A Method of Making Bottles or other Hollow-ware of Glass and Appliances therefor.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Aug.. 1888
Complete Specification Left, 13th June, 1889-Accepted, 20th July, 1889
A Method of Making Bottles or other Hollow-ware of Glass and
Appliances therefor.
JOHN ARMSTRONG Civil Engineer 11 Queen Victoria Street London, E.C., do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to make bottles or other hollow-ware articles of glass
of an even and reliable nature throughout.
Articles made of glass such as bottles are at present blown, while others are half
pressed and then blown, as described by a provisional specification for a patent applied
for by me dated 20th Decr. 1887 and numbered 17,530.
These articles which are pressed and blown, and also those entirely blown are
generally of an unequal thickness throughout and thereby causing weakness, which
the method I shall now describe entirely obviates. In my former application already
referred to, I describe a central beam carrying the moulds while an upper one carries
the plungers. On a similar beam is placed the moulds for the present process, and
the plungers are placed above.
These moulds differ from those most generally used, in so much as they have no
bottom, simply a body and a neck. These are placed upon the central beam or table,
with the neck downwards, a plunger, (made to fit the neck), is made to come up
through the mould and to stand up as far as the inside of the bottom of the bottle, or
any less convenient distance. A piece of hot glass is placed into the mould and an
upper plunger is pressed down upon it, squeezing the glass into the form of the bottle,
minus a bottom this, second or upper plunger having the necessary shape of the
interior of the bottle, both of the plungers are then withdrawn and another mould
is placed alongside of the mould already described, and which may be joined to it by
means of a hinge or pivot on which the second mould works.
This second mould is for the purpose of moulding the bottom of the bottle separately
and may be done at the same time as the body of the bottle or otherwise, if by the
former method. The mould for the bottom is placed as above described and a piece
of molten glass being placed into it, it is pressed into the necessary shape by a plunger
coming upon it. This plunger being removed, as also the collars of the moulds. This
second mould is made to give a turn on the hinge or pivot, and with a piece of hot
glass (formed into the shape of the bottom of the bottle,) upon it, it is brought over
upon the bottle body which is still in its mould. And both the body of the bottle and
the bottle bottom being in a soft and hot state, they are pressed together and become
fixed and thereby the bottle is finished. Should it be required to make bottles or
other articles with a screw on the inside of their necks, then the bottom plunger is
formed with a screw upon it and is made to screw out of the mould when it is
withdrawn. Should an outside screw be required or other object on the neck of the
article, then that part of the mould which forms the neck is made with a screw or
the intended object upon it and thus it is formed.
The arrangement for the continuous working of these moulds may be made by
having two cylindrical bodies (in lieu of the aforesaid table or central cross-piece)
upon which the moulds are fixed, one carries the body moulds and the other carries
the bottoms moulds, or the object carrying the bottoms of the bottles. They are
made to rotate upon axis and as one body mould comes to the top, the hot glass
is put into it and pressed as above described, then they are given a turn and the
body moulds comes in contact with the bottoms moulds of the other cylinder, and
the bottom coming exactly in its place is thus attached to the body and by giving
it a further turn the mould is opened and the bottle released, and being finished,
tumbles out into a proper receptacle to receive it and carry it away to the annealing

page_text: Bottles
oven, while another turn brings the bottle mould into position again for another
charge, so that automatically a number of moulds can be constantly going; and they
may also be arranged with two or more moulds alongside each other, thus making the
bottles or other articles as above described, two, three, or more at once.
may also be made for ball stoppers or other stoppers, by forming the upper or
under plunger to shape the seat to contain the india-rubber as also to give any
other form required to the neck, also to form the bottle in a proper form to contain
the ball while the contents of the bottle are being emptied.
The working parts of the moulds and plungers may be made hollow for the purpose
of containing water, steam or other substance for the purpose of heating or cooling
the same.
Jets of gas may be also applied to the moulds to strike upon the glass
to keep the same in proper condition for being readily joined together.
Bottles may also be made without the bottom mould, by another plunger made
hollow to descend upon the bottle body, and by its action or hy the action of
separate arms pressing against or revolving around it, gathers the sides inward and
being hot are welded together. Wire or wire netting may be placed in the moulds
for the purpose of being attached to the glass of the bottle and may be made the
shape of the bottle so as to adhere to its sides when the hot glass is pressed into the
mould.
Dated th: toi 1
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Method of Making Bottles or other Hollow Ware of Glass, and
Appliances therefor.
1, JOHN ARMSTRONG, of 11, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Civil Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to the manufacture of bottles or other hollow articles of glass
or the like and to apparatus therefor.
Bottles of glass or other similar material as hitherto manufactured have been blown,
or half pressed and half blown, (that is finished by blowing) and have therefore
generally been of unequal thickness, resulting in weakness and consequently frequent
breakage.
The object of my invention is to obviate this objection by making the bottles or
other articles of an equal thickness and regular substance throughout.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a vertical section of an apparatus adapted for making bottles according
to my invention.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line A, B, C, D, E of Figure 1.
Similar letters in both the figures indicate similar parts.
The machine is constructed of a central standard or upright a (which carries the
moulds e, e), the upper part of which is corbelled out to carry the plunger P, P1, P2,
and which is here shewn constructed to be worked by hydraulic pressure, but it can,
if desired, be worked by steam, hand or other power. The moulds e, e have no
bottoms, only the necks and bodies of the bottles being formed in them. These
moulds are fixed to the table d, d by screws or other means for securing them in their
place. The table d, d is provided with gearing y³, y², y¹ for the purpose of causing
it to rotate around the central standard a and thereby bringing each mould alternately
under the plunger P, P¹, P². The gearing is actuated by means of a handle y on
the shaft y working in a bush y in the central standard a. The table d, d is made in
two pieces screwed together around the central standard.
The moulds e, e, two or four in number, are arranged on
other; if four moulds are used the table has a quarter turn
the table d opposite each
given to it for each stroke

page_text: of the plunger, and if two moulds are used, the table will receive half a turn. The
drawings shew only two moulds placed at e, e on each side of the central standard a
and made to open in order to release the article after being made; the parts of the
mould work upon hinges, which, after being closed, are fastened by a catch which
securely holds them close together.
Only the body and neck of the bottle are formed in this mould, the bottom
of the bottle being moulded separately in the following manner in another
mould o, o which works on a hinge upon the mould e, e. A small piece of glass is
inserted in the bottom-mould and a slight pressure is given by the hand upon the
knob n; the pressure is then removed and the knob is forced back by a spring n¹ the
piece of glass m will having been formed into the proper shape. The collar
mould o, o, o is then thrown back and the bottom-mould 1,7 containing the bottle-
bottom upon it while yet hot is brought over upon the body mould e, e while the
bottle-body is still hot, the two are then pressed together and the bottle completed.
Should it be found necessary to work the bottom into the body and give an extra
finish to the bottle, a quarter turn is given to the table d, d, whereby the mould will
be subjected to a hot flame of gas playing upon the newly formed joint between the
body and the bottom of the bottle so that in a short space of time it is quite soft and
another instrument is made to rotate upon the bottom of the bottle bringing it up to
a high finish and completing the joint.
The body and the neck of the bottle are formed by the action of the two plungers P
and 2. After the mould has come round to its proper position under the plunger it
is fixed in the said position by a spring catch. The mould being closed the lower
plunger is brought up into it by the action of the hand wheel h, screw f and
gearing g, g' if a screwed necked bottle is to be made (otherwise only a simple lever
need be employed to force up the lower plunger) in the following manner: The hand
wheel his set in motion by the operator previous to the hot glass being placed in the
mould. The hand wheel rotates the two bevel wheels g and g¹ and the screw f,f is
thereby turned round by means of a pin k passing through a slot k¹ in the upper
part or stem of the screw f, f the bottom bevel wheel g', g¹ being held in position by
the slides J, J in which the guides J¹ slides up and down.
The action of the pin k is that the gearing being turned, the screw is also turned
and at the same time rises while the bevel wheel remains in its original position.
The plunger k has a screw thread formed upon the upper part exactly where the
neck of the bottle is moulded and the pitch of the thread is the same as that of the
screw f. f.
As this upper part of the plunger is liable to get superheated and thus cause delay and
trouble in the working of the machine, a tube x is attached to the rings of the
guides J J in which water or other cooling agent is made to pass and return after
traversing the plunger as far as 2 by another tube x underneath.
After the bottle has been pressed the bottom plunger is then reversed and
withdrawn.
Plain necked bottles or other articles are made with a hydraulic lower plunger (in
lieu of the screw gearing already described) upon the same principle and similar
to the upper plunger P P¹. After the lower plunger has been elevated and the
hot glass inserted in the mould, the lever R is pushed forward and by so doing
the cock S. S. is turned and water under pressure is let into the upper part of the
cylinder t, t2.
The piston T T then descends bringing down the plunger P3 P¹ P³ upon the hot
glass in the mould. The upper plunger is made in the form of a tube in order. that
the lower plunger may enter it and thus form the neck of the article.
The action of the water is then reversed by the lever R and the cock S. and the
piston raised.
It should be observed that the water coming into the upper part of the cylinder
has to press out the water in the lower part while the piston is descending, thus
acting like a buffer and preventing the too rapid descent of the plunger which is most

page_text: essential in the pressing of glass articles. Also it prevents the plunger P2 P' P from
descending even when the pressure of water is cut off by the action of the cock S.
the exit pipe is closed and prevents the escape of the water from the cylinder at both
ends, that is when the valve 'S is perpendicular and closes both inlet and outlet
apertures.
The plunger P2 is made with a joint at P¹ for the purpose of fixing another end of
a different pattern, upon it by means of screws or other fastenings. The cylinder has
glands at t³ and for the purpose of packing and lubricating the plungers. The
waste water may be carried as shown down the central standard a or otherwise.
Two or more moulds may be fixed on either and opposite sides of the central
standard and under the plunger, and two or more plungers may be fixed upon the
plunger P2 by means of the joint P¹ and also two or more cylinders may be used if
large articles are required or if found more advantageous. Also two or
lower plungers may be fitted up with the gearing and screw action working in unison
or with a lever action as hereinbefore described.
more
The handle R is regulated and worked upon a quadrant R¹, R¹ with stops upon it
for the regulation of the quantity of water and the power of the stroke.
In the manufacture of other hollow-ware without any aperture right through
them such as tumbler glasses, wine glasses, sugar basins, &c., the arrangement of
lower plungers is dispensed with and the upper part alone is used of the machinery
above described.
The frame work of the machine is fitted upon the central standard a and connected
together by the cross bar b, b which is pierced and bushed for the passage of the
screw; the framing and front c c carry the other gearing, the whole being placed
upon a base plate W, W in which is a well containing a screw box W W which
actuates the lower plunger and the screw ff.
Wire netting or wire work may be placed into the mould for the purpose of
strengthening the bottles or other articles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) In a machine for making bottles or other hollow-ware a central standard
carrying a table with moulds actuated by gearing substantially as set forth and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
(2) In a machine for making bottles or other hollow ware an upper and a lower
plunger together or separately worked by hydraulic power as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
(3) A machine for making bottles or other hollow ware adapted to form or
make one, two or more articles at a time by hydraulic pressure substantially as
herein before described.
(4) The general arrangement and construction of the improved machine for
making bottles or other hollow ware substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
(5) The method of making bottles or other articles consisting in making the body
and bottom of the article separately and afterwards combining them and finishing
them substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawing.
(6) In a machine for making bottles or other hollow ware the gearing and screw
arrangement with cooling apparatus for the lower plunger as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
(7) The method of making the bottoms in a separate mould substantially as
hereinbefore described.
(8) The method of reheating the bottoms and finishing them by means of gas,
substantially as herein before described.
(9) In a machine for making bottles or other hollow ware the use of the

page_text: cock S for effecting the supply and discharge of the water substantially as
set forth.
(10) In the manufacture of bottles and other hollow ware, placing wire work in
the moulds for the purpose of adhering to the moulds when finished substantially as
set forth.
JOHN ARMSTRONG.