"Blowing device installable in blowing carousels for the manufacture of hollow glassware"
The present invention is concerned with an improvement to a blowing device installable in blowing carousels for the manufacture of hollow glassware. Blowing carousels are known, on which are carried a plurality of blowing stations, each of which will receive a glass gob in the plastic state from an external dispenser and will subject the gob to a blowing process in a mould, in order to form the gob into a desired, hollow shape.
During the above blowing process, the gob is supported along its rim by an annular support, with a multi-sector mould that closes around it. The gob is then blown with an air stream which gradually stretches the glass against the inner wall of the mould until the gob is substantially formed into the final shape of the item. The air stream is fed by a pump via a pipe, whose outlet is located near the annular support, at right angles thereto.
When hollow glassware shaped without necks are blown, such as glasses, trays, and the like, the air stream substantially follows an ideal path whereby a good finish is achieved. When following said ideal path, the air stream hits against the bottom of the partially formed item, and is guided to tangentially and uniformly follow its hollow profile to be drained through the mouth.
On the contrary, mainly when items shaped with necks are blown, such as bottles, flasks, and the like, the above blowing device may be unsatisfactory in terms of finish. In this case, in fact, the air stream is liable to dissipate at the base of the neck, where the item profile becomes larger, thereby deviating from the above ideal path. Thus, in these areas where the profile becomes larger, the blowing action may be less effective because the glass is not uniformly stretched against the wall of the mould, and the final item may be affected by inaccuracies and misshapenness.
Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a blowing device installable in blowing carousels for the manufacture of hollow glassware, which is improved in order to achieve a higher finish, particularly in relation to hollow glassware shaped with a neck. The above object and other advantages, which will better appear below, are achieved by the blowing device having the features recited in claim 1, while the other claims state
other advantageous features of the invention.
The invention will be now described in more detail with reference to a preferred, non¬ exclusive embodiment, shown by way of non limiting example in the attached drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical, plan view of a general blowing carousel having a glass-gob dispenser associated thereto;
Fig. 2 is a view in axial, cross-section of the blowing device according to the invention, which is installable in the carousel of Fig. 1, in a first operative configuration;
Fig. 3 shows a detail of Fig. 2 to an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 shows a detail of Fig. 3 to an enlarged scale;
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the blowing device in a second, operative configuration;
Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the blowing device in a third, operative configuration. With initial reference to Fig. 1, a motorized blowing carousel 10 supports a plurality of equally-spaced blowing stations such as 12 along its periphery. While the carousel rotates, blowing stations 12 follow one another to receive glass gobs 14 in the plastic state, which are dispensed by a rotating dispenser 16 arranged near the carousel, in a way well known to a person skilled in the art. Having now particular reference to Figs. 2, 3, each of the blowing stations 14 comprises a frame 18 supporting a blowing device, generally referenced with 20. Blowing device 20 comprises a hollow, radial arm 22 integral with frame 18 and provided, at its outer end, with a vertical, through bore 24 having a vertical sleeve 26 inserted therein. Vertical bore 24 is closed at its lower end by a cover 28 surrounding vertical sleeve 26. Hollow arm 22 supports a cylinder 30 arranged coaxial to sleeve 26. Vertical sleeve 26 is pivotally supported on a pair of rolling bearings 32, 34 which are housed within cover 28 and cylinder 30 respectively. A ring bevel gear 36 is keyed to vertical sleeve 26 and meshes with a pinion 38 keyed to one end of a driving shaft 39 that is pivotally supported within hollow radial arm 22 on bearings such as 40. Driving shaft 39 is operatively connected, with its opposite end, to a ratio-motor 42.
A piston 44 integral with a hollow rod 46 is sealingly slidable within cylinder 30. Hollow rod 46 coaxially projects downwards from piston 44 and is slidably inserted into vertical sleeve 26. A threaded lower end 46a of hollow sleeve 46 projects outwards from vertical sleeve 26 and has a hollow punch 48 screwed thereto by means of a fastening nut 49, as shown in more detail in Fig. 4. The cavity within hollow rod 46 goes through piston 44 and, above piston 44, through a hollow projection 46b. The upper end of cylinder 44 is closed by a bottom 50 surrounding projection 46b. A swivel joint 52 is mounted on bottom 50 and surrounds projection 46b. Joint 52 has an annular passage 54 defined therein, which coaxially surrounds projection 46b of hollow rod 46 and is axially sealed by seals 56. As shown in Figs. 5, 6, projection 46b has a radial outlet 57 which is aligned to annular passage 54 when hollow rod 46 is arranged at its lower position. Annular passage 54 is in fluid communication with a radial, outflow channel 58 that leads to an outlet port having a solenoid valve 60 connected thereto.
An annular support 62, known per se, is connected to the lower end of vertical sleeve 26, and is arranged coaxial to, and spaced from, hollow punch 48. Annular support 62, also known as "worktable", will receive gob 14 from the dispenser and will support the gob along its rim, in a way known in the field.
A pipe 64 projecting upwards from projection 46b is axially slidable within hollow rod 46. The upper end of pipe 64 is connected to a vertical cylinder 66 by means of a braket 68. Vertical cylinder 66 is attached to the frame by conventional connection means (not shown). Pipe 64 has a pipe-union 70 mounted on its upper end for connection to air supply means 71 (only diagrammatically shown in the Figures). As shown in detail in Fig. 4, the outer diameter of pipe 64 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of hollow rod, so that a cylindrical gap P is defined between hollow rod 46 and pipe 64. Cylindrical gap P is axially sealed at the upper end of projection 46b by a swivel joint 72.
A multi-sector mould is arranged below annular support 62. The mould consists of a plurality of sectors such as 73 connected in a known way to driving means (not shown) operable to close the mould. hi the operation, motorized blowing carousel 10 rotates so that each of the blowing stations 12 is cyclically carried is in front of dispenser 16 to receive a gob 14 dispensed therefrom into annular support 62, in a way known per se. When the gob is positioned on annular support 62, cylinder 30 is operated to drop hollow rod 46 until hollow punch 48
engages the rim of gob 14 which, consequently, will become clamped between annular support 62 and punch 48. Air is then supplied into the pipe, so that the glass gob starts swelling into the deformed configuration shown in Fig. 5, with its concavity facing upwards. During the blowing process, anular support 62 is driven to rotate by ratio-motor 42, and hollow rod 46 is also driven to rotate by friction. Simultaneously, the mould starts closing around the workpiece under processing; when sectors 73 start closing, the workpiece has the deformed configuration shown with dashed line Ll in Fig. 6. The vertical cylinder is then operated to progressively drop pipe 64, which will penetrate the mould as shown in Fig. 6. During the blowing process, the air supplied into the pipe flows through annular gap P, outlet 57, annular passage 54, radial outflow channel 58, and solenoid valve 60. As well known to the person skilled in the art, with particular operative conditions, solenoid valve could also be maintained closed.
As mentioned above, during the blowing process, pipe 64 progressively penetrates the workpiece under processing, so that the blowing action will be always concentrated into the innermost areas of the workpiece. Thus, with the subsequent deformed configurations of the workpiece, the air stream is always guided to follow an ideal path whereby the glass is suitably and uniformly stretched against the inner wall of the mould, until the workpiece is formed into the desired, hollow shape of the final item, shown with dashed line L2 in Fig. 6. While following such ideal path, the air stream hits against the bottom of the workpiece and tangentially follows its hollow profile to be drained through the cylindrical gap. This allows high degree of finish to be achieved, also when items shaped with a neck, such as bottles, flasks, and the like, are blown.
A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described herein, but of course many changes may be made by a person skilled in the art, depending on the reqirements, within the scope of the inventive concept. For example, the cylinders and the ratio-motor can be substituted by other of driving means of a different type.