Glass feeder

Abstract: A glass feeder which discharges parallel runners of molten glass which can be sheared into discrete gobs for processing in a glass container forming machine. The spout bowl has a neck portion at the bottom which includes a discharge passage. This passage is circular at the top where it communicates with the bottom surface of the spout bowl and oblong at the bottom where it communicates with a corresponding oblong opening in a bathtub shaped orifice ring. The orifice ring has a closed oblong shaped bottom smaller than the oblong opening and has a plurality of discharge holes defined along a straight line.

Description: The present invention relates to feeders for delivering vertical runners of molten glass to a shear mechanism which severs the runners into discrete gobs for distribution to a glass container forming machine such as an I.S. machine or an H-28 machine. State of the art glass feeders are shown in U.S. patent nos. 4,554,000 and 4,999,040. Such feeders have a spout bowl which has a cylindrical vertical outlet at the bottom. This cylindrical outlet is closed by a circular orifice plate which has one, two, three or four in-line holes through which the glass passes. Needles, corresponding in number and location to the holes in the orifice plate, are located within the cylindrical outlet and reciprocate vertically to form the runners as they are sheared into the gobs. Heat loss while the molten glass passes through the cylindrical opening and as it sets on the orifice plate creates an uneven temperature distribution across the glass and this is undesirable. In GB 2079266-A a glass feeder is described which defines a plurality of runners of molten glass and which comprises a spout bowl including a neck portion at the bottom end thereof having a vertical discharge passage extending from an upper inlet opening to a lower outlet opening, the inlet opening being circular and the outlet opening oblong. An orifice member having a plurality of discharge openings arranged in line corresponds to the outlet opening of the discharge passage. In this construction the inlet passage opens to a cylindrical portion of the discharge passage, and a plunger is reciprocated in this passage to force molten glass out of the discharge openings in the orifice member. Walls of the spout bowl converge from the cylindrical portion of the discharge passage to the longer sides of the orifice member and diverge from the cylindrical portion to the shorter sides of the orifice member. In this construction it is not possible to provide individual needle controls for the discharge openings in the orifice member, as is usual in a glass feeder, nor are the characteristics of flow of glass to outer discharge openings likely to correspond with that to central openings because of the generally fan shaped discharge passage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a glass feeder which achieves a more uniform temperature across the molten glass. The invention provides a glass feeder for defining a plurality of runners of molten glass comprising a spout bowl including a neck portion at the bottom thereof having a vertical discharge passage extending from an upper inlet opening to a lower exhaust opening, the inlet opening being circular and the outlet opening being oblong and the inner surface of the discharge passage smoothly transitioning from the circular inlet opening to the oblong outlet opening, characterised in that the diameter of the inlet opening is substantially equal to the larger dimension of the outlet opening. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following portion of this specification and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate a presently preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the invention. Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevational, cross sectional view of a glass feeder taken from side to side; Figure 2 is an elevational, cross sectional view of the glass feeder at 90 from the view shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an oblique view looking downwardly into the spout bowl of the glass feeder; and Figure 4 is an oblique view looking upwardly at the orifice plate. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a refractory spout bowl 10 made from refractory material is located within a spout bowl housing 12 with the vertically downwardly projecting neck portion 14 of the spout bowl 10 supported on an annular groove 16 of a support ring 18. This ring nests on the circular bottom opening 20 of the housing. As can be seen from Figure 3, the inlet opening 22 of neck passage 24 which intersects the inside bottom surface 26 of the spout bowl is circular while the exit opening 28 at the bottom of the neck is oblong (elliptical in the illustrated embodiment) and the diameter of the circular inlet opening 22 is substantially equal to the larger dimension of the oblong exit opening 28. The inner surface 30 of the neck discharge passage smoothly transitions from the circular inlet to the oblong outlet. The exterior neck surface 32 smoothly follows the interior surface 30 to the oblong bottom. This creates a much larger space 34 between the neck 14 and the spout bowl housing 12 in which insulation 36 can be located to reduce heat loss from the molten glass. The orifice ring 40, which is also made from refractory material, has an oblong (elliptical in the illustrated embodiment) inlet opening matching the oblong outlet 28 of the spout bowl neck and a smaller oblong (elliptical in the preferred embodiment or bowed in slightly as shown in dotted lines) bottom 44 in which a number (3) of vertical discharge holes 46 are defined. The bottom of this orifice ring has an annular groove 48 which is received by a suitable opening 50 in the metallic orifice pan 52 which is held in its desired position by a clamp 54. When so clamped, an annular seal 56 located between the bottom of the neck and the top of the orifice ring seals the flow path. The now empty area 60 within the pan 52 can be filled with insulation 36 to reduce heat loss from the orifice ring This novel design 1 redistributes the glass flow in the spout neck in such a way as to equalise the flow rates in double, triple, . . . (multiple gob) spout configurations; 2 reduces or eliminates the bow out of the glass runners or jets issuing from the spout neck orifice openings thus improving the alignment and uniformity of the glass jets and reducing the likelihood of producing bent gobs; and 3 reduces heat losses from the spout neck area by creating more space for insulation materials and by sharply reducing the bottom surface area of the orifice assembly from which heat is lost predominantly by radiation.

Claims: A glass feeder for defining a plurality of runners of molten glass comprising a spout bowl (10) including a neck portion (14) at the bottom thereof having a vertical discharge passage (24) extending from an upper inlet opening (22) to a lower exhaust opening (28), the inlet opening (22) being circular and the outlet opening being oblong (24) and the inner surface (30) of the discharge passage (26) smoothly transitioning, from the circular inlet (22) opening to the oblong outlet opening (24), characterised in that the diameter of the inlet opening (22) is substantially equal to the larger dimension of the outlet opening (24). A glass feeder according to claim 1 characterised in that it also comprises a housing means (12) in which the spout bowl (10) is supported and an orifice ring (40) open at the top and closed at the bottom, the open top of the orifice ring (40) being oblong and having about the same shape as the spout bowl outlet opening (24), the closed bottom (44) being oblong and substantially smaller than the oblong top opening of the orifice ring, a plurality of vertical, spaced discharge holes (46) defined in the closed bottom along the major axis of said oblong bottom, the orifice ring (40) being supported beneath the spout bowl oblong outlet opening (24) with the spout bowl outlet opening overlying the open top of the orifice ring. A glass feeder according to claim 2, wherein the orifice ring (40) is supported by a circular flat pan, and insulation being provided in a space between the pan and the orifice ring. A glass feeder according to claim 3, wherein insulation is provided between the housing (12) and the spout bowl (10). A glass feeder according to claim 1, wherein the oblong outlet opening (24) is elliptical. A glass feeder according to claim 2, wherein the oblong outlet opening (24) is elliptical and the oblong closed bottom (44) of the orifice ring is elliptical.

Inventors: BUETTIKER PAUL, BUETTIKER, PAUL
Applicants: EMHART GLASS MACH INVEST, EMHART GLASS MACHINERY INVESTMENTS INC.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: C03B7
IPC codes: C03B7