MXPA97003137A - Distributor of cased glass mass and metodopara distribute sales ma - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a dispenser (10) of molten glass masses for a glassware manufacturing system, which includes a discharge (20-26) of molten glass masses and at least one pallet (12-18) to receive the cast glass masses of such discharge and distribute the masses of molten glass among a plurality of channels or conduits (36 to 42) leading to the associated molds (44 to 44d) in a machine (44) of individual sections (IS) of multiple cavities The vane is coupled by a toothed drive belt (66) to an electric motor (70) to oscillate the vane by a cyclic path adjacent to the channels or conduits. The break in the drive belt is detected by coupling the first and second electronic detectors (72, 74) to the motor and the paddle, to provide first and second respective electrical signals as functions of movement in the motor and the paddle. The break in the drive band is indicated as a function of a difference between the first and second signals, indicating the loss of synchronization between the drive motor and the associated paddle

Description

DISTRIBUTOR OF CASED GLASS MASS AND METHOD TO DISTRIBUTE SUCH MASSES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the manufacture of glass articles, such as hollow glass containers and more in particular with an improved method and apparatus for distributing melted glass masses among a plurality of molding stations or sections.

BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Glass containers are conventionally formed in a machine comprising a plurality of sections, in each of which there is one or more blank or parison mold cavities (hollow balloon resulting from blowing glass - bottle factory) and transfer mechanisms that are synchronized with each other. This machine, called a machine of individual sections or IS, receives glass in the form of discrete mold charges or masses of molten glass. The glass melted from the furnace is cut into individual molten glass masses, which are fed to a melt-glass mass distributor. The purpose of the distributor of the masses of molten glass is to distribute the masses of molten glass to the individual sections of the machine of individual sections (IS) in the appropriate sequence, such that the masses of molten glass reach simultaneously into the cavities of the mold in each section in sequence. U.S. Patent Nos. 3,585,017 and 3,597,187 and patents mentioned herein, illustrate general technology. REF: 24645 U.S. Patent No. 2,859,559 discloses a construction of the molten glass mass distributor, in which a blade or shovel is disposed beneath a cutting mechanism of the masses of molten glass to receive the masses of molten glass in sequence and is coupled by a shaft or shaft to a motor to feed the individual molten glass masses to the spaced channels or channels. Each channel leads to the initial mold cavity of an associated section of an individual section (IS) machine. Each cavity of the IS machine has an associated conduit and the blade or shovel feeds molten glass masses to the individual conduits in an appropriate sequence. U.S. Patent No. 4,597,187 discloses a molten glass mass dispenser, wherein a plurality of vanes each have an upper end disposed below an associated molten glass mass discharge and a lower end arranged to oscillate through a arch adjacent a corresponding conduit of the plurality of conduits. Each pallet is transported by means of a pallet support frame, which in turn is coupled to a drive shaft. The multiple drive shafts are coupled to a gear drive drive, in which the shafts are driven together by means of associated gears by a single motor. Although this drive drive arrangement maintains proper synchronization between the vanes, a problem arises when you want to change the number of palettes. A completely new transmission drive is required.

U.S. Patent No. 5,405,424 discloses a cast glass mass distributor, in which a plurality of electric motors are individually coupled to the associated individual vanes, to selectively and individually rotate the vanes. The electric motors are all attached to an engine controller to synchronize the operation of the motors and the rotation of the pallets with each other and for the operation of the forming machine. In the preferred embodiment described in such patent, the motors comprise electric servomotors, each directly coupled individually to a single associated pallet and the motor controller comprises an electronic servomotor controller operatively coupled to each servomotor and synchronizes the operation thereof by means of a synchronization input of the training machine. It has been proposed in the North American patent application Serial No. presented (File 16884) the use of toothed drive belts to couple each motor to its associated pallet, in such a way that the motors can be positioned away from the oscillation axes of the pallets. Such construction improves the assembly and maintenance characteristics of the distributor assembly or assembly. However, the distributor must be checked closely for potential failures or rupture in the drive belt, such that the operation of the distributor can be terminated immediately to prevent potential interference and collision between the moving components. It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a system and method of distribution of the masses of molten glass of the character described, which employ non-contact characteristics to verify the operation of the drive belt, thereby reducing wear on The band, which have a fast reaction time, which are reliable and require little maintenance, employing elements that are already provided in the assembly or distributor assembly of molten glass masses to control the distribution of the masses of molten glass and by consequently, it does not require additional physical elements, which accommodates the flexibility of the web during acceleration and deceleration and / or inherently verifies the operation of the complete pallet drive train. A molten glass mass distributor for a glassware manufacturing system, in accordance with the present invention, includes a discharge of molten glass masses and at least one vane to receive the masses of molten glass from such discharge and distribute the masses of molten glass between a plurality of conduits or channels leading to the associated molds in a multi-cavity individual section machine. The vane is coupled by a drive belt to an electric motor to oscillate the vane through a cyclic path adjacent to the channels or conduits. According to the present invention, the break in the drive belt is detected by coupling the first and second electronic detectors to the motor and the paddle, to provide first and second respective electrical signals as functions of the movement in the motor and the paddle . The break in the drive band is indicated as a function of a difference between the first and second signals, indicating loss of synchronization between the drive motor and the associated paddle. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the detectors comprise position detectors that provide the first and second associated electrical signals as respective functions of the position change in the drive motor and the vane. The break in the drive band is indicated when the difference between such position change signals exceeds a preselected threshold. The motor in the preferred embodiment of the invention is coupled to the drive belt by a gearbox having a gear reduction ratio N. The position change signal of the blade is multiplied by N before comparison with the gearbox. first signal. In the preferred implementation of the invention, there are several vanes for distributing melted glass masses from the various discharges to the associated molds in a multi-cavity individual section machine. Each paddle is independently driven by an associated motor and drive belt, the motors are synchronized by an engine controller. Detectors are associated with each motor and palette to verify the condition of each band. In the case of breaking of any band, the movement ends in all the palettes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention, together with objects, features and additional advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a system for distributing melted glass masses, according to a presently preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the motor arrangement and drive belt in the molten glass mass distribution system illustrated in Fig. 1; and Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of a system for controlling movement in one of the vanes in Figures 1-2 and detecting a broken drive belt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 for distributing melted glass masses, according to a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, consisting of four arched blades 12, 14, 16, 18, each having a upper end positioned below an associated molten glass mass discharge hole 20, 22, 24, 26. Each vane 12, 14, 16, 18 is transported by an associated support bracket or frame 28, 30, 32, 34, to rotate through an arc around a fixed axis, such that the upper end of each vane remains positioned below its associated glass mass discharge orifice, while the lower end of each vane oscillates through an arc adjacent to an associated array of channels or conduits 36, 38, 40, 42. The number of conduits in each array 36, 38, 40, 42 is determined by the number of sections 44 in the individual section machine. The number of vanes 12, 14, 16, 18, the number of holes 20, 22, 24, 26 and the number of duct arrangements 36, 38, 40, 42 are determined by the number of molds or cavities in each section 44 of the machine of individual sections. For example, four holes, vanes and duct arrangements for the masses of molten glass are illustrated in Figure 1, for use in connection with a machine called individual sections (IS), in which each section 44 includes four parison molds 44a, 44b, 44c and 44d. A classic IS machine can include eight to twelve such machine sections 44, such that each array of conduits 36, 38, 40, 42 would include eight to twelve individual conduits positioned for alignment with the corresponding pallet 12, 14, 16, 18, of which only three conduits are illustrated in Figure 1 for purposes of simplicity. The general purpose of the molten glass mass distribution system 10 is to deliver loads or molten masses of molten glass to the four molds 44a, 44b, 44c and 44d simultaneously for each section 44 of the machine, in sequence. Each pallet support frame 28, 30, 32, 34 is coupled to a drive 46, 48, 50, 52 of the associated pallet (FIG. 2). The actuators 46, 48, 50, 52 of the vanes are all identical to each other, the drive 46 of the vane is described in detail hereinafter in relation to figures 1 and 3. A shaft 54 for driving the vanes is it rotatably drives bearings carried by a support bracket 56 of the blade shaft and is coupled in a driven manner to a support frame 34 of the blade. A second bracket 58 carries a shaft 60 which is driven to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the shaft 54. The shafts 54, 60 each carry an associated toothed pulley 62, 64, which are interconnected in a driven manner by a band 66 of toothed drive. The brackets 56, 58 are adjustable to each other to adjust the tension in the drive band 66, while maintaining the parallel orientation of the shafts 54, 60. The shaft 60 is connected by a gearbox 68 to an electric servo motor 70. three-phase A resolution device or other appropriate detector 72, 74 is operatively coupled to each associated shaft 54, 60 to provide respective electrical signals as a function of the rotational position in the associated shaft. The detectors 72, 74 provide their respective signals indicating the position to a processor 76 for controlling the movement of the distributor. The processor 76 receives inputs from all the detectors 72, 74 associated with all the vanes 12, 14, 16, 18 and provides output signals to all the motors 70 to control the movement in all the vanes 12, 14, 16, 18 independently each. In general, the processor 76 generates a variant signal indicating the desired position in each palette 12, 14, 16, 18 and generates a signal of control for each motor 70 as a function of a difference between the desired position signal and the actual position signal indicated by the associated detector 74. The control signals to the motors 70 are applied as first and second torque commands to two phases of each motor and a third torque control signal is applied in the third phase of each motor as a function of the sum of the first and second associated torque control signals. The position detector 72 provides a signal indicating the actual position of each associated palette 12, 14, 16, 18 and it is verified during adjustment to initial values to set such real position in the memory of the processor 76. The output of the detector 72 can also be verified during the operation to detect any movement in the position of the associated palette. . To the extent heretofore described, the electronic components for controlling movement in the various vanes 12, 14, 16, 18 are described more fully in U.S. Patent No. 5,405,424 described above, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference for background purposes. According to the present invention, the outputs of each pair of detectors 72, 74 are verified by the processor 76 to detect a condition of rupture of the band in any of the blades 12, 14, 16, 18 to provide an alarm indication at 78 and to stop movement on all the vanes and drive mechanisms of the vanes to prevent damage or collisions of the vanes and associated physical drive elements. More specifically, the processor 76 receives the output signals P72 and 74 from the detectors 72, 74 indicative of the position of such detectors and compares such signals according to the following relationship: dP = (dP 2 * N) -dP74, in where dP 2 is the change in position in the detector 72, dP 4 is the change of position in the detector 74 and N is the gear reduction ratio in the gearbox 68 68 (dP 4 could, of course, be divided by N to obtain the same effect). If dP <; dPto? or within tolerance, no action is taken. However, if dP > dPto ?, which indicates that the differential dP of the change of position is out of tolerance, a broken band is indicated at 78 and the movement of all the paddles is terminated. The differential position tolerance dPtoi is preselected empirically based on the design to accommodate the elasticity in the band as the system accelerates and decelerates between successive positions of the pallet and to reduce the sensitivity to system noise. It will further be appreciated that the verification and detection of the broken web is provided in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention by means of components that are already employed in the cast glass mass dispenser for the purpose of controlling the movement of the pallet. That is, the broken band detection is provided by means of the verification of the outputs of the position detectors 72, 74, which already provide themselves in the system for the control of the movement of the pallet, as shown in FIG. describes in the patent referred to above 5,405,424. Thus, verification of the drive band is carried out in accordance with the present invention by simply including appropriate programming elements in the processor 76 to verify the output signals of the detector. The condition of the band is verified without direct contact with the band itself, thus eliminating direct contact as a cause of the potential wear of the band. The reaction time of the electronic verification and control components is very fast, providing the virtually instantaneous completion of the movement of the pallet in the molten glass mass distributor in the detection of a broken band condition. In addition, the system is inherently reliable and requires little maintenance. The elasticity of the band is accommodated by the design or empirical selection of the position differential threshold to detect a broken band condition. In addition, the system of the invention checks the drive train of the entire pallet and thus automatically terminates the operation of the molten glass dispenser in the case of an excessive position differential caused by a cause other than the broken band, such as burning of an electric motor 70 or faults in the gearbox 68.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it relates.

Having described the invention as above, it is claimed as property, what is contained in the following

Claims (12)

1. Claims 1. A dispenser of molten glass masses for a glassware manufacturing system, including means for discharging the masses of molten glass and means for receiving the masses of molten glass from the discharge means and distributing the masses of glass. glass melted between a plurality of article forming means, the receiving and distributing means comprise at least one blade arranged to receive the masses of molten glass from the discharge means, means for mounting the blade to oscillate about a fixed axis below of the discharge means, an electric motor, drive band means that couple the motor to the mounting means for oscillating the vane and means for detecting the rupture in the belt drive means, characterized in that it comprises: first means of detector for coupling to the motor, to provide a first electrical signal as a function of the movement in the motor, seconds I sensor god for coupling to the vane to provide a second electrical signal as a function of the movement in the vane and means for indicating the rupture in the drive band means as a function of a difference between the first and second signals.
2. 2. The dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the means indicating the break comprise means for comparing the difference between the first and second signals at a preselected threshold and means for indicating the break in the drive band means when the difference exceeds. threshold.
3. 3. The dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises a gearbox having a reduction ratio of gears N for operatively coupling the motor to the belt drive means and wherein the means indicating the break comprise means for multiplying the second signal by the gear reduction ratio N before comparison with the first signal.
4. 4. The distributor according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second detectors comprise position detectors and wherein the first and second signals indicate the change of position in the associated detectors.
5. 5. The dispenser according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of vanes, each having an associated motor, drive band means, first detector means, second detector means and means indicating the rupture and sensitive means to break in any of the drive belt means to stop movement in all engines.
6. 6. A method for detecting, in a band drive system including a motor, a load and a drive band, the breaking of the band, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) providing first and second electrical signals as functions of the movement in the motor and load respectively; (b) comparing the first and second signals to each other, and (c) indicating the breaking of the band when the first and second signals over more than one preselected threshold.
7. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the system further includes a gearbox having a gear ratio N between the motor and the load and wherein the method includes the additional step of multiplying one of the first and second signals by a factor of N before stage (b).
8. 8. A distributor of molten glass masses for a glassware manufacturing system, which includes a plurality of means for discharging the masses of molten glass and means for receiving the masses of molten glass from each of the discharging means and distributing them the masses of molten glass between a plurality of article forming means, the receiving and distributing means are characterized in that they comprise: a plurality of pallets, each having a top end arranged to receive the glass masses of the discharge means, a plurality of electric motors and a plurality of drive band means, each coupling the motor to an associated paddle to oscillate the paddle independently of the other vanes, about a fixed axis, a plurality of first detector means, each coupled to an associated motor to provide a first electrical signal as a function of movement in the associated motor, a plurality of second detector means, each coupled to an associated pallet to provide a second electrical signal as a function of the movement in the associated pallet, and means responsive to the first and second signals to indicate the break in any of the drive band means and to stop the movement in all the pallets.
9. 9. A method for distributing melted glass masses in a system for manufacturing glassware, including means for discharging the masses of molten glass and means for receiving the masses of molten glass from the discharge means and distributing the masses of molten glass between a plurality of article forming means, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) positioning at least one vane to receive the glass masses from the discharge means, (b) mounting the vane so that it oscillates about a fixed axis below the discharge means, (c) coupling the motor to the pallet by means of drive band means to oscillate the pallet, and (d) detecting the break in the drive band means by: (d) coupling a first detecting the motor to provide a first electrical signal as a function of motor movement, (d ii) coupling a second detector to the paddle to provide a second electrical signal as a function of the motor In the pallet, e (d iii) indicate the breaking of the drive band means as a function of a difference between the first and second signals.
10. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the break is indicated in step (d iii) by comparing the difference between the first and second signals with a preselected threshold and indicating the break in the drive band means when the difference exceeds the threshold.
11. 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the first and second detectors comprise position detectors and wherein the first and second signals indicate the change of position in the associated detectors.
12. 12. The method according to claim 9, 10 or 11, characterized in that it further comprises a gearbox having a reduction ratio of gears N for operatively coupling the motor to the belt driving means and wherein the means indicating the Rupture comprise means for multiplying the second signal by the reduction ratio of gears N before comparison with the first signal.