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.

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 method of loading glass gobs into blank molds includes producing glass gobs falling from laterally spaced orifices along falling gob axes, and receiving the glass gobs into laterally spaced blank molds having blank mold centerlines corresponding to the falling gob axes. A related system is disclosed. Also disclosed is a multiple gob feeder that includes a feeder vessel including outlets with outlet centerlines, and feeder orifices in communication with the feeder vessel and having orifice centerlines coaxial with the outlet centerlines of the outlets of the feeder vessel and establishing gob falling axes and including orifice pipes and orifice tips below the orifice pipes. The orifice pipes include heaters to heat the orifice pipes and the orifice tips include orifice tip heaters to heat the orifice tips.

Confirming compliance with a configuration includes: receiving information about a fixture, where the information includes a specified configuration of items to be displayed on the fixture; generating a display using the information, where the display depicts the specified configuration; presenting the display using a graphics system of a computing device; receiving an image depicting an actual configuration of the fixture; associating metadata with the image, where the metadata includes searchable data that distinguishes the fixture from at least some other fixtures of like type; sending the image, along with the metadata, over a network to a server that is remote from the computing device; and in a case that the specified configuration substantially matches the actual configuration, sending, along with the image and the metadata, a message indicating that the fixture is in compliance with the specified configuration.

A molten glass cutting apparatus comprises a first support portion, a second support portion, a restriction portion and an applying portion. The first support portion supports a shear blade so as to be rotatable around a first axis extending in the width direction of the shear blade. The second support portion supports the shear blade so as to be rotatable around a second axis extending in the length direction of the shear blade. The restriction portion restricts rotation of the shear blade provided with the first support portion around the first axis so that inclined portions of a projecting portions of each of a pair of the shear blades face each other when a pair of the shear blades are separated. The applying portion applies an elastic force around the first axis for pressing a pair of the shear blades against each other to the shear blade provided with the first support portion.

A molten glass cutting apparatus comprises a first support portion, a second support portion, a restriction portion and an applying portion. The first support portion supports a shear blade so as to be rotatable around a first axis extending in the width direction of the shear blade. The second support portion supports the shear blade so as to be rotatable around a second axis extending in the length direction of the shear blade. The restriction portion restricts rotation of the shear blade provided with the first support portion around the first axis so that inclined portions of a projecting portions of each of a pair of the shear blades face each other when a pair of the shear blades are separated. The applying portion applies an elastic force around the first axis for pressing a pair of the shear blades against each other to the shear blade provided with the first support portion.

A column of molten glass is cut transversely to make a plurality of glass gobs by means of a cutting device having an elongated piece orthogonal to a conveying direction of the column and carried by a moveable frame operated by a motor controlled by a unit to rotate the piece at either constant or variable speed in one or both directions of rotation about a fixed hinged axis orthogonal to the conveying direction of the glass column.

A column of molten glass is cut transversely to make a plurality of glass gobs by means of a cutting device having an elongated piece orthogonal to a conveying direction of the column and carried by a moveable frame operated by a motor controlled by a unit to rotate the piece at either constant or variable speed in one or both directions of rotation about a fixed hinged axis orthogonal to the conveying direction of the glass column.

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.