A cutting assembly is provided with a supporting frame, with two shear cutting members revolving with respect to the supporting frame about respective hinge axes, parallel to each other, and with a movement device for rotating the shear cutting members with a reciprocating rotary motion, with equal angles and in opposite directions; the shear cutting members rotate between a retracted rest position and an advanced cutting position to form a glass gob from at least one thread of molten glass; the movement device is provided with a connecting rod and crank transmission, a rotary motor with a rotor, which drives such transmission, and with a control unit, which controls the rotary motor and is configured so as to rotate the rotor in opposite directions between two stroke-end angular positions, corresponding to the retracted rest position of the shear cutting members.

A device for flowing molten glass suitable for installation on a glass melting furnace, including: a flow channel including an outlet of given diameter; and a device for regulating flow of molten glass at an outlet of the flow channel, including: a removable plate including a through-orifice with an area smaller than an area of the outlet of the flow channel; and a movable shuttering mechanism configured to adjustably shutter the outlet of the flow channel or the through-orifice of the removable plate. The device allows a single furnace to be used for various types of glasses having very different viscosities.

A gob forming device for forming a gob that is fed into a mold for molding a glass product after adjusting the gob to an optimum weight and shape, the gob forming device comprising: one or two cameras 71,72 configured to capture one or more images of a gob in the falling path of the gob, the gob being obtained by cutting molten glass extruded from a circular orifice 11 of a gob feeder 1; an image processor 70 configured to perform image processing to measure the weight of the gob and feature values of the gob based on the one or more 2-D images of the gob captured by the one or two cameras, the feature values defining the shape of the gob, the weight and the feature values being measured by approximating the shape of the gob's cross section in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction as a circle or ellipse and; drive mechanisms 40, 50, and 64 to 66 configured to individually drive respective adjustment mechanisms to adjust the gob to achieve a desired weight and shape; a storage device configured to store, as reference data, a standard weight of the gob and an optimum value of each of the feature values of the gob; and a control device 8 configured to drive the drive mechanisms 40, 50, and 64 to 66 so that the drive mechanisms operate to ensure that the difference between the weight of the gob measured by the image processor 70 and the corresponding reference data stored in the storage device is an acceptable value and the differences between the feature values of the gob measured by the image processor 70 and the corresponding reference data stored in the storage device are acceptable values.

A gob forming device for forming a gob that is fed into a mold for molding a glass product after adjusting the gob to an optimum weight and shape, the gob forming device comprising: one or two cameras 71,72 configured to capture one or more images of a gob in the falling path of the gob, the gob being obtained by cutting molten glass extruded from a circular orifice 11 of a gob feeder 1; an image processor 70 configured to perform image processing to measure the weight of the gob and feature values of the gob based on the one or more 2-D images of the gob captured by the one or two cameras, the feature values defining the shape of the gob, the weight and the feature values being measured by approximating the shape of the gob's cross section in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction as a circle or ellipse and; drive mechanisms 40, 50, and 64 to 66 configured to individually drive respective adjustment mechanisms to adjust the gob to achieve a desired weight and shape; a storage device configured to store, as reference data, a standard weight of the gob and an optimum value of each of the feature values of the gob; and a control device 8 configured to drive the drive mechanisms 40, 50, and 64 to 66 so that the drive mechanisms operate to ensure that the difference between the weight of the gob measured by the image processor 70 and the corresponding reference data stored in the storage device is an acceptable value and the differences between the feature values of the gob measured by the image processor 70 and the corresponding reference data stored in the storage device are acceptable values.

A change system for changing an orifice plate that is registered with an orifice ring is provided. The orifice plate change system includes a guide arrangement, a plurality of orifice plates, and an actuator. The guide arrangement has a charging plate region and an operating plate region. Each orifice plate is configured to be slidably carried by the guide arrangement between the charging plate region and the operating plate region in which the orifice thereof is registered with the orifice ring orifice. A first orifice plate has a first orifice and a second orifice plate has a second orifice that is different than the first orifice such that a stream of molten glass that passes through the second is different than a stream of molten glass passing through the first orifice. The actuator translates the orifice plates from the charging plate region to the operating plate region.

A change system for changing an orifice plate that is registered with an orifice ring is provided. The orifice plate change system includes a guide arrangement, a plurality of orifice plates, and an actuator. The guide arrangement has a charging plate region and an operating plate region. Each orifice plate is configured to be slidably carried by the guide arrangement between the charging plate region and the operating plate region in which the orifice thereof is registered with the orifice ring orifice. A first orifice plate has a first orifice and a second orifice plate has a second orifice that is different than the first orifice such that a stream of molten glass that passes through the second is different than a stream of molten glass passing through the first orifice. The actuator translates the orifice plates from the charging plate region to the operating plate region.

A change system for changing an orifice plate that is registered with an orifice ring is provided. The orifice plate change system includes a guide arrangement, a plurality of orifice plates, and an actuator. The guide arrangement has a charging plate region and an operating plate region. Each orifice plate is configured to be slidably carried by the guide arrangement between the charging plate region and the operating plate region in which the orifice thereof is registered with the orifice ring orifice. A first orifice plate has a first orifice and a second orifice plate has a second orifice that is different than the first orifice such that a stream of molten glass that passes through the second is different than a stream of molten glass passing through the first orifice. The actuator translates the orifice plates from the charging plate region to the operating plate region.

A change system for changing an orifice plate that is registered with an orifice ring is provided. The orifice plate change system includes a guide arrangement, a plurality of orifice plates, and an actuator. The guide arrangement has a charging plate region and an operating plate region. Each orifice plate is configured to be slidably carried by the guide arrangement between the charging plate region and the operating plate region in which the orifice thereof is registered with the orifice ring orifice. A first orifice plate has a first orifice and a second orifice plate has a second orifice that is different than the first orifice such that a stream of molten glass that passes through the second is different than a stream of molten glass passing through the first orifice. The actuator translates the orifice plates from the charging plate region to the operating plate region.