PIONEERINGTHE NEXT FORMING TECHNOLOGY

S. PINKERTON* Emhart Glass S.A. Cham, (Switzerland)

Higher quality standards and lower article cost targets in the glass industry are driving the need for new productiontechnology that is less prone to process variation and downtime. The next generation IS machines by Emhart Glasspromise the highest level of production control and repeatability in container forming to date. In addition, this New IS (NIS)platform will attain high quality standards and yield lower operating costs.

1- IN TUNE WITHCUSTOMER DEMANDS

More than ever, the glass con-tainer is the premier packagingchoice of leading internationalbrands. Glass containers conveythe image of a high quality art formthereby driving the demand for awide variety of shapes, sizes, andcolors. This presents the chal-lenge for glass producers andmachinery suppliers to be able toproduce a wider variety of contain-ers at costs more typical of thosemass-produced on dedicatedlines.

Emhart Glass has pursued aprogram over the last four years todevelop a forming machine thatfacilitates this “masscustomization” by employing stateof the art technology. Inherent inthis new technology is stablesteady state operation and theability for further automation.

While building on the knownforming methods of Blow andBlow, Press and Blow, NarrowNeck Press and Blow, etc., thenew technological platform knownas NIS addresses major areas ofconcerns of our customers.

1) Reduce variation in the formingprocess

*Steve Pinkerton is Emhart Glass Vice-President, RD&E

2) Decrease the complexity ofoperation of the forming machine

These areas, as well as manyothers, are addressed byemploying sophistication in thecontrols while reducing themechanical complexity of themachine.

2 - INNOVATION IS KEY TOPRODUCTIVITY

The greatest productivity gainsachieved due to technologicaladvances during the past twentyyears

have targeted ease of use,increased repeatability andpredictability.

Electronic timing and Verti-Flowmold cooling are two examples ofthis. Verti-Flow alone allowedcertain jobs on an IS machine tooperate up to 20% faster thanprevious mold cooling systems(Fig 1).By increasing the predictabilityand quality of mold cooling,container quality was increasedand more emphasis was given tolight-weighting techniques.

IS machines have still beenplagued with process variation,most of which comes from lack ofmechanism motion control. This isprimarily due to the inherentinstability of pneumatics andcompressed air. Pneumatics relyon items such as valve timing andrepeatability, air quality (tempera-ture, particulate content, humidity,etc), and piping. Changes orproblems in any of these areasresult in poor performance or theneed for frequent adjustment tomaintain steady state operation.Since many of the adjustments aremanual, further automation of theIS machine is not possible.

The NIS heralds a new technologi-cal era with a fully servo-electricmachine, providing “closed loop”

Fig 1 - The Verti-Flow® system.

control of Gob Feeding, IS mecha-nisms and Ware Handling.With an advanced control systemarchitecture, NIS allows for truesteady state operation of the ISmachine where environmentalchanges such as ambient tem-perature, frictional changes, andmold equipment wear are accom-modated automatically. The needfor frequent tuning and adjustmentis virtually eliminated.Where pneumatics are used,piping is nearly or completelyeliminated, thus increasing therepeatability and predictability ofthese particular functions. Be-cause variables such as speedand cushioning are now controlledelectronically, full job duplicationand faster job change is achiev-able. As a result, the benefits ofthe Individual Section (IS) aremaintained, but unlike the pneu-matic machine, each section isable to run identically.

3 - SIMPLIFICATION OFMECHANISMS

It can be argued that by minimiz-ing the complexity of a design, thepath for malfunction is reduced.Considering the Plunger Mecha-nism as one of the IS machine’smost critical mechanisms, thecurrent method for distribution andcontrol of compressed air repre-sents a level of complexity that isbeyond the requirement for properfunctionality.The quality of workmanship inpipefitting can ultimately influencethe performance of the plungermechanism and even each cavitywithin a plunger mechanism. Itstands to reason then that elimina-tion or reduction in the amount ofpiping would result in a morerobust and better performingsystem.The pictures in Fig. 2 give anappreciation of how much thecurrent piping and related pneu-matic controls have been simpli-fied. With the NIS, virtually all

plunger related piping has beeneliminated and replaced withmanifolds and distribution platesmaking up the PCM® (PneumaticControl Module) which is “pluggedin” without any sealing require-ment. This design has proven tobe less prone to variations andfailures than conventional sys-tems.Another example to consider is theMold Open and Close Mechanism,one of the most complicatedmechanisms in the IS Machine.The basic design uses linkagesand air cylinders to open andclose molds and clamp them shut.It is necessary to have a moldholder bracket that carries much ofthe forces generated by thelinkages. Unfortunately, theposition and size of the bracketshinder access to the machine andplunger mechanism in particular.In addition, to provide adequateclamping forces for severalmachine configurations and centerdistances, it is necessary to havefamilies of Mold Open and CloseMechanisms and Mold HolderBrackets to cover the full containerrange.The patented NIS Mold Open andClose Mechanism provides betterperformance while also increasingthe access and view to the centerof the machine (Fig 3). In addi-tion, the same basic mechanism isused for virtually any centerdistance.

4 - FULL MOTIONCONTROL

The state of the art for IS Machinetiming and control has been“electronic event timing”. Conven-tional systems have provided for aone-way communication to themachine. Motion instructions arenot verified for “if” and/or “when“they happen. As motion controls(pneumatic and hydraulic) areindividually tuned by section andby mechanism, timing accuracyand repeatability may not be thesame from one section to another.

The NIS changes this and sets anew standard for the industry. Inaddition to machine timing, theNIS Control System is capable ofcontrolling mechanism motionsand forces while providing fullfeedback as to when events haveoccurred. The NIS electronicscontinuously monitor and verifythat the positions of each mecha-nism are where they are com-manded to be throughout theirmotion profiles. As a result, “slacktime” can be reduced, cycle ratescan be increased, and all sectionscan be set up to run identicallyacross the machine.Tab. 1 highlights many of the otherperformance benefits realized bythe full closed loop control ap-proach.

Fig. 2 - NIS Eliminates Plunger Piping.

Traditional IS MachinesNIS PlungerControl Moduleand Base

One major benefit is a 50%reduction of “work-out” or “dry-run”time. This is the time typicallyrequired while starting productionfor the fine-tuning and equalizationof sections.Another benefit is increased moldequipment life. By tailoring motionprofiles and forces to the specificcontainer size and forming pro-cess, the NIS software will mini-mize the wear and tear on mecha-nisms and mold equipment byemploying optimization routines.For example, the Blank MoldOpen and Close Mechanism canbe programmed to close with onlythe force necessary to keep theblanks from opening under parisonforming pressure. The motionprofile also eliminates mold“slamming” that might occur withpneumatic systems.The result is less mold equipmentwear, requiring less mold equip-ment exchange and therefore lessdamage. As mechanism endpositions are also set electroni-cally, job changes can be donefaster and in a more repeatablefashion.Advancements in controls andsoftware have made possibleautomatic setup whereby mecha-nism end positions can be auto-matically determined for a particu-lar job.

5 - ENERGY REDUCTIONS

Measurements and calculations ofenergy consumption for 10-sectionmachines operating in Blow &Blow and NNP&B show that theelectricity consumption required tooperate the NIS machine issubstantially reduced. This isaccomplished by replacement ofpneumatically actuated mecha-nisms with servo-electric mecha-nisms.

Tab. 2 highlights savings onoperating energy, based on aEuropean environment, mainly inBlow & Blow and monthly jobchanges.

Tab. 1-Highlights of NIS Performance.

Fig. 3 - Front Picture of a NIS section in Triple Gob.

Cavity Rate:

% Pack:

Job Change Time:

Workout Time:

Mold Maintenance Cost:

+ 2 to +14%

+1%

-20%

-50%

-20%

6 - BENEFIT TO THEOPERATOR

Noise presents a major workenvironment issue in our industry.Noise reduction was a goal for theNIS machine program. Actualmeasurements showed noise levelreductions of up to 7 db(A). Noiselevels generated by a 10 sectionNIS machine were less than onefourth that of a conventional 10section IS machine (Tab. 3).

7 - CONCLUSION

The Next generation IS machine,known as NIS, employs the latestServo-electric and Controlstechnologies. The machine useswell proven and flexible IS formingprocesses combined with the mostadvanced automation available inglass container forming to date.The first NIS Machine has been inoperation producing containerssince April 1999. Its design allowscustomers to automate basicmanual tasks and to free up labormaking them available for moreuseful functions.

A good product developmentearns its reputation through fieldperformance. We invite you tosee the benefits of NIS for yourselfby contacting your EMHARTGLASS representatives. We lookforward to hearing from you.

Tab.2-Estimated NIS Energy Savings

Tab. 3-NIS Noise Reduction

NIS Savings on Operating Energy70,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

0 155 10 20 25

Cycles / Min

15,050

25,000

28,700

35,550

42,400

49,200

56,050

62,900