Glass gob shearing apparatus with contact lubricated blades and method of shearing employing same

Parallel shear apparatus for shearing at least one stream of molten glass into individual gobs, said apparatus comprising:

• a first carriage;
• a second carriage, said second carriage being opposed to said first carriage;
• first slide means for slidably supporting said first carriage;
• second slide means for slidably supporting said second carriage;
• a first blade carried by said first carriage, said first blade having a first internal circulating passage to permit a cooling fluid to circulate therethrough;
• a second blade carried by said second carriage, said second blade having a second internal passage to permit a cooling fluid to circulate therethrough;
• drive means for simultaneously driving said first carriage and said second carriage toward and away from one another along first and second rectilinear travel paths between first positions of said first carriage and said second carriage where said first blade and said second blade are spaced apart from one another and second positions of said first carriage and said second carriage where said first blade and said second blade partly overlap one another to shear a stream of molten glass flowing therebetween;
• and
• lubricant application means for applying a lubricant to a surface of one of said first blade and said second blade, said surface being a surface that contacts the other of said first blade and said second blade when said first blade and said second blade partly overlap one another, said lubricant application means comprising a contact portion that contacts said surface of said one of said first blade and said second blade to evenly spread the lubricant thereon into a thin, relatively uniform covering.

Parallel shear apparatus for shearing a plurality of streams of molten glass into individual gobs, said apparatus comprising:

• a first carriage;
• a second carriage, said second carriage being opposed to said first carriage;
• first slide means for slidably supporting said first carriage;
• second slide means for slidably supporting said second carriage;
• a first plurality of blades carried by said first carriage, each of the blades of said first plurality of blades having a first internal circulating passage to permit a cooling fluid to circulate therethrough;
• a second plurality of blades carried by said second carriage, each of the blades of said second plurality of blades having a second internal passage to permit a cooling fluid to circulate therethrough;
• drive means for simultaneously driving said first carriage and said second carriage toward and away from one another along first and second rectilinear travel paths between first positions of said first carriage and said second carriage where the blades of said first plurality of blades and the blades of said second plurality of blades are spaced apart from one another and second positions of said first carriage and said second carriage where the blades of said first plurality of blades and the blades of said second plurality of blades partly overlap one another to shear a plurality of streams of molten glass flowing therebetween;
• and
• lubricant application means for applying a lubricant to a surface of each of the blades of one of said first plurality of blades and said second plurality of blades, said surface being a surface that contacts a blade of the other of said first plurality of blades and said second plurality of blades when said first plurality of blades and said second plurality of blades partly overlap one another, said lubricant application means comprising a contact portion that contacts said surface of each of the blades of said one of said first plurality of blades and said second plurality of blades to evenly spread the lubricant thereon into a thin, relatively uniform covering.

A method of shearing at least one vertically flowing stream of molten glass into individual gobs comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second opposed, generally horizontally extending double-ended shear blades, each of which has a shearing end;
• simultaneously moving the first and second shear blades along first and second paths of travel toward and then away from one another to bring the shearing ends of each of the first and second shear blades into partly overlapping contact with one another in alignment with the stream of molten glass when the first and second shear blades are at innermost locations along the first and second paths of travel;
• and
• applying a lubricant to a surface of one of said first blade and said second blade, said surface being a surface that contacts the other of said first blade and said second blade when said first blade and said second blade partly overlap one another, the lubricant being applied by contacting said surface with a lubricant application means to evenly spread the lubricant thereon to form a thin, relatively uniform coating.

A method of shearing a spaced apart plurality of generally co-planar vertically flowing streams of molten glass into individual gobs comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second pluralities of opposed, generally horizontally extending double ended shear blades, each of which has a shearing end;
• simultaneously moving the first and second pluralities of shear blades along first and second paths of travel toward and away from one another to bring the shearing ends of each of the shear blades of one of the first and second pluralities of shear blades into partly overlapping contact with the shearing ends of each of the other of the first and second pluralities of shear blades in alignment with the plurality of streams of molten glass when the first and second pluralities of shear blades are at innermost locations along the first and second paths of travel;
• and
• applying a lubricant to a surface of each of the blades in one of the first and second pluralities of blades, said surface being a surface that contacts a blade of the other of said first and second pluralities of blades when said each of the blades in said one of the first and second pluralities of blades partly overlaps a blade in the other of said first and second pluralities of blades when said first and second pluralities of blades partly overlap one another, the lubricant being applied by contacting said surface of said each of the blades in said one of said first and second pluralities of blades with a lubricant application means to spread the lubricant thereon to form a thin, relatively uniform coating.