PET Bottle Base Cooling via Pre-cooled Base Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing PET bottles using the stretch blow molding process often result in the base being inadequately cooled due to insufficient air flushing, leading to performance limitations in blocked plants as the thicker base of PET bottles requires more heat dissipation than can be achieved by brief air flushing, causing temperature issues during subsequent labeling or filling.
Innovation Solution
A device with a base plate in the further processing machine, such as a labeling or filler machine, that matches the outer bottom contour of the PET bottle for rapid cooling, utilizing a shaped piece with high thermal conductivity materials like aluminum or copper, and potentially with cooling ribs and recesses for enhanced heat dissipation, allowing passive or active cooling to efficiently cool the bottle during transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If air is flushed for a short time due to the process, then the bottle production speed is maintained, but the thick-walled base areas are not sufficiently cooled down to the suitable further processing temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The base plate is pre-cooled before the bottle base arrives, so that when the bottle is placed on it, the cooling action immediately begins from a ready-cooled surface. This preliminary preparation of the cooling surface enables effective cooling without requiring extended cooling time during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The base plate serves as an intermediary cooling element between the hot bottle base and the ambient environment. It provides direct thermal contact with the thick-walled base area, acting as a heat sink that efficiently removes heat from the base without requiring prolonged air flushing.
2Temperature
If the bottles are transported over a longer distance with active cooling, then the base cooling temperature is improved, but the processing time is increased and plant performance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling action is prepared in advance through the pre-cooled base plate, eliminating the need for extended transport distance. The cooling capability is ready before the bottle arrives, so cooling occurs immediately upon contact without requiring prolonged transport time.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of cooling through extended temporal duration (longer transport time), the invention introduces a spatial dimension by providing direct thermal contact through the base plate. This dimensional shift from time-based cooling to contact-based cooling reduces the required transport distance while maintaining effective cooling.
3Area of stationary object
If the base plate is designed to match the bottle bottom contour, then the cooling surface area is increased, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base plate is designed with a shaped piece that matches the local geometry of the bottle base, concentrating the cooling surface area precisely where needed. This localized adaptation increases cooling efficiency at the critical base region without requiring the entire base plate to be complex, maintaining simplicity where the bottle contour is cylindrical.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures the PET bottle is cooled to the required temperature for further processing without additional cooling sections, reducing processing time and preventing deformation, thereby enhancing production efficiency and plant performance.
Implementation Method 1
the standing plate has a shaped piece... the standing plate also serves as a means of transport for the hollow plastic body... A correspondingly rapid cooling of the bottom is achieved by placing the bottle on the base plate over as large an area as possible
Implementation Method 2
air is blown into the bottles, on the other hand, air is blown onto the bottles from the outside... the base of a PET bottle is always many times thicker than the bottle wall. The greater material thickness means that more heat has to be dissipated
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a block device with a stretch blow molding machine, a labeling machine and/or a filler, wherein a finished bottle (1) is cooled on a stand (5) of the downstream processing machine in the form of a labeling machine or a filler following the blow molding machine.