A molten glass cutting apparatus comprises a pair of shear blades and a control unit that controls a pair of the shear blades to relatively move toward each other. The control unit controls a pair of the shear blades to relatively move so that tip parts of a pair of the shear blades overlap, and shearing force by cutting edges of a pair of the shear blade cuts molten glass extruded from an orifice formed at a bottom part of a spout. When a central part of molten glass is offset with respect to a central axis of the orifice, the control unit offsets a position of cutting by a pair of the cutting edges to a side of the central part with respect to the central axis.

An apparatus and method for manufacturing a glass article includes a conduit of precious metal or precious metal alloy hat encloses molten glass. The apparatus and method also includes a channel positioned inside or proximate the conduit that flows a defect inhibiting fluid therethrough. The channel includes at least one orifice positioned proximate a free surface of the molten glass from which flows the defect inhibiting fluid.

A glass forming individual section machine includes a machine frame having a glass gob loading axis, a traversable blank side, including a blank mold configured to form a glass gob into a parison and having a blank mold vertical axis, and a mold carriage movably carried on the machine frame and coupled to the traversable blank side to linearly translate the traversable blank side toward the glass gob loading axis to align the blank mold vertical axis with the glass gob loading axis and to linearly translate the traversable blank side away from the glass gob loading axis. A related method of loading a blank mold of an individual section machine is also disclosed.

Method of filling a mould and system for filling a mould. Abstract Method of filling a mould (8) with a glass gob (10) through an opening (12) of the mould (8), for forming a glass product in the mould (8), by using a delivery system (14) for delivering the glass gob to the opening (12) of the mould (8). The delivery system (14) has an inlet (16), an outlet (18), and guiding means (20) for guiding the glass gob through the delivery system (14). The method includes observing the glass gob, at at least one moment and/or during at least one period after the glass gob has passed the inlet (16) of the delivery system (14), by using an optical imaging device (4). The method includes determining a glass gob observation result that includes a glass gob velocity, for predicting a glass distribution of the glass product formed in the mould (8) and/or for controlling a next glass gob.

In a plunger assembly for forming ribbons of molten glass, at least one extruder plunger is guided in a vertical direction from and towards a tank adapted to contain a mass of molten glass from a guide head carried by a support arm kept fixed during the forming of the bead extruder plunger displaced by alternated cyclic motion with respect to the support arm according a predefined law of motion from one drive unit displaced above the support arm and at least partly above tank.

A glass forming machine and a method for manufacturing formed glass parisons. A glass forming machine includes a blank side for forming parisons from gobs of molten glass. The blank side includes a plunger and a blank mould. The plunger can be moved into the blank mould up to an end position. The plunger can be moved out of the blank mould up to a start position. The glass forming machine includes a glass feeding device which is configured to bring a gob of molten glass into the blank mould. The glass forming machine includes a measuring device which is configured to measure the end position of the plunger. The glass feeding device is configured such that the size of a gob of molten glass depends on the end position previously reached during operation. Parisons of good quality can be produced with a bigger tolerance of mould volumina.

A method of controlling a flowrate of molten material at a downstream location in a glass manufacturing process can include mixing the molten material at an upstream location positioned upstream from the downstream location relative to a flow direction of the molten material with a shaft including a plurality of protrusions. The method can also include measuring a torque of the shaft, measuring a level of the molten material at the upstream location, and calculating a viscosity of the molten material at the upstream location based on the measured torque and the measured level. In addition, the method can include estimating the flowrate based on the calculated viscosity, and controlling the flowrate at the downstream location based on the estimated flowrate.

Methods for reducing the oxygen concentration in an enclosure including a platinum-containing vessel through which molten glass is flowing are disclosed. The methods include injecting hydrogen gas into an oxygen-containing atmosphere flowing between the enclosure and a reaction chamber. The atmosphere is heated with a heating element in the reaction chamber, whereupon oxygen in the oxygen-containing atmosphere reacts with the hydrogen. In other embodiments, the hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing atmosphere can be exposed to a catalyst comprising platinum positioned in the reaction chamber.

In a plunger assembly for forming ribbons of molten glass, at least one extruder plunger is guided in a vertical direction from and towards a tank adapted to contain a mass of molten glass from a guide head carried by a support arm kept fixed during the forming of the bead. The extruder plunger is displaced by alternated cyclic motion with respect to the support arm according a predefined law of motion from one drive unit displaced above the support arm and at least partly above the tank.

Methods and systems for controlling vertical glass distribution are provided. A traversing pyrometer periodically measures a parison actual temperature after the parisons exit a blank mold. The thermal camera takes a thermal image of each glass container after the glass container exits the blow mold. A vertical glass signature extraction module extracts a vertical glass distribution signature. A parison temperature estimator determines a parison estimated temperature for each vertical glass distribution signature obtained based on the vertical glass distribution signature, a most recently measured parison actual temperature and a parison stretch time. A parison temperature summer compares the parison estimated temperature to a parison set point temperature to determine a parison temperature error. A parison temperature control controls a blank mold contact time based on the parison temperature error.