Process Controls for Individual Section Machines

Improving the productivity of a container manufacturing operation requires reducing the art in the operation of the process and adding process controls. Reducing the art, in turn, requires providing machine control mechanisms that will provide a consistent and repeatable machine operation independent of operator experience. For a glass container line the control mechanisms must provide for a consistent glass flow, a gob distributor synchronized with the gob feeder, a control means for repeatable on-off actuation and velocity control for the mechanical motions on the individual section (IS) machine, and synchronized take-away and stacker conveyors. A system combining these process control functions and providing a catalog of process adjustments by container type is described. This type of control system can provide for a de-skilled glass container manufacturing operation which is repeatable from one run to the next.