We thought it would be useful to provide an overview of the Injection Blow Moulding process - used by SONE to manufacture our range of e-liquid bottles.
What is Injection Blow Moulding?
The injection blow moulding (IBM) process is used in the manufacture of hollow, plastic objects. It is particularly suited to the production of e-liquid bottles as it produces items of a consistently accurate weight and shape.
The IBM process
Injection blow moulding comprises three stages, injection, blowing and ejection. This animation, kindly supplied by the British Plastics Federation, demonstrates the process.
Injection
Polymer granules are fed from a hopper into a horizontally moving screw assembly in the IBM machine. The material is melted using temperature controlled heated bands, compressed and then fed in metered amounts into a manifold.
From there, the melted material is injected through a narrow nozzle into a hollow, pre-heated mould, called a preform. This process produces the fully-formed, threaded neck area of the bottle with a narrow tube of plastic material attached. The tube is the basis for the body of the bottle and is the length of the finished item.
Blowing
The pre-mould and the blow mould then open and the core rod, which has defined the internal shape of the preform, rotates from the pre-mould to the blow mould.
The blow mould closes, and compressed air is blown from the core rod into the preform, inflating it into the finished bottle shape.
Ejection
The blow mould then opens and the core rod, which is now holding the fully formed bottle by its neck, rotates to the removal station.
Finally, the bottle is stripped from the core rod and ejected from the machine as the finished article.
The advantages of the IBM process
- In comparison to other plastic production processes, injection blow moulding produces bottles with a higher level of dimensional accuracy, particularly in the neck area.
- Bottles have an exact weight with an even and precise distribution of plastic material.
- The process is ideal for the production of large quantities of product due to the high level of accurate repeatability from bottle to bottle.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the IBM process please let us know – we’d love to help! Email us at enquiries@sone-products.co.uk.
