A PROCESS FOR MAKING A STRETCH-BLOW MOULDED CONTAINER HAVING AN INTEGRALLY MOULDED HANDLE

摘要

The present invention relates to a process for making a container having an integral handle, comprising the steps of : a) providing a preform in a mould cavity; b) stretch-blow moulding the preform to form an intermediate container which comprises at least one, preferably two, convex bubble(s); c) deforming the or each convex bubble by means of an inwardly moving plug to form one or more concave gripping region(s), whilst maintaining the pressure within the intermediate container above 1 bar and whilst the temperature of the material in the gripping region of the intermediate container is maintained at a temperature between the glass transition temperature, T g, and the melt temperature, T m; d) releasing excess pressure within the container, preferably prior to withdrawing the plug from within the container; and e) ejecting the finished container from the mould cavity.