Abstract: A process for hardening elongate metal elements having a circular section, according to which the said elements are made to advance through a heating station and a hardening station by a conveyer device formed by a succession of advancement and support devices individually controllable in a direction transverse the said elements in such a way as to maintain the axis of each of the elements always coincident with a predetermined axis of advancement each advancement device being individually controllable in such a way as to impart to each point of each element displacements with a controllable velocity along cylindrical helices the pitch of which can be varied from zero to infinity and, in particular, to impart to each element during the traverse through a current of cooling fluid generated within the said hardening station transversely of the axis advancement, a rotary and translational movement with a velocity variable according to laws depending on the distribution of mass along the element itself.

Abstract: A machine for the manufacture of glass articles by blow moulding comprises a plurality of article-forming assemblies mounted in a circular array on a rotatable carousel. Each assembly has a number of operating means which cooperate to shape a gob of molten glass, first by rough-blanking using a plunger, and then by blow-moulding, into the required article. Control of said operating means is effected by a set of primary control members adjustably positioned in fixed locations around the carousel, and a respective set of carousel-mounted secondary control members associated with each assembly. As the carousel rotates, the secondary control members are moved past and influenced by corresponding ones of the primary control members and, as a result, the operating means of each assembly are appropriately controlled to shape the required article.