Mould opening and closing mechanism for a glassware forming machine

A mould opening and closing mechanism for a glassware forming machine operable to move opposed mould portions between a mould-closed position, in which the opposed mould portions engage one another and co-operate in defining a mould cavity, and a mould-open position in which the opposed mould portions are separated from one another, the mechanism comprising two mould support arrangements, each mould support arrangement comprising a supporting arm mounted for movement about a first vertical axis defined by a pivot pin mounted so that the axis remains stationary, and a mould portion support mounted on the supporting arm for pivoting movement about a second vertical axis which moves with the supporting arm, the mould portion support being arranged to support one or more mould portions so that opposed mould portions can be supported one on each mould portion support, the mechanism also comprising drive means operable to pivot the supporting arms of the support arrangements to move mould portions supported by the mould portion supports between their mould-open and mould-closed positions, wherein the first vertical axes of the two supporting arms are spaced from one another, and each mould support arrangement also comprises a link connected at one end portion thereof to the mould portion support for pivoting movement about a third vertical axis which moves with the mould portion support and connected at an opposite end portion thereof to a vertical shaft for pivoting movement about a fourth vertical axis defined by the shaft which is mounted so that the axis remains stationary, the first, second, third and fourth axes being arranged at the corners of a parallelogram.