Patent GB-274917-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in machines for manufacturing hollow glassware
IPC: C03B9/22
Filed: 1926-01-28
Abstract: 274,917. Sellar, S. J. Jan. 28, 1926. Blowing ; gathering.-A machine for making glassware comprises a number of mould units which are brought in turn to a position at which a charge of glass is gathered by suction, and the moulds of each unit are so controlled that the unit can be set to perform a series of movements the timing of which is different from the timing of corresponding movements in the other units. Thus each unit of the machine can be set to make an article of different size and weight. General construction. The machine comprises a bedplate 1 carrying a hollow rotating ring 8 on which pairs of hollow columns 24 are mounted. The interior spaces of the columns are connected with the interior of the central boss of the bedplate by way of a port 23, formed in the ring 8, and the hollow radial arms 21 of the bedplate. The pairs of columns 24 form the supports for the mould units and they are bolted together at their upper ends by means of a spider 27 and bridge castings 26. Each unit comprises a finishing mould mechanism carried by a casting 28 which slides between the columns 24. The holders 32, 33, to which the halves of the mould are secured, are pivoted on the front end of the casting 28 and they are moved, to open or close the mould, by the piston rod of an air cylinder 38 which is also secured to the casting 28. An air cylinder 39, bolted to the ring 8 between the columns 24, raises or lowers the casting 28 and, therefore, the finishing mould. The mould bottom is carried by a bracket 52. The parison moulds 74a are supported by a casting 65 which slides between the columns 24 and is moved up and down by an air cylinder 80 adjustably secured to the bridge casting 26 by means of a screw 83. The whole of the parison mould mechanism may be adjusted vertically by turning the screw 83 by means of a handwheel 88, so that moulds of different length carried by the different units may be made to dip equal distances into the metal when making a gather. An air cylinder 67, carried by the casting 65, opens and closes the parison mould by means of toggle links 71 connecting the piston rod with the mould holders. A bracket 90, bolted to the columns 24, supports a transfer cylinder 91 and an air-feed cylinder 92. The piston rod 95 of the transfer cylinder carries a blowhead 99 and ring mould mechanism, and the blowhead is also connected to a pipe 98 which telescopes into the cylinder 92 and serves to connect the blowhead with supplies of air or to a vacuum tank. The blowhead contains the plug for forming the mouth of the article being made, and a small air cylinder for operating the plug. Application of suction when making a gather causes the mouth plug to be lowered into the ring mould, while the application of air to blow up the parison raises the plug out of the mould. The halves of the ring mould are supported on the underside of the blowhead and are opened and closed by a cam 114 which is turned by an air cylinder 117 through a rack 118 and a shaft 116. Air supply.-The spider 27 which connects the units has hollow radical arms which are connected with the hollow bridge-castings 26 and the cylinder 91, 92. The hub of the spider receives a stationary air chamber 125, and each arm of the spider is connected with this chamber through a groove 126 the length of which can be adjusted. The adjustment of this length varies the position in the rotation of the machine at which air is admitted, to the blowhead and the period during which air is admitted, and this setting can be different for each of the mould units. A slip ring 132, having compartments connected to the spider arms by pipes 133, rotates around a chamber 134 divided into two compartments one of which contains air for blowing the parisons while the other is connected to a vacuum pump. Air for operating the cylinders of the machine is supplied by a pipe 137 to a chamber 138 and thence through a compartmented slip ring 139 by radial pipes 141 to timing valves A - - J. These valves are operated by adjustable stationary cams A, - J, and, in conjunction with trip valves on the units, control the timing and the sequence of operation of the differet cylinders. A circuit breaker may be provided to stop the electric motor which drives the machine if the pressure of the air supply should become reduced or stopped. Cooling moulds.-Air is directed on to the parison mould holders by means of cowls 77 supplied with air through pipes 78 from the hollow column 24. Dampers 79 control the quantity of air supplied. Air for cooling the finishing moulds is supplied from the interior of the columns 24 through pipes 50 to a barrel 58 and thence, bv way of telescoping pipes 47, to cowls 42 secured on the mould holders 32, 33. Gathering.-The machine gathers a charge of metal into each parison mould by suction either from a rotating tank or from a forehearth 202. A skimming device is arranged between each mould unit to skim the surface of the metal before a mould dips into it to make a gather. This device consists of a hollow water-cooled member which is dipped into and raised out of the metal by an air cylinder 190, Fig. 2. A second cylinder 193 moves the skimmer radially, so that when the device is in the metal, it is moved outwards from the machine and pushes chilled metal out of the path of the following parison mould. Cutting-off excess metal.-A shearing device is carried on a bracket 54 bolted between the columns 24, and it comprises an air cylinder 55 to the piston rod of which a shear blade 58 and a hollow baffle plate 57 are secured. The baffle plate closes the bottom of the parison mould after the thread of metal has been cut off by the blade on completion of the gathering operation. In another construction, swinging shear blades are used, and a separate baffle plate, operated by its own air cylinder, is swung upwards against the bottom of the parison mould after the shears have opened. Removing formed articles-An automatic takeout device, comprising fingers mounted on a hinged lever, is arranged to remove the finished ware from the machine. The device can be mounted on a semicircular track and carried round with the unit until the finished ware has been removed,