System and method for fire-polishing glass containers

A method for fire polishing glass containers comprising the steps of:

• continuously advancing a row of freshly formed glass containers on a continuously moving conveyor belt (A);
• providing a series of burners mounted on a movable support structure, said support structure located on a least one side of the conveyor belt;
• exposing the series of containers to a burner flame for a first advance distance DA, by moving the support structure from a starting position DI to a predetermined distance to polish the containers, the support structure and the conveyor belt moving at a same forward speed;
• upon completion of polishing of the containers, moving the burners support structure back to the starting position DI;
• providing one or more sensors to measure a speed of the conveyor belt (A), and spacing (DE) between the containers;
• providing a controller;
• and
• associating the controller with the movable support structure and with the one or more sensors measuring the speed of the conveyor belt and spacing between the containers to calculate and synchronize the speed of the conveyor belt, in real-time, based on the measured speed of the conveyor belt and spacing between the container to control positioning of the burners with respect to the containers and to absorb any phase shift of the conveyor belt.