Title: Glassware handling and treating equipment

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to glassware handling equipment for the coating of glass containers such as bottles with a protective, non-abrading material that is sprayed on in liquid or powder form in the manner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,856 issued to me Oct. 16, 1973. My earlier patent is directed to the transfer of bottles from the forming machine to and through an annealing lehr, with the bottles being thereafter raised from a supporting conveyor to spray the sides and bottom with the coating material without relative movement of the ware and its support. This process leaves the impression of the conveyor surface such as woven wire on the bottom of the bottle because it is placed on the conveyor before the coating is set or matured. By means of the present invention the coating material on the base or bottom of the glassware is matured after it is sprayed on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The glassware handling and maturing equipment in accordance with the present invention maintains the flow of glass bottles from the forming machines and through the lehr without interruption. Supplemental heating and cooling equipment are in the line of movement of the ware after it has passed through the annealing and spraying cycle, with the ware being suspended so as to remove surface irregularities on the coating on the bottom of the bottles.

Accordingly, the principle object of this invention is to provide means for obtaining a non-abrading uniform surface coating on the outside surface of glass bottles and the like.

Another object of this invention is to encapsulate glass bottles in non-abrading coating material having a smooth surface of substantially uniform thickness on substantially their entire outer surface to render them safe for handling when charged with carbonated or other pressure fluids.

It is a further object of this invention to assure separate heating and cooling means for maturing the outside surface of the base or bottoms of the bottles.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description which follows and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a parallel conveyor with gripping means engaging the neck or finish of the bottles and conveying them in suspension successively over a heating panel, a cooling spray and a water-removing blast of air;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the conveyor, FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view, partially in elevation, of the conveyor support and bottle engaging linkage of the conveyor shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation partially in section of the bottle shown in FIG. 3 suspended over a radiant heat panel of burners;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the bottles suspended from the conveyor and passing over a plurality of the burners shown in FIG. 4; and,

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view partially in elevation and partially in section of a bottle exposed to spray nozzles for spraying non-abrading coating materials on the outside including a portion of the neck and the base of the bottle, as disclosed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,856 referred to above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the several figures of the drawing the numerals 1 and 1a designate a pair of beams having parallel tracks 1b and 1c for supporting the conveyor consisting of a pair of endless chains 2 and 2a with grippers 3 constituting spring fingers that are juxtaposed and biased toward each other where the conveyors merge adjacent the conveyor from the annealing lehr. The grippers 3 engage the neck 4 of a bottle 5 by which it is suspended from the endless conveyor chain.

As shown in FIG. 2 the conveyor 7 conveys the bottles from the discharge end of an annealing lehr L after which they are sprayed by nozzles 8 and 8a which coat the sides and neck of the bottles and a spray 9 for coating the base 10 of the bottle, as shown in FIG. 6 and disclosed in my aforementioned patent. They are then gripped by the fingers 3 and passed over a panel 11 of radiant heaters, there being a sufficient number of the individual burners 12 to generate enough heat to heal over any impressions or marks left on the coating on the bottom of the bottles by the conveyor 7, which usually is of wire mesh construction.

When the bottles 5 have passed over the burners 12, the bottoms of the bottles are exposed to a water cooling spray from nozzles 13 which are supplied by a manifold 13a. There are a sufficient number of nozzles 13 to cause the plastic coating material on the bottoms of the bottles to set. The bottles pass from the coolant spray over an air blast distributor 14 having a slot or perforations to blow the water remaining on the bottles away from the bottles so that they are matured and dry as they pass over and are deposited on a conveyor belt 15 by which they are carried for further treatment or to an inspection table where they are removed for packing. A blower fan 14a delivers the air blast to the slotted air distributor 14.

It will thus be seen that the only equipment needed for maturing the coating on the base of the bottles is the burner panel 11 which reheats the base and which may comprise fire polishing burners, spray nozzles 13 which provide the coolant, and blower 14a which supplies drying air through the slotted nozzle 14.

The spray mechanism shown in FIG. 6 has been disclosed in my former patent mentioned above and the present invention is not directed to any spraying method but to apparatus that supplements the apparatus shown in my earlier patent.

It will thus be seen that the present invention insures a non-abrading coating on the entire outer surface of the bottle, including the base. The invention is also applicable to coating the base or bottom of the bottles if they have been provided with a plastic sleeve which is shrunk on the body of the bottle by means of heat, leaving the base exposed.

Although one embodiment of the invention has herein been illustrated and described, it is obvious that modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.