Patent ID: 7168270

Claim:
In combination with a glass forehearth having a plurality of spaced discharge orifices lying in a vertical plane, an apparatus for controlling flow of glass through said orifices, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of spaced vertical plungers at a spacing from each other equal to spacing of said discharge orifices from each other and having axes lying in said vertical plane with said orifices, each said plunger being movable linearly along its vertical axis independently of the other plungers, a plurality of spaced arms, each having one end from which an associated one of said plungers is suspended and an other end, a plurality of independently operable servo controlled linear actuators mounted adjacent to each other on one side of said forehearth for movement linearly in directions parallel to said axes of said plungers, each said arm being connected at its other end to one of said servo controlled actuators such that said arms are parallel to each other as viewed from a horizontal direction and remain parallel to each other as viewed from a horizontal direction throughout movement of said actuators, said arms and said plungers, and a plurality of motion control systems each coupled to one of said servo controlled linear actuators, each said motion control system and servo controlled linear actuator coupled thereto being independently controllable with respect to the other motion control systems and servo controlled linear actuators, and each said arm being movable independently of the other arms.