Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – Optical or pre-photocell system
Patent
1989-11-01
1990-12-18
Nelms, David C.
Radiant energy
Photocells; circuits and apparatus
Optical or pre-photocell system
356386, G01N 2186
Patent
active
049788590
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and to a corresponding arrangement for determining size and/or shape of a freely falling object particularly a drop of liquid or semi-liquid material, such as molten glass in particular. The invention has been developed primarily for the purpose of determining the size and shape of freely falling drops of molten glass, but can also be applied for determining the size and shape of other objects.
In the automated manufacture of container glass and like products, the product is formed from a so-called glob which is fed to the mould through a chute. The glass glob has a temperature of 1000.degree.-1100.degree. C. and is ejected through a nozzle in the bottom of a molten-glass feeder channel or tank and is clipped off or sheared in suitable lengths, contingent on the product being produced, e.g. a length of 75-150 mm. One and the same chute may supply several different moulds with glass drops or globs in sequence, so that a glass drop is supplied to an empty mould while earlier filled moulds are being worked. Thus, it is normal for 2-3 glass drops/second to be ejected from the nozzle and clipped-off adjacent thereto. With this type of manufacture of glass products, the shape, volume and temperature of the glass drops have a great significance on the quality of the end product. Although the parameters can be influenced in several ways, there are at present no devices or apparatus by means of which these parameters can be measured, particularly the shape and volume of the glass drops. Consequently, this type of automated manufacture of glass products has been controlled to a large extent by "instinct", which makes it difficult to maintain a uniform quality of the products produced and to reproduce a production approach that has been found to give good results.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a method and a corresponding arrangement by means of which the shape and/or size of a freely falling object can be determined, and particularly, but not exclusively the volume and shape of a freely falling drop of molten glass.
The characterizing features of the inventive method and arrangement are set forth in the following respective claims.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an arrangement according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the FIG. 1 arrangement seen at right angles to the view in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the inventive method for determining the volume and shape of the falling object.
The drawings illustrate the application of the invention for determining the shape and volume of a freely falling drop of molten glass.
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a drop of glass 1 which falls in the direction shown by the arrow 2, the glass drop, or corresponding glass mass, being shown in full lines and in broken lines corresponding to two different positions of the drop 1 during its fall. The inventive arrangement comprises a suitable optical device or system 3, which is only illustrated schematically and which images on an imaging plane 4 that part of the glass drop 1 which is located momentarily opposite the optical instrument 3. The optical device, in this regard, is designed to image in the plane 4 slightly more than that part of the glass drop 1 which is located momentarily between two levels 5 and 6 which are spaced apart through a given distance s in the fall direction 2 of the glass drop 1. The illustrated arrangement also includes two photo-diodes 7 and 8 which are positioned behind respective elongated narrow measuring slots 7a and 8a (c.f. FIG. 2) located in the image plane 4 at a mutual spacing corresponding to the distance s between the two levels 5 and 6. Arranged centrally between the two photo-diodes 7 and 8 is an elongated array 9 which includes a large number of mutually adjacent photo-diodes arranged behind an associated, elongated narrow measuring slot 9a located in the image plane 4 (c.f. FIG. 2). Si
REFERENCES:
patent: 3028501 (1962-04-01), Lamparter
patent: 3749500 (1973-07-01), Carlson
Gedevelop Electronics AB
Nelms David C.
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