Patent GB-403983-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in machines for pressing and moulding articles of glass
IPC: C03B11/02
Filed: 1932-06-30
Abstract: 403,983. Glass manufacture. MITCHELL, W. B., Holmfield, Cross Banks, Shipley, Yorkshire. June 30, 1932, No. 18471. [Class 56.] A machine for pressing glassware comprises a number of moulds carried by a continuously rotating table, a separate pressing-plunger for each mould, and means for adjusting each mould unit in position on the table. The cams for actuating the pressing-plungers are also adjustable on the base of the machine, and means are provided for preventing damage if the opening and closing of the moulds, or the movement of the plungers, is obstructed. The machine comprises a base A, Fig. 1, with a central vertical column 8 on which the mould table B is rotated continuously by means of a motor 10. Each mould 2 comprises two halves 2a, 2b, Figs. 5 and 6, which are pivoted on a base plate 11, and a bottom plate 2c secured to a counterbalanced lever 22 which is also pivoted on the base 11. The mould halves are connected to a cam-operated lever 13 by closelycoiled springs 12 which are stiff enough to act as connecting rods for opening and closing the mould. If the movement of the mould halves is obstructed, however, the springs 12 either bend or stretch and prevent the mechanism from being damaged. The base plate 11 is secured to the table B of the machine by bolts 2w, Fig. 6, the heads of which engage a #-shaped slot 2x that extends around the table concentric with the column 8. The bolts enable the position of the mould unit to be adjusted on the table. The base plate 11 is also provided with a vertical bearing for a shaft 4c that carries the pressing-plunger 4 by means of a bracket 4b. A mould ring 19 surrounds the plunger and is supported by rods 18 which slide through arms carried by the bracket 4b, but the ring is forced downwards by springs surrounding the rods 18. A second ring 19f, supported by the ring 19, engages inclined surfaces on lugs 19g secured to the mould and locks the mould when the plunger 4 is lowered. The plunger 4 is raised and lowered by means of a lever 4f which is pivoted to brackets 4h on the underside of the table B and is provided with rollers 4g which engage cams 15 and 34. The cam 15 is supported by a lever 28 which is pivoted on a bracket 29, secured to the base A of the machine, and has its outer end connected by a bolt 31 to one end of a laminated spring 30, fixed to the bracket 29. The force exerted by the spring on the lever is controlled by handwheels 32 which screw on to the bolt 31. The cam 15 causes the lowering of the plungers 4 into the moulds, while the spring 30 yields and prevents damage to the machine if the downward movement of the plungers is obstructed. The supports of the cams 15, 34, are secured to the base A by means of bolts which engage in curved slots and allow the position of the cams to be adjusted. The brackets 4b which carry the plungers 4 are provided with rollers 20 that engage cam slots formed in brackets 21 secured to the base plates 11. The cam slots are so shaped that a plunger is swung to one side when rising so as to allow charges of glass from a feeder, which are received by a shoot 5, to fall into the moulds. After an article has been pressed and the mould has opened, the free end of the lever 22 that supports the mould bottom strikes an arm secured alongside the table B. The lever 22 is rotated, and mould bottom is lowered and discharges the finished glass article into a shoot.