Device and method for forming glass bodies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10315946-B2
Application number	US-201615050905-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2016
Priority date	Feb 23, 2015
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A device for the shaping of glass bodies, in particular of pharmaceutical vials, comprises a clamping chuck for holding a glass body, a rotary drive for driving the clamping chuck rotatingly, further at least one heat source for heating a glass body held within the clamping chuck, and further a controller which is coupled to the rotary drive so that the clamping chuck can be driven at variable rotational speed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for the forming of glass bodies, comprising a plurality of processing stations, each processing station comprising:
a clamping chuck for receiving a glass body;
a rotary drive for driving said clamping chuck rotatingly at a rotational speed;
a controller being coupled to said rotary drive allowing to control said rotational speed of said rotary drive continuously between a minimum value and a maximum value so that said rotational speed of said rotary drive of said plurality of processing stations are controlled independently from each other; and
at least one handling device configured to remove the glass body from one of said plurality of processing stations that performs a first processing step on the glass body and to transfer the glass body to a different one of said plurality of processing stations that performs a different processing step on the glass body,
wherein at least one of said plurality of processing stations further comprises at least one heat source for heating the glass body.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein said handling device is configured for transferring glass bodies between said processing station while said clamping chucks are driven rotatingly or are at rest.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein said heat source is arranged for selectively heating said glass body, and wherein said clamping chuck and said heat source can be positioned in an axial direction with respect to each other.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one heat source is configured as a heat source selected from the group consisting of a burner, a laser, a hot-air nozzle, a resistance-heated gas heater, and an infrared radiator.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein said heat source is a substantially particle-free heat source.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls said rotational speed of said rotary drive up to a maximum value of at least 10000 rpm.

7. The device of claim 1 , which further comprising a shaping body being arranged for advancing against said glass body in a radial direction thereof to assist a bottom forming.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein for transferring glass bodies between selected processing stations the clamping chucks can be stopped to allow for a transfer of the glass bodies while being at a standstill.

9. The device of claim 1 , further comprising magnetic bearings for holding said clamping chuck rotatingly.

10. A device for the forming of glass bodies, comprising:
a clamping chuck for receiving a glass body;
a rotary drive for driving said clamping chuck rotatingly at a rotational speed;
a controller being coupled to said rotary drive allowing to control said rotational speed of said rotary drive continuously between a minimum value and a maximum value;
a shaping body being arranged to advance against the glass body in a radial direction to close a bottom of the glass body; and
at least one heat source for selectively heating the glass body received within said clamping chuck,
wherein said clamping chuck and said heat source are configured for being positioned in an axial direction with respect to each other.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the controller controls said rotational speed of said rotary drive up to a maximum value of at least 10000 rpm.

12. A device for the forming of a glass body, comprising:
a plurality of processing stations, each processing station comprising a clamping chuck for receiving the glass body and a rotary drive for driving said clamping chuck rotatingly at a rotational speed;
a controller coupled to said rotary drive of all of said plurality of processing stations, said controller being configured to control the rotational speed of each rotary drive continuously between a minimum value and a maximum value; and
at least one handling device configured to remove the glass body from one of said plurality of processing stations and to transfer the glass body to a different one of said plurality of processing stations,
wherein said plurality of processing stations comprises at least two processing stations that further comprise at least one heat source for heating the glass body,
wherein the rotational speed of said rotary drive of said at least two processing stations is controlled independently from each other, and
wherein said controller controls said clamping chucks to a standstill and said at least one handling device is configured to remove and transfer the glass body between said plurality of processing stations only when said clamping chucks are at said standstill.

13. A device for the forming of glass bodies, comprising:
a clamping chuck for receiving a glass body;
a rotary drive for driving said clamping chuck rotatingly at a rotational speed;
a heat source for selectively heating the glass body received within said clamping chuck;
a shaping body being arranged to advance against the glass body in a radial direction to from a closed bottom on the glass body and to retract from the glass body after closing said closed bottom; and
a controller being coupled to said rotary drive and said shaping body, said controller being configured to increase said rotational speed of said rotary drive after retraction of said shaping body from said closed bottom so that said closed is a flat bottom with even material thickness.

Assignees

• Schott Schweiz Ag

Inventors

• Segner Johannes

Classifications

• C03B23/095

  by rolling · CPC title

• C03B23/094

  by centrifuging · CPC title

• C03B23/092 Primary

  by pressing · CPC title

• C03B23/045 Primary

  Tools or apparatus specially adapted for re-forming tubes or rods in general, e.g. glass lathes, chucks (C03B23/043 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C03B23/099

  by fusing, e.g. flame sealing · CPC title