Different molds have long been interchanged on basic plastic extrusion automatic blow molding machine in a time consuming, laborious process. These machines are often customized and use molds which comprise an assembly of parts which normally remain together as an operative unit. That is, each time a conventional new mold is purchased, associated parts such as a back plate and a water manifold for supplying coolant water are provided for that new mold so as to permit the parts to be installed and later removed as an operative unit. Another part required for that new mold is a detabber. As is well known to those skilled in the art, in such blow molding machines, a tab of plastic (attached to a base of a blow molded object such as a container) is formed and must be removed prior to completion of the molding process. A detabber having a stripper bar which has been previously used with success is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,063 assigned to the assignee of this invention. The stripper bar is power operated to pivot against a mating fixed stripper plate for removing the tab from the molded object.

This invention generally relates to plastic extrusion blow molding machine and particularly concerns a quick change system and method for interchanging molds on platens of different blow molding machines.

A series of heretofore unsolved problems are associated with the changing of a mold in a plastic extrusion automatic blow molding machine. These problems involve the disassembly of water hoses from their connection on a side of the back plate and the disassembly of air feed hoses to the detabber, in addition to the removal of operative parts from the extrusion blow molding machine whereby the highly labor intensive, critical alignment of the mold to that machine is lost. To remove one mold and attach a new mold thus may take as long as three hours in disassembly of one mold from the machine, including disconnecting the water hoses and air feed hoses for respectively delivering required water to the blow mold and motive air power to the detabber, and then aligning a new mold to the machine, and again establishing the necessary fluid connections to the water manifold and the detabber.

A quick release locking device is provided between each mold unit and a unitary standard water manifold and detabber assembly. The unitary standard assembly is provided as a one-piece component with fluid connections communicating respectively with water and air supply sources of the water manifold and detabber and which are conveniently maintained attached without being disconnected during detachment of the unitary standard assembly from the mold unit during a mold change.A quick change system and method of interchanging molds on plastic extrusion blow molding machines is disclosed wherein a universal standard sub plate is provided for use with different blow molding machines on which a variety of different mold units are removably mounted on the standard sub plate with the sub plate establishing a preselected precisely aligned relation automatically between the mold unit and a machine platen.

A quick change system for interchanging mold units on platens of different plastic extrusion automatic blow molding machines and comprising a sub plate dimensioned and configured for use with different blow molding machines as a universal standard component, the standard sub plate being permanently secured to a platen of a blow molding machine in predetermined precision alignment with the machine platen,a plurality of different mold units interchangeably attachable to the standard subplate with each mold unit in a predetermined leveled and centered operating position on the standard subplate, the standard subplate establishing a preselected, precisely aligned relation between the mold unit and the machine platen, and an assembly including a water manifold and a detabber removably mountable on each of the different mold units as a unitary standard assembly.

A quick change system for interchanging mold units on platens of different plastic extrusion blow molding machines and comprisinga subplate dimensioned and configured for use with different blow molding machines as a universal standard component the standard subplate being permanently secured to a platen of a blow molding machine in predetermined precision alignment with the machine platen,a plurality of different mold units interchangeably attachable to the standard subplate with each mold unit in a predetermined leveled and centered operating position on the standard subplate, the standard subplate establishing a preselected, precisely aligned relation between the mold unit and the machine platen.

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