Apparatus for manufacturing containers

Abstract

The utility model relates to equipment for manufacturing containers, which comprises a manufacturing machine for manufacturing parisons, a blow molding machine for manufacturing the parisons into the containers and a transportation device for transporting the parisons from the manufacturing machine to the blow molding machine, the utility model relates to a method for retrofitting at least one component of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to a kind of equipment for manufacturing container and a kind of method for retrofitting equipment for manufacturing container. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the prior art, equipment for manufacturing containers is widely known. Among them, both non-in-line and in-line design solutions are known. In the non-in-line design solution, parisons for containers are produced, for example, with an injection molding machine and then stored. In this case, it can also be provided that the produced parisons are further transported to a processing company, which produces the parisons into containers. After intermediate storage, the parisons are formed into containers, for example, with a blow molding machine, and then further processed, in particular filled, closed and, for example, labeled or imaged.

[0003] In the in-line equipment, the production of parisons and the further processing of parisons (at least the step of forming parisons into containers) are carried out simultaneously, wherein the production of the production machine for parisons and the blow molding machine or other machine for forming parisons into containers have essentially the same throughput, and the parisons are immediately transported and further processed after their production in the injection molding machine. In particular during normal operation, the parisons are directly fed to the blow molding machine via suitable transport means, which then processes them.

[0004] However, during the operation of the in-line equipment, retrofitting is necessary. Therein, one or several components of at least one of these machines are exchanged in order to, for example, switch formats, and components suitable for a first form of containers and / or parisons are exchanged for components suitable for a second form of containers and / or parisons.

[0005] In the prior art, there is no such possibility in the prior art in the field of in-line devices or equipment to retrofit with reduced personnel input. SUMMARY

[0006] Therefore, according to the known prior art, it is the technical object to be solved to propose an equipment for manufacturing containers and a method for retrofitting the equipment, by which different types of containers can be flexibly produced.

[0007] According to the utility model, this object is achieved by an equipment for manufacturing containers as follows and by a method for retrofitting an equipment for manufacturing containers as follows. Advantageous embodiments of the utility model include the following.

[0008] According to the utility model, the equipment for manufacturing containers comprises a production machine for producing parisons, a blow molding machine for producing parisons into containers and a transport device for transporting parisons from the production machine to the blow molding machine, wherein the equipment comprises a retrofitting device for retrofitting at least one component of the production machine and / or the blow molding machine.

[0009] The manufacturing machine can be, for example, an injection molding machine or comprise an injection molding machine. Other design options of the manufacturing machine, for example, designed as a compression machine or compression molding machine, are also conceivable, the utility model not being limited in terms of the type of manufacturing machine.

[0010] Although in the following, the blow molding machine is described in principle as comprising at least the devices for forming, for example blow molding, containers, it is also possible that the blow molding machine comprises one or several heating devices for heating the parisons upstream of these devices, for example an oven for heating the parisons, in particular an infrared oven, a microwave oven or a laser oven or any combination thereof.

[0011] The retrofitting device can in particular comprise one or several tools and / or robots for enabling the retrofitting of components of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine. Therein, the retrofitting can either be done completely automatically by the retrofitting device independently from the interaction of an operator or with the assistance of an operator.

[0012] The components of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine can in principle be any structural component of these machines. In the case of injection molding machines, in particular, it can be provided that injection molds are retrofitted or exchanged as components; in the case of blow molding machines, in particular, blow molds can be retrofitted as components.

[0013] By means of the apparatus according to the utility model, a simple and at least partially, preferably completely, automated retrofitting process is possible, or an adjustment of the machine to different types of containers and / or parisons is possible.

[0014] It can be provided that the transport device comprises a buffer device for storing parisons, wherein the apparatus comprises a control unit which is designed to control the transport of the parisons in the transport device in such a way that during the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the parisons are fed from the transport path of the transport device into the buffer device and the transport of the parisons to the blow molding machine is interrupted, and / or during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine, the parisons are fed from the buffer device into the blow molding machine.

[0015] By means of such a buffer device, it can be ensured that the retrofitting takes place as efficiently as possible and with the shortest downtime, in particular in the case where the retrofitting times of the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine are different or only one of these machines is retrofitted.

[0016] In one embodiment, it is provided that the buffer device comprises at least two buffer rows which can be introduced into the transport path of the transport device for accommodating and / or conveying the parisons and can be removed from the transport path for buffering the parisons.

[0017] This embodiment allows the integration of the buffer device into the transport path of the transport device, which can reduce the space requirement of the apparatus.

[0018] It can be provided that the transport device comprises a blocking element upstream of the buffer device for selectively blocking and releasing the parisons into the transport of the buffer device.

[0019] This embodiment ensures that the parisons are reliably fed into the buffer device, so that even if buffering is required, the interruption of operation is reduced.

[0020] The transport path can comprise a conveying track for the parisons, and the buffer row can comprise a receiving track for receiving the parisons. This allows the integration of the buffer device in the transport device to be achieved in a simple manner.

[0021] It can be provided that the retrofitting device comprises a retrofitting unit assigned to the blow molding machine and / or a retrofitting unit assigned to the manufacturing machine, and / or the retrofitting device comprises a retrofitting unit which is movable between the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, wherein the retrofitting unit is designed to retrofit at least one component.

[0022] The retrofitting unit can in particular be adapted to the requirements of the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, so that for example the tools of the retrofitting unit assigned to the manufacturing machine are different from the tools of the retrofitting unit assigned to the blow molding machine. If the retrofitting unit is provided as a mobile retrofitting unit, it can comprise tools which are adapted to the requirements of the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine.

[0023] This embodiment allows either a synchronous retrofitting by using the retrofitting units assigned to the machines or a reduction of the complexity of the plant while still ensuring a reliable retrofitting.

[0024] It can be provided that the plant comprises a container handling machine downstream of the blow molding machine for handling the containers manufactured in the blow molding machine, wherein the retrofitting device is designed to retrofit at least one component of the container handling machine. This allows the necessary conversion of the components of the machines involved in the manufacture and further handling of the containers to be reliably carried out.

[0025] The container handling machine can comprise a filling machine and / or a capping machine and / or a labeling machine and / or a printing machine and / or an inspection device. These machines often need to be retrofitted when the type of container to be manufactured is changed, so that the present invention can be particularly advantageously applied to these container handling machines.

[0026] According to the utility model, a method for retrofitting an apparatus for manufacturing containers is also provided, the apparatus comprising a manufacturing machine for manufacturing parisons, a blow molding machine for blow molding the parisons into containers and a transport device for transporting the parisons from the manufacturing machine to the blow molding machine, wherein the apparatus comprises a retrofitting device for retrofitting at least one component of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine, wherein the method comprises retrofitting at least one component of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine using the retrofitting device, wherein during the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the parisons are optionally at least partially manufactured using the manufacturing machine and / or during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine, the parisons are optionally at least partially shaped into containers using the blow molding machine.

[0027] By this method, a changeover or retrofitting of the product variety can be carried out with reduced downtime of the apparatus.

[0028] It can be provided that the transport device comprises a buffer device for storing the parisons, wherein the apparatus comprises a control unit which controls the transport of the parisons in the transport device in such a way that during the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the parisons are fed from the transport path of the transport device into the buffer device and the transport of the parisons to the blow molding machine is interrupted, and / or during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine, the parisons are fed from the buffer device into the blow molding machine.

[0029] The use of these buffer devices makes it possible for the manufacturing machine to continue to run during the retrofitting of the blow molding machine or for the blow molding machine to continue to run during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine, thereby minimizing the downtime of the apparatus.

[0030] It can be provided that the transport device comprises a blocking element upstream of the buffer device for selectively blocking and releasing the transport of the parisons into the buffer device, wherein the method comprises at least temporarily blocking the transport of the parisons into the buffer device.

[0031] For example, the transport of the parisons into the buffer device can be blocked when one buffer row of the buffer device is removed from the transport path of the transport device in order to buffer parisons therein. Thereby, it is avoided that parisons are unintentionally transferred into the buffer device which is not yet ready to receive the parisons, thereby avoiding unintentional interruptions of the operation.

[0032] In one embodiment, it is provided that the method comprises retrofitting the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, wherein after the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine and before the end of the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the manufacturing machine manufactures parisons and feeds the parisons into the buffer device, and wherein after the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the parisons are fed from the buffer device into the blow molding machine for manufacturing containers, and wherein after the retrofitting of the blow molding machine, the manufacturing machine is at least temporarily operated at a reduced output.

[0033] That reduced production is understood in relation to the production of the machine in the state of operation of the blow molding machine without modification. This reduced production can be determined here on the basis of the number of parisons in the buffer device and the production of the blow molding machine, so that after a predetermined or dynamically calculated time has elapsed, the buffer device is emptied and the production of the machine can then be increased again to the non-reduced production, wherein the production of the machine is preferably equal to the production of the blow molding machine or to the production of all blow molding machines of the plant, if there are several blow molding machines.

[0034] It can be provided that the machine is operated at a reduced production until the buffer device is emptied. This avoids a reduction in the production of containers manufactured with the plant.

[0035] The method can comprise modifying the blow molding machine and the machine, the modification device modifying the blow molding machine and the machine at least partially simultaneously.

[0036] In this context, the at least partial simultaneous modification is understood to mean that the modification device is involved in or performs the modification of one component of the blow molding machine and the machine at least during an overlapping time period, which does not necessarily correspond to the modification time of the machine and / or the blow molding machine. This can minimize the downtime for product variety changeovers.

[0037] It can be provided that the plant comprises a container handling machine downstream of the blow molding machine for handling the containers manufactured in the blow molding machine, the modification device being designed to modify at least one component of the container handling machine, wherein the method comprises modifying the component of the container handling machine, wherein the container handling machine optionally comprises a filling machine and / or a capping machine and / or a labeling machine and / or a printing machine and / or an inspection device.

[0038] Here, the modification of the entire plant, for example when changing the container variety or format, is reliably achieved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a plant according to an embodiment is shown.

[0040] Figures 2 to 4 Various embodiments of the buffer device are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a plant 100 for manufacturing containers 182 according to the application is shown according to an embodiment.

[0042] According to the utility model, the device 100 comprises at least a manufacturing machine 101 for manufacturing preforms. The manufacturing machine 101 can be embodied, for example, as an injection molding machine or a compression molding machine or a compression machine, which machines manufacture preforms from preform raw material, in particular PET (virgin PET but also including recycled PET), from which preforms containers can subsequently be formed. However, the specific design of the manufacturing machine is not limited.

[0043] According to the utility model, the device 100 further comprises a transport device 102, which can take the preforms from the manufacturing machine 101 and feed them into a blow molding machine 103 arranged according to the utility model, in which blow molding machine the preforms 181 can be formed into containers 182 by biaxial stretching, in particular by the action of blow molding pressure and stretching rods.

[0044] The transport device 102 can be designed at least partially as an air conveyor, which can comprise two parallel conveying tracks, into which the preforms can be received in a suspended manner using their support rings, and which can convey the preforms by means of a pneumatic flow in the direction from the manufacturing machine 101 to the blow molding machine 103. Alternatively or additionally, the transport device can also comprise other transport elements, such as grippers and / or rotating star wheels with appropriate grippers, which can receive and convey the preforms, in order to receive the preforms from the manufacturing machine 101 and / or to transfer them to the blow molding machine 103. Any sorting devices, which, for example, rearrange the preforms after their manufacture in the manufacturing machine and before their transfer to the air conveyor, can also be provided, but are not described in further detail here.

[0045] The device can further comprise a container treatment machine 104 arranged upstream of the blow molding machine 103, which can further process the containers manufactured in the blow molding machine 103. The container treatment machine 104 can in particular be embodied as a filling machine and / or a capping machine and / or a labeling machine and / or a printing machine and / or an inspection device, but is not limited thereto. In general, any machine that can interact with or act on a container in order to determine and / or influence a property of the container can be understood as a container treatment machine.

[0046] The filling machine can introduce a product into the manufactured containers 182, while the capping machine can cap the filled containers. If the blow molding machine is embodied as a form-fill machine, which forms the containers using the product to be filled into the containers instead of the action of compressed air, the capping machine can advantageously, but not exclusively, be arranged directly downstream of the blow molding machine (without any other container treatment machine in between). In this embodiment, a separate filling machine is not required downstream of the blow molding machine.

[0047] Labeling machines and printing machines are known in the art to apply decorative elements on finished containers 182. As inspection device, for example, an optical inspection device, such as a camera, can be provided, which can inspect the quality of the finished containers 182.

[0048] Between the container handling machine 104 and the blow molding machine 103, a further transport device 107, for example a linear conveyor, such as an air conveyor, or one or several rotating star wheels, can optionally be arranged, which can receive the containers 182 and feed them into the container handling machine 104.

[0049] According to the invention, the apparatus 100 further comprises a retrofitting device 105, which is adapted to retrofit at least one component of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine. For example, when the manufacturing machine 101 is designed as an injection molding machine, the component 111 of the manufacturing machine 101 can be an injection molding tool. The component 131 of the blow molding machine 103 can for example be a blow molding tool or a component of a blow molding tool, with which a parison can be formed into a container. Alternatively or additionally, the component 131 can also be a stretch rod.

[0050] In one embodiment, the retrofitting device comprises several retrofitting units 151 and 152, which are each assigned to at least one of the blow molding machine 103 and the manufacturing machine 101 and can retrofit the respective component. In an alternative embodiment, it can be provided that a single retrofitting unit, for example the retrofitting unit 152, is provided, which can be moved between the manufacturing machine and the blow molding machine 103, and which can be moved between the manufacturing machine 101 and the blow molding machine 103 in order to retrofit at least one component 111 and / or 131. The mobile retrofitting unit can for example be arranged to be movable on a rail or can be embodied as a robot which is freely movable in space or at least in a plane.

[0051] Optionally, one or several component warehouses 190 can also be provided, which can store components of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine, which need to be exchanged. If a mobile retrofitting unit is provided, it can be provided that the mobile retrofitting unit is arranged not only to be movable between the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, but also to be movable between the warehouses 190, so that the retrofitting unit can take from the warehouses 190 the components which need to be exchanged with the components installed in the respective machine. If the retrofitting units are fixedly assigned to the machines, it can be provided that each retrofitting unit is assigned a component warehouse from which the retrofitting unit can take the components for retrofitting the respective machine.

[0052] The retrofitting units can be designed as stationary retrofitting units or mobile retrofitting units, for example AGVs (automated guided vehicles) which are assigned tools, so that they can at least participate in the retrofitting of components or completely perform the retrofitting. In principle, each retrofitting unit comprises at least tools and / or robotic arms with which the retrofitting unit can perform the machine retrofitting fully automatically or partially interactively with an operator. For this purpose, the retrofitting unit can also comprise sensors in order to, for example, recognize an operator and / or physical objects such as components of the machine to be retrofitted.

[0053] If the plant 100 comprises a container handling machine 104, the retrofitting units 153 of this container handling machine 104 can also be provided for retrofitting at least one component 141 of the container handling machine. Alternatively, a mobile retrofitting unit can be implemented as described above such that it is arranged to be movable between the container handling machine, the blow molding machine, the manufacturing machine and the optional component warehouse 190, for example on rails, and thus can retrofit each of the components 111, 131 and 141.

[0054] The components of the container handling machine can comprise, for example, a filling mechanism and / or a printing head and / or a labeling unit or a component part of a labeling unit, such as a tray axle, and / or a capping head for applying a closure to the container, depending on how the container handling machine is designed and which components are to be replaced.

[0055] In another embodiment it can be provided that the plant 101, in particular the transport device 102, comprises a buffer device 106 in which the parisons 181 can be stored. The buffer device 106 can be arranged between two parts or sections 121 and 122 of the transport device, so that the parisons 181 can first be fed from the manufacturing machine 101 into the buffer device 106 by a section 121 of the transport device or the transport device 102 and then be removed from the buffer device 106 by a section 122 of the transport device 102 and fed into the blow molding machine 106.

[0056] In a preferred embodiment it is provided here that the buffer device 106 is not permanently buffering parisons, but is implemented as a part of the transport device 102 or functions as a part of the transport device without the need for buffering parisons. In this case, the buffer device functions as a part of the transport device, so that the route traveled by the parisons is hardly different compared to a continuous transport device 102 without a buffer device.

[0057] It can be provided that a blocking element 183 is arranged upstream (and / or optionally downstream) of the buffer device 106 for selectively blocking and releasing the transport of the parisons into the buffer device or out of the buffer device. The blocking element 183 can for example be arranged upstream of the region of an air conveyor provided for transporting the parisons 181, such that for example a change of the buffer device, for example a movement of one buffer row of the buffer device, can be carried out while the parisons 181 are blocked from moving in the direction of the buffer device 106 by the blocking element.

[0058] In each of the described embodiments, the apparatus can comprise a control unit 180, for example a computer with associated processor and memory, which can control the functions of the apparatus 100, in particular the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine and / or the blow molding machine, and can control the retrofitting of the container handling machine 104, if present. To this end, the control unit can for example send control commands to the retrofitting devices to instruct them to carry out the retrofitting. Additionally, the control unit can be implemented such that it can control the blocking element 183 to block or release the transport of the transport device and / or of the parisons into the buffer device 106 or out of the buffer device, for example depending on the retrofitting of the blow molding machine 103 and / or of the manufacturing machine 101.

[0059] It can be provided that the control unit is designed to control the apparatus such that during the retrofitting of the blow molding machine 103 the parisons 181 manufactured with the manufacturing machine 101 are buffered in the buffer device and are not continued to be transported to the blow molding machine 103. If the manufacturing machine is retrofitted, it can be provided that at least some of the parisons are fed from the buffer device 106 to the blow molding machine during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine 101 in order to be formed into containers 182 during the retrofitting of the manufacturing machine. In this way, the downtime of the manufacturing machine can be reduced when the blow molding machine 103 is retrofitted, and / or the downtime of the blow molding machine can be reduced when the manufacturing machine is retrofitted. Alternatively or additionally, it can also be provided here that the retrofitting of the blow molding machine and of the manufacturing machine is carried out at least partially simultaneously, in particular when retrofitting units 151 and 152 assigned to the manufacturing machine 101 and to the blow molding machine 103 are provided.

[0060] It can for example be provided that during a planned retrofitting of the manufacturing machine and of the blow molding machine, the manufacturing machine is first stopped, the blow molding machine continues to run until finally the parisons 181 manufactured with the manufacturing machine are formed into containers 182.

[0061] During this time, the manufacturing machine has been retrofitted by retrofitting unit 152. If there are no more containers to be formed in blow molding machine 103 either, the operation of blow molding machine 103 can be stopped and the retrofitting process started (for example by retrofitting unit 151). Once the retrofitting of manufacturing machine 101 is finished, the operation can be started again and parisons 181 are manufactured (optionally at a reduced output compared to normal operation), which are fed into buffer device 106 and not into blow molding machine 103. Once blow molding machine 103 is finished with the retrofitting, the operation can be started again and at least the parisons in buffer device 106 can be transferred to blow molding machine 103 to form them into containers 182. In this case, manufacturing machine 101 can be operated further at a reduced output, so that buffer device 106 is emptied first, but still enough parisons are manufactured to fill blow molding machine 103. For example, the output of the manufacturing machine can be reduced by at most 10%, 20% or 50% compared to normal operation, so that the number of parisons fed into the buffer device during this operating phase is lower than the number of parisons removed from the buffer device per time unit. Thus, the buffer unit is gradually emptied.

[0062] If buffer device 106 is emptied (i.e. does not contain any cached or stored parisons any more), the output of manufacturing machine 101 can be increased again, for example, the output of the blow molding machine (or the total output of all blow molding machines in the plant, if more than one blow molding machine is provided) is adjusted, so that the plant can continue to be operated normally until the next retrofitting is required.

[0063] Figures 2 to 4 Various embodiments of buffer device 106 are shown, which can be particularly advantageous in connection with the simultaneous retrofitting of at least parts of the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, since they have little, preferably no, influence on the parison transport during normal operation and allow a flexible continued operation of the blow molding machine and / or the manufacturing machine during the retrofitting.

[0064] In Figure 2An embodiment of the buffer device 106 is shown, wherein the buffer device 106 comprises two buffer elements 261 and 262, which are optionally arranged in succession in the transport direction T. The buffer elements 261 and 262 each comprise a preferably rigid frame 263 and 264, which can in particular be made of stainless steel. In each buffer unit 261 and 262, a plurality of (at least two) buffer rows 265 and 266 are arranged at this frame, into which buffer rows the parisons can be moved by the transport device and which extend in the transport direction T. The buffer capacity of each buffer row is here dependent on the length of the parisons in the transport direction T and the length of the respective buffer row. This embodiment is in particular advantageous if the transport device comprises a transport path, which comprises two parallel arranged conveying tracks between which the parisons are suspended for transport (for example by means of an air flow) using their support rings. In this case, the buffer rows 265 and 266 of the buffer units 261 and 262 can also comprise containing tracks between which the parisons can be contained in a suspended manner using their support rings. In this embodiment, each buffer row can also be assigned one or several air nozzles, which can apply an air flow in the transport direction T to the parisons in order to remove the parisons from the buffer device.

[0065] For the parisons, the transition from the transport path to the buffer rows can be effected in a direction different from the transport direction T with a small force, which can avoid a desired misalignment of the parisons. To this end, it can be provided that the vertical offset between the containing tracks and the conveying tracks is as small as possible when receiving the parisons from the transport device into a buffer row, preferably less than 3 mm, particularly preferably less than 2 mm.

[0066] Furthermore, the buffer rows are preferably mounted at the frames 263 and 264 in such a way that the parisons are always suspended vertically along their longitudinal axis.

[0067] In the shown embodiment, the parisons are first loaded into one buffer row 267 (for example, a buffer row of the buffer unit 261 or a buffer row 267 of the buffer units 261 and 262 arranged in succession in the transport direction). Then, a blocking element (see Figure 1 ) is preferably actuated in order to prevent a further transport of the parisons into the buffer device. Subsequently, the loaded buffer unit 261 is rotated about the respective rotation axis (R1 or R2) by means of a drive element 271 (for example a servo motor) assigned to this buffer unit, so that the loaded buffer row, in which the parisons are buffered, is removed from the transport path of the transport device in the shown rotation direction and the next buffer row (of the same buffer unit or of another buffer unit) is introduced into the transport path, so that this buffer row can be loaded with parisons. The other buffer unit 262 is also assigned a corresponding drive element 272.

[0068] The rotating shafts R1 and R2 are preferably arranged such that they extend in the transport plane E of the blank and parallel to the transport direction T, so that there is no vertical height difference between the transport path of the transport device and the buffer row 267 that accommodates the blank 181.

[0069] As previously described, buffer units 261 and 262 can be arranged sequentially (in the transport direction T), such that the parison can be fed into the two buffer units or into the buffer rows 267 arranged sequentially in the transport direction T in one buffering process. Alternatively, buffer units 261 and 262 can be arranged at the same height in the transport direction T, such that the parison is alternately fed into the buffer rows of buffer units 261 and 262.

[0070] Figure 3 This shows an alternative Figure 2 The implementation method is as follows. In this implementation method, the buffer device includes a frame 361 with buffer rows 362 arranged on the frame, and... Figure 2 The implementation method is similar. However, in this embodiment, the frame is arranged to be rotatable about a rotation axis R, which is offset vertically relative to the transport plane E but parallel to the transport direction T. The vertical offset can be set either upward (opposite to the direction of gravity) or downward (in the same direction as gravity). In addition, the buffer device 106 includes a drive element 363 (e.g., a servo motor) that is implemented to drive the frame and the buffer rows 362 arranged on the frame, such that these buffer rows are rotatable about the rotation axis R and introduced into the transport path of the transport device to receive the blank 181.

[0071] The basic structure of this buffer device is similar to Figure 2 The structure of the buffer unit in this implementation corresponds to that of the previous one, the only difference being the relative arrangement of the rotation axis R of the buffer device with respect to the transport path of the transport device. However, in Figure 2 All other implementations described herein are also applicable. Figure 3 .

[0072] Figure 4 This shows an alternative Figure 2 and Figure 3 In this embodiment of the buffer device 106, a plurality of buffer rows 362 are again provided, which are arranged to move along the guide rail 461 in a plane of motion perpendicular to the transport direction T, so as to be introduced into the transport path of the transport device and receive the blank therein. However, in these embodiments, the method of using a buffer row 362 is not employed. Figure 3 and Figure 4In the embodiment of the application, the buffer arrangement 462 is arranged in a rotatable rigid frame corresponding to the embodiment of the application, but is arranged in independently movable trolleys 463, which are movable along the guide rails 461 in the direction of movement D shown. In particular, the guide rails 461 can be implemented as part of a linear drive (as a stator) and the trolleys 463 connected with the buffer arrangement 462 can be implemented as movers, which are selectively movable by electromagnetic interaction with the guide rails 461. In this way, the number of parisons that can be received into the buffer device 106 or can be discharged from the buffer device per unit of time can be selectively controlled, for example, in the case of a retrofit manufacturing machine, in accordance with the output of the blow molding machine and / or in the case of a retrofit blow molding machine, in accordance with the output of the manufacturing machine.

[0073] With the described embodiment of the buffer device, an efficient, at least partially automated retrofitting of the machines of the plant can be carried out with the retrofitting device, in particular with a reduction in downtime.

Claims

1. An apparatus for manufacturing containers, the apparatus comprising a manufacturing machine for manufacturing parisons, a blow molding machine for manufacturing the parisons into containers and a transport device for transporting the parisons from the manufacturing machine to the blow molding machine, characterized in that, The device comprises a retrofitting apparatus for retrofitting at least one component of the manufacturing machine and / or of the blow molding machine, wherein the retrofitting apparatus comprises a retrofitting unit assigned to the blow molding machine and / or a retrofitting unit assigned to the manufacturing machine, and / or wherein the retrofitting apparatus comprises a retrofitting unit which is movable between the blow molding machine and the manufacturing machine, wherein the retrofitting unit is designed to retrofit the at least one component.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the transport apparatus comprises a buffer apparatus for storing parisons, wherein the device comprises a control unit which is designed to control the transport of the parisons in the transport apparatus in such a way that during retrofitting of the blow molding machine parisons are fed from the transport path of the transport apparatus into the buffer apparatus and the transport of parisons to the blow molding machine is interrupted, and / or during retrofitting of the manufacturing machine parisons are fed from the buffer apparatus into the blow molding machine.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the buffer apparatus comprises at least two buffer rows which can be introduced into the transport path of the transport apparatus for receiving and / or conveying parisons and can be moved out of the transport path for buffering parisons.

4. The device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the transport apparatus comprises a blocking element upstream of the buffer apparatus for selectively blocking and releasing the transport of parisons into the buffer apparatus.

5. The device according to claim 3, wherein the transport path comprises a conveying track for the parisons, and wherein the buffer rows comprise a receiving track for receiving the parisons.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the device comprises downstream of the blow molding machine a container handling machine for handling containers manufactured in the blow molding machine, and wherein the retrofitting apparatus is designed to retrofit at least one component of the container handling machine.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the container handling machine comprises a filling machine and / or a capping machine and / or a labeling machine and / or a printing machine and / or an inspection apparatus.

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