IS Machine Protection Walls for Safe Glass Mould Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IS machines for forming hollow glassware lack effective safety measures to protect workers from moving and hot components during maintenance and mould changes, necessitating additional barriers that complicate operations and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A modular IS machine design with spaced-apart forming sections and integrated barrier structures, including movable protection walls and roofs, to create isolated cells around each section, ensuring worker safety without operation disruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If additional barriers are added to protect workers from moving and hot components, then worker safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple protective barriers (fixed barriers, movable barriers, and roofs) into an integrated protective structure system. The movable barriers are integrated with the fixed barriers to form continuous protective walls, and the roofs are positioned to cover multiple forming sections, creating a unified safety system that protects workers from both moving and hot components while maintaining operational access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs movable barriers that can transition between extended and retracted positions. These movable barriers are driven by actuators (such as scissor mechanisms or hydraulic cylinders) that allow the barriers to move smoothly between positions. This dynamic capability enables the barriers to provide protection during operation and be moved aside when maintenance or mould changes are required, thus improving safety without permanently complicating the device structure.
2Ease of operation
If movable barriers are used to allow access during maintenance, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability decreases due to potential accidental activation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates interlock systems and sensors that detect the presence of workers or maintenance activities before allowing the movable barriers to move. The control system preliminarily assesses safety conditions (such as detecting whether the machine is in operation mode or maintenance mode) and only permits barrier movement when it is safe to do so. This preliminary anti-action prevents accidental activation that could compromise reliability while still allowing easy access when properly initiated.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable barriers are equipped with sensors and control systems that provide feedback about their position and the operational state of the machine. The system monitors whether the barriers are extended or retracted and adjusts machine operation accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures that the barriers only move when appropriate conditions are met, maintaining reliability while enabling easy access for maintenance when needed.
Data Source
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AI summary
An individual section machine (1) for forming hollow glassware has a plurality of forming sections (10) aligned to each other along a longitudinal axis (4), and a support structure (7), in common to all forming sections (10); each forming section (10) has a parison side (13) with a blank mould and a finishing side (14) with a finishing mould, to form at least one hollow glass product from a corresponding glass gob; the machine is provided with an upper cover (50) comprising a frame (51) coupled in a fixed position to the support structure (7), and at least one protection wall coupled to the frame (51) so it is movable between a working position, in which it is substantially horizontal and is arranged above the parison side (13) of at least one forming section (10), at a height that allows an operator to access the forming section (1), and a rest position, in which the protection wall is spaced horizontally away, towards the outside of said machine (1).