Molten glass feeding and molding
AssigneeOwens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
InventorsScott Weil, Walter Anderson, Karl Johnston, Robin L Flynn, Gregory W. Nafziger, Alexandra Fuller, Bernard Altendorfer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing glass from a glass melting furnace to at least one mold, including providing an uninterrupted glass communication path from an outlet of the glass melting furnace to the at least one mold, and pressurizing the path at a location downstream of the outlet to move molten glass into the at least one mold. A related system, apparatus, and molding equipment are also disclosed.
Claims27
An apparatus for providing molten glass, comprising:
- a glass feeder in downstream fluid communication with a glass forehearth, the glass feeder including a conduit configured for directing molten glass from the glass forehearth, and a movable feeder plunger;
- at least one mold configured to receive the molten glass;
- and
- at least one orifice device coupled to the conduit, wherein the at least one orifice device is a heated orifice device,
- wherein the glass feeder is configured to provide an uninterrupted glass communication path from an outlet of the glass forehearth to the at least one mold and along which path a molten glass stream is flowable from the glass forehearth to the at least one mold and is pressurizable by movement of the movable feeder plunger to advance molten glass into the at least one mold to establish a molten glass charge in the at least one mold.
An apparatus for providing molten glass, comprising:
- a glass feeder in downstream fluid communication with a glass forehearth, the glass feeder including a conduit configured for directing molten glass from the glass forehearth, and a movable feeder plunger;
- at least one mold configured to receive the molten glass;
- and
- at least one orifice coupled to the conduit, wherein the at least one orifice is a heated orifice,
- wherein the glass feeder is configured to provide an uninterrupted glass communication path from an outlet of the glass forehearth to the at least one mold and along which path a molten glass stream is flowable from the glass forehearth to the at least one mold and is pressurizable by movement of the movable feeder plunger, wherein there is no gap between the at least one orifice and the at least one mold.
A system, comprising:
- an apparatus for providing molten glass, comprising:
- a mold;
- and
- a glass feeder to hold molten glass, and including
- a conduit in fluid communication with the mold to direct a stream of the molten glass toward the mold, and
- a movable feeder plunger to pressurize the molten glass to move the stream of the molten glass through the conduit to advance the molten glass into the mold;
- and
- a sensor configured to detect an amount of glass in the mold,
- wherein the movable feeder plunger is controlled to stop the advance of the molten glass into the mold when a predetermined amount of the molten glass is detected in the mold by the sensor.
A glass parison molding apparatus, comprising:
- a mold including mold sections openable and closeable with respect to one another and having through passage portions extending between lower and upper ends and neck ring interlock features;
- a neck ring assembly including
- neck ring sections openable and closeable with respect to one another and having mold body ends with axially facing end surfaces, radially inwardly facing neck finish forming portions, mold body interlock features, guide body midsections with guide hub pockets and guide slot portions, and plunger ends with annular extending walls establishing a plunger sleeve counterbore, and
- a guide ring including a neck finish forming hub carried in the guide hub pockets of the neck ring sections and having a throughbore and a counterbore, and a guide flange carried in the guide slot portions of the neck ring sections;
- a plunger sleeve having a wall establishing a plunger passage and including a neck ring section of the plunger sleeve that extends axially into the plunger sleeve counterbore of the neck ring sections of the neck ring assembly;
- and
- a plunger in the plunger passage of the plunger sleeve and movable axially along the plunger sleeve and including a neck ring shoulder, wherein the neck ring section of the plunger sleeve is located radially between the neck ring shoulder of the plunger and the annular extending walls of the plunger ends of the neck ring sections of the neck ring assembly when the plunger is in a fully advanced position relative to the mold and when the plunger is in a retracted position relative to the mold so that vacuum can be applied to the mold through at least one of the plunger sleeve or the plunger even when the plunger is in the retracted position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.