Vial tooling apparatus
AssigneeOwens-Illinois, Inc.
InventorOtto Zauner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A machine for fabricating articles such as glass vials from tubular stock includes a plurality of rotating chucking stations which revolve about the central vertical axis of the machine and a plurality of tooling stations which form the vial finish. The plurality of tooling stations are disposed in euqal numbers related to the number of chucking stations on two conveyor assemblies disposed adjacent the periphery of the circle defined by the revolving chucking stations. The tooling stations each include rollers which form the outside of the vial finish and a segmented mandrel which forms the inside of the vial finish including, if desired, a blowback cavity.
Claims24
A machine for working-end adjacent regions of thermoplastic material preforms such as glass preforms, comprising, in combination, a rotatable carousel having a plurality of pairs of vertically aligned upper and lower chucking assemblies disposed adjacent the periphery of said carousel and defining a respective plurality of vertical axes of rotation, each of said chucking assemblies having a collar defining an axis coaxial with said respective axis of rotation, means for rotating said carousel and said chucking assemblies, at least one tooling carriage positioned generally adjacent the periphery of said carousel, said tooling carriage including a drive sprocket and an idler sprocket rotatably mounted on said carriage, a chain disposed about said drive and idler sprockets, and a plurality of tooling stations secured to said chain for movement about the periphery of said tooling carriage, said plurality of tooling stations each including a pair of upper and a pair of lower means for engaging a respective one of said collars on said upper and lower chucking assemblies, a first pair of pivotally supported arms each arm having a respective forming roller rotatably secured thereto, a second pair of pivotally supported arms each arm having a segment of a mandrel secured thereto, and cam means disposed adjacent said first and said second pair of arms for pivoting said first pair of arms apart while pivoting said second pair of arms together and pivoting said first pair of arms together while pivoting said second pair of arms apart.
A machine for working-end adjacent regions of thermoplastic material preforms, comprising, in combination, a rotatable carousel, a plurality of pairs of vertically aligned upper and lower chucking assemblies disposed about the periphery of said carousel and defining a respective plurality of vertical axes of rotation, a collar disposed about each one of said chucking assemblies, said collar defining an axis coincident with said respective vertical axis drive means for rotating said carousel and for synchronously rotating each of said pairs of upper and lower chucking assemblies, at least one tooling carriage disposed generally adjacent the periphery of said carousel, said tooling carriage including a driver sprocket, an idler sprocket, a chain disposed about said drive and idler sprockets, a plurality of tooling stations secured to said chain, and means for rotating said drive sprocket and moving said tooling stations about said carriage;
- said plurality of tooling stations each including a pair of means for engaging said collar disposed about an upper chucking assembly of a pair of vertically aligned chucking assemblies and a vertically aligned pair of means for engaging said collar disposed about a lower chucking assembly of said pair of vertically aligned chucking assemblies, a first pair of pivoting means each pivoting means being a means for supporting a respective rotatable forming roller, a second pair of pivoting means each pivoting means being a means for supporting a segment of a mandrel and means for pivoting said first and said second pair of pivoting means whereby said forming rollers may be selectively advanced toward one another to form an exterior of a finish of an article while said mandrel segments may be moved away from one another to form the interior of a finish of an article.
A method of forming the finish portion of a glass vial or similar article comprising the steps of:
- (a) for each of a plurality of articles:
- providing an article in a workable condition;
- providing a pair of spaced apart chucks disposed for rotation on a common vertical reference axis, each of said chucks having a collar secured thereto and disposed coaxially with said vertical reference axis;
- constraining said article in said chucks, and
- rotating said article about its length axis while said article is constrained in said chucks;
- (b) for each of a plurality of working stations:
- providing a working station defining a tooling reference axis and having (1) two pairs of reference rollers, each of said pair of reference rollers disposed for engagement with a respective one of said chuck collars, (2) a segmented mandrel aligned with said tooling reference axis and (3) a pair of forming rollers, each being disposed for roation on an axis parallel to said tooling reference axis;
- (c) moving each of said plurality of articles, while constrained in said chucks, around a rotatable carriage periphery to advance each article therearound for tooling finishing,
- (d) moving each of said plurality of working stations in proximity to the carriage periphery,
- (e) meeting each one of the advancing articles with one of the stations and advancing the station together with the article for and during finishing,
- (f) for each such working station and the article it works upon:
- moving such working station into proximity with said chucks such that each of said pair of reference rollers engage a respective one of said collars and said vertical reference axis and said tooling reference axis coincide;
- inserting the segments of the mandrel of such working station into the article;
- and
- forming the finish portion of the article by engaging the outside of the article with the forming rollers of such working station while expanding the mandrel segments and engaging the inside of such article with the expanded mandrel segments whereby the article is worked to a desired finish.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.