Electronic system to control cooling of molds in glassware forming machines

In a glassware forming machine of the type including multiple sections each having multiple molds for receiving and processing glass gobs to produce glassware articles and having a mold cooling system which essentially comprises a source of cooling air, a manifold for said cooling air, a plurality of nozzles directing the cooling air to said molds, and flow control means for varying the flow rate of the cooling air through the manifold, the method for controlling the cooling of said molds, comprising:

• sensing, through first sensor means, the velocity of operation of the forming machine to derive signals representative thereof;
• sensing, through second sensor means, the temperature and weight of the glass gobs fed to the molds of the machine, to derive signals representative thereof;
• sensing, through third sensor means, the temperature, humidity and pressure of the cooling air in the manifold of the machine, to derive signals representative thereof;
• supplying said signals provided by the first, second and third sensor means to a microprocessor operative to provide a first table for processing the signals of the first and second sensor means in order to determine the actual thermal excitation of the molds and to derive command signals to control the flow rate of cooling air, and operative to provide a second table for processing the signals of the third sensor means in order to determine the physical conditions of the cooling air, and operative to provide a third table for recording the history of the operation conditions detected by all the sensor means and forecast, through said history, the changes of weather conditions, with up-dating and self-correction of the initial values and command signals;
• feeding the command signals derived by the microprocessor from said first and second tables to control means for controlling the rate of cooling air in accordance with the actual cooling needs of the molds;
• and,
• in the event of loss of any one of said first, second and third signals, substituting for the lost signal a signal derived from said historical memory of said third table.