The blow molding machine includes a rotary carousel having a plurality of mold stations thereon with each mold station including a pair of operable and closeable mold sections. A rotary take-out mechanism removes a blown article from each pair of mold sections as they pass the take-out mechanism. In particular, the take-out mechanism includes a take-out member inserted into the blown article to grip same while the mold sections are closed. The take-out member is carried on a turret arm rotated in oscillatory manner about the axis of revolution of the carousel and in synchronism therewith to cause the inserted take-out member to follow rotation of the mold sections as they are opened. When the mold sections are sufficiently opened, the take-out member is rotated about another axis so as to remove the blown article from between the opened mold sections. The take-out member is carried on a spindle that is rotatably indexable on the turret arm about the other axis. A rack and pinion mechanism operatively associated with the spindle is actuated by oscillatory movement of the turret arm to rotatably index the spindle and the take-out member thereon at the proper times.

The invention relates generally to blow molding machines and, in particular, to a rotary carousel blow molding machine having a rotary take-out mechanism for removing a blown article from a mold station on the carousel as it is rotatably indexed.

Rotary carousel blow molding machines are known in the art as exemplified in the Waterloo U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,250 issued Oct. 9, 1973; the Craig U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,664 issued Mar. 19, 1985; the Frohn U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,127 issued Mar. 27, 1984 and the Myers U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,865 issued Oct. 29, 1985.

The invention contemplates a blow molding machine having a carousel rotatably supported on a base, means for rotating the carousel, a plurality of pairs of openable and closeable mold sections on the carousel so as to be radially disposed and circumferentially spaced apart thereon and a rotary take-out mechanism operable to remove a blown article from a respective pair of mold sections passing thereby. The take-out mechanism includes a take-out member adapted to grip the blown article when the mold sections are closed and to be rotated with the mold sections about the axis of revolution of the carousel so as to track the movement of the mold sections as they are opened. When the mold sections are opened, the take-out member gripping the blown article is rotated about another axis of revolution to remove the blown article from between the opened mold sections.

In the past, the blown article has been removed from a mold station on the rotary carousel by various means. For example, in the Waterloo patent referred to above, a blown container falls by gravity from a mold station when the mold halves are opened at an unloading position corresponding to the lowest path of travel of the mold station. In the aforementioned Craig patent, a wheeled cart removes the blown article from opened mold halves. The aforementioned Myers patent employs an ejector mechanism operative to remove a blown container.