Products

Comparison of LIHE product families

Use this table to find the family that matches your part. Each family has a category page in the product list: Preform Mold, Closure Mold, Compression Mold, Blow Mold, Hot Runner System, Accessories and Mold Base Manufacturing.

Start from the part you need to make

• You make preforms: start with the Preform Mold category, then check whether your hot runner is reused or replaced.
• You make caps: choose between the Closure Mold category (injection) and the Compression Mold category (SACMI CCM lines), depending on your existing machines.
• You make bottles from bought-in or own preforms: go to the Blow Mold category and choose by blowing machine and filling type.
• You are changing a bottle, neck finish or machine on an existing line: look at Accessories for conversion parts, and at tooling conversion under Preform Mold.
• You need parts for a mold you already own: replacement parts are made from your existing Husky, SACMI or Otto parts and take 4 weeks.

Preform mold and hot runner: cavitation and compatibility

A preform mold and its hot runner work as one system: the hot runner keeps the PET melt at processing temperature and delivers it to each cavity, and the valve gate opens and closes each drop. Cavitation sets your output per cycle, but it must match the clamp size and platform of your injection machine.

• Preform molds range from 32 to 160 cavities; LIHE valve gate hot runners cover up to 144 preform cavities.
• Neck finishes include PCO 1881, PCO 1810, 1716, 3025, 2925, 2622, 2522, 38mm, 45mm, 68mm, 80mm, 90mm wide-mouth, ROPP and custom designs.
• If you keep an existing hot runner, replacement nozzle tips, valve pins, heaters and seals or a refurbishment may be enough.
• LIHE's Husky Ultra-type hot runners carry a 3-year leakage-proof guarantee.
• Lightweighting by 1g to 2g per preform can be done on an existing mold at 25%–40% of the price of a new one.

Closure mold vs compression mold: choosing a cap process

Plastic caps can be produced by injection molding or by compression molding. The choice usually follows the machines you already run, the cap design and your output target.

• Closure injection molds fill each cavity through a runner system; LIHE builds them with 12 to 72 cavities for one-piece and two-piece caps.
• Compression molding forms each cap from a metered portion of melt on a rotary line; the lower processing temperature gives shorter cooling, shorter cycles and lower energy use than injection.
• EU tethered caps, required for many single-use beverage containers under Directive (EU) 2019/904, are available as closure mold configurations.
• Cap mold parts are supplied in 4 weeks for both new and existing lines.

Choosing a blow mold: cold fill, hot fill or aseptic

The filling process decides the type of blow mold more than the bottle shape does. Standard PET bottles start to deform above about 60°C, so products filled hot need a different mold and bottle design.

• Cold fill blow molds: for water, carbonated soft drinks and other products filled at ambient temperature, including KHS InnoPET Blomax and Krones Contiform cold fill sets.
• Hot fill blow molds: for products filled at about 85–95°C, such as some juices and teas.
• Aseptic blow molds: for products filled under sterile conditions.
• Split-type quick-change molds: shorten changeover when one machine runs several bottle formats.
• Water bottle molds are available for 330ml, 500ml, 550ml and 1.5L bottles.

Accessories, conversion parts and mold bases

• Blowing pins and stretch rods: wear parts on the blowing machine that are replaced periodically.
• Clamping bases and mold shells: hold the blow mold in the machine and allow format changes.
• Conversion parts: star wheels, guides and neck grippers that let the line handle a new bottle or neck finish.
• Mold bases: machined on Mazak, Makino and Haas equipment, ground on Okamoto and verified on a Zeiss CMM.
• Conversion parts are 100% interchangeable for Husky, SACMI, SIPA, NETSTAL, MHT, OTTO, ASB, Krupps and Corvaglia systems.

How to choose the right product family

1. Step 1: Identify the part you make (preform, cap or bottle) and the exact machine make and model it runs on.
2. Step 2: Decide whether you need new tooling or can keep existing tooling with replacement or conversion parts.
3. Step 3: For preforms, fix the neck finish, preform weight and cavitation; for caps, the cap type and process; for bottles, the filling type and bottle volume.
4. Step 4: Open the matching category page and check the product details against your machine and neck finish.
5. Step 5: Send drawings or samples with these details to sales@lihe-preform.com; standard PET molds take 8 weeks and pilot molds 20 days.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to buy the hot runner together with the preform mold?

Not necessarily. LIHE supplies complete hot runners for up to 144 preform cavities, but it also supplies replacement nozzle tips, valve pins, heaters and seals and refurbishes existing hot runners, so a new mold can be matched to a hot runner you already own.

What is the largest preform mold LIHE makes?

Preform molds are available with up to 160 cavities, and mold bases are built for preform molds of the same size.

Can one blow mold be used for both cold fill and hot fill?

No. Standard PET bottles deform above about 60°C, while hot fill products are filled at about 85–95°C. Hot fill needs its own mold and bottle design.

Should I choose compression or injection for caps?

It depends on your machines and cap design. Compression molding on SACMI CCM lines runs at a lower processing temperature, which shortens cooling and cycles and lowers energy use; injection closure molds with 12 to 72 cavities suit injection-based cap lines.

Does LIHE make parts for machines from other brands?

Yes. Conversion parts are 100% interchangeable for Husky, SACMI, SIPA, NETSTAL, MHT, OTTO, ASB, Krupps and Corvaglia systems, and blow molds cover the main two-step and one-step blowing machines.

References

1. Wikipedia — Preform
2. Wikipedia — Blow molding
3. Wikipedia — Compression molding
4. Wikipedia — Hot runner
5. Wikipedia — Bottle cap
6. European Commission — Single-use plastics (Directive (EU) 2019/904)