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Shuttle machineryShuttle machines are a significant workhorse in the extrusion blow molding of hollow plastic articles such as bottles for food storage. Additional recommended knowledge
DescriptionShuttle machines are either single-sided or dual-sided machines, and can be manufactured to produce one- to six-layer containers - although the number of suppliers who produce 4-6 layer machines is limited. In a single sided machine, the mold "shuttles" under the flowhead, closes to capture the parisons, then moves away from the head. Blow pins are then forced downward into the molds, helping to "calibrate" the necks while air is forced into the cavity to blow the container. The shuttle motion allows the bottles to be blown and cooled to the side, without interfering with the parisons, which are continually extruding from the flowhead. In a double sided shuttle machine, there is a mold on each side of the flowhead, one shuttling to the right, and one to the left, which generally doubles the output of a single-sided machine. Shuttle machines may extrude single or multiple parisons, and are characterized by the number of parisons and the horizontal spacing between the parisons. For example, a "4x100" shuttle extrudes four parisons, spaced 100 mm between the centers. This would require a platen (for attaching the molds) greater in size than 400 mm, to accommodate the required mold width. The horizontal or angled shuttling distance is thus greater than 400 mm for a 4x100 shuttle machine. In general, shuttle machines up to 2x100 mm spacing are considered small machines; shuttles up to 6x100 mm spacing are considered mid-sized machines; shuttles larger than this are typically referred to as "long-stroke" machines. Shuttle machinery is used widely in the production of personal care bottles, medical bottles, and some small industrial containers.
Sequence of OperationThe steps required for a shuttle machine to blow mold a hollow plastic object can be described by the following sequence of operations:
Advantages and DisadvantagesShuttle blow molding equipment offers the following advantages:
Shuttle machines have some limitations:
Major SuppliersThere are many suppliers of shuttle blow molding machinery. Some of the major global suppliers include:
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Shuttle_machinery". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |