Owens-brockway Glass Container Inc.

Noel D Wendt

Gregory A Ritz

William R Martin

George A Nickey

Stephen M Gerber

James Scott Barnes

Ronald E Gast

Timothy A Kohler

Timothy McIntosh

A glassware inspection apparatus that includes an electronic control system and method for optimum control of indexing and inspecting glass containers. The control system generally includes a driver circuit for each servo motor of the apparatus, an electronic control unit, and an operator interface. Information about the apparatus and the particular containers being inspected is entered into the control system through the operator interface. The electronic control unit executes a recursive algorithm that utilizes the inputted information, as well as predetermined constraints of the apparatus, to develop an optimum motion profile for each servo motor. The optimum motion profiles provide the overall apparatus with coordinated control and increased container throughput speed, while efficiently distributing cycle time and thermal energy between the various servo motors.

Electronic control system for container indexing and inspection apparatus

An apparatus for inspecting articles of glassware at a plurality of angularly spaced inspection stations includes a conveyor that moves articles of glassware to and from inspection stations, a drive roller that rotates articles of glassware at at least one inspection station, and an inspection device spaced from an inspection station and adapted to inspect an article of glassware as it is moved by the conveyor and caused to pass by the inspection device. A method for inspecting articles of glassware at a plurality of angularly spaced inspection stations includes the steps of moving the articles of glassware to and from the inspection stations, rotating the articles of glassware about an axis at at least one inspection station, inspecting the articles of glassware while they are rotating, stopping the rotation about the axis of the articles of glassware, moving the articles of glassware away from said at least one inspection station without rotating the articles of glassware about said axis, and inspecting the articles of glassware as they are moved.

Apparatus and method for inspecting articles of glassware

Apparatus for indexing glassware through a series of angularly spaced stations includes first and second arrays of glassware gripping fingers mounted on associated carriers that are rotatable about a common axis, both conjointly and with respect to each other. Each carrier is connected to as associated servo motor, which in turn are connected to a controller for rotating the carriers with respect to each other to grip and release glassware between the fingers, and to rotate the carriers conjointly to index the glassware between apparatus stations. One array of glassware gripping fingers includes coil springs for biasing the fingers toward the fingers of the opposing array for accommodating tolerance variations in the glassware. Drive rollers are located at at least some of the stations, and are pivotal into and out of positions for rotating the containers about their axes for inspection or other purposes.

Method and apparatus for inspecting articles of glassware

A plug gauge for testing the mouth of a container includes a spring carried by a support, a rod having one end coupled to the spring, and a gauge plug coupled to the other end of the rod. A control mechanism supports the rod and is coupled to an electric motor. Motion of the control mechanism by the motor lowers the rod and plug into the container mouth under force of the spring, and thereafter lifts the rod and plug out of the container mouth. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the spring takes the form of an air spring. A stripper is operatively coupled to the control mechanism in the preferred embodiment of the invention for lowering against the container mouth, as the rod and plug are lowered by the spring and the motor, for holding the container mouth as the rod and plug are lifted from the container mouth. At least one sensor is coupled to the spring in the preferred embodiment of the invention, and is responsive to position of the end of the rod for determining penetration of the plug into the container mouth.

Container plug gauge and method of use

An apparatus for inspecting non-round containers includes a pair of carriages coupled to associated motors for rotation independently of each other on a common axis. Each carriage carries a corresponding plurality of semi-circular gripping fingers, which may be moved toward and away from each other by controlled rotation of the carriages. The fingers are widely separated from each other to accept non-round containers at an in-feed station, and to permit removal of the containers at out-feed and reject stations. For transporting the containers between stations, the finger are brought closely together to grip the containers for indexing, and springs on one of the carriages resiliently urge the associated fingers toward the fingers on the opposing carriage for accommodating size variations among the containers. At inspection stations, the fingers are moved slightly away from each other, but remain together so as to define a circular perimeter for capturing the non-round body and confining the body of the container during rotation. The container may be rotated by a drive roller engaged with the cylindrical container finish. The container finish can be inspected, as can portions of the sidewall, base and heel.

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Toledo, OH, United States of America

Noel D Wendt