Cooling shroud for a post-manufacture glass container thermal strengthening station

摘要

An apparatus for manufacturing strengthened glass containers, and more particularly the construction and operation of a cooling shroud in an apparatus for thermally strengthening glass containers in a glass container manufacturing line at a location intermediate the hot end and the cold end. Glass containers formed at an I. S. machine are conveyed through a special tempering Lehr that heats them uniformly to a high temperature that is short of temperatures at which they may become deformed. Subsequently, the glass containers are rapidly thermally strengthened in a cooling station in which the outer and inner surfaces including all areas of the glass containers are simultaneously cooled to a temperature below the Strain Point of the glass used in the glass containers, with the cooling shrouds being used to cool the outer surfaces of the glass containers.

主权项

1. An apparatus for thermally strengthening glass containers each including a neck after they are formed in an I.S. machine, comprising:
a tempering Lehr that reheats the glass containers to increase their temperature to a temperature that is sufficiently high to obtain adequate compressive stresses in the glass containers but not so high that the glass containers may become deformed; a cooling station that simultaneously cools the outer and inner surfaces of glass containers in the cooling station rapidly so that all of the stresses in the glass container are locked in, the cooling station comprising:
a cooling tube for insertion into the interior of the glass container located in the cooling station, the cooling tube having a tube nozzle at the distal end thereof that delivers cooling air into the interior of the glass container;a bottom cooler that directs cooling air upwardly onto the bottom of the glass container located in the cooling station; anda cooling shroud that extends along a longitudinal axis and directs cooling air onto the outer sides of the glass container located in the cooling station, the cooling shroud having an inner surface and an outer surface;wherein the cooling shroud comprises:
a hollow open-topped cylindrical shroud body having an upper end and a lower end, the upper and lower ends of the shroud body each defined by a rim, each of the rims defined by a single continuous surface extending 360° around the entire circumference of the rim; a first plurality of bores extending from the outer surface of the cylindrical shroud body to the inner surface of the cylindrical shroud body that are arranged and configured to direct cooling air supplied to the cylindrical shroud body onto the outside of the neck and finish of the glass container located in the cooling station; and a second plurality of bores extending from the outer surface of the cylindrical shroud body to the inner surface of the cylindrical shroud body that are arranged and configured to direct cooling air supplied to the cylindrical shroud body onto the outside of the body of the glass container located in the cooling station.