1. Forming process
The glass bottle and jar forming process is a series of combinations of actions (including mechanical, electronically controlled, etc.) that are repeated in a given programmed sequence. The goal is to manufacture a bottle or jar with the desired specific shape. There are currently two main processes for the production of the glass bottle and jar containers: the blow-blow method for narrow mouths and the press-blow method for the use of larger-diameter bottles and jars.
In these two molding processes, the molten glass liquid, at its material temperature (1,050-1,200°C), is cut by shear blades to form cylindrical droplets of glass, called "droplets. The weight of the droplet is enough to produce a bottle. Both processes start with the shearing of the glass liquor, where the droplet drops down by gravity and passes through the feed chute and steering chute and into the primary mold. The primary mold is then closed tightly and sealed by a "bung" at the top.
During the blowing process, the glass is first pushed down by the compressed air passing through the bung, causing the glass to be formed at the mouth of the mold. Then the core moves down slightly and the compressed air passing through the gap at the core position expands from the bottom to the top to squeeze the glass to fill the primary mold. By blowing the glass in this way, the glass will form a hollow prefabricated shape. It is then blown again in a second stage by compressed air in a subsequent process to obtain the final shape.
The production of glass bottles and jars takes place in two main stages: in the first stage all the details of the mouth mold are formed and the mouth of the bottle is completed including the inner opening. However, the body shape of this glass product will be much smaller than its final size. This semi-formed glass product is called a form blank. In the next instant, they will be blown into the final shape of the bottle or jar.
In terms of mechanical action, the mouth mold and the core form a confined space underneath. After the mouth mold is filled with glass (after the puffing is complete), the core is retracted slightly, so that the glass in contact with the core is slightly softened. Then compressed air from the bottom to the top (backward blowing air) passes through the gap under the core to form the mold blank. Then the muffled head rises, the initial mold opens and the flip arm, together with the mouth mold and the billet, flips to the forming side.
When the flip arm reaches the top of the die, the die on both sides closes and clamps, encasing the blank. The mouth mold will open slightly and release the blank. Then the flip arm will return to the primary die side and wait for the next round of action. The blowing head is lowered to the top of the forming die and compressed air is poured into the billet from the center, squeezing the glass to expand into the forming die to form the final jar shape.
In the press-blow process, the blanks are no longer formed with compressed air, but by squeezing the glass through a longer core in the confined space of the primary mold cavity. The subsequent turning and final molding are consistent with the blow-blow method. The bottles are then clamped out of the molding mold and placed on a stop plate with bottom-up cooling air, waiting to be transferred to the annealing process by dialing the bottles.
2.Bottle making machine
Bottle-making machine refers to the equipment that can make glass bottles and jars. Generally speaking, a bottle-making machine includes the most basic 19 action operations to form a bottle. Most of the current bottle-making machines and mechanisms are driven by compressed air (high pressure 4.2 bar, low pressure 2.2 bar) and the machine is electronically controlled by a timer system to open and coordinate all the movements.
The most widely used bottle-making machine is the individual group bottle-making machine (IS machine). This machine has 2-20 identical groups, each of which contains a complete set of mechanisms for the production of bottles and jars. All groups of drops are fed into each group utilizing a moving spoon called a drop dispenser. The bottle maker can make one, two, three, or four bottles at the same time (referred to as single, double, triple, and quadruple drops). Today even 6-drop bottle makers have been successfully developed and put into production. In the case of multiple drops, the scissors cut the drops at the same time and they fall into the primary mold at the same time.
3.Annealing
When glass is cooled, it shrinks and cures. Uneven cooling and rapid cooling cause stress in the glass, which can make the glass fragile or explode. The role of the annealing furnace is to heat the glass jar to approximately 580°C, then cool it slowly to make the glass molding stress relief, to ensure the safety of the glass container. This annealing process depends on the thickness of the glass and generally takes 20 - 60 minutes.
