Method for manufacturing a hollow glass product from a glass tube semi-finished product having markings, and uses of the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11542195-B2
Application number	US-201715835644-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Dec 19, 2016
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

A glass tube semi-finished product or a hollow glass product manufactured from the glass tube semi-finished product is provided with a first marking with information on the origin and/or tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product, which marking is read from the hollow glass product after its manufacture to determine the origin and/or the tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product, e.g., to identify the semi-finished glass tube from which the hollow glass product has been made, and/or trace the tube-specific production data of this glass tube semi-finished product. This means that the entire supply chain for the hollow glass product from the supplier of the originally used glass tube semi-finished product up to the end product can be determined. The physical and chemical characteristics of the glass tube semi-finished product are not altered for producing the first marking.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a hollow glass product from a glass tube semi-finished product, the method comprising the steps of:
marking the glass tube semi-finished product on a surface thereof with a plurality of markings, wherein each of the plurality of markings is applied without altering the physical and chemical characteristics of an inner surface of the glass tube semi-finished product; and
further processing the glass tube semi-finished product, wherein the further processing includes a thermal forming of the glass tube semi-finished product, at least in sections, into the hollow glass product at temperatures above the transformation temperature of the glass tube semi-finished product;
wherein each of the plurality of markings is marked at constant intervals that correspond to a length of the hollow glass product,
wherein each of the plurality of markings are marked during a separation of the glass tube semi-finished product from a glass tube strand,
wherein each of the plurality of markings is readable on the hollow glass product after its manufacture,
wherein each of the plurality of markings comprises information regarding tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product, and
wherein the tube-specific production data comprises at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: a glass melt, a processing temperature, a speed at which the glass tube semi-finished product is drawn off, a forming agent used, dimensions and characteristics of the forming agent used, a temperature and process conditions for cooling the glass tube semi-finished product after tube forming, and specific production conditions.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of markings are made at uniform distances from each other in a longitudinal direction of the glass tube semi-finished product during a tube shaping of the glass tube semi-finished product.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of markings is marked at a predetermined position on the glass tube semi-finished product.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising an additional marking, wherein the additional marking is produced at temperatures above the transformation temperature of the glass of the glass tube semi-finished product.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of markings are marked with one of (i) a printing device or (ii) a laser.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
reading out the information from the marking on the hollow glass product; and
backtracking the hollow glass product by determining at least one of the origin and the tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product based on the information read from the marking.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of markings further comprises information on process parameters for the further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product into the hollow glass product, the method further comprising:
determining the process parameters for the further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product into the hollow glass product on the basis of the information read from the marking.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the determining the process parameters for the further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product into the hollow glass product comprises accessing a database via a network, said database storing further information regarding the process parameters.

9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the determining at least one of the origin and the tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product comprises accessing a database via a network, said database storing further information regarding at least one of the origin and the tube-specific production data.

10. A method for manufacturing a hollow glass product from a glass tube semi-finished product, the method comprising the steps of:
marking the glass tube semi-finished product on a surface thereof with a first marking, wherein the first marking is applied without altering the physical and chemical characteristics of an inner surface of the glass tube semi-finished product;
further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product, wherein the further processing includes a thermal forming of the glass tube semi-finished product, at least in sections, into the hollow glass product at temperatures above the transformation temperature of the glass tube semi-finished product;
wherein the first marking is marked at predetermined intervals that are matched to subsequent further processing steps for the glass tube semi-finished product,
wherein the first marking includes information regarding at least one of an origin and tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product,
wherein the method further comprises the steps of removing the first marking during the further processing step; and,
marking a second marking on the hollow glass product, wherein the second marking includes the information of the first marking regarding at least one of the origin and the tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product, and
wherein the second marking is configured to be read from the manufactured hollow glass product subsequent to its manufacture in order to enable a determination regarding at least one of the origin and the tube-specific production data of the glass tube semi-finished product used for the manufacture of the hollow glass product.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first marking is a plurality of markings that are marked at predetermined distances from each other in a longitudinal direction of the glass tube semi-finished product during a tube shaping of the glass tube semi-finished product.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the second marking is a plurality of second markings, and wherein one of the plurality of first markings or plurality of second markings is marked at a predetermined position on the glass tube semi-finished product.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the second plurality of markings are produced at temperatures above the transformation temperature of the glass of the glass tube semi-finished product.

14. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first marking is marked during a separation of the glass tube semi-finished product from a glass tube strand.

15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first marking is marked with (i) a printing device or (ii) a laser.

16. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing a computer program having program codes which, when executed by a processor device, cause the processor device to control a method comprising:
marking the glass tube semi-finished product with a plurality of markings, wherein each of the plurality of markings is applied without altering the physical and chemical characteristics of an inner surface of the glass tube semi-finished product; and
further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product, wherein the further processing includes a thermal forming of the glass tube semi-finished product, at least in sections, into a hollow glass product at temperatures above the transformation temperature of the glass tube semi-finished product;
wherein each of the plurality of markings is marked at constant intervals that correspond to a length of the hollow glass product,
wherein each of the plurality of markings are marked during a separation of the glass tube semi-finished product from a glass tube strand,
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Assignees

• Schott Ag

Inventors

• Witzmann André
• Trinks Ulla
• Männl Reinhard

Classifications

• G06K19/06037

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• G06K19/06046

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• G06V20/80

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