Patent Application
20120297831
The present invention concerns a method and installation for manufacturing a glass bottle comprising in particular a bottom, side walls and optionally a ring opposite the said bottom.
In general, glass bottles are obtained by placing at least one gob of glass also known as a parison into a cavity of a blank mould and pre-forming a blank by blowing air for example into this blank mould.
The blank thus formed is released from the mould and transferred e.g. via a manipulator arm to a finishing mould into which air is blown for final forming of the bottle.
The main disadvantage of this method is that it does not allow one or more raised or recessed patterns to be imprinted on the inner surface of at least one wall of the bottle. Some glass bottle users, in particular in the perfume or cosmetic fields, seek to personalize their bottle by having raised and/or recessed patterns on the inside, recalling or suggestive of the trademark and/or the product contained in the bottles. The inside pattern or patterns may be independent of the shape of the bottle and, for example, these patterns may have particular optical effects.
It is the objective of the invention to propose a method and installation for manufacturing glass bottles allowing this type of patterning inside these bottles.
The subject of the invention is therefore a method for manufacturing a glass bottle comprising a body which particularly includes a bottom with side walls, characterized in that it consists of the following steps:
a) at least one gob of glass is deposited in a cavity of a first semi-shell of a blank mould, and at least one gob of glass is deposited in a cavity of a second semi-shell of the blank mould, each cavity having a shape substantially corresponding to the outer shape of a semi-body of the said body;
b) the semi-body is formed in the cavity of each semi-shell by applying a punch to distribute the glass within the corresponding cavity and to define the walls of each semi-body; and
c) the edges of the two semi-bodies are applied against each other by applying a pre-determined pressure to hot-weld the edges of the two semi-bodies with one another and to obtain the bottle.
The method of the invention may comprise one or more of the following characteristics taken alone or in any possible technical combination:
A further subject of the invention is an installation for manufacturing a glass bottle to implement the method such as previously mentioned, characterized in that it comprises:
The installation of the invention may comprise one or more of the following characteristics taken alone or in any possible technical combination:
The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description given as an example with reference to the appended drawings in which:
The bottle 1 may have any other general shape, such as cylindrical or ovoid for example.
According to one variant, the upper part 5 of the body 2 may be provided with a simple orifice without a ring 6, and in this case a pump, not illustrated, can be directly mounted on this orifice.
In the remainder hereof the description will be given for a bottle 1 provided with a ring 6.
The bottle 1 is obtained by hot pressing two symmetrical semi-bodies 2a and 2b as will be seen below.
With reference now to
As shown in
Evidently, the outer and inner shapes of the body 2 may be different.
The two semi-shells 10a and 10b can be moved between a drawn-away position, as shown in
For example, the two semi-shells 10a and 10b are pivot mounted on a pin 12 allowing them to be moved between these two positions. Other means of known type can be used to move these two semi-shells 10a and 10b between the two positions.
In addition, each semi-shell 10a and 10b comprises a drawer, respectively 13a and 13b which can be moved in the direction of the arrow f to release the ring 6 before the body 2 of the bottle 1. For this purpose, each drawer 13a and 13b is slidingly mounted on the corresponding semi-shell 10a and 10b by means of runners for example or any other suitable system of known type.
As shown in
According to one variant, the installation comprises at least one punch which can be moved between a passive position and an active applied position in the cavity of each semi-shell.
To produce the bottle 1 formed of two hot-bonded semi-bodies 2a and 2b, the procedure is as follows:
First, and as shown in
The two semi-bodies 2a and 2b are then simultaneously formed in the cavities 11 of the two semi-shells 10a and 10b by applying the punches 20a and 20b onto the semi-shells 10a and 10b of the blank mould 10.
The forms 21 in relief are applied in the cavities 11 thereby allowing distribution of the glass within the corresponding cavity 11 and the defining of the walls 3 of each semi-body 2a and 2b and of each semi-ring of the ring 6.
After removing each punch 20a and 20b from the corresponding semi-shell 11a and 11b of the blank mould 10, as shown in
The two semi-shells 10a and 10b of the blank mould 10 are drawn towards each other and applied against one another for example by pivoting on the pin 12 or any other suitable movement.
These two semi-shells 10a and 10b are applied against one another for a determined time to apply sufficient, determined pressure on the edges of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b and obtain hot-welding together of these edges.
The edges of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b must be at a determined temperature, e.g. of the order of 600° C. depending on the composition of the glass.
If the temperature of the glass on the edges of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b is insufficient to achieve hot-welding together of these edges, re-heating may be performed using suitable means so as to bring the temperature of these edges up to a determined level allowing their welding together. These means may be formed for example of a blowtorch mounted on a jack to bring the torch close to the surface to be heated, or of a heating resistance.
The temperature to be reached must allow local re-melting of the glass.
Air blowing can also be carried out into the blank of the bottle after applying the edges of the two semi-bodies against one another.
After holding the two semi-shells 10a and 10b applied against each other for a determined time suitable for each model, the drawers 13 and 13b of these two semi-shells 10a and 10b are drawn outwards as shown in
At a second stage, the two semi-shells 10a and 10b of the blank mould 10 are separated from each other, for example by pivoting on the pin 12, thereby allowing the release of the body 2 of the bottle 1, as illustrated in
The bottle 1 thus obtained can be transferred using a manipulator arm for example, not illustrated and of known type, towards a finishing mould in which at least one finishing operation is performed e.g. burning off the junction point between the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b of the body 2 and the two semi-rings of the ring 6. Other finishing operations can also be carried out.
The bottle 1 optionally comprises at least one raised or recessed pattern 9 on at least one inner surface of these walls, thereby allowing personalization of the bottle in relation to the user trademark for example or the product contained in this bottle.
According to a first variant, the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b formed by the blank mould 10 can be transferred using at least one manipulator arm, not illustrated, to a finishing mould, not illustrated, in which the edges of these two semi-bodies are hot-welded together. For this purpose, the finishing mould is also formed of two semi-shells each comprising a cavity each substantially corresponding to a semi-body.
In this case also, re-heating of the edges of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b may be conducted before applying the two semi-bodies against each other under determined pressure.
According to a second variant, the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b obtained after forming in the blank mould 10 can be transferred e.g. using at least one manipulator arm, not illustrated, to a suitable device allowing the edges of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b to be applied against one another under determined pressure so as to achieve hot-welding thereof. In this case also, re-heating of the edges of the walls of the two semi-bodies 2a and 2b may also be carried out.
According to another embodiment, a sheet of composition close to that of the constituent glass of the two semi-bodies may be placed between the edges of these two semi-bodies before they are applied onto each other.
The manufacturing method and installation according to the invention offer new possibilities in terms of bottle-making by proposing the obtaining of bottles comprising raised or recessed patterns on the inner surfaces of this bottle, using means that are easy to implement.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 54464 | May 2011 | FR | national |
