Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Working Tubular Sections of Glass in the Production of Vials, and other Bottles, Syringes, and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Nov.. 1393-Accepted, 21st Jan., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Working Tubular
Sections of Glass in the Production of Vials, and other Bottles,
Syringes, and the like.
I, JAMES BACHE CONDE, of Clifton Heights, in the County of Delaware, State
of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to machines for working tubular sections of glass in the
production of vials and other bottles, syringes, and the like. It has reference,
inore especially, to an organization of mechanism whereby glass tubes, previously
necked and lipped at their respective ends, are each divided into two sections and
bottoms formed thereon in a manner to produce two perfect vials or bottles; the
operations of feeding the tubes to the machine, dividing and bottoming the same,
and discharging the completed product being entirely automatic, as will herein-
after more fully appear.
In the annexed drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention.
Figure 2 is a plan thereof.
Figure 3 is an end view.
Figure 4 is a transverse section, as on the line x-x of Fig. 2.
Figure 5 is an elevation of one of the governor wheels detached.
1 is a substantial supporting frame on which the various working parts of the
machine are mounted, and 2 is the main shaft driven from a suitable source of
power. In the present instance this shaft is provided with a spur wheel 3 with
which engages a pinion 4 on a stud shaft 5 having its bearings in the arm 6
of a bracket 7 on the main frame. This stud shaft carries a pulley 8 driven by
the belt 9. On the shaft 2 at or near its respective ends are governor wheels 10
which co-act with and control the movements of horizontally-reciprocating rods 11.
These rods are mounted in brackets 12 on the supporting frame and are maintained
normally retracted and in contact with the respective governor wheels by suitably
arranged springs 13: The governor wheels are provided with appropriate cam
surfaces 14 which co-act with the rods at intervals to effect their reciprocation. On
the inner ends of these rods are heads 15 provided with guide rods 16 that are
fitted to guide ways in the respective brackets. Hence the heads are uniformly
reciprocated by and with the rods.
Mounted on the main frame, midway between the heads, are vertical brackets 17,
on the upper ends of which are journalled parallel rollers 18 onto which the glass
sections or tubes. (A) to be bottomed are singly carried by an intermittently
rotatable feed wheel 19, and thereby supported in alignment with said heads,
whereby when the rods are moved inward through the instrumentality of the
respective governor wheels the heads simultaneously bear against the opposing
ends of the section and adjust the same centrally of the machine. The feed wheel
in its preferred form comprises a series of parallel discs a, (say four) affixed a
suitable distance apart to a shaft 20 which is journalled in the bracket 17. On this

page_text: shaft, intermediate the inner discs, is secured a pinion 21 with which are adapted
to co-act at predetermined intervals the teeth of a multilated gear (or sector) 22
fast on the shaft 2 above referred to. The teeth of the gear are so disposed that
during a partial revolution of the gear the pinion is turned thereby one-third of
a revolution, thereupon remaining quiescent until the gear re-engages the pinion
for a corresponding action. The peripheries of the discs a are provided with a
series of equi-distant recesses a' which constitute bearings for the glass sections,
to the end that such sections may be bodily turned by and with the discs and also
be independently rotatable when the feed wheel is at rest.
The glass sections to be bottomed are assembled in line upon an inclined track-
way 23 which leads to the feed wheel, so that the sections will gravitate toward
the wheel. Hence during the partial rotation of the feed wheel the opposing
recesses on the respective discs will turn in proximity to the leading section on the
trackway, which section will thereupon roll into said recesses, and, in consequence,
be carried upward by the wheel and deposited upon the supporting rollers 18.
this stage the mutilated gear 22 will escape the pinion 21, and the motion of the
feed wheel will, therefore, be arrested until the gear 22 re-engages the pinion for
a succeeding operation.
29
At
When the glass section is deposited upon the supporting rollers as above stated,
the following operations take place through the instrumentality of the mechanism
above described in conjunction with other devices which will be hereinafter
explained. The heads 15 are advanced against the ends of the glass section to
adjust it. The section is then continuously rotated, and heat applied to the middle
thereof. The heads are then retracted, and the ends of the section drawn outward
to divide the same into two parts at the central or heated portion thereof, the
severed portion of each part thus fusing at the center of the tube in a manner to
close or bottom the same.
The heads are then moved forward so as to bring
adjacent to but not in contact with each other the opposing bottoms thus formed.
The heads are then retracted, and a bottoming plate caused to pass between the
two parts. The heads are then advanced so as to push such parts against the
bottoming plate, and thereby complete the formation of the bottoms. This done
the parts resume their normal positions, whereupon in the succeeding movement
of the feed wheel, the two vials thus produced will be discharged onto a rearward
off-bearing trackway 24, and another section will have been taken from the supply
trackway 23 and carried into position intermediate the heads.
The means whereby the central section is rotated and drawn endwise is of the
following construction:
25 is a horizontal shaft extending directly above the feed wheel. This shaft
is journalled in vertically movable bearing blocks 25" which are fitted to vertical
guides 26 on the brackets 12, whereby the shaft may be raised and lowered. On
the ends of this shaft are rollers 27 which bear on the peripheries of the respective
governor wheels, the latter being provided with peripherial cam portions 28 which
at predetermined intervals pass under the rollers and, perforce, raise the shaft.
On or about the middle of this shaft are affixed two discs 29 with oppositely-
beveled peripheries 30, of rubber or other suitable frictional material, that are
adapted when the shaft is lowered to bear upon the centrally disposed glass section.
The peripherial pressure of the revolving discs upon the section tends to deflect
their thin acting edges laterally in opposite directions, thus effecting the rotation
of the section and at the same time forcing the ends of the section outward to
divide the same as above stated, the middle portion thereof being heated as below
described. The shaft 25 may be driven in any suitable manner. In the present
instance it is provided with a sprocket wheel 31 which is geared by means of a
sprocket chain 32 with a wheel 33 on a shaft 34 having its bearings in the bracket 7
above referred to. On the outer end of this shaft is a sprocket wheel 35 which is
geared with a larger sprocket wheel 36 on the end of the shaft 2 by means of a
chain 37, whereby said shaft 34 is driven at a comparatively high rate of speed.
The means employed for heating the central portion of the rotating section com-

page_text: prises suitably-arranged blow pipes constructed to direct the flames against the
body of the section from the opposite sides thereof. The burners are marked 38,
and the gas and air supply pipes 39, 40 respectively. These pipes are connected to
a common valve 41 by means of which the supply of air and gas may be regulated.
The valve stem is provided with an arm 42 which extends into the path of a
cam 43 on the side of the adjacent governor wheel, which cam at a certain time
co-acts with the arm to shut off the air supply and reduce the gas supply. When
the cam releases the arm, a torsional spring 44 opens the valve and permits the
full supply of air and gas. The parts are so timed that the supply of gas and air
is permitted only during the period required for heating the section, thereby
economizing in the use of the gas.
The bottoming plate above referred to is constructed in the form of a bell-crank
Jever 45 fulcrumed at 46 to lugs on the main frame in such manner that the upper
arm of the lever may be swung between the divided parts of the centrally sup-
ported glass section; the lower arm being appropriately formed to be actuated at
a prescribed period by a stud 47 on the wheel 22 during the rotation of the latter.
The plate is caused to assume its idle or normal position by gravity; a lug or
shoulder 48 thereon abutting against the edge of the supporting frame to limit the
downward movement of the plate.
It will be obvious that the machine above described may be readily applied to
the formation of syringes, ear droppers and like devices having tapering nozzles;
the mechanism in such application being so arranged that the glass tube or section
will be drawn out sufficiently to form a contracted central connection (at the middle
of which the tube or section is subsequently cut off or broken) and the bottoming
plate being omitted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a
heating device, and means adapted to bear upon the body of said tube or section
and thereby rotate the same by frictional contact, substantially as described.
2. The combination with parallel rollers adapted to support a glass section or
tube, means for supporting said rollers, and heating devices, of means for bearing
upon the body of said tube or section and thereby rotating the same by frictional
contact, substantially as described.
3. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a
heating device, and means for bearing upon the body of said tube or section and
thereby rotating and longitudinally moving the same by frictional contact.
4. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a
heating device for dividing said section or tube, means for bearing upon the body
of said tube or section and thereby rotating the same and drawing the two parts
thereof longitudinally in opposite directions by frictional contact, substantially
as described.
5. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a
heating device, a shaft, a dise thereon adapted to bear upon the body of said
section or tube and rotate it by frictional contact, and means for rotating said
shaft, substantially as described.
6. The combination with parallel rollers adapted to support a glass section or
tube, means for supporting said rollers, and heating devices, of a shaft, a disc
thereon adapted to bear upon the body of said section or tube and rotate it by
frictional contact, and means for rotating said shaft, substantially as described.
7. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a
heating device, a shaft, a disc thereon' having a bevelled yielding periphery
adapted to bear upon the body of said section or tube, and means for rotating said
shaft, substantially as described.
8. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of a shaft,

page_text: two discs thereon having oppositely-bevelled yielding peripheries adapted to bear
on the body of said section or tube, means for rotating said shaft, and means for
heating the tube intermediate the discs, substantially as described.
9. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of end
heads, means for supporting and operating the same in respect to the ends of said
section or tube, means for bearing upon the body of said tube and thereby rotating
the same by frictional contact, and a heating device, substantially as described.
10. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of end
heads, means for supporting and operating the same in respect to the ends of said
section or tube, means for bearing upon the body of said tube and thereby rotating
and longitudinally moving the same by frictional contact, and a heating device,
substantially as described.
11. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of
end heads, supporting rods therefor, means for reciprocating said rods at pre-
determined intervals, a shaft having means for rotating said section or tube, means
for rotating said shaft, means for raising and lowering said shaft at intervals, and
a heating device, substantially as described.
12. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of end
heads, supporting rods therefor, means for reciprocating said rods at predetermined
intervals, a shaft having discs thereon with oppositely-bevelled yielding
peripheries, means for rotating said shaft, means for raising and lowering the same,
and a heating device, substantially as described.
13. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of end
heads, supporting rods therefor, governor wheels co-acting with said rods, means
for supporting and rotating said wheels, a shaft having means for rotating said
section or tube, means for rotating said shaft, means for raising and lowering
said shaft at intervals, and a heating device, substantially as described.
14. The combination with a section or tube support, of a feed device, its support-
ing and operating parts, means for delivering the sections or tubes to said feed
device, devices adapted to bear upon the tubes or sections on said support and there-
by rotate and draw said tubes or sections, means for rendering said latter devices
active and inactive at predetermined intervals, and heating devices, substantially
as described.
15. The combination with a section or tube support, of a feed device, its support-
ing and operating parts, means for delivering sections or tubes to said device,
devices adapted to bear upon the tubes or sections on said support and thereby
rotate and draw said tubes or sections, means for rendering said latter devices
active and inactive at predetermined intervals, heating devices, and automatic
means for regulating the operation thereof at intervals, substantially as described.
16. The combination with means for supporting a glass section or tube, of end
heads, means for supporting and operating the same in respect to the ends of said
section or tube, means for bearing upon the body of said section or tube and
thereby rotating and longitudinally moving the same, a heating device, a bottoming
plate, and means for operating the same, substantially as described.
1
17. The combination with a section or tube support, of a feed device, its sup-
porting and operating parts, means for delivering the sections or tubes to said feed
device, devices adapted to bear upon the tubes or sections on said support and
thereby rotate and draw said tubes or sections, means for rendering said latter
devices active and inactive at predetermined intervals, end heads, means for sup-
porting and operating the same, a swinging bottoming plate, and means for
actuating the same, together with the heating devices, substantially as described.
18. The combination with the supporting frame, of the main shaft, the governor
wheels thereon, the reciprocative rods controlled thereby, the end heads on said
rods, a support for glass sections or tubes intermediate said heads, means for
feeding sections or tubes to said support, means for rotating and drawing said
tubes or sections, and heating devices for said tubes or sections, substantially as
described.

page_text: 19. The combination with the supporting frame, of the main shaft, the governor
wheels thereon, the reciprocative rods controlled thereby, the end heads on said
rods, a support for glass sections or tubes intermediate said heads, means for feed-
ing sections or tubes to said support, means for rotating and drawing said sections
or tubes, heating devices, and automatic means for regulating the operation
thereof, substantially as described.
20. The combination with the section or tube support, of the intermittently-
movable feed wheel, the pinion connected therewith, the mutilated gear or sector,
the main shaft, the governor wheels, the reciprocative rods controlled thereby,
the end heads on said rods, means for rotating a tube or section on said support, a
lever-shaped bottoming plate, means on said gear or sector adapted to co-act there-
with at predetermined intervals, and heating devices, substantially as described.
21. The combination with means for supporting a glass tube or section, of a
shaft, vertically movable bearings therefor, means on said shaft adapted to bear
upon the body of a tube or section and rotate the same, means for driving said
shaft, a second shaft, governor wheels thereon adapted to raise and lower said
first-named shaft at predetermined intervals, and heating devices, substantially
as described.
Dated this 14th
1000
JAMES BACHE CONDE.
Wm. P. Thompson & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Agents for the Applicant.