Bucher Emhart Glass (Switzerland)

Recently developed closed-loop control systems offer a new means to help container glass manufacturers meet the ever increasing industry and customer expectations for improved yield and quality. In these closed-loop systems, the process is automatically adjusted based upon actual measured values. Such closed loop controls have now been developed and introduced into commercial production in two key areas: (1) Plunger Up Control and (2) Blank Cooling Control, in which the rise/dwell time of the plunger and the blank mold temperatures, respectively, are automatically controlled. The technical development of these new control systems, the challenges that needed to be met, and the experience of glass manufacturers adopting these systems will be presented.

Rapid changes in technologies and glassmaking processes have transformed the way manufacturers see inspection. Inspection devices now must run at increasingly faster line speeds and be more flexible. They must provide a wide array of information that can be used to optimize the process. This paper will cover the development of sophisticated vision inspection and servo technologies and how they have served as catalysts for the development of new, fully integrated systems that both inspect finished ware and provide valuable information that help improve the process. The paper also will show how Emhart Glass has designed a whole new family of inspection machines covering every aspect of finished ware inspection: the Veritas iM performing plug, ring, and dip gauging as well as check inspection and non-contact wall thickness measurement; the Veritas iB performing sealing surface, base, base stress, vision plug, and vision dip inspection; the Veritas iC looking for sidewall defects and sidewall stress, as well as giving information on dimensional measurements, such as body diameter, height, bent neck, and lean.