Owens-brockway Glass Container Inc.

John M Slifco

George A Nickey

Frank J DiFrank

Robin L Flynn

Ronald T Myers

Richard W Craig

Francis R Morrison

An apparatus for delivering a spray of cooling liquid to opposed shear blades of an apparatus for shearing a stream of molten glass into gobs, the apparatus having liquid outlets ( ) that lead to spray nozzles. A liquid is intermittently delivered at a low pressure to the liquid outlets ( ) from separate liquid inlets ( , respectively), each of the outlets ( ) having a solenoid valve ( , respectively), in a line leading thereto. The nozzles that receive liquid from the outlets ( ) are periodically purged of accumulated coagulated coolant or other debris by pumping coolant therethrough at a substantially higher pressure. To this end, each of the liquid outlets ( ) is connected to an outlet from a rodless cylinder ( , respectively), and high pressure air from a common inlet ( ) is intermittently imposed on an inlet to each rodless cylinder ( ) to urge pistons in the rodless cylinders toward the outlets from the rodless cylinders ( , respectively) to expel liquid coolant in the rodless cylinders ( ) toward the liquid outlets ( , respectively) at a substantially higher pressure. A solenoid valve ( ) is positioned in the high pressure air inlets to the rodless cylinders ( , respectively) to limit the pressurization of the liquid outlets ( ) on a timed basis so that nozzle clogging is eliminated.

Apparatus for producing a cooling or lubricating spray

A parallel shear apparatus (20) for simultaneously shearing a plurality of streams of molten glass (A, B, C) into gobs comprising opposed carriages (22, 24) which are repetitively moved along rectilinear opposed paths toward and away from one another. Each of the carriages carries a plurality of shear blades (40a, 40b, 40c/42a, 42b, 42c) which cooperate with one another to shear the glass streams into gobs when the carriages are positioned close to one another. The shear blades carried by each of the carriages have internal flow passages (66) to permit the blades to be internally liquid cooled by liquid entering the carriages from inlet lines (52, 56), and the blades carried by one of the carriages (22) are biased by compression springs (82) into contact with the blades carried by the other carriage (24) to prevent excessive contact loads between the blades in their shearing positions. A contact lubricator (88) is provided to lubricate the contact surfaces of the blades carried by one of the carriages (22) by contact with such blades. The shear apparatus is employed in a method for shearing streams of molten glass by moving the carriages toward and away from one another to repetitively bring the free ends of the shear blades into partly overlapping relationship.

Glass gob shearing apparatus with contact lubricated blades and method

A needle assembly (30) for controlling the flow of molten glass from a feeder bowl (76) through one or more orifices (84) in an orifice plate (86) beneath the feeder bowl. The needle assembly includes a vertical needle (32) for each orifice and each needle is precisely adjustable along its vertical axis by a stepper motor (34). The stepper motor for each needle is positioned remotely from the needle and drives the needle through a potentiometer (72) and a linkage mechanism (36). Each linkage mechanism includes a generally horizontally extending member (38), a vertically extending member (40), and a bevel gear drive (88) to permit the generally horizontally extending ember to drive the vertically extending member. The rotation of the potentiometer is a measure of the travel of the needle, and sends a signal of the position of the needle to an operator at the level of the forming machine floor, who can, when necessary, actuate a stepper motor to adjust the position of the needle without the need to leave the forming machine floor.

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Toledo, OH, United States of America

John M Slifco