Abstract: A glass container forming machine has a machine base with a vertical front wall which includes a console assembly. This assembly has vertical front and rear box halves which are hingedly connected at the bottom and releasably connected at the top. The rear box is connected to the machine base via vertical hinges so that the console assembly can be pivoted away from the machine base. A console unit having a console screen is hingedly connected at the top proximate the top of the rear box half and the front box half includes vertically extending channels and the bottom of the console unit has followers for following the channels so that as the front box half is pivoted from a closed position whereat the box halves are closed, away from the rear box half to an open position, the console unit will be displaced from an initial position located between the closed front and rear box halves to a final position with the screen exposed and horizontal.

Abstract: A bottle reject system comprising a conveyor for carrying formed bottles, a first rejector operated at a time selected so that a defective bottle will be removed from the conveyor, a first sensor for confirming that the operation of the first rejector removed a bottle from the conveyor, and a second rejector operable at a time selected so that in the event the defective bottle was not removed from the conveyor when the first rejector operated, the defective bottle would be removed by operation of the second rejector at that time, and a control for operating the second rejector at the selected time, in the event that the first sensor fails to confirm that the operation of the first rejector removed a bottle from the conveyor.

Abstract: A machine for inspecting a container has an inspection conveyor for gripping and conveying containers delivered thereto at one speed. A feed conveyor delivers containers to the inspection conveyor at a slower speed. A container sensed on the inspection conveyor is brought to a stop at a selected location so that an inspection can take place.

Abstract: Apparatus for reading code elements which are relieved from a container. A source of light projects normally at the code elements while the container is rotated to sequentially illuminate each of the code elements. A sensor receives light which is reflected approximately normal to the surface of the container but avoids light which is reflected from the surface of each code element at an appreciable angle relative to the normal. The intensity of the reflections from regions of said container not containing a code element are relatively large compared to reflections received from portions of the container surface containing a code element and a threshold is set therebetween.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting line-over defects at the finish of a glassware container. A bifurcated fiber optic bundle includes sender and receiver fiber branches; one of the branches terminates at a modulated visible red high intensity LED light source, the other at a photosensor. The non-bifurcated, probe end of the fiber optic cable terminates in a rectangular pattern of sending and receiving fibers in a random mix. The probe end of the fiber optic bundle is positioned directly over the container finish and pointed straight down. An intervening lens assembly produces a focused 1:1 image of the rectangular pattern at the bottle finish with the long axis of the rectangle oriented radially across the finish. An electronic assembly modulates the LED, demodulates the photodetector output, and detects sharp reductions in the intensity of light reflected back to the receiver fibers, indicative of line-over defects.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for optical inspection of transparent layers such as the wall of glass and plastic containers, using bifurcated fiber optic probes. One or more of such fiber optic probes are directed at the wall of a transparent container, and light emitted thereby is selectively reflected from both the inner and outer surfaces of the container wall. Each probe includes a pair of bifurcated fiber optic bundles which are disposed at different distances behind a 1:1 lens system, resulting in two focal points at different distances from the fiber optic probe. Relative motion of the inner and outer wall surfaces between these focal points results in measurable variations of the probe output signals, which variations may be interpreted to track wall thickness and concentricity. An alternative detection scheme uses a probe with a single bifurcated bundle, and reciprocates such probe relative to the container wall while measuring the separation of null points of the output signal.

Abstract: A container orienting apparatus suitable for flasks and other non-cylindrical containers comprising a pair of continuously moving counter-rotating parallel belts for engaging opposite sides of the finish and/or neck of each container and for rotating each container a predetermined amount by changing the relative speeds of the belts for a predetermined time period. The amount of rotation necessary to rotate each container to a common second orientation is determined by a programmable controller responsive to orientation sensors which determine which one of a number of discrete first orientations each container is in prior to engagement by the belts. The controller contains in memory a plurality of predetermined instruction sets corresponding to the various possible container orientations and the amount of rotation which is required to achieve a predetermined common second orientation.

Abstract: Inspection of a procession of ware such as bottles on a moving conveyor for "down" bottles and bottles which are "stuck" and tilted is accomplished by maintaining an average of detected dimensions for acceptable bottles and by comparing a sensor signal which is indicative of bottle dimension to thresholds which are preselected percentages of the average. Variations in detected bottle dimension, due to different or changing production conditions or variations in conveyor speed, are automatically compensated for.

Abstract: Container flaws are detected by repetitively sampling the output of a photosensor at a controlled rate dependent on the speed of inspection. Samples are digitized and stored in memory on a first in, first out basis. First in (oldest) and last in (newest) samples are used to provide a sliding computation of the slope or rate of change of the photosensor output. The computed slope is compared to an empirically determined preselected number. Containers are rejected or accepted based on the results of the comparison.