Patents by Inventor Andreas STOPFER

Andreas STOPFER has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20260151952
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing containers includes a transport device which transports plastic preforms along a predefined transport path a forming device which expands the plastic preforms to form plastic containers; a first inspection device which is configured to inspect the plastic preforms; and a second inspection device which is configured to inspect the plastic containers. The the first inspection device has a first inspection region through which the plastic preforms to be inspected pass so that they can be inspected, and the second inspection device has a second inspection region through which the plastic containers to be inspected pass so that they can be inspected. The said first inspection region and said second inspection region overlap at least in part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2022
    Publication date: June 4, 2026
    Inventors: Simon FISCHER, Andreas STOPFER, Stefan SCHOBER
  • Publication number: 20250187249
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for producing containers which comprises: a control device which is designed to set at least one working parameter for the production of at least one first container, a measuring device that is designed to measure at least one container parameter of the at least one produced first container in order to obtain a measured value of the at least one container parameter, a measurement correction device designed to correct the measured value of the at least one container parameter based on at least one model parameter of a numerical model, and a performance parameter determination device that is designed to determine at least one performance parameter value on the basis of the corrected at least one measured value. The control device is designed to control the production of at least one second container based on the at least one working parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2024
    Publication date: June 12, 2025
    Inventors: Andreas STOPFER, Robert AUST, Peter KUEN, Andreas STEINER, Simon FISCHER, Benedikt BOETTCHER, Konrad SENN, Markus ZOELFL
  • Patent number: 12298119
    Abstract: A method can include: irradiating a container with a measuring beam of an irradiation device at measurement points along a measurement direction, wherein a signal indicative of the wall thickness of the container at each measurement point is obtained by means of an optical detector, wherein by means of an evaluation device, the measurement points are compared with a reference curve that specifies the wall thickness of a reference container along the measurement direction, wherein if the comparison results in agreement between the measurement points and the reference curve it is determined that the wall thickness of the container corresponds to a predefined wall thickness and wherein if the comparison does not result in said agreement it is determined that the wall thickness of the container does not correspond to the predefined wall thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2025
    Assignee: KRONES AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Stefan Piana, Andreas Stopfer
  • Publication number: 20240083095
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to the production of containers comprising: a heating device for preforms of the containers, the heating effect of which is adjustable, a forming device such as a stretch blow-molding device for forming the preforms into containers, a measuring device which is designed to perform a transmission measurement for light, such as infrared light, which passes through the container, a closed-loop control which is designed to process the result of the transmission measurement and a target value of the transmission measurement and, based upon the result of the transmission measurement and the target value, to adjust the heating effect of the heating device and/or one or more adjustable parameters of the forming device. The disclosure further relates to a corresponding method.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Inventors: Andreas Stopfer, Konrad Senn
  • Patent number: 11648726
    Abstract: A method for inspecting a device for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers, the device having a transport unit, at which a plurality of forming stations for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers is arranged, and an inspection unit that is arranged after the forming stations in a transport direction of the plastic containers and that determines a wall thickness of these plastic containers in at least one region of the plastic containers produced, includes the following steps: introducing at least one test container that has a predetermined and/or known wall thickness a least in sections, and determining a first wall thickness in at least one area of the container by the inspection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Inventors: Andreas Stopfer, Stefan Piana, Stefan Schober
  • Publication number: 20230003508
    Abstract: A method can include: irradiating a container with a measuring beam of an irradiation device at measurement points along a measurement direction, wherein a signal indicative of the wall thickness of the container at each measurement point is obtained by means of an optical detector, wherein by means of an evaluation device, the measurement points are compared with a reference curve that specifies the wall thickness of a reference container along the measurement direction, wherein if the comparison results in agreement between the measurement points and the reference curve it is determined that the wall thickness of the container corresponds to a predefined wall thickness and wherein if the comparison does not result in said agreement it is determined that the wall thickness of the container does not correspond to the predefined wall thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2020
    Publication date: January 5, 2023
    Inventors: Stefan PIANA, Andreas STOPFER
  • Publication number: 20200298463
    Abstract: A method for inspecting a device for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers, the device having a transport unit, at which a plurality of forming stations for forming plastic preforms into plastic containers is arranged, and an inspection unit that is arranged after the forming stations in a transport direction of the plastic containers and that determines a wall thickness of these plastic containers in at least one region of the plastic containers produced, includes the following steps: introducing at least one test container that has a predetermined and/or known wall thickness at least in sections, and determining a first wall thickness in at least one area of the container by the inspection unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Inventors: Andreas STOPFER, Stefan PIANA, Stefan SCHOBER