Remotely adjustable glass feeder needle assembly

In an apparatus for feeding molten glass to a subjacent forming machine, the apparatus comprising a feeder bowl having an orifice at a level which will permit molten glass to flow by gravity therethrough, the improvement including a needle assembly comprising:

• a generally vertically extending elongate needle in alignment with an orifice of a feeder bowl, the needle being movable between first and second positions along a longitudinal central axis relative to the orifice to control the rate of flow of molten glass through the orifice;
• means operable at a location remote from the position of said needle for adjusting the position of said needle between said first and second positions, said means for adjusting comprises an electrical stepper motor;
• linkage mechanism means mechanically connected to said needle and said stepper motor for transmitting motion from said electrical stepper motor to said needle, said linkage mechanism means comprises a generally horizontally extending member, movable in a circumferential direction;
• and
• means drivably connected to said stepper motor for detecting the position of said needle between said first and second positions relative to the circumferential motion of said linkage mechanism means and for indicating the position of said needle at a location remote from the position of said needle, said detecting means comprising a potentiometer for detecting the circumferential position of said generally extending member.

In apparatus for feeding molten glass in a plurality of streams to a subjacent forming machine, the apparatus comprising a feeder bowl having an opening at a level at a level which will permit molten glass to flow by gravity therethrough and an orifice plate with a plurality of horizontally spaced apart orifices therein, the orifice plate being positioned below the feeder bowl in alignment with the opening, a needle assembly comprising:

• a horizontally spaced apart plurality of generally vertically extending elongate needles, each of said needles being in alignment with one of the orifices and being movable independently of each other of said plurality of needles between first and second positions along its longitudinal central axis relative to the one of the orifices that said needle is in alignment with to control the rate of flow of molten glass through the one of the orifices;
• means for detecting the position of each of said plurality of needles between its first and second positions and for indicating the position of each of said plurality of needles at a first location remote from said each of said plurality of needles;
• and
• means operable at a second location remote from the position of each of said plurality of needles for adjusting the position of said each of said plurality of needles between its first and second positions and independently of the position of each of the other needles of said plurality of needles.

In an apparatus for feeding molten glass in a plurality of streams to a subjacent forming machine, the apparatus comprising a feeder bowl having an opening at a level which will permit molten glass to flow by gravity therethrough and an orifice plate with a plurality of horizontally spaced apart orifices therein, the orifice plate being positioned below the feeder bowl in alignment with the opening, the improvement including a needle assembly comprising:

• a horizontally spaced apart plurality of generally vertically extending elongate needles, each of said needles being in alignment with one of a plurality of horizontally spaced apart orifices of a feeder bowl, and being movable independently of each other of said plurality of needles between first and second positions along a longitudinal central axis relative to the one of the orifices that said needle is in alignment with to control the rate of flow of molten glass through the orifices;
• means operable at a location remote from the position of each of said plurality of needles for adjusting the position of said each of said plurality of needles between said first and second positions and independently of the position of each of the other needles of said plurality of needles, said means for adjusting comprises a plurality of electrical stepper motors, each of said plurality of needles being mechanically connected to one of said plurality of electrical stepper motors;
• a plurality of linkage mechanism means mechanically connected to each of said plurality of needles and each of said plurality of stepper motors for transmitting motion from said plurality of electrical stepper motors to said plurality of needles, each of said plurality of linkage mechanism means comprises a generally horizontally extending member, movable in a circumferential direction;
• and
• means drivably connected to each of said plurality of stepper motors for detecting the position of each of said plurality of needles between said first and second positions relative to the circumferential motion of each of said plurality of linkage mechanism means and for indicating the position of each of said plurality of needles at a location remote from the position of said plurality of needles, said detecting means comprises a plurality of potentiometers.