GB378856A - Improvements in or relating to glass forming machines - Google Patents

Abstract

378,856. Glass manufacture. WHITALL TATUM CO., Millville, New Jersey, U.S.A. May 11, 1931, No. 13877. Convention date, June 21, 1930. [Class 56.] Delivering molten metal; pressing. - A machine for forming glassware and a feeder for supplying it with charges of molten glass are provided with a common driving-mechanism, and means are provided for advancing or retarding the operation of one apparatus with respect to the other, and for driving the feeder while the forming-machine is idle. The forming-machine shown in the Figure is a press in which a number of moulding-units rotate about a central vertical axis as described in Specification 378,977, and charges of glass are delivered from the feeder into a shoot 58 which directs them into the moulds 57. The shoot is supported in a vertical pivot and is connected by a rod 68 to a lever arm 69 which, when the rotation of the forming-machine is stopped, swings the shoot to one side so that the charges of glass fall into a receptacle for cullet. The shearing-device of the feeder is driven by a vertical telescopic shaft 86 which is supported by a pedestal secured to the flow of the shop. An horizontal telescopic shaft 94 connects the shaft 86, through bevel gearing housed in a casing 92, with a differential gear housed in a casing 98, and the shaft permits the machine to be moved relatively to the feeder. A handwheel 421 enables the bevel wheels of the differential gear to be rotated 'so that the timing of the feeder can be adjusted in relation to the operation of the forming-machine. The machine is rotated by an electric motor E, and a number of control switches and signal lamps are placed at convenient points around the machine. A brake is applied automatically when the current is cut off from the motor. The driving-mechanism embodies a change-speed gear which, when the machine is started, rotates it at a slow speed and, after a predetermined period at the slow speed, automatically changes and drives the machine at the normal. working speed. Thua, when starting from rest, the inertia of the moving parts is overcome gradually. The gear changes automatically to the slow-speed ratio each time the driving-motor stops. A clutch connects the machine drive to the main driving-shaft, and the clutch is disconnected when the machine is stopped for adjustment so that the feeder continues to be driven by the motor. The clutch has only one tooth and when it is closed again, the machine and the feeder take up their proper relative timing. Safety switches are provided for stopping the motor in the event of the piers, heads, moulds, &c., becoming jammed or failing to occupy their proper position.