Patent ID: 8656742
Filing Date: 2014-02-25
Classification: C03B

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for thermally strengthening glass containers after they are formed in an I.S. machine, comprising: a special tempering Lehr that reheats the glass containers to increase their temperature to a temperature that is sufficiently high to obtain adequate compressive stresses in the glass containers but not so high that the glass containers may become deformed; and a cooling station that simultaneously cools the outer and inner surfaces of glass containers in the cooling station rapidly so that all of the stresses in the glass container are locked in, the cooling station comprising: a cooling tube for insertion into the interior of the glass container located in the cooling station, the cooling tube having a tube nozzle at the distal end thereof that delivers cooling air into the interior of the glass container; a cooling shroud that directs cooling air onto the outer sides of a glass container located in the cooling station; and a bottom cooling apparatus that directs cooling air upwardly onto the bottom of the glass container located in the cooling station; wherein the bottom cooling apparatus comprises: an annular bottom cooler located inside the cooling shroud nearer a bottom of the cooling shroud than a top of the cooling shroud, the bottom cooler being arranged and configured to direct cooling air from a position within the cooling shroud upwardly onto the bottom of the glass container located in the cooling station to rapidly cool the bottom of the outside surface of the glass container located in the cooling station; and wherein the annular bottom cooler defines a central aperture, the annular bottom cooler extending from a first open end to a second open end, the annular bottom cooler being configured to direct pieces of a glass container that is broken in the cooling shroud through the central aperture.