming device common to all extrusion heads for controlling the position of said movable cores with respect to said outlet orifices to thereby control the size of said outlet orifices.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said conjoint programming device controls the size of said outlet orifice in each extrusion head in accordance with a selected contour curve to thereby vary the thickness of the parison being extruded.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 including means responsive to the length of a parison being extruded from each extrusion head for adjusting individually the size of each outlet orifice being controlled by said conjoint programming device as a function of the final length of the corresponding parison.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the accumulator chambers of all extrusion heads have equal swept volumes.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
64 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, and including hydraulic drive means with drive rams for driving the pistons of the extrusion heads, and final adjustment elements connected to feed and discharge lines of the hydraulic drive rams for the pistons, whereby the piston speed and/or piston position can be subjected to closed-loop control during the extrusion stroke and/or during the charging stroke of the piston.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, and including means operatively associated with said pistons for driving the pistons of all extrusion heads for identical and simultaneous movement during their accumulator chamber-filling strokes.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
52 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising means for detecting the final length of a parison being extruded, comparator means for determining if the parison length is too long or too short, and means for adjusting the size of the outlet orifice of each extrusion head responsive to the corresponding comparator determination.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
52 words
Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said parison length detecting means define a tolerance range in respect of the change of the final length of the extruded parison, and wherein said means for adjusting the size of the outlet orifice only effects controlling adjustment after said predetermined tolerance range has been exceeded.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
44 words
Apparatus according to claim 10, and including a movable core within each accumulator chamber, said core defining the inner limit of said outlet orifice, whereby the size of the outlet orifice may be adjusted by moving said core in response to said comparator determination.