Patent Publication Number: US-11661369-B2

Title: Glass manufacturing apparatus and method

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/702,032, filed Jul. 23, 2018, and is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/206,567 filed on Nov. 30, 2018, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the field of glass manufacturing and particularly to the apparatus and method for handling glass containers following molten formation and discharge from a lehr where the containers are cooled and annealed. The apparatus is specially designed to ensure that the containers are handled individually to avoid glass-to-glass contact during inspection and packaging. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the course of manufacturing glass containers in a hot forming process that either starts with a molten glob of glass material which is molded to shape or starts with a tubular glass body that is heated to a molten state and then formed into a container shape, the hot glass generally passes through an annealing oven or lehr to remove stresses from the molding or molding process. 
     In the past the manufacture of glass containers in high volume using the process described above the containers were handled in mass, that is, the containers while still warm were handled as a group gathered together in contacting relationship with one another at various stages of processing after annealing. The pushing and bumping of the glass containers against one another while still warm caused checks and scratches in the glass container. Such checks and cracks are flaws in what is supposed to be a flawless container, and can interfere with subsequent processing of the containers in filling lines, and thereby render the container useless. 
     For example, it is customary in filling glass vials with pharmaceutical products to inspect each vial for proper filling by projecting a beam of light against one side of the container and detecting the projected beam emerging for the opposite side for consistency with the pharmaceutical filling inside. If the container itself has a check or crack, the emerging beam of light could be affected and falsely indicate a defective filling. Accordingly, glass containers being fed to a filling line should be flawless to begin with. This requirement in turn makes demands on the processing of the glass containers at the manufacturing level. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to produce glass containers without flaws through improvements in the handling of the containers at the manufacturing level. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with the object, the improvement in the handling of the glass containers begins with the transfer of the containers from the conveyor advancing the containers through the annealing oven or lehr. Generally, the containers are positioned on the lehr conveyor in spaced but not necessarily in uniform spaced relationship. 
     To this end, one aspect of the invention comprises an apparatus for manufacturing glass containers having a transfer head that carries glass containers from the cold end of a lehr conveyor where the rows of glass containers are not in uniform spaced relationship, to a second conveyor that carries a sequence of the glass containers in uniform spaced relationship for subsequent processing. A deadplate is interposed between the first conveyor and the second conveyor. The transfer head is mounted above the dead plate and the first conveyor is movable between the deadplate and the first conveyor for transferring glass containers from the first conveyor where the glass containers are not in uniform spaced relationship to the deadplate and depositing the containers on the deadplate in uniform spaced relationship. To bring about order to the positioning of the containers relative to one another, the transfer head has uniformly spaced pockets for receiving glass containers in a row on the first conveyor and positioning the containers of the row on the deadplate in uniform spaced relationship. 
     A pusher bar is movably mounted over the deadplate for pushing the glass containers deposited on the deadplate by the transfer head onto the second conveyor while maintaining the uniform spaced relationship. The pusher bar has pockets that are uniformly spaced to correspond to the uniformly spaced pockets on the transfer head. 
     In another aspect of the invention, the glass manufacturing apparatus and method produces the glass containers in a continuous process between a lehr for annealing the glass containers after hot glass formation, an inspection station for examining the annealed containers for defects, and a packaging station where a plurality of the glass containers are placed in packages. A series of conveying mechanisms are configured to move the glass containers from the lehr through the inspection and packaging stations while maintaining the containers in spaced, non-contacting relationship with each other. A programmable logic controller is connected with the inspection station, the packaging station, and the series of conveying mechanisms to advance the glass containers between the stations and within the stations in timed relationship and to maintain a spaced relationship between the containers. 
     In still a further aspect of the invention, an apparatus for producing glass containers has an inspection station receiving, inspecting, and discharging glass containers in sequence. The inspection station has a rejection mechanism for ejecting from the sequence any container that does not pass inspection. At the output of the inspection station, a discharge conveyor is connected with the inspection station for receiving the glass containers discharged after passing inspection. The discharging conveyor conveys the glass containers away from the inspection station in a consecutive sequence of containers in predetermined spatial relationship with one another. 
     For this purpose, a controller is connected in controlling relationship with the inspection station and the conveyor and interrupts the operation of the discharge conveyor whenever a container is ejected from the sequence by the rejection mechanism. In this manner, a consecutive sequence of containers in predetermined spatial relationship is maintained on the conveyor. 
     In still a further aspect of the invention, apparatus is provided for placing individual articles, such as the glass containers, in a package such as a cell pack. The apparatus has a conveyor for conveying a series of articles to a packaging station. First and second shuttles are disposed adjacent the conveyor at the packaging station, and each shuttle is movable back and forth between a loading position and an unloading position. A controlled drive mechanism is connected with the first and second shuttles to move the shuttles between the loading and unloading positions in alternating fashion, whereby one shuttle can be loaded with articles at the loading position while the other shuttle is unloaded at the unloading position. A package table is placed at the unloading position of the shuttles and supports the cell pack having individual cells for receiving individual articles. 
     Each shuttle has a number of pockets for receiving a corresponding number of articles from the conveyor at the loading position and transferring the articles to the unloading position. A shuttle loader at the loading position is configured to transfer the articles from the series on the conveyor to the pockets of the first and second shuttles. 
     A shuttle unloader at the unloading position of the shuttles is configured to transfer the articles from the pockets of the shuttles to the cells of the cell pack on the packaging table. The shuttle unloader has a transfer head configured to engage each individual article in a pocket of the first or second shuttle at the top of the article for lifting, transferring, and lowering of each individual article into an individual cell of a cell pack on the packaging table. 
     By handling the glass containers individually between annealing in the lehr and the packaging at the packaging station, checks and scratches in the containers are minimized or eliminated entirely. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view showing the output portion of an apparatus for manufacturing glass containers from the front. 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the apparatus in  FIG.  1    from the rear. 
         FIG.  3    is a top plan view showing the arrangement of the various processing stations for the glass containers in the apparatus of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  4    is a block diagram illustrating the controls for synchronizing the various operations of the glass manufacturing apparatus in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic perspective view of the portion of apparatus for transferring glass containers from a lehr conveyor to an input deadplate. 
         FIG.  6    is a detailed view of a transfer head used in  FIG.  5   . 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of the input deadplate and pusher bar for moving the glass containers onto an input conveyor for further processing of the glass containers. 
         FIG.  8    is a perspective view of the input conveyor feeding glass containers into the starwheel at an inspection station in the glass manufacturing apparatus. 
         FIG.  9    is perspective view of a shuttle system at the packaging station of the glass manufacturing apparatus for loading glass containers into a cell pack. 
         FIG.  10    is a perspective view of a shuttle loader at the loading position of the packaging station for loading glass containers into shuttles. 
         FIG.  11    is a perspective view of the shuttle unloading position of the packaging station where glass containers are transferred from the shuttles to a cell pack. 
         FIG.  12    is a perspective view of a transfer head for transferring glass containers from the shuttles to a cell pack. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3    show a general arrangement of a glass manufacturing apparatus  10  between a curing oven or lehr (not illustrated) for annealing glass containers C after formation and a packaging station for the glass containers. The glass containers C may initially have been formed from glass tubes or molten glass gobs in a blow molding process, and are composed of a silicate material, typically a borosilicate. The newly formed containers are generally hot and require heat treatment or annealing in a lehr to eliminate internal stresses and improve fracture resistance. 
     A lehr unloading section  12  is located generally in the middle of the glass manufacturing apparatus  10  and receives the glass containers C from the lehr. The containers are then fed into an inspection station  14  where the containers are inspected for cosmetic defects. From the inspection station  14  the glass containers are moved to a packaging station  16  where the containers are loaded into cell packs. Although the illustrated apparatus  10  places the lehr unloading section  12  in the middle of the apparatus, other arrangements are also possible. For example the lehr unloading section  12 , the inspection station  14 , and the packaging station  16  could be laid out in a linear array in that order if space is available. 
     The movement of the glass containers C between the various stations and the operations at each station are coordinated and controlled by a central programmable logic controller (PLC)  20  shown in  FIG.  4   . The movement of the glass containers is accomplished by various conveying mechanisms described below. The operations of the conveying mechanisms are timed to move the containers appropriately for the operations to be performed at each station, and to maintain the containers in uniform spaced relationship with one another throughout the movements. By contrast, in prior art systems the glass containers were pushed together at various stations and then handled separately when the stations were ready to perform the intended functions. It has been determined that the glass-to-glass contact of the containers when handled in groups can cause checking or scratching which interferes with later inspection processes and lowers the fracture strength of the glass containers, that is, the resistance of the glass containers to fracture. By controlling the various operations of the apparatus  10  and movement of the glass containers through the apparatus in timed relationship with one another through the PLC  20 , maintaining the glass containers in spaced relationship through the various manufacturing operations is possible, and defects in the glass containers are substantially reduced or eliminated entirely. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates the mechanisms for unloading the glass containers C from the discharge end of a lehr conveyor  22  and transferring the containers to an input conveyor  24  which feeds the containers one-by-one toward subsequent operations of the apparatus. The glass containers C at the discharge end of the lehr conveyor  22  are illustrated in rows, but in practice the containers are generally not uniformly spaced from one another. Additionally the containers move on the lehr conveyor at a steady speed during annealing of the glass. Consequently, in order to bring about an orderly arrangement of the containers for subsequent operations, a transfer head  26  is suspended from a moveable gantry  28  above the discharge end of the conveyor and a deadplate  30  where the containers are deposited by the head with a uniform spacing. The sequence of movements of the transfer head  26  by the gantry  28  along a path  25  between the lehr conveyor  22  and the deadplate  30  is illustrated by the letter sequence a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, and k at various positions on the path and is controlled by the PLC  20  of  FIG.  4   . 
     To bring about a uniform arrangement of the containers on the deadplate  30  from the non-uniform arrangement on the lehr conveyor  22 , the transfer head  26  is designed with V-shaped pockets  32  as shown in  FIG.  6   . Each of the pockets is sized to receive one glass container C as the containers on the lehr conveyor and the head move toward one another. The V-shaped pockets  32  are uniformly spaced along the head  26  so that any non-uniform spacing of the containers in a row on the lehr conveyor is rectified by the time the containers C are captured in the pockets. The pockets  32  may be formed in a firm resilient material  27 , such as the thermoplastic Delrin, or a plastic foam material mounted on a backing plate  29  to protect the containers from being scratched when captured in the pocket and during transfer to the deadplate  30 . 
     In addition, each of the pockets  32  of the transfer head  26  has a vacuum port  34  which is activated by the PLC  20  to draw a container into the pocket and firmly hold the container in the head as the head removes the container from the lehr conveyor  22  onto the deadplate  30 . As an alternative to the vacuum port, each pocket could be provided with a mechanical capturing arrangement, but the “soft” engagement by a resilient pocket material and vacuum is preferred. The vacuum port may also be distributed around the container C if the pocket is constructed by an open-cell foam material. 
     After the glass containers C are deposited on the deadplate  30  by the transfer head  26 , the vacuum holding the containers is released, and the transfer head is moved from position h to i shown in  FIG.  5   . The containers are then positioned by the transfer head on the deadplate  30  in a starting position in front of a pusher bar  36  which is driven by a servomotor  38  as shown in  FIG.  7   . The pusher bar  36  is constructed in a manner similar to the transfer head  26  although the bar faces toward the input conveyor  24  rather than the lehr conveyor  22 . The pusher bar may be provided with pockets corresponding to the pockets  32  on the transfer head, although the pockets on the pusher bar need not be as deep because the containers C are positioned by the transfer head on the deadplate in a row with uniform spacing at the starting position in front of the pusher bar. Additionally, the pusher bar does not require vacuum ports in the pockets for holding the containers. 
     With the containers C positioned on the deadplate at the starting position as shown in  FIGS.  5  and  7   , and the transfer head moved out of the way to position j by the PLC  20  of  FIG.  4   , the pusher bar  36  is activated by the PLC and pushes a row of containers C from the starting position at one end of the deadplate to the other end and onto the input conveyor  24  against a stop  40 . The stop  40  may be a relatively hard stop to position the containers accurately in spaced relationship on the conveyor. The stop can be made with a firm material, such Delrin thermoplastic, to protect the containers from scratching or checking. 
     The operations of the input conveyor  24  and the pusher bar  36  are also coordinated by the PLC  20  as shown in  FIG.  4    so that the conveyor movement is halted while the pusher bar pushes a row of containers C onto the conveyor. The pusher bar then returns to the starting position, and the conveyor moves the glass containers toward further operations with the containers positioned in uniformly spaced relationship on the conveyor in a sequence established by the transfer head  26 . 
     In one form, the input conveyor  24  is a vacuum belt conveyor shown in section in  FIG.  8   . The conveyor comprises an air permeable belt  44  that is driven over a vacuum manifold  46  with guide pulleys  48  by a servomotor  50 . The vacuum drawn through the air permeable belt creates a vacuum force that holds the glass containers C on the belt in fixed positions and non-contacting relationship that is established when the containers are loaded onto the conveyor by the pusher bar  36 . 
     Alternatively, the input conveyor belt could have a series of compartments to hold individual containers in spaced relationship. Loading of the containers into the compartments would require precise positioning of the belt to match the positions of the containers. However, precise positioning is also required with vacuum belts if the series of containers on the conveyor is to retain the uniform spacing throughout the length of the series. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  3  and  8    the input conveyor  24  delivers the glass containers C to the inspection station  14  where a number inspection steps are performed on the containers. For this purpose, the inspection station has a starwheel  60  with pockets  62  at the periphery of the wheel for engaging the containers at a pickup point at the end of the input conveyor  24 . The starwheel is driven by a servomotor  64  under the control of the PLC  20  of  FIG.  4   . Each pocket has a vacuum port  66  to capture a container C from the conveyor, and hold the container in an exposed relationship with a number of inspection devices (not shown) of known types distributed around the periphery of the wheel. The inspections are performed to detect gauging and cosmetic defects in the containers, and if a defect is found such that the container does not pass inspection, the container is ejected through a rejection chute  68  shown in  FIG.  3   . The release of a defective container from the pocket of the starwheel is coordinated between the inspection device and the vacuum port holding the defective container by the PLC  20  of  FIG.  4   . 
     To facilitate the transfer of the glass containers C from the input conveyor  24  to the starwheel  60  at the pickup point, the vacuum manifold  46  has a variable cross sectional area and the area is reduced at the pickup point at the end of the conveyor  24  as shown in  FIG.  8   . With the reduced cross sectional area the vacuum force holding a container C on the air permeable belt  44  is reduced, and the vacuum force generated in the pocket  62  of the starwheel overcomes the force through the belt. Thus, a container C is transferred from the input conveyor  24  to the starwheel  60 . 
     Additionally, the movement of the input conveyor  24  and the rotation of the starwheel  60  are coordinated and synchronized by the PLC  20  of  FIG.  4    so that a pocket  62  of the starwheel is present at the pickup point at the end of the conveyor at the same time as the glass container C on the conveyor. The movement and rotation may be continuous or incremental. To aid in the synchronization, a container sensor  70  is positioned along the input conveyor, and is connected with the PLC to detect and signal the presence of a glass container in the sequence of containers on the conveyor. If a glass container is detected by the container sensor  70  the sensor sends a signal to the PLC. The PLC is programmed to cause the starwheel to rotate a pocket  62  into the pickup point and pickup the container. In the event that the presence of a glass container is not detected in the sequence by the container sensor, the PLC is programmed to interrupt the starwheel rotation until a container is eventually spotted. 
     It should be noted that the interruption of the starwheel rotation by the PLC  20  when the presence of a glass container in the sequence is not detected ensures that each pocket  62  of the starwheel  60  is loaded with a container. Hence, a continuous sequence of glass containers C is loaded onto the starwheel in the inspection station  14  from the input conveyor  24  even if a container is missing from the sequence on the conveyor. 
       FIG.  3    shows a discharge conveyor  80  leading from the starwheel  60  in the inspection station  14  to the packaging station  16 . Movement of the discharge conveyor like the input conveyor  24  and the starwheel  60  is controlled by the PLC as indicated in  FIG.  4   . The discharge conveyor  80  is preferably a vacuum belt conveyor constructed like the input conveyor  24  with an air permeable belt overlying a vacuum manifold. Air drawn through the air permeable belt creates a vacuum force that holds the glass containers C in place on the conveyor. However, the discharge conveyor can take other forms such as mechanical pockets which hold the containers in uniformly spaced relationship. 
     The discharge conveyor  80  has a pickup point at the periphery of the starwheel at which the glass containers are transferred from the starwheel to the discharge conveyor by release of the vacuum in the pocket preferably supplemented by a jet of pressurized air to release a container from the starwheel and capture the container by way of vacuum force drawn through the air permeable conveyor belt. The vacuum release and movement of the belt on the discharge conveyor are also controlled by the PLC  20 . 
     Also shown in  FIG.  3    is the rejection chute  68  through which defective glass containers are ejected for failing inspection at some point in the inspection station  14 . It will be understood that the ejection of a glass container from a pocket  62  of the starwheel  60  leaves an empty pocket and no container to be transferred to the discharge conveyor  80  when the empty pocket reaches the pickup point. The PLC receives signals of the ejections of containers, tracks movements of the empty pockets on the starwheel in a two-way communication link between the inspection station  14  and the PLC. Hence, the PLC is aware of empty pockets reaching the pickup point with the discharge conveyor  80 . Alternatively, or additionally, a container sensor like the container sensor  70  can be positioned at the pickup point for the discharge conveyor to signal the absence of a container in the pocket  62  of the starwheel. Accordingly, the PLC interrupts the movement of the discharge conveyor when an empty pocket of the starwheel reaches the pickup point and does not resume movement until a pocket occupied by a glass container arrives at the pickup point and the glass container is transferred to the discharge conveyor. Hence, the synchronization of the starwheel rotation and the discharge conveyor movement by the PLC produces a continuous sequence of uniformly spaced glass containers C on the discharge conveyor  80  in spite of the rejection of a glass container in the inspection station  14 . 
     It should also be noted as described above that the rotation of the starwheel  60  is interrupted by the PLC in the event that a container C is not detected by the container sensor  70  located along the input conveyor  24 . Thus the absence of a container in the sequence of containers approaching the starwheel  60  and the rejection of a container in the inspection station  14  are noted and compensated for by the PLC by interrupting rotation of the starwheel  60  or movement of the discharge conveyor  80  to ensure that a continuous sequence of uniformly spaced containers C in non-contacting relationship is formed on the discharge conveyor. 
       FIG.  3    shows that the discharge conveyor  80  carries the continuous sequence of glass containers C in uniformly spaced, non-contacting relationship from the inspection station  14  to the packaging station  16 . 
       FIG.  9    illustrates the details and handling of the glass containers C at the packaging station  16 . The packaging station has a first shuttle  84  and a second shuttle  86  that are positioned at opposite sides of the discharge conveyor  80  delivering the glass containers from the inspection station  14 . The first shuttle  84  is driven back and forth by a servomotor  88  between a shuttle loader  90  at a shuttle loading position  92 , where the shuttle  84  is shown in  FIG.  9   , and a shuttle unloading position  94 . The second shuttle  86  is driven back and forth by means of a servomotor  98  between the shuttle loader  90  at the shuttle loading position  92  and the shuttle unloading position  94 , where the shuttle  86  is shown in  FIG.  9   . Both servomotors  88 ,  98  are controlled by the PLC to move the shuttles  84 ,  86  between the shuttle loading position  92  and the shuttle unloading position  94  in alternating fashion. Specifically, the first shuttle  84  is moved to the loading position  92  to receive glass containers C from the discharge conveyor  80 , while the second shuttle  86  is moved to the shuttle unloading position  94  for unloading the containers from the shuttle  86 . Then the shuttle positions are reversed so that the second shuttle  86  is moved to the shuttle loading position  92  to receive glass containers C from the discharge conveyor  80  while the first shuttle  84  is moved to the shuttle unloading position for unloading the containers from the shuttle  84 . The loading of one shuttle while the other shuttle is unloaded reduces the packaging process time. 
       FIG.  10    shows the shuttle loader  90  and the shuttles  84 ,  86  on opposite sides of the discharge conveyor  80  at the shuttle loading position  92  for purposes of illustration. It should be understood, however, that the shuttles are loaded alternately as described above, and accordingly both shuttles are not normally positioned at the loading position  92  at the same time. 
     The first shuttle  84  has a number of pockets  84   a  with openings facing the discharge conveyor  80  in order to receive a corresponding number of glass containers C from the conveyor. For this purpose, the shuttle loader  90  is comprised of a pusher bar  100  suspended immediately above the conveyor  80  at the loading position  92  by a beam  102  that is moveable back and forth in a direction transverse to the conveyor by a servomotor  104  controlled by the PLC  20  as shown in  FIG.  4   . The pusher bar  100  preferably pushes the glass containers C in the series on the conveyor  80  one at a time between fence blocks  106  into a pocket  84   a  of the first shuttle  84  starting at one end of the shuttle. Since the loader is fixed at the loading position, after each container C is loaded into a pocket  84   a , the conveyor  80  is indexed by one increment equal to the spacing of the containers on the conveyor by the PLC  20 . At the same time the shuttle is indexed by the PLC by an amount equal to the spacing of the pockets so that an empty pocket is positioned adjacent the pusher bar to receive the next container in the series. By incrementing the conveyor and the shuttle separately, the spacing of the glass containers on the conveyor need not match the spacing of the pockets on the shuttle. Alternatively, if the spacing of the containers and the pockets match, the pusher bar could be longer and push multiple containers as a group into the correspondingly spaced pockets of the shuttle. 
     After each of the pockets  84   a  is loaded with a glass container, the first shuttle  84  is moved to the shuttle unloading position  94  in  FIG.  9   . 
     The second shuttle  86  has a construction similar to the construction of the first shuttle  84  except that the openings of the pockets  86   a  face the conveyor  80  from the opposite side of the conveyor. Glass containers C are also loaded into the pockets  86   a  of the second shuttle  86  in substantially the same manner as the first shuttle  84  by pushing movements of the pusher bar  100  and indexing movements of the conveyor  80  and shuttle  86 . The pusher bar however pushes the containers from the opposite side of the containers into the pockets  86   a . After the second shuttle  86  is loaded, the second shuttle is moved to the unloading position  94 , and the first shuttle  84  is moved to the loading position as shown in  FIG.  9   . All the operations of the shuttles  84 ,  86 , the conveyor  80 , and the pusher bar  100  are synchronized by the PLC  20  in  FIG.  4   . 
       FIG.  11    illustrates the shuttle unloader  120  that unloads both the first and second shuttles  84 ,  86  at the shuttle unloading position  94  also shown in  FIG.  9   . The shuttle unloader is comprised of a transfer head  122  suspended from a moveable gantry  124  above the shuttle unloading position  94  and the packaging station  16 . The shuttle unloader  120  is connected in controlling relationship with the PLC  20  as indicated in  FIG.  4   , and as a consequence the PLC controls the timing and operations of the transfer head  122  and the moveable gantry  124 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  11    both shuttles  84  and  86  loaded with glass containers C are shown at the unloading position for purposes of illustration. However, as explained above, the shuttles are operated in an alternating fashion between the loading position  92  ( FIG.  9   ) and the unloading position  94 . As a consequence, only one shuttle loaded with glass containers will appear at the unloading position  94  at one time, and the other shuttle will appear at another time. Nonetheless the illustration of  FIG.  11    will suffice to explain the unloading of either shuttle. 
     In unloading the glass containers C from the shuttle  84 , the gantry  124  initially moves the transfer head  122  along the trajectory path  126  in  FIG.  11    to a pickup position overlying the shuttle  84  and the containers in the shuttle. The transfer head  122  shown in one embodiment in  FIG.  12    is a vacuum head having a plurality of vacuum cups  130  arranged linearly along the bottom edge of the head. The spacing of the cups matches the spacing of the pockets  84   a  in the shuttle and correspondingly the uniform spacing of the containers C in the pockets. Accordingly, when the vacuum cups are positioned over the glass containers and activated, the tops of the glass containers are engaged and captured in the cups and the containers are then lifted from the pockets when the transfer head rises as shown in  FIG.  12   . Of course other forms of heads that capture the glass containers mechanically, preferably at the tops, can be employed. 
     As shown in  FIG.  11    the captured containers are moved by the transfer head  122  along the trajectory  126  to a placement position over the package  134 , which is illustrated as a cell pack. The cell pack is a package with individual cells having the same spacing as the glass containers C in the transfer head. A cell pack ensures that the individual glass containers do not come into contact with one another and avoids scratches or checks during shipping and handling. 
     The transfer head  122  in  FIG.  12    is a head with a tilting feature. The vacuum cups are pivotally mounted to the head about an axis  136  and are tilted collectively by an actuator  138  about the axis to bring the glass containers into alignment with the axes of the cells in the cell pack for ease of inserting the containers into the pack. With the glass containers safely inserted into the cells, the vacuum cups  130  are deactivated to release the containers, and the transfer head is drawn away from the package  134 . 
     With a first group of glass containers C unloaded from the shuttle  84  and stowed for example in the bottom row of cells in the package  134 , the transfer head  122  is moved by the gantry  124  along the trajectory  128  to a position overlying the shuttle  86  at the unloading position  94  in preparation to unload a second group of glass containers from the shuttle. The second group of containers are stowed in the second row of cells in the package  134  in the same manner as the first group in the first row. However, if the number of cells in the cell pack can accommodate more glass containers than are held in the transfer head  122 , the gantry  124  can move the transfer head laterally to fill the additional cells in the same row. The unloading of glass containers C from the shuttles  84 ,  86  continues under the control of the PLC until all the rows of the cell pack are filled. 
       FIGS.  1 - 3    illustrate multiple cell packages  134  mounted on a rotatable turret  140 . Consequently, when one package is fully loaded with glass containers, the turret is rotated under the control of the PLC and additional packages can be loaded with glass containers from the glass manufacturing apparatus. With the described apparatus a high volume of glass containers can be produced without glass-to-glass contact that can cause defects in the glass. 
     While in the present application preferred embodiments of the invention are described, it is to be clearly pointed out that the invention is not limited thereto and that the invention can also be carried out in other ways within the scope of the following patent claims.