System for monitoring and regulating sections of a machine for forming hollow glass articles and method for monitoring and regulating sections of such a machine

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (29) and method for monitoring and regulating sections (8) of a so-called I.S. machine (9) for forming hollow glass articles. Each section comprises a parison-forming device that comprises two parts forming parison-forming moulds, the two parts being able to pass from an open position of the parison-forming moulds to a closed position of the parison-forming moulds. Each parison-forming device comprises a device for cooling its two parts. The system (29) comprises a processing unit (34) configured to deliver corrective data allowing the cooling devices of the parison-forming devices to be controlled. The system (29) comprises the same number of cameras measuring in the near infrared, i.e. so-called NIR cameras (30), which deliver shades of grey measured on the parison-forming moulds. The processing unit (34) comprises a database of visual hues corresponding to temperatures defined on the parison-forming devices in open position, said processing unit (34) then delivering said corrective data as a function of the shades of grey measured in real time by the NIR cameras (30) on the parison-forming devices in the open position and of at least one reference temperature adjusted on said system (29).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Title: System for controlling and regulating the sections of a machine for forming hollow glass articles and Method for controlling and regulating the sections of such a machine.

[0003] Technical field

[0004] The present invention relates to the field of manufacturing hollow glass articles and relates to a system for controlling and regulating the sections of a machine for forming hollow glass articles on a hollow glass article manufacturing installation and to a method for controlling and regulating the sections of such a machine.

[0005] The present invention aims to homogenize the mass production of hollow glass articles in order to increase productivity while having optimized quality and to ensure traceability of defects and causes of abnormal variations during the manufacture of hollow glass articles.

[0006] State of the art

[0007] A hollow glass manufacturing facility, hereinafter referred to as a "facility", traditionally comprises a composition station in which the raw materials (sand, limestone, sodium carbonate, cullet, recycled glass, etc.) used in the composition of the glass are mixed in proportions defined according to the type of glass desired. The facility comprises a furnace into which the mixture of raw materials is then poured, said mixture being melted at temperatures generally between 1300°C and 1550°C. The molten glass is then conveyed by means of channels (called "feeders") to hollow glass forming machines (called "IS machines") by adjusting the temperature of the molten glass so that it is at a good working viscosity and at a homogeneous temperature at the time of the formation of the glass drops, also called parisons.Each channel (or feeder) is terminated by a bowl and a parison forming mechanism that allows the parisons to be cut according to a defined weight at rates of up to four hundred parisons per minute (400 parisons / minute). The IS machine is composed of several sections, generally varying between six and twelve sections, the parisons leaving the parison forming mechanism being conveyed to the sections of the IS machine via corridors. Each section includes a roughing device allowing the formation of one or more hollow article roughs that will be transferred to a finishing device to form one or more finished hollow articles.On each section, the roughing device may comprise one or more roughing molds for the simultaneous formation of one or more hollow glass articles in rough form and, likewise, the finishing device may comprise one or more finishing molds for the simultaneous formation of one or more finished hollow glass articles. The roughing device is composed of two parts, an actuating mechanism making it possible to move the two parts apart to open the roughing mold(s) and release the article roughing(s) and, conversely, to bring said two parts together to close the roughing mold(s) and form said article roughing(s).Similarly, the finishing device is composed of two parts, an actuating mechanism for moving the two parts apart to open the finishing mold(s) and insert the article blank(s) or release the finished article(s) and, conversely, for bringing said two parts together to close the finishing mold(s) and form said finished article(s). The transfer of the article blanks from the blanking device to the finishing device is carried out by an articulated transfer arm which grips the article blanks once the blank molds are open and moves them to the open finishing molds, before closing them for finishing the hollow glass articles. Each finished hollow glass article is then transferred onto a conveyor to be conveyed to an annealing arch where the hollow glass articles are cooled under control to avoid embrittlement due to excessively sudden temperature variations.

[0008] Hollow glass article manufacturing facilities are known that aim to improve quality by reducing the quantity of defective hollow glass articles. This defect can be due to temperature variations of the blank mold skin that can lead to glass appearance defects or critical glass defects. These temperature variations can be caused by fouling of the blank mold skin due to its lubrication in order to prevent the glass from sticking to the blank mold skin and to facilitate the demolding of the blank article. These installations carry out temperature or glass thickness measurements on the hollow glass articles at the outlet of the IS machine, once said articles have been placed on the conveyor, before they are conveyed into the firing arch. The control is carried out by means of sensors sensitive to infrared radiation or an infrared camera.Comparing the measurements made with mathematical models makes it possible to make a correction upstream of or on the IS machine in order to correct defects on the finished hollow glass article. Examples include patent EP0643297B1 and patent EP1525469B1. It is also known to carry out checks on the roughing devices of the sections of the IS machine. In patent EP2511245B1, it is provided to place fixed pyrometers or fixed thermal cameras and carry out measurements on all the roughing devices of the sections of the IS machine, then to carry out air flow cooling of these roughing devices; a variant is also provided with a rotating pyrometer mounted on a nacelle which moves along the IS machine on each of the sections to carry out measurements on the roughing devices.In patent EP0151339B1, a pivotally mounted infrared camera is provided for alternately measuring the temperature on the open parts of a device in a first section and then on the open parts of a device in a second section of the IS machine, cooling of these molds being carried out as a function of the temperature measurements taken. Patent application DE 102009005433 A1 also provides for assigning one or two cameras per section of an IS machine, these cameras being able to work in the infrared range.

[0009] Summary of the invention

[0010] The present invention aims to implement a system for controlling and regulating the roughing devices on the sections of an IS machine in order to correct the temperature of the roughing mold(s) of these roughing devices either to cool them or to heat them by varying the cooling device in order to increase or decrease the flow of a cooling fluid, or even to cut it, with a view to optimizing the quality of the hollow glass articles manufactured.

[0011] Another objective is to be able to carry out a corrective intervention on a roughing device of a section of the IS machine in the event of incorrect introduction of the parison into a roughing mold. Indeed, it may happen that the parison does not fall correctly into the introduction funnel of a roughing mold of the roughing device, which may cause said roughing mold to jam, its degradation and the start of a fire, requiring a complete interruption of the IS machine rather than an interruption only of the section concerned of this IS machine in order to intervene on this section.

[0012] Another objective is to be able to provide in the same way a correction of the temperature of the finishing mold(s) of the finishing device on each of the sections of the IS machine, in order to heat or cool them by varying a cooling device on the finishing devices making it possible to increase or decrease the flow of a cooling fluid, or even to cut it off, always with a view to optimizing the quality of the hollow glass articles manufactured.

[0013] Another objective is to reduce the cost of the control and regulation system.

[0014] Another objective is to minimize human intervention on the control and regulation system in order to make corrections to it and optimize the measurements taken.

[0015] These objectives are achieved by the invention which implements a method and a system for controlling and regulating sections of a machine for forming hollow glass articles, referred to in the remainder of the description as an IS machine. The invention also relates to an IS machine equipped with such a control and regulation system, as well as to an installation for manufacturing hollow glass articles equipped with such an IS machine. In the remainder of the description, the term "article" designates a hollow glass article.

[0016] An IS machine comprises sections, each section comprising a roughing device which comprises two parts forming at least one roughing mold. These two parts are capable of moving from an open position where they are spaced apart from each other in order to open the at least one roughing mold and allow the release of the at least one article roughing from the roughing device, to a closed position where the two parts are joined to form the at least one roughing mold and allow the formation of at least one article roughing. Indeed, a roughing device generally comprises between one and four roughing molds to simultaneously form one to four article roughings, this number may however be higher. Each part of a roughing device therefore comprises at least one negative of a part of an article roughing, generally one to four negatives, or even more.Each of the roughing devices comprises a device for cooling the two roughing device parts in order to be able to modify the temperature of the roughing molds on each roughing device. In addition, the control and regulation system comprises a computer processing unit configured to restore corrective data making it possible to act on the cooling devices of the roughing molds in order to vary the temperature of said roughing molds depending on whether they heat up too much or not enough during the formation of the article roughs. According to the invention, the control system comprises as many near infrared radiation measuring cameras, called NIR cameras, as there are sections on the IS machine.These NIR cameras are placed directly on the sections with an orientation towards the roughing devices allowing to view the negatives on the two parts - forming at least one roughing mold - of said roughing devices in open positions, said NIR cameras restoring shades of gray measured on at least the negatives of the two parts of each roughing device. In other words, the NIR cameras are placed on each section between the roughing device and the finishing device in order to be oriented facing the opening angle of the two parts of the roughing device and thus to have an optimal view of the at least one roughing mold when the roughing device is in the open position.Furthermore, the processing unit comprises a database of visual shades corresponding to temperatures defined on the roughing devices in the open position, said processing unit then restoring said corrective data as a function of the shades of gray measured in real time by the NIR cameras on the roughing devices in the open position and at least one reference temperature set on said control system. The real-time measurements of the shades of gray on the roughing devices in the open position are compared to the visual shades by the processing unit, allowing the latter to deduce temperatures defined on the at least one roughing mold of the roughing devices in the open position, then to compare these defined temperatures with the at least one reference temperature in order to deduce the corrective data.The measurements of the shades of gray by the NIR cameras are carried out on the at least one blank mold of the blanking device in the open position, then allowing the allocation of visual shades on the at least one negative of the at least one blank mold of each blanking device. In addition, these measurements can also be carried out on at least one punch of the at least one blank mold on each blanking device, then allowing the allocation of visual shades on this at least one punch of the at least one blank mold of each blanking device, the presence of the punch allowing the formation of the neck of an article blank.

[0017] According to the invention, preferably, the computer processing unit is configured to constitute the database of visual tints by carrying out a correlation between shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras on the roughing devices in the open position, in particular on the negatives of the roughing molds of these roughing devices, and a real measured temperature and by assigning a visual tint corresponding to a defined temperature.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the latter comprises at least one temperature measuring member, in particular of the pyrometer type, associated with at least one of the roughing devices, said at least one temperature measuring member being configured to restore an actual temperature at a reference point on the roughing device with which it is associated. Furthermore, the computer processing unit is configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras on the roughing devices in the open position and the actual temperature measured by the at least one temperature measuring member and to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on the roughing devices in the open position.The presence of this at least one temperature measuring device is useful for the database acquisition phase; this at least one temperature measuring device may therefore be present on the IS machine during the visual tint database acquisition phase, then removed from the IS machine. This at least one temperature measuring device may also be left on the section permanently in order to compensate for drifts in the control and regulation system over time, for example due to the season which influences the brightness and the ambient temperature, in particular, and thus to provide corrective updates to the database. The temperature measuring device is preferably a pyrometer; variants are however possible with temperature measuring means other than a pyrometer, for example a thermocouple or other temperature probes.

[0019] The control and regulation system may optionally comprise several temperature measuring devices, in particular of the pyrometer type, respectively restoring actual temperatures at a reference point on roughing devices with which they are associated. In this case, the computer processing unit is configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and the actual temperatures measured by said temperature measuring devices and to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on the roughing devices in the open position.In other words, the actual temperature measured by a temperature measuring member associated with a first roughing device will be used to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on at least the negatives of the roughing molds of one or more roughing devices, including said first roughing device, and the actual temperature measured by a temperature measuring member associated with a second roughing device will be used to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on at least the negatives of the roughing molds of one or more roughing devices, including said second roughing device, and so on depending on the number of temperature measuring members associated respectively with roughing molds.Thus, according to this embodiment, the control and regulation system may comprise a number of temperature measuring members between two and half the number of sections on the IS machine, the temperature measuring members being distributed on respective roughing devices between a central section and an extreme section on the IS machine.

[0020] According to another possible embodiment of the control and regulation system, the latter may comprise as many temperature measuring members as NIR cameras, the temperature measuring members respectively restoring real temperatures at a reference point on the roughing devices with which they are associated. In addition, the computer processing unit is configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and the real temperatures measured by the temperature measuring members and to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on at least the negatives of the roughing molds of said roughing devices.In other words, the actual temperature measured by a temperature measuring member associated with a roughing device will be used to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on the at least one negative of the at least one roughing mold of this roughing device, and so on respectively for all the temperature measuring members associated with the roughing devices.

[0021] Each of said roughing devices comprises at least one punch and a device for cooling the at least one punch. The number of punches depends on the number of roughing molds present on the roughing device. According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the computer processing unit is configured to restore corrective data making it possible to act on the cooling devices of the punch(s) present on each of said roughing devices. The NIR cameras also make it possible to visualize the at least one punch between the two parts of the roughing device in the open position and to restore shades of gray measured on said at least one punch.Furthermore, the processing unit comprises a database of visual shades corresponding to temperatures defined on the punches of the roughing devices in the open position, said processing unit being configured to then return said corrective data to the punch cooling device according to the shades of gray measured in real time by the NIR cameras on the punch(s) of the roughing mold(s) and a reference temperature set on said control system. In this case, the computer processing unit is configured to constitute the database of visual shades by carrying out a correlation between shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras on the punches of the roughing molds of the roughing devices in the open position and a measured actual temperature and by assigning a visual shade corresponding to a defined temperature.Preferably, the actual measured temperatures are obtained by means of at least one temperature measuring member associated with at least one of the roughing devices, these actual temperatures being measured at a reference point on the roughing device which, in this case, may be one of the punches of a roughing mold on the roughing device.

[0022] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the computer processing unit is configured to analyze the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and detect an abnormally high and prolonged temperature representative of an anomaly on the roughing device, said processing unit issuing alert and / or emergency stop information for the section concerned. In particular, it may occur that a parison falls next to a funnel on a roughing mold of a roughing device, then producing a hot spot and a buildup of molten glass on the roughing device, around the funnel of the roughing mold. The control and regulation system therefore makes it possible to detect such an anomaly and to stop the supply of parison to the section concerned of the IS machine, in order to intervene on this section.

[0023] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, at least one temperature measuring device, in particular of the pyrometer type, is associated with the NIR camera and measures the actual temperature at a reference point on the negative of a roughing mold of a roughing device or on a punch of said roughing mold. This makes it possible to use as a reference point a point on the roughing device having an influence on the quality of the article rough and which should be controlled in temperature during manufacturing. Other embodiments could provide a temperature measuring device taking a reference point elsewhere on the roughing device, or even a temperature measuring device arranged on one of the external faces of one of the parts of the roughing device.Preferably, the temperature measuring member is a pyrometer; however, the pyrometer could be replaced by other temperature measuring means, for example a temperature probe placed on the roughing device at a defined point.

[0024] Each section of the IS machine comprises a finishing device which comprises two parts forming at least one finishing mold and is capable of moving from an open position where the two parts are separated to place at least one article blank or remove at least one finished article, to a closed position where the two parts are joined to form at least one finished article. Each of said finishing devices comprises a device for cooling said two parts. Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the computer processing unit is configured to restore corrective data making it possible to act on the cooling devices of the finishing devices, said control system comprising as many second near-infrared radiation measuring cameras, called second NIR cameras, as there are sections on the IS machine.The second NIR cameras are placed directly on the sections with an orientation towards the finishing devices allowing the negatives of the parts of the finishing devices to be viewed in the open position, said second NIR cameras reproducing shades of gray measured on the negatives of the two parts of the finishing molds. In other words, the second NIR cameras are placed on each section on the side of the finishing device in order to be oriented facing the opening angle of the two parts of the finishing device and thus to have an optimal view of the at least one finishing mold when the finishing device is in the open position. Furthermore, the processing unit comprises a database of visual tints corresponding to temperatures defined on the finishing devices in the open position.Furthermore, the processing unit is configured to then return corrective data based on the shades of gray measured in real time by the second NIR cameras on the finishing devices and at least one second reference temperature set on said control system. In other words, the control and regulation system is designed in such a way that its technical characteristics implemented mainly for the roughing devices of the IS machine are duplicated to be implemented also for the finishing devices, with the exception that the finishing molds of the finishing devices, observed by the second NIR cameras, do not include punches.According to the invention, preferably, the computer processing unit is therefore, in addition, configured to constitute the database of visual tints by carrying out a correlation between shades of gray measured by the second NIR cameras on the finishing devices in the open position, that is to say on the negatives of the finishing molds of these finishing devices, and a real measured temperature and by assigning a visual tint corresponding to a defined temperature.

[0025] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the latter comprises at least one second temperature measuring member, in particular of the pyrometer type, associated with at least one of the finishing devices, said at least one second temperature measuring member being configured to restore an actual temperature at a reference point on the finishing device with which it is associated. Furthermore, the computer processing unit is configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the second NIR cameras on the finishing devices in the open position and the actual temperature measured by the at least one second temperature measuring member and to assign a visual tint to a temperature defined on the finishing devices in the open position.The presence of this at least one second temperature measuring device is useful only for the database acquisition phase; this at least one second temperature measuring device may therefore be present on the IS machine during the visual tint database acquisition phase, then removed from the IS machine. This at least one second temperature measuring device may also be left on the section permanently in order to compensate for drifts in the control and regulation system over time, for example due to the season which influences the brightness and the ambient temperature, in particular, and thus to provide corrective updates to the database. Preferably, the second temperature measuring device is a pyrometer; variants are however possible with temperature measuring means other than a pyrometer, for example a thermocouple or other temperature probes.According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system that is the subject of the invention, each NIR camera comprises a housing provided with a protective shutter for a lens of said NIR camera. This makes it possible to prevent the lens from becoming clogged due to dust and grease present in the environment of the sections of the IS machine.

[0026] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system, the computer processing unit is configured to control a device for ejecting hollow glass articles at the exit of the sections of the IS machine during a restitution of corrective data. The restitution of corrective data is representative of a defect on the article subject to the correction. The IS machine therefore allows the tracing of this defective article at the exit of the section and its evacuation into a recycling bin, also called a recycling cellar.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system that is the subject of the invention, the NIR cameras are configured to also view the at least one article blank between the two parts of each blanking device in the open position and to restore shades of gray measured on said at least one article blank. In addition, the processing unit comprises a database of visual shades corresponding to temperatures defined on the at least one article blank, said processing unit being configured to then restore said corrective data to the cooling device of the corresponding blanking device as a function of the shades of gray measured in real time by the NIR cameras (30) on the at least one article blank and a reference temperature set on said system.According to one embodiment of the control and regulation system that is the subject of the invention, the NIR cameras are configured to additionally restore images of the roughing devices and their respective environments in the visible range. In addition, the computer processing unit of said system is configured to compare these images acquired in the visible range with a database of reference images and carry out an automatic check of the shapes / images of the roughing device in order to detect anomalies and trigger a stoppage of the section concerned on the IS machine. The system may include a digital interface allowing the viewing of said images acquired in the visible range, by an operator.The use of NIR cameras has the advantage of being able to view images in the visible range, i.e. with a wavelength between 0.4 pm and 0.7 pm, and also shades of gray, i.e. wavelengths between 0.7 pm and 1 pm.

[0028] The invention also relates to a machine for forming hollow glass articles, called an IS machine, which comprises sections each comprising a roughing device and a finishing device, the roughing device comprising two parts forming at least one roughing mold which has a negative and a punch. These parts of the roughing device are capable of moving from an open position where the two parts are separated and the at least one roughing mold is open, to a closed position where the two parts are joined and the at least one roughing mold is closed. The finishing device also comprises two parts forming at least one finishing mold which has a negative, said parts of the finishing device being capable of moving from an open position where the two parts are separated and the at least one finishing mold is open, to a closed position where the two parts are joined and the at least one finishing mold is closed.Each of said roughing devices comprises a device for cooling its two parts and a device for cooling the at least one punch. Similarly, each of said finishing devices comprises a device for cooling its two parts, said IS machine comprising a control and regulation system having one and / or the other of the aforementioned characteristics which are the subject of the invention.

[0029] According to one embodiment of the IS machine, each cooling device comprises a valve for varying a flow of fresh air generated by a fan, the computer processing unit managing the activation of said valve for varying the flow of fresh air according to the corrective data provided by said processing unit.

[0030] According to one embodiment of the IS machine, the latter comprises a device for ejecting manufactured glass articles, the computer processing unit being configured to activate said ejection device when corrective data are issued and representative of a potential manufacturing defect in the hollow glass article.

[0031] The invention also relates to an installation for manufacturing hollow glass articles, which comprises an IS machine having one and / or other of the aforementioned characteristics. The invention also relates to a method for controlling and regulating the sections of an IS machine, each section comprising a roughing device which comprises two parts forming at least one roughing mold, said two parts being able to pass from an open position where they are spaced apart from each other in order to open the at least one roughing mold and allow the release of the at least one article roughing from said at least one roughing mold, to a closed position where the two parts are joined to form the at least one roughing mold and allow the formation of at least one article roughing, each of said roughing devices comprising a device for cooling its two parts. According to the invention, the method comprises:

[0032] - a step SD of real-time measurement of the shades of gray on each roughing device in the open position by means of NIR cameras placed directly on the sections with an orientation making it possible to view the at least one negative of the at least one roughing mold of the roughing device in the open position, that is to say with an orientation of the NIR camera facing the opening angle of the two parts of the roughing device in the open position, said NIR camera being positioned between said roughing device and the finishing device on the section of the IS machine, and of calculating corrective data by comparing visual shades corresponding to said shades of gray at at least one reference temperature, said visual shades being attributed to defined temperatures and coming from a database;

[0033] - an SE step of activating the cooling devices of the roughing devices according to the corrective data.

[0034] According to the invention, the method comprises preliminary steps of acquiring the database of visual shades corresponding to temperatures defined on the roughing devices in the open position. For this, the method comprises at least:

[0035] - a step SA of acquiring the shades of gray measured on the negatives of the two parts of each roughing device in the open position by NIR cameras placed directly on the sections with an orientation allowing the negatives of the two parts of the roughing device to be viewed in the open position;

[0036] - an SC step of correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and at least one actual temperature measured and of attribution of a visual tint to a temperature defined on the roughing devices, in particular on the at least one negative of the at least one roughing mold on said roughing devices.

[0037] Preferably, these preliminary steps of acquiring said database comprise a step SB of acquiring at least one actual temperature at a reference point on at least one of the roughing devices, said at least one actual temperature being measured by at least one temperature measuring member, in particular of the pyrometer type, associated with said roughing device, simultaneously with step SA. This at least one temperature measuring member is only useful during the database acquisition phase; this at least one temperature measuring member may therefore be present on the IS machine during the visual tint database acquisition phase, then be removed from the IS machine. Conversely, this at least one temperature measuring member may be left in place to make corrections to the database, as explained previously.Several temperature measuring devices, in particular of the pyrometer type, may possibly restore respectively real temperatures at a reference point on several roughing devices with which they are associated, as mentioned above. In this case, step SB carries out the acquisition of real temperatures at a reference point on several of the roughing devices by means of several temperature measuring devices associated with said roughing devices, and step SC carries out a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and the real temperatures measured by said temperature measuring devices and assigns a visual tint to a temperature defined on said roughing devices, in particular on the at least one negative of the at least one roughing mold on each of said roughing devices.According to one possible embodiment, step SB acquires actual temperatures on two to half the number of sections on the IS machine, between a central section and an extreme section on said IS machine. According to another possible embodiment, step SB acquires actual temperatures at a reference point on all the roughing devices by means of temperature measuring members associated with the roughing devices, and step SC performs a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and the actual temperatures measured by the temperature measuring members and assigns a visual tint to a temperature defined on the roughing devices, in particular on the at least one negative of the at least one roughing mold of each of said roughing devices.

[0038] According to one embodiment of the process:

[0039] - step SA additionally carries out the acquisition of the shades of gray measured on at least one punch of at least one roughing mold of the roughing device in the open position on each of said roughing devices by means of said NIR cameras;

[0040] - step SC additionally performs a correlation between the shades of gray measured on the at least one punch on each of the roughing devices and the at least one actual temperature measured and the attribution of a visual tint to a temperature defined on the at least one punch of the roughing devices;

[0041] - the SD step additionally measures in real time shades of gray on the at least one punch of at least one roughing mold on each of the roughing devices using the NIR cameras and calculates corrective data by comparing visual shades corresponding to said shades of gray at at least one reference temperature, said visual shades being attributed to defined temperatures and taken from the database;

[0042] - the SE step activates in addition to the punch cooling devices on the roughing devices according to the corrective data.

[0043] According to one embodiment of the method, it comprises a step of analyzing the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras and detecting an abnormally high and prolonged temperature representative of an anomaly on the roughing device, and a step of transmitting alert information and / or emergency shutdown of the section concerned.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the method, it implements steps that are complementary and similar to steps SA, SB, SC, SD and SE for the control and regulation of the finishing devices on the sections of the IS machine, by means of second NIR cameras configured to view said finishing devices in the open position and possibly by means of at least one second temperature measuring device, in particular of the pyrometer type, measuring the actual temperature at a reference point on at least one of the finishing devices, during the database acquisition step.

[0045] According to one embodiment of the method, the latter comprises a step of ejecting the glass articles at the outlet of the sections of the IS machine when corrective data are returned to the cooling devices of the roughing devices. This ejection step will also take into consideration the corrective data returned to the cooling devices of the punches and / or to the cooling devices of the finishing devices, when such corrections are also made by the method which is the subject of the invention.

[0046] According to an embodiment of the method which is the subject of the invention, the latter additionally comprises a step of measuring in real time the shades of gray on at least one article blank present on each blanking device in the open position by means of the NIR cameras and of calculating corrective data by comparing visual shades corresponding to said shades of gray of the article blanks at at least one reference temperature, said visual shades being attributed to defined temperatures and coming from the database. This step of the method can be carried out simultaneously with step SD.

[0047] Brief description of the figures

[0048] The characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description based on figures, among which:

[0049] [Fig. 1]: Figure 1 shows a diagram of an installation for manufacturing hollow glass articles implementing the invention;

[0050] [Fig. 2]: Figure 2 illustrates three successive stages of manufacturing a rough article on the roughing device;

[0051] [Fig. 3]: Figure 3 illustrates the transfer of an article blank from the roughing device to the finishing device;

[0052] [Fig. 4]: Figure 4 illustrates three successive stages of manufacturing the article on the finishing device.

[0053] [Fig. 5]: Figure 5 illustrates an IS machine from a first viewing angle, on which the control and regulation system which is the subject of the invention is implemented;

[0054] [Fig. 6]: Figure 6 illustrates the IS machine of Figure 5 from a second viewing angle; [Fig. 7]: Figure 7 partially illustrates a section of the IS machine in side view; [Fig. 8]: Figure 8 partially illustrates a section of the IS machine with the roughing device in the open position, the article blanks having been transferred to the side of the finishing device which is partially shown in order to visualize said article blanks;

[0055] [Fig. 9]: Figure 9 partially illustrates a section of the IS machine with the roughing device partially shown in order to visualize the punches, the finishing device being open before transferring the articles onto the conveyor;

[0056] [Fig. 10]: Figure 10 illustrates a NIR camera with which a pyrometer-type temperature measuring device is associated, mounted on the structure of the IS machine;

[0057] [Fig. 11]: Figure 11 shows a diagram of a first variant of the installation of pyrometer-type temperature measuring devices on the IS machine comprising six sections;

[0058] [Fig. 12]: Figure 12 shows a diagram of a second variant of the installation of pyrometer-type temperature measuring devices on the IS machine comprising six sections;

[0059] [Fig. 13]: Figure 13 shows a diagram of a third variant of the installation of pyrometer-type temperature measuring devices on the IS machine comprising six sections;

[0060] [Fig. 14]: Figure 14 shows a flowchart of the steps involved in creating a database of visual shades assigned to temperatures defined on the roughing devices;

[0061] [Fig. 15]: Figure 15 shows a flowchart of the steps for restoring corrective data based on the shades of gray measured in real time by the NIR cameras on the roughing devices and at least one reference temperature set on said control system;

[0062] [Fig.16]: Figure 16 shows a graphical interface of the control and regulation system showing the operating status of all sections of the IS machine;

[0063] [Fig. 17]: Figure 17 shows a graphical interface of the control and regulation system showing the possibilities of adjusting parameters on a section of the IS machine; [Fig.18]: Figure 18 shows a graphical interface of the control and regulation system showing the possibilities of calibrating the NIR cameras on the roughing devices of the sections of the IS machine.

[0064] Detailed description

[0065] In the remainder of the description, unless otherwise indicated: the same references are used to designate the same characteristics in the figures and according to the various variants illustrated; the machine for forming hollow glass articles is designated “IS machine”; the hollow glass article is designated “article”; the control and regulation system which is the subject of the invention is designated “system”, the control and regulation method is designated “method”; the near infrared radiation measuring cameras are designated “NIR cameras”; and the hollow article manufacturing installation is designated “installation”.

[0066] With regard to figure 1, installation 1 comprises a composition station 2 where the raw materials (sand, limestone, sodium carbonate, cullet, recycled glass, etc.) which go into the composition of the glass are mixed, a furnace 3 for melting the mixture of raw materials, the molten glass obtained being at a temperature of the order of 1300°C to 1550°C. This molten glass is then conveyed by means of a channel 4 which ends with a mechanism 5 for forming the parisons 6 and distributing these parisons 6 into lanes 7 which respectively supply sections 8 of an IS machine 9 with parisons 6. The number of lanes 7 is proportional to the number of sections 8 on the IS machine 9 and to the number of articles 10 manufactured simultaneously on a section 8. The articles 10 are then transferred from the sections 8 onto a conveyor 11 which conveys said articles 10 to an annealing arch 12 for their controlled cooling.The number of sections 8 on the IS 9 machine can vary. For example, six sections 8 A to 8E are shown diagrammatically in Figure 1, while the IS 9 machine in Figures 5 and 6 comprises twelve sections 8A to 8L (partially illustrated in these Figures 5 and 6). The number of sections 8 on the IS 9 machine could be eight or ten, or even another number.

[0067] With particular reference to Figures 7 to 9, each section 8 comprises a roughing device 13 enabling the formation of two article roughs 10' and a finishing device 14 enabling the formation of two articles 10 with their final shape. Each section 8 also comprises a ring mold 15 which enables the formation of the ring 10a of the article 10 and also ensures the holding of the two article roughs 10' during their transfer from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14.

[0068] With reference to Figures 8, 9 and 17, the roughing device 13 comprises two parts 16, 17 which each comprise an imprint 18, 19 on their internal faces. Each of the two imprints 18, 19 comprises two negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B forming two roughing molds. When the roughing device 13 is in the closed position (Figure 9), the two parts 16, 17 are joined together, which makes it possible to join the two negatives 18A, 19A and the two negatives 18B, 19B to form the negatives of two roughing molds allowing the production of two article roughs 10'. Conversely, when the roughing device 13 is in the open position (figure 8), the two parts 16, 17 are moved apart from each other to open the two roughing molds and release the negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B from the two article roughs 10' held by the ring mold 15, thus making it possible to transfer said article roughs 10' to the finishing mold 14.

[0069] Similarly, with reference to Figures 8, 9 and 17, the finishing device 14 comprises two parts 20, 21 which each comprise an imprint 22, 23 on their internal faces. Each of the two imprints 22, 23 comprises two negatives 22A, 22B, 23A, 23B forming two finishing molds. When the finishing device 14 is in the closed position (figure 8), the two parts 20, 21 are joined together, which makes it possible to join the two negatives 22A, 23A and the two negatives 22B, 23B to form the negatives of two finishing molds allowing the production of two articles 10. Conversely, when the finishing device 14 is in the open position (figure 9), the two parts 20, 21 are separated from each other to open the two finishing molds and release the negatives 22A, 22B, 23A, 23B in order to allow either the placement of the article blanks 10' in the finishing device 14 or the removal of the articles 10 from said finishing device 14.

[0070] The roughing device 13 and the finishing device 14 of each section 8 allow, in the example described here, the production of two articles 10 simultaneously, the impressions 18, 19 of the roughing device 13 and the impressions 22, 23 of the finishing device 14 could however comprise a different number of negatives in order to allow the formation of a different number of roughing molds and finishing molds, for example to form one to four article roughs 10' on said roughing device 13 and one to four articles 10 on said finishing device 14.

[0071] With regard to these figures 8, 9 and 17, the roughing device 13 also comprises two punches 24, 25 placed respectively in the center, that is to say on the joint plane between the two parts 16, 17 of said roughing device 13 when the latter is in the closed position, in correspondence with the negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B on the impressions 18, 19. The number of punches depends on the number of article roughing negatives 10' on the roughing device 13 and form with these the roughing molds on said roughing device 13.

[0072] Figures 2 to 4 explain the steps of forming an article 10 from the insertion of the parison 6 into a roughing mold of the roughing device 13 until its exit from a finishing mold of the finishing device 14. Figure 2 shows the successive steps E1, E2, E3 of loading the parison 6, compression and piercing carried out in one of the negatives (association of the negative parts 18A-19A or 18B-19B) of the article roughing 10'. During these successive steps of Figure 2, the ring mold 15 and the punch 24, 25 make it possible to completely form the ring 26 directly on the article roughing 10'. Figure 3 shows step E4 of transferring the article blank 10' to the finishing device 14, carried out by means of the ring mold 15 which holds the article blank 10' by the ring 26 and moves by means of a transfer arm 27 on the finishing device 14.Figure 4 shows the successive steps E5, E6, E7 of elongation, blowing and extraction of the article 10 which is then transferred to the conveyor 11 (figure 1). During steps E1, E2, E3, the negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B of the impressions 18, 19 and the punches 24, 25 on the roughing device 13 heat up in contact with the molten glass during the formation of the two rough articles 10', their temperatures being able to degrade the quality of the rough articles 10' when these are too high or, conversely, too low. In the same way, during steps E5, E6, E7, the negatives 22A, 22B, 23A, 23B of the impressions 23, 23 on the finishing device 14 heat up in contact with the article blanks 10' during the formation of the articles 10, their temperatures being able to degrade the quality of the articles 10 when these are too high or, conversely, too low, although the risks are lower than during the formation of the article blanks 10'.The roughing device 13 comprises a cooling device (not shown) which comprises a fan allowing the creation of an air flow whose flow rate can be modified independently on the sections 8 by adjusting valves 28 (schematically shown in figures 1, 11, 12, 13), so that the variable flow air flows on the roughing devices 13 of the sections 8 cool the negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B of the impressions 18, 19 of said roughing devices 13. Similar cooling devices are also provided for the punches 24, 25 and for the negatives 22A, 22B, 23A, 23B of the impressions 22, 23 of the finishing devices 14, on the sections 8. Other cooling devices could be provided for the roughing devices 13 and the finishing devices 14, by providing an internal cooling circuit in which a liquid or gaseous cooling fluid circulates.

[0073] The system 29 according to the invention makes it possible in particular to act on the valves 28 of the cooling device in order to vary the temperatures of the cavities 18, 19 of the roughing devices 13. Preferably, the system 29 also makes it possible to act on the valves (not illustrated) of the cooling device of the punches 24, 25 on each section 8 in order to vary their temperatures. Preferably, the system 29 also makes it possible to act on the valves (not illustrated) of the cooling device in order to vary the temperatures of the cavities 22, 23 of the finishing devices 14. The following description explains the implementation of the system 29 and of the method for the roughing devices 13, not only for the cooling of the negatives 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B of the cavities 18, 19 and, preferably, also for the cooling of the punches 24, 25. This description may be applied by similarity to the finishing devices 14.

[0074] In Figure 1, the system 29 comprises six NIR cameras 30 which are installed respectively on the six sections SI to S6, these NIR cameras 30 making it possible to visualize shades of gray, these working in wavelengths between 0.7 pm and 1 pm. Similarly, the system 29 comprises six pyrometers 31 which are installed respectively on the six sections SI to S6. With regard to Figure 11, the pyrometer 31 and the NIR camera 30 are associated on the same support 32 which is fixed to a structure 33 of the machine IS 9.On each section S1 to S6, the NIR camera 30 and the pyrometer 31 are placed between the roughing device 13 and the finishing device 14 and oriented towards the roughing device 13 so as to be able to view the impressions 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 of said roughing device 13 in the open position, as well as the two punches 24, 25 as soon as the ring mold 15 is moved by the transfer arm 27 towards the finishing device 14. Thus, the NIR camera 30 and the pyrometer 31 are placed facing the opening angle of the two parts 16, 17 of the roughing device 13 and perfectly view the two roughing molds formed by the negatives 18A, 19A, 18B, 19B and the punches 24, 25. The NIR camera 30 makes it possible to view nuances of gray of the prints 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 and also of the two punches 24, 25.The pyrometer 31 is directed to measure an actual temperature at a reference point either of one of the indentations 18, 19 of the parts 16, 17 or of one of the punches 24, 25. Preferably, the pyrometer 31 is directed to measure the actual temperature TR of one of the punches 24, 25. Alternatively, the pyrometer 31 could be separated from the NIR camera 30 and placed directly on the roughing device 13 and oriented towards a reference point on one of the indentations 18, 19 of said parts 16, 17 or of the punch 25 located at the front of the roughing device 13, or even oriented towards a point on an external wall of one of said parts 16, 17. The pyrometer 31 could also be replaced by another temperature measuring member on the roughing device 13, for example a temperature probe placed on one of the parts 16, 17 of the roughing device 13.

[0075] The system 29 comprises a processing unit 34 which includes in particular a microprocessor 35 programmed to constitute a database of visual tints to which defined temperatures TD are assigned for each of the sections 8 of the machine IS 9. For this, the microprocessor 35 provides a calibration phase PI, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 14, implementing a first step SA of acquiring the shades of gray measured on the impressions 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 in the open position and, preferably, also on the punches 24, 25, this for each roughing device 13, by means of the NIR cameras 30. Simultaneously with this first step SA, the calibration phase PI provides a second step SB of acquiring the actual temperatures measured by the pyrometers 31 at a reference point, preferably on one of the punches 24, 25 or on one of the impressions 18, 19 of the parts 16, 17 of the roughing devices 13 in the open position.In a third step SC, the microprocessor 35 carries out a correlation (SCI) between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras 30 and the actual temperatures TR measured by the pyrometers 31 on each of the sections 8 of the IS9 machine, the microprocessor 35 assigning (SC2) a visual tint to a defined temperature TD on the impressions 18, 19 of the parts 16, 17 of the roughing devices 13 and, preferably, also on the punches 24, 25 of said roughing devices 13, the microprocessor 35 then recording (SC3) said data in the database. This PI calibration phase is carried out on a pre-series of articles 10, the pyrometers 31 no longer being necessary during normal operation of the IS9 machine.The pyrometers 31 may however be kept in position on the sections 8 of the IS 9 machine in order to be able to make corrective updates to the database in order to compensate for drifts of the system 29 over time, such drifts being able to occur depending on the conditions of use and / or the environment of the IS 9 machine, for example due to the season which influences in particular the brightness and the ambient temperature. In addition, the measurements of the shades of gray by the NIR cameras 30 and the measurements of the actual temperatures TR by the pyrometers 31 are carried out at a precise and regular time on each section 8, preferably at the start of the transfer of the article blank 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on each section.

[0076] In the case of Figure 1 where each section S1 to S6 comprises a pyrometer 31, each measurement of shades of gray by means of the NIR camera 30 is representative of the actual temperature TR measured on the roughing device 13 for each section S1 to S6, the defined temperature TD attributed to the visual shade then corresponding precisely to the actual temperature TR at the time when said measurements are carried out. Variants are however possible within the framework of the invention, as illustrated in Figures 11 to 13.

[0077] In Figure 11, only a first half 8 A of the sections 8 going from an extreme section SI to a central section S3 is equipped with pyrometers 31, all sections SI to S6 remaining equipped with NIR cameras 30. The corridors 7 distributing the parisons 6 in the roughing devices 13 and the sections SI to S6 being arranged symmetrically with respect to a median plane PM of the machine IS 9, the microprocessor 35 of the processing unit 34 is programmed to assign the same defined temperature TD6 to a visual tint resulting from a measurement of shades of gray on the section S6, as the defined temperature TD1 assigned to a visual tint resulting from a measurement of shades of gray on the section SI, on the same operating cycle of the machine and at the instant of transfer of the article roughing 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on the sections SI and S6 concerned. The same applies between sections S2 and S5 and between sections S3 and S4.Of course, the pyrometers 31 could be arranged on sections S4 to S6 instead of sections SI to S3, with a similar result. Of course, the principle would remain the same with a different number of sections, as for sections SI to S12 on the IS 9 machine of Figures 5 and 6, sections SI to S6 being arranged symmetrically to sections S7 to S12, with respect to a median plane PM.

[0078] In Figure 12, only certain sections on a first half 8 A of the sections 8 going from sections SI to S3 are equipped with pyrometers 31, all sections SI to S6 being equipped with an NIR camera 30. Preferably, as shown diagrammatically in this Figure 13, two pyrometers 31 are arranged on the roughing devices 13 of the extreme section SI and of the central section S3, making it possible to assign two defined temperatures TD1 and TD3 to the visual tints resulting from the measurements of shades of gray on the sections SI and S3 during the same operating cycle of the machine and at the time of transfer of the article roughing 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on the sections SI and S3 concerned.Then, the microprocessor 35 deduces the defined temperature TD2 attributed to the visual tint resulting from the measurement of shades of gray on the section S2 during the same operating cycle of the machine IS 9 and at the instant of transfer of the article roughing 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on this section S2, considering that the actual temperature evolves linearly between the section SI and S3 due to the variation in length of the corridors 7 supplying these sections SI to S3.On the same principle as for Figure 11, the microprocessor 35 is programmed to then assign the same defined temperatures TD4, TD5 and TD6 to visual shades resulting from the grayscale measurements on sections S4, S5 and S6, as the defined temperatures TD1, TD2 and TD3 assigned to the visual shades resulting from the grayscale measurements on sections S1, S2 and S3, during the same operating cycle of the machine and at the time of transfer of the article blank 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on the sections concerned. Of course, the pyrometers 31 could be arranged on sections S4 and S6 instead of sections S1 and S3, with a similar result by first deducing the defined temperature TD4, then the defined temperatures TD1, TD2 and TD3.Of course, the principle would remain the same with a different number of sections, as for sections SI to S12 on the machine IS9 of figures 5 and 6, sections SI to S6 being arranged symmetrically to sections S7 to S12, with respect to a median plane PM and the pyrometers 31 being for example arranged on the extreme section S1 and on the central section S6, an additional pyrometer 31 possibly being arranged on the section S3 intermediate to sections SI and S6 in order to refine the determination of the defined temperatures TD2 and TD5 on sections S2 and S5. As previously, these pyrometers 31 are necessary only during the acquisition phase of the database on the processing unit 34.

[0079] In Figure 13, only one section is equipped with a pyrometer 31, all sections S1 to S6 being equipped with a NIR camera 30.For example, as shown diagrammatically in this figure 11, a pyrometer 31 is arranged on the roughing device 13 of the intermediate section S2, making it possible to assign a defined temperature TD2 to a visual tint resulting from the measurement of shades of gray on the section S2 during an operating cycle of the machine and at the instant of transfer of the article rough 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on this section S2, then to deduce therefrom the defined temperatures TD1 and TD3 assigned to the visual tints resulting from the measurements of shades of gray on the sections SI and S3 during the same operating cycle of the machine IS 9 and at the instant of transfer of the article rough 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on these sections SI and S3, considering that the actual temperature changes as a function of a temperature gradient between the section SI and S3 linked to the variation in length of the corridors 7 feeding these sections SI to S3.On the same principle as for Figure 11, the microprocessor 35 is programmed to then assign the same defined temperatures TD4, TD5 and TD6 to visual tints resulting from the grayscale measurements on the sections S4, S5 and S6, as the defined temperatures TD1, TD2 and TD3 assigned to the visual tints resulting from the grayscale measurements on the sections S1, S2 and S3, on the same operating cycle of the machine and at the time of transfer of the article blank 10' from the roughing device 13 to the finishing device 14 on the sections concerned. Of course, the pyrometer 31 could be arranged on another of the sections S1, S3, S4, S5, S6 by applying the same principle.Of course, the principle would remain the same with a different number of sections, as for sections S1 to S12 on the IS 9 machine of figures 5 and 6, sections S1 to S6 being arranged symmetrically to sections S7 to S12, with respect to a median plane PM and the pyrometer 31 being for example arranged on an intermediate section S3 or S4. As previously, this pyrometer 31 is necessary only during the database acquisition phase on the processing unit 34.

[0080] Once the database BD has been created by the processing unit 34, the latter can implement a second phase P2 of control and regulation on the sections 8 of the machine IS 9, shown diagrammatically in figure 15. In a fourth step SD, for each of the sections 8 of the machine IS 9, the microprocessor 35 acquires (SD2) the real-time measurements of the shades of gray on the impressions 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 and, preferably on the punches 24, 25, on each roughing device 13 in the open position by means of the NIR cameras 31.Then, the microprocessor 35 proceeds to calculate corrective data DC by comparing (SD3) the visual tints corresponding to said measured shades of gray and to which defined temperatures TD are attributed, with one or more reference temperatures Tref at points or zones located on the impressions 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 and, preferably, on the punches 24, 25, this or these reference temperatures being previously set (SD1) on the system 29 by means of a digital interface 36 of the processing unit 34.In a fifth step SE, when the corresponding visual tint representative of a defined temperature value TD is greater than the reference temperature Tref set at a point or area of ​​one of said cavities 18, 19 or punches 24, 25, the processing unit 34 transmits corrective data DC making it possible to act on the valve 28 of the cooling device for the roughing device 13 concerned in order to increase the flow rate of the air flow to reduce the temperatures of the cavities 18, 19 of the roughing mold 13, or even to act on the valve (not shown) of the cooling device for the punches 24, 25 to reduce their temperatures.When the visual tint is representative of a defined temperature value TD lower than the reference temperature Tref set at a point or an area of ​​one of said cavities 18, 19 or punches 24, 25, the processing unit 34 transmits corrective data DC making it possible to act on the valve 28 of the cooling device for the roughing device 13 concerned in order to reduce the flow rate of the air flow to increase the temperatures of the cavities 18, 19 of the roughing device 13, or even to act on the valve (not illustrated) of the cooling device of the punches 24, 25 to increase their temperatures.

[0081] Figures 16 and 17 illustrate the digital interface 36 for displaying the operating status and temperatures on the sections 8 of the IS 9 machine and also for setting on each of the sections 8, the reference temperatures Tref on the impressions 18, 19 of the parts 16, 17 of the roughing devices 13 and the punches 24, 25. In Figure 16, the digital interface 36 allows the roughing devices 13 to be displayed on all the sections 8. In this Figure 16, the IS 9 machine comprises ten sections SI to S 10, instead of six or twelve as described previously.From the grayscale measurements made by the NIR cameras 30 on the roughing device 13 and a comparison with the visual hues in the database to which defined temperatures Td correspond, the microprocessor 35 determines the temperatures Tl, T2, T3 respectively on the negatives 18A, 19A and the punch 24 located on the rear side of the roughing device 13 and, likewise, the temperatures T4, T5, T6 respectively on the negatives 18B, 19B and the punch 25 located on the front side of said roughing device 13. The digital interface 36 also indicates the reference temperatures Trefl, Tref2, Tref3 set on the prints 18, 19 and on the punches 24, 25 of the roughing device 13, which are used by the processing unit 34 in order to vary the air flows generated on the prints 18, 19 of the two parts 16, 17 and on punches 24, 25.The digital interface 36 includes for all sections SI to S10 displayed on the screen gauges J1, J2, J3 indicating the percentages of ventilation flow used to cool the cavities 18, 19 and the punches 24, 25 on each of the roughing devices 13. Depending on the percentage indications on these gauges J1, J2, J3 and in the event of saturation indicated by a light 37 for the cavities 18, 19 and by a light 38 for the punches 24, 25, the operator can intervene on the machine IS 9 in order to increase the speed of the general fan (not illustrated) of the machine IS 9 concerning the parts 16, 17 and to increase the cooling pressure concerning the punches 24, 25.The processing unit 34 also performs a comparison of the temperatures T1, T2 on the rear side (negatives 18A-19A of the rear roughing mold) of the roughing device 13, respectively with the temperatures T4, T5 on the front side (negatives 18B-19B of the front roughing mold) of said roughing device 13, or even performs a comparison between the average of the temperatures T1, T2 and the average of the temperatures T4, T5 and, in the event of a temperature difference preferably greater than 10°C, triggers an imbalance indicator 39 allowing the operator to intervene on the machine IS 9 to change the ventilation stacks modifying the air circulation on the parts 16, 17 of the roughing device 13, because the system 29 is unable to sufficiently compensate for the temperature imbalance between the front roughing mold and the rear roughing mold.Instead of modifying the ventilation stacks, the processing unit can also shift the ventilation moment in time in order to ventilate later or later and, thus, balance the temperatures on the front roughing mold and on the rear roughing mold. The processing unit 34 also makes it possible to detect a malfunction on one of the sections 8 of the IS 9 machine by analyzing the grayscale measurements of the NIR cameras 30 on the sections 8, in particular when the parison 6 does not fall correctly into the funnel 40 at the time of the loading step E1 (illustrated in FIG. 2) and causes a hot spot and a buildup of molten glass on the roughing device 13, around the funnel 40.The microprocessor 35 compares the shades of gray with the visual hues and when these are not listed in the database and are abnormally high and prolonged, issues an alert on the interface 36 signaling the malfunction on the section S6 concerned, for example by a cross (see figure 16) and possibly an audible signal. The processing unit 34 can also communicate directly with the machine IS 9 by means of a communication interface which can be a link bus or a transmitter / receiver device.

[0082] The microprocessor 35 is also programmed to allow the desired reference temperatures Trefl, Tref2, Tref3 to be set on the digital interface 36 on the imprints 18, 19 of the parts 16, 17 and the punches 24, 25 for each roughing device 13 on the sections S1 to S10. With reference to Figure 17, the digital interface 36 makes it possible to display a section 8 of the IS 9 machine and to choose the reference temperatures Tref on the prints 18, 19 and the positions of these reference temperatures Tref on these prints 18, 19, in the upper part 41 (see set temperatures Tlh and T2h), in the central part 42 (see set temperatures Tic and T2c) and / or in the lower part 43 (see set temperatures Tlb and T2b), and also to choose the reference temperature Tref3 on the punches 24, 25, using joystick buttons 44 and validation buttons 45.This adjustment operation is carried out on the digital interface 36, on the negatives 18A, 19A and the punch 24 on the rear side of the roughing mold 13 and on the negatives 18B, 19B and the punch 25 on the front side of the roughing device 13, for each of the sections SI to S 10 of the machine IS 9.

[0083] The NIR cameras 30 are fixed by means of supports 32 on a structure 33 of the IS 9 machine, as previously specified. Their fixing positions are not identical from one roughing device to another, the grayscale measurements made can therefore vary from one NIR camera to another. The processing unit 34 provides for this the possibility of carrying out on the digital interface 36 a calibration of each NIR camera 30 on the roughing devices 13. With regard to figure 18, from a grayscale measurement on the roughing device 13 of a section Si, the operator can carry out a calibration of the image I of the roughing device 13 in the open position, by locating himself on the punches 24, 25 and on a reference point 46 on one of the mold parts 16, 17 by means of the calibration buttons 47.This advantageously allows the NIR 30 cameras to also be recalibrated during use without requiring operator intervention on the IS 9 machine while it is running.

[0084] It is also possible to provide a variant of the system 29 and of the method according to the invention without the use of pyrometers 31 to carry out the acquisition of the database of visual tints corresponding to temperatures defined on the roughing devices 13 in the open position. In this case, the microprocessor 35 of the processing unit 34 could for example be programmed from an empirical method, constituting an experimental base which will be reused in the system 29 for new applications, that is to say on IS machines.

[0085] 9 other installations 1, for the manufacture of other articles 10, while remaining within the scope of the invention.

[0086] The method and system 29 described above and applying to the roughing devices 13 can also be implemented in an equivalent manner on the finishing devices 14 by equipping the sections 8 of the machine with second NIR cameras and one or more second pyrometers, the second pyrometer(s) then being positioned as mentioned previously for the pyrometer(s) 31 with reference to FIGS. 1 and 11 to 13, that is to say so as to be placed on the sections 8 facing the opening angle of the two parts 20, 21 of the finishing device 14 in order to properly view the negatives 22A, 22B, 23A, 23B of the impressions 22, 23 forming the finishing molds. These second pyrometers could be replaced by other temperature measuring devices, for example temperature probes.

[0087] When corrective data is transmitted by the processing unit 34, the latter transmits in parallel an instruction to a blowing nozzle 48 to eject the defective articles 10 placed on the conveyor 11 at the time of their passage in front of said blowing nozzle 48, the articles

[0088] 10 defective ones were then removed to a cellar (not shown) for recycling.

[0089] Preferably, the NIR cameras 30 on the side of the roughing devices 13 (likewise for the second NIR cameras on the side of the finishing molds 14) are equipped with a shutter 49 ensuring a reduction in the passage of the camera beam which makes it possible to maintain optimal visibility throughout the measurements while limiting the infiltration of dust or other dirt which could stick to the lens of this camera. The same will apply to the second NIR cameras on the side of the finishing devices 14, in the presence of the latter. The presence of the NIR cameras 30 on the sections 8 also makes it possible to use them in the visible range in order to carry out an automatic visual inspection on the roughing devices 13 and their respective environments.The processing unit 34 therefore comprises a database of reference images of a roughing device 13 and its environment on a section 8 and is programmed to compare the images acquired in the visible range with this database of reference images and to check whether the shapes / images of the roughing device 13 and its environment are correct. In the event of detection of an anomaly, that is to say a difference between the acquired images and the reference images, the processing unit 34 triggers a stop of the section 8 concerned on the IS 9 machine and alerts the operator on the digital interface 36. The videos taken by these NIR cameras 30 can additionally be viewed by an operator on the digital interface 36. Such a visual check will also be possible on the finishing devices 14, in the presence of second NIR cameras on the sections 8 of the IS 9 machine.The operator will thus be able to intervene on a section 8 of the IS 9 machine if the system 29 detects an anomaly on one of said sections 8. Such a visual check can also be implemented on the article roughs 10' once the roughing device 13 is open, or even on the articles 10 once the finishing device 14 is open.

[0090] The system 29 can also carry out, in addition, an inspection of the article blanks 10' by means of the NIR cameras 30 present on the sections 8 of the IS machine 9. In this case, the system 29 proceeds in the same way as for the inspection of the blank molds of the blanking devices 13. The NIR cameras 30 return to the processing unit 34 shades of gray measured on the article blanks 10', once the blanking devices 13 are in the open position and before the transfer of the article blanks 10' to the finishing devices 14, that is to say between the steps E3 and E4, the article blanks 10' being held - rings 26 positioned at the bottom - by the ring molds 15, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The processing unit 34 then also comprises a database of visual tints corresponding to defined temperatures on drafts of article 10'.As previously, the processing unit 34 then restores corrective data making it possible to act on the cooling devices of the roughing devices 13, this time as a function of the shades of gray measured in real time by the NIR cameras 30 on the article roughs 10' and at least one reference temperature on said article roughs 10', said reference temperature being set on said system 29. In the same way as previously, the processing unit 34 is preferably configured to constitute the database of visual shades of an article rough 10' by carrying out a correlation between shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras 30 on the article roughs 10' and a measured real temperature and by assigning a visual shade of the article rough 10' corresponding to a defined temperature.In this preferred case, the pyrometer(s) 31 present on the roughing device(s) 13 and described previously, may be configured to restore actual temperatures of the article roughing(s) 10', the computer processing unit 34 then being configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras 30 on the article roughings 10' and the actual temperature(s) measured by the pyrometer(s) 31 and assign a visual tint to an article roughing 10' at a defined temperature. In the event of action on the cooling device of a roughing device 13 to reduce or, conversely, increase the temperature of the roughing molds, the defective article roughing 10' will also be ejected by activating the blowing nozzle 48, as previously.

Claims

Demands 1. Control and regulation system (29) on sections (8) of a machine for forming hollow glass articles, referred to as machine IS (9), each section comprising a roughing device (13) which has two parts (16, 17) forming at least one roughing mold, the two parts (16, 17) being able to move from an open position where they are separated from each other in order to open at least one roughing mold and allow the release of the article blank from said at least one roughing mold, to a closed position where the two parts (16, 17) are joined to form at least one roughing mold and allow the formation of at least one article blank, each of said roughing devices (13) comprising a device for cooling its two parts (16, 17),said system (29) comprising a computer processing unit (34) configured to provide corrective data enabling action on the cooling devices of the roughing devices (13), characterized in that the system (29) comprises as many near-infrared measurement cameras, referred to as NIR cameras (30), as there are sections (8) on the IS machine (9), the NIR cameras (30) being placed directly on the sections (8) with an orientation vis-à-vis the roughing devices (13) enabling visualization of the negatives (18A, 18B, 19A, 19B) of the parts (16, 17) in the open position, said NIR cameras (30) providing shades of grey measured on at least one roughing mold of each roughing device (13), the processing unit (34) comprising a database of visual tints corresponding to defined temperatures on the roughing devices (13) in the open position,said processing unit (34) then rendering said correction data according to the shades of grey measured in real time by the NIR cameras (30) on the roughing devices (13) in the open position and at least one reference temperature set on said system (29).

2. System (29) according to claim 1, wherein the computer processing unit (34) is configured to constitute the visual hue database by correlating shades of grey measured by NIR cameras (30) on the roughing devices in the open position with an actual measured temperature and assigning a visual hue corresponding to a defined temperature.

3. System (29) according to claim 2, comprising at least one temperature measuring element, in particular of the pyrometer type (31), associated with at least one of the roughing devices (13), said at least one temperature measuring element being configured to reproduce an actual temperature at a reference point on the roughing device (13) to which it is associated, the computer processing unit (34) being configured to perform a correlation between the shades of gray measured by the NIR cameras (30) on the devices roughers (13) in open position and the actual temperature measured by at least one temperature measuring device and assign a visual tint to a defined temperature on the roughers (13) in open position.

4. System (29) according to claim 3, which includes several temperature measuring devices, in particular of the pyrometer type (31), respectively reproducing real temperatures at a reference point on roughing devices (13) to which they are associated, the computer processing unit (34) being configured to perform a correlation between the shades of grey measured by the NIR cameras (30) and the real temperatures measured by said temperature measuring devices and to assign a visual tint to a defined temperature on at least the negatives of the parts (16, 17) of the roughing molds (13).

5. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each of said roughing devices (13) comprises at least one punch (24, 25) and a cooling device for at least one punch, a computer processing unit (34) being configured to provide corrective data enabling action on the cooling devices of at least one punch, the NIR cameras (30) also enabling visualization of at least one punch between the two mold parts in the open position and the reproduction of shades of grey measured on said at least one punch, the processing unit comprising a database of visual shades corresponding to defined temperatures on at least one punch of the roughing devices in the open position,said processing unit being configured to then return said correction data to the cooling device of at least one punch based on the shades of grey measured in real time by the NIR cameras on the punch(s) and a reference temperature set on said system (29).

6. System (29) according to claim 5, wherein the computer processing unit (34) is configured to constitute the database of visual hues by correlating shades of grey measured by NIR cameras on the punches of the roughing molds of the roughing devices in the open position and an actual measured temperature and assigning a visual hue corresponding to a defined temperature.

7. System (29) according to claim 6, wherein the actual temperatures measured are obtained by means of at least one temperature measuring device, in particular of the pyrometer type (31), associated with at least one of the roughing devices (13), these actual temperatures being measured at a reference point on the roughing device (13).

8. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the computer processing unit (34) is configured to analyze the shades of grey measured by the NIR cameras (30) and detect an abnormally high and prolonged temperature representative of an anomaly on the roughing device (13), said processing unit (34) emitting an alert and / or emergency stop information from the relevant section (8).

9. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, each section of the IS machine comprising a finishing device (14) which has two parts (20, 21) forming at least one finishing mold and is capable of moving from an open position where the two parts are separated to place at least one article blank or remove at least one finished article, to a closed position where the two parts are joined for the formation of at least one finished article, the finishing device comprising a cooling device for said two parts, the computer processing unit (34) being configured to provide corrective data enabling action on the cooling devices of the finishing devices (14), said system (29) comprising as many second near-infrared measuring cameras, referred to as second NIR cameras, as there are sections on the IS machine,said second NIR cameras being placed directly on the sections (8) with an orientation vis-à-vis finishing devices (14) allowing visualization of the negatives (22A, 22B, 23A, 23B) of the parts (20, 21) in the open position, said second NIR cameras reproducing shades of grey measured on the negatives of the parts (20, 21) of the finishing molds (14), the processing unit (34) comprising a database of visual tints corresponding to temperatures defined on the finishing devices (14) in the open position, the processing unit being configured to then reproduce corrective data based on the shades of grey measured in real time by the second NIR cameras on the finishing devices (14) and at least one second reference temperature set on said system (29).

10. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each NIR camera comprises a housing equipped with a shutter (49) for protecting a lens of said NIR camera.

11. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the processing unit (34) is configured to control a device for ejecting glass articles from the outlet of sections (8) of the IS machine (9) during a correction data return.

12. A system (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the NIR cameras (30) are configured to also visualize at least one article blank (10') between the two parts of each roughing device (13) in the open position and to reproduce shades of gray measured on said at least one article blank, the processing unit (34) comprising a database of visual hues corresponding to defined temperatures on the at least one article blank (10'), said processing unit being configured to then return the said correction data to the cooling device of the corresponding roughing device (13) according to the shades of grey measured in real time by the NIR cameras (30) on at least one article rough (10') and a reference temperature set on said system (29).

13. System (29) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the NIR cameras (30) are configured to render images of the roughing devices (13) and their respective environments in the visible range, the processing unit (34) of said system being configured to compare these images acquired in the visible range to a database of reference images and perform an automatic check of the shapes / images of the roughing device in order to detect anomalies and trigger a stop of the relevant section (8) on the IS machine (9).

14. A machine for forming hollow glass articles, referred to as the IS machine (9), comprising sections (8) each having a roughing device (13) and a finishing device (14), the roughing device (13) comprising at least one punch (24, 25) and two parts (16, 17) forming at least one roughing mold and capable of moving from an open position where the two parts (16, 17) are separated to open at least one roughing mold to a closed position where the two parts (16, 17) are joined to close at least one roughing mold, the finishing device (14) comprising two parts (20, 21) forming at least one finishing mold and capable of moving from an open position where the two parts (20, 21) are separated to open at least one finishing mold to a closed position where the two parts (20, 21) are joined to close at least one mold finisher, each of said roughing devices (13) comprising a cooling device for both parts (16,17) and a cooling device for at least one punch, each of said finishing devices (14) comprising a cooling device for both parts (20, 21), said machine IS (9) comprising a control and regulation system (29) having the characteristics of any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. IS machine (9) according to claim 14, wherein each cooling device includes a variable valve for a fresh airflow generated by a fan, the computer processing unit (34) managing the activation of said variable valve for the fresh airflow according to the correction data.

16. IS machine (9) according to any one of claims 14 or 15, which includes a device for ejecting manufactured glass articles, the computer processing unit (34) being configured to activate said ejection device when corrective data are emitted and representative of a potential manufacturing defect of the hollow glass article.

17. A method for controlling and regulating the sections (8) of a glass hollow article forming machine, referred to as the IS machine (9), each section comprising a roughing device which has two parts (16, 17) forming at least one roughing mold and is capable of moving from an open position where the two parts (16, 17) are separated to open at least one roughing mold to a closed position where the two parts (16, 17) are joined to close at least one roughing mold, each of said roughing devices (13) comprising a device for cooling the two parts (16, 17), said method comprising: - a real-time SD measurement step of the shades of grey on each roughing device (13) in the open position using NIR cameras (30) placed directly on the sections (8) with an orientation allowing visualization of the negatives of the parts (16, 17) of the roughing devices (13) in the open position and calculation of correction data by comparing visual tints corresponding to said shades of grey to at least one reference temperature, said visual tints being assigned to defined temperatures and from a database; - an SE step of activation of the cooling devices of the roughing devices (13) according to the correction data.

18. A method according to claim 17, which includes preliminary steps for acquiring the database of visual shades corresponding to defined temperatures on the roughing devices (13) in the open position, said method includes at least: - an SA step of acquiring the shades of grey measured on the negatives of the two parts (16, 17) of each roughing device (13) by NIR cameras (30) placed directly on the sections (8) with an orientation allowing to view the negatives of the two parts (16, 17) of the roughing devices (13) in open position; - a SC correlation step between the shades of grey measured by the NIR cameras (30) and at least one real measured temperature and assignment of a visual tint to a defined temperature on the roughing devices (13).

19. Method according to claim 18, wherein the preliminary steps of acquiring said database include a step SB of acquiring at least one actual temperature at a reference point on at least one of the roughing devices (13), said at least one actual temperature being measured by at least one temperature measuring device, in particular of the pyrometer type (31), associated with said roughing device (13), simultaneously with step SA.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein step SB acquires actual temperatures at a reference point on several of the roughing devices (13) at by means of several temperature measuring devices, in particular of the pyrometer type (31), associated with said roughing devices (13), and the SC step performs a correlation between the shades of grey measured by the NIR cameras (30) and the actual temperatures measured by said temperature measuring devices and assigns a visual tint to a defined temperature on the negatives of the parts (16, 17) of the roughing molds (13).

21. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, comprising a step of analyzing the shades of grey measured by the NIR cameras (30) and of detecting an abnormally high and prolonged temperature representative of an anomaly on the roughing device (13), and a step of issuing an alert and / or emergency stop information for the section concerned.

22. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein it comprises a step of ejecting the glass articles at the exit of the sections (8) of the IS machine (9) when corrective data are returned to the cooling devices of the roughing devices (13).

23. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 22, further comprising a step of real-time measurement of shades of grey on at least one article blank (10') present on each blanking device (13) in open position by means of NIR cameras (30) and of calculation of correction data by comparing visual tints corresponding to said shades of grey of the article blanks (10') at at least one reference temperature, said visual tints being assigned to defined temperatures and taken from the database.

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