阅读说明：本技术 用于生产玻璃容器的机器的固定卡盘 (Fixed chuck for a machine for producing glass containers ) 是由 M·特伦普 M·奥特罗 于 2019-02-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：公开了一种用于机器的玻璃管的固定卡盘,所述机器配备有用于制造玻璃容器的玻璃管,所述固定卡盘具有：用于玻璃管的中央供应通道(52)；多个可调节的夹爪(4),其布置在供应通道的下端且围绕供应通道的开口分布,其中,夹爪与供应通道的中心线之间的间距可以调节；用于联合调节夹爪的致动元件(1)；将可调节的夹爪(4)联接到致动元件(1)的联接元件；以及引导件(21),其配置为相对于供应通道(52)的中心线垂直地、径向向内地引导夹爪的调节运动。根据本发明,联接元件包括杠杆(3),其分别以铰接的方式连接到所述致动元件(1)和相关的夹爪(4)。杠杆及其支腿长度提供了参数,借助该参数可以以合适的方式调节用于大范围的直径的玻璃管的固定卡盘的夹紧力的特征线。优选地,随着夹爪的开口宽度减小,联接元件连续地减小了夹爪的径向作用夹紧力与弹簧的弹性回复力之间的比例。(Disclosed is a fixing chuck for a glass tube of a machine equipped with a glass tube for manufacturing a glass vessel, the fixing chuck having: a central supply channel (52) for the glass tube; a plurality of adjustable clamping jaws (4) arranged at the lower end of the supply channel and distributed around the opening of the supply channel, wherein the spacing between the clamping jaws and the centre line of the supply channel is adjustable; an actuating element (1) for jointly adjusting the jaws; a coupling element coupling the adjustable clamping jaw (4) to the actuating element (1); and a guide (21) configured to guide the adjustment movement of the jaws perpendicularly, radially inwards with respect to the centre line of the supply channel (52). According to the invention, the coupling element comprises levers (3) connected in an articulated manner to said actuation element (1) and to the relative jaws (4), respectively. The lever and its leg length provide a parameter by which the characteristic line of the clamping force of the fixing chuck for glass tubes of a wide range of diameters can be adjusted in a suitable manner. Preferably, the coupling element continuously reduces the ratio between the radially acting clamping force of the clamping jaw and the elastic restoring force of the spring as the opening width of the clamping jaw is reduced.)

1. A fixing chuck for a glass tube of a machine that can be equipped with a glass tube for manufacturing glass containers, the fixing chuck having:

a central supply channel (52) for the glass tube;

a plurality of adjustable clamping jaws (4) arranged at the lower end of the supply channel and distributed around the opening of the supply channel, wherein the spacing between the clamping jaws and the centre line of the supply channel can be adjusted;

an actuating element (1) for jointly adjusting the jaws;

a coupling element coupling the adjustable jaw (4) to the actuating element (1); and

a guide (21) configured to guide the adjustment movement of the jaws perpendicularly, radially inwards with respect to a centre line of the supply channel (52),

it is characterized in that

The coupling element comprises levers (3) connected in an articulated manner to the actuation element (1) and to the relative jaws (4), respectively.

2. The fixing chuck according to claim 1, wherein the actuating element (1) is elastically pretensioned on a base member (51) of the fixing chuck (50) by means of a spring (54), wherein the coupling element is configured such that the ratio between the radially acting clamping force of the clamping jaw (4) and the elastic restoring force of the spring (54) continuously decreases as the opening width of the clamping jaw decreases.

3. Fixing chuck according to claim 2, wherein the spring (54) is arranged concentrically around the base member of the fixing chuck (50) and is supported on a flange portion (12) of the actuating element (1) and a flange portion (53) of the base member (51) of the fixing chuck (50).

4. The holding chuck according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lever is configured as an angular lever (3) having a first leg (30) and a second leg (30), wherein the first leg (30) is connected to the actuating element (1) in an articulated manner and the second leg (31) is connected to the associated clamping jaw (4) in an articulated manner.

5. The fixing chuck according to claim 4, wherein the first leg (30) extends perpendicular to the centre line when the clamping jaws (4) are adjusted radially inwards almost to the centre line, and wherein the first leg (30) extends in an acute angle inclined in relation to the lower end of the supply channel when the clamping jaws (4) are maximally opened.

6. Fixing chuck according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a pin (33) is provided at the front end of each first leg (30) and said pin (33) is slidingly guided in a groove (14) of the actuating element (1); and wherein a pin (34) is provided at the front end of each second leg (31) and said pin (34) is slidingly guided in a groove (41) of the associated jaw (4).

7. Fixing chuck according to claim 6, wherein the recess (14) in the actuating element (1) extends perpendicular to the centre line of the actuating element, and wherein the recess (41) of the associated jaw (4) extends parallel to the centre line of the actuating element.

8. Fixing chuck according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the groove (14) is formed in a guide arm (13) of the actuating element (1), which projects radially outwards from the actuating element.

9. Fixing chuck according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the portion (13) of the actuating element (1) in which the groove (14) is formed is configured as a rotationally symmetrical body, the groove (14) being formed in the portion (13) by a machining operation by rotation, wherein the pin (33) is slidingly guided at the front end of the first leg (30).

10. The holding chuck according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the rotation shaft (32) of the lever (3) is supported on a guide block (20) arranged to be fixed at the lower end of the supply channel (52).

11. The fixing chuck according to claim 10, wherein the guide (21) is formed at a lower end of the guide block (20).

12. Fixing chuck according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the guide is configured as a cylindrical or polygonal guide sleeve (21), and wherein the jaws (4) are configured in a cylindrical or polygonal manner to correspond to the cylindrical or polygonal guide sleeve and to slidably guide the jaws therein.

13. The fixed chuck according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a drive motor (57), said drive motor (57) being arranged directly on a shaft surrounding said supply channel (52) so as to rotate said shaft on which said holding chuck is provided.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of glass containers, in particular for use as primary packaging means for pharmaceutical active ingredients, for example for use as vials, cartridges or syringe bodies, and in particular to a holding chuck for a machine that can be equipped with glass tubes for the manufacture of such glass containers.

Background

Fixed chucks for tubes or cylindrically symmetric workpieces are well known in the prior art. However, special requirements are placed on the holding chuck for the glass tube, since the glass tube can only withstand a small radial clamping force and can break when an excessive force is applied. The fixing chuck in a conventional thermoforming machine for making vials from glass tube also requires that it must be able to open and close very quickly and that it is able to clamp the glass tube reliably after clamping without applying force to the fixing chuck from the outside.

A fixing chuck is known by the same applicant from EP 0469297 a2, which has: a central supply channel for the glass tube; a plurality of adjustable jaws located at the lower end of the feed channel and distributed around the opening of the feed channel, wherein the spacing between the jaws and the centre line of the feed channel is adjustable; an actuating element for jointly adjusting the jaws; a gear mechanism coupling the adjustable jaw to the actuating element; and a guide for guiding the adjusting movement of the clamping jaws perpendicularly, radially inwards with respect to the centre line of the supply channel. Due to this configuration, the gripping jaws do not move longitudinally when gripping the glass tube, and therefore the glass tube can be gripped without being displaced in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the glass tube can be securely and collectively clamped.

To this end, a positive guide is provided, which is formed by a slotted guide member in the pressure sleeve and a bracket guided in the slotted guide member and arranged on each clamping jaw. The forcible guiding means extends at a constant angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the supply channel. However, in this case, the clamping force when clamping glass tubes of different outer diameters is always constant.

Another fixing chuck is disclosed in DE 102008058211 a 1. In the fixed chuck, the jaws are guided along guides which extend in an inclined manner with respect to the center line and towards the opening of the lower end of the supply channel. Therefore, the clamping of the glass tube may be displaced in the longitudinal direction, which may adversely affect the achievable level of positioning accuracy of the glass tube.

Another fixed chuck for further processing of glass tubes at high temperatures is known, for example, from CN 103073177 a. However, in this case, no central supply channel is provided. Instead, two jaws with V-shaped grooves are provided, which are adjusted by means of an eccentric actuating element. This arrangement is not suitable for making glass bottles (vials), cartridges or syringe bodies in high cycle rate machines that require rapid opening and closing of the jaws.

JP 2001019451 a1 discloses a device for clamping a glass rod, which is used in a redraw process for redrawing the glass rod, which is not bent due to the clamping. In this case, the glass rod is clamped in order above and below the heating furnace to reheat the glass rod. In order to prevent a change in position in the second clamping operation, the clamping jaws are moved against the stop in a first phase without applying a large force, and then in a second phase the elbow lever element is subsequently moved with a large force. The toggle-shaped lever element is not, however, used for transmitting movements in the sense of a coupling element.

Therefore, the demand for product quality of glass containers used as primary packaging means for pharmaceutical active ingredients is further increased, and there is room for further improvement.

Disclosure of Invention

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved fixing chuck for a machine which can be equipped with glass tubes for the manufacture of glass containers, by means of which glass tubes of a wide range of diameters can be reliably fixed in a simple manner.

This object is achieved by a fixing chuck according to claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments are given when referring to the dependent claims.

According to the invention, a fixing chuck for a machine that can be equipped with a glass tube for the manufacture of glass containers, in particular for the manufacture of glass bottles (vials), cartridges or syringe bodies, is provided, having: a central supply channel for the glass tube; a plurality of adjustable jaws located at the lower end of the feed channel and distributed around the opening of the feed channel, and the spacing between the jaws and the centre line of the feed channel is adjustable; an actuating element for adjusting the jaws; a coupling element or gear mechanism that couples the adjustable jaw to the actuating element; and a guide for guiding the adjusting movement of the clamping jaws perpendicularly and precisely radially inwards relative to the centre line of the supply channel.

According to the invention, the coupling element or the gear mechanism has or is formed by a lever which is connected in an articulated manner to the actuating element and the associated clamping jaw, respectively. The lever and its leg length provide a parameter by which the characteristic line of clamping force of the fixture chuck can be adjusted in an appropriate manner for a wide range of diameters of glass tubes. At the same time, the fixing chuck can be used for glass tubes with large-scale diameters without replacing the clamping jaws. In particular, the diameter range of the glass tube which the claw kit can cover is suitable for the manufacture of all commercially available primary packaging tools for pharmaceutically active ingredients, in particular glass tubes having an outer diameter of 6mm to 32mm can be covered.

The glass tube can be reliably prevented from being broken or damaged and slipping by adjusting the holding force according to a wide range of tube diameters. Since the jaws are precisely adjusted radially inward without any axial deflection, the glass tube does not experience axial deflection when the holding chuck is opened and closed. The fixing chuck according to the invention can thus also be opened and closed very quickly.

According to a further embodiment, the actuating element is elastically pretensioned on the base component of the fixed chuck by means of a spring, wherein the coupling element or the gear mechanism continuously reduces the ratio between the radially acting clamping force of the clamping jaw and the elastic restoring force of the spring as the opening width of the clamping jaw decreases. A particularly advantageous characteristic line of the holding chuck is therefore possible, since glass tubes having a smaller outer diameter generally have a lower mechanical stability and fracture resistance, and therefore the clamping force required for them is relatively small; at the same time, glass tubes with larger outer diameters have higher mechanical stability and fracture resistance, and therefore the clamping force allowed by them is also larger, which is also required for heavier glass tubes. The fixing chuck according to the invention can be adapted to these relationships in a simple manner by suitable configuration of the elbow lever formed by the lever. For this purpose, in particular the length of the legs of the lever, the angle defined by the legs and the position of the axis of rotation of the lever can be used as parameters.

In this case, the coupling element serves as a gear mechanism for converting the adjusting force of the actuating element (which is preferably oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the supply channel) into an adjusting force of all clamping jaws which is appropriately translated and precisely oriented radially inwards, for which purpose the clamping jaws can be synchronously adjusted radially inwards. In this case, the translation is preferably adjusted as follows: the main clamping force for relatively small glass tube diameters is relatively small and the clamping force for larger glass tube diameters increases gradually, wherein preferably no discrete or turning points are present in the characteristic line of the adjusting force.

According to another embodiment, the spring is arranged concentrically around the base member of the fixed chuck and is supported on the flange portion of the actuating element and on the flange portion of the base member of the fixed chuck. This makes the construction of the fixing chuck particularly space-saving with relatively few functional parts. In order to adjust the spring force, in this case, the spacing between the two flange portions may be adjusted, for example, by rotating the nut or adjusting the flange portions on the base member of the fixing chuck.

According to a further embodiment, the lever is configured as an angular lever having a first leg and a second leg, wherein the first leg is connected to the actuating element in an articulated manner and the second leg is connected to the associated clamping jaw in an articulated manner. The toggle lever principle thus achieved makes it possible to adapt the clamping force and the adjustment path to the outer diameter of the glass tube over a wide range in a particularly simple manner.

According to another embodiment, the first leg extends substantially perpendicular to the centre line when the clamping jaws are adjusted radially inwards almost to the centre line, wherein the first leg extends in an acute angle inclined in relation to the lower end of the supply channel when the clamping jaws are maximally opened. At the end of the adjusting movement of the clamping jaws, that is to say when the clamping jaws are adjusted relatively close to the center line of the actuating channel, when the angled lever is adjusted, the clamping jaws can therefore be adjusted through a comparatively small adjustment path. This corresponds to a range of smaller glass tube diameters. In contrast, for larger glass tube diameters, the clamping jaws are adjusted over a relatively large adjustment path when the angle lever is adjusted, which, however, may correspondingly result in a greater clamping force, since glass tubes having a larger outer diameter have a higher mechanical stability and fracture resistance.

According to another embodiment, a simple construction can advantageously be achieved when a pin is provided at the front end of each first leg, which pin is slidably guided in the recess of the actuating element, and when a pin is provided at the front end of each second leg, which pin is slidably guided in the recess of the associated jaw.

According to another embodiment, the groove in the actuating element extends perpendicular to the centre line of the actuating element. For jaws with a larger opening width, in this case, it is preferred that the first leg of the angled lever extends at an acute angle to the centre line of the supply channel and in the direction of the opening at the lower end of the supply channel, since in the case of an adjustment of the actuating element a larger adjustment path can be achieved. In contrast, for a clamping jaw with a smaller opening width, it is preferred if the first leg of the angled lever extends substantially horizontally perpendicular to the center line of the supply channel, since only a relatively small adjustment path can be achieved in the case of an adjustment of the actuating element.

According to another embodiment, the groove of the associated jaw extends parallel to the centre line of the actuating element. The sliding movement of the sliding pin in this recess therefore generates only a small tilting force when adjusting the respective clamping jaw.

According to another embodiment, a groove is formed in the actuating element of the guide arm, which projects radially outward from the actuating element, whereby the position of the sliding pin at the front end of the first leg of the angled lever can advantageously be displaced radially outward.

According to another embodiment, the rotation axis of the lever is supported on a guide block which is arranged to be fixed to the lower end of the actuating element, in particular at the lower end of a rotatably movable support shaft which surrounds or directly forms the supply channel. Therefore, when the fixing chuck is adjusted, the interval of the rotation axis of the lever from the center line of the supply passage does not change, which enables more accurate clamping of the glass tube.

According to another embodiment, the part of the actuating element in which the groove is formed is configured as a rotationally symmetrical member, wherein the pin is slidably guided in the groove at the front end of the first leg of the lever, wherein the groove is formed by a machining operation by turning the actuating element. Thus, there may be tolerances in this part, which is crucial for the adjustment of the lever to be conformed more accurately, so that the lever as a whole can be adjusted in a more accurate manner. This is because it has been found that the mechanical production operation of such grooves can be carried out by automatically rotating the actuating element to ensure a high level of tolerance and that all the levers can be adjusted accurately.

According to another embodiment, the guide is formed at the lower end of the guide block as a cylindrical or polygonal guide sleeve, wherein the clamping jaws are configured in a cylindrical or polygonal manner to correspond to the cylindrical or polygonal guide sleeve and are slidably guided therein. In this case, a cylindrical cross-sectional shape is particularly preferred, which can be produced in a cost-effective and precise manner by simple machining operations by rotating the workpiece.

According to another embodiment, which is explicitly considered as an independent aspect of the invention and which can be independently claimed, the invention also proposes that associated with each fixed chuck is a drive motor arranged directly on the shaft around the supply channel in order to rotate the shaft on which the fixed chuck is arranged. Thus, the acceleration of the stationary chuck of the thermoforming machine can be even faster, which makes the cycle rate of the thermoforming machine according to the invention very high.

Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, from which further features, advantages and objects which are intended to be achieved may be derived. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a fixed chuck according to the present invention showing a preferred leverage ratio;

FIGS. 2a and 2b are sectional views of the jaw area and a schematic illustration of the holding chuck according to FIG. 1 when clamping a glass tube of smaller outer diameter;

fig. 2c and 2d are sectional views of the area of the clamping jaws and a schematic illustration of the fixing chuck according to fig. 1 in a position in which the opening width of the clamping jaws is greater;

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a fixing chuck according to the present invention;

fig. 4a and 4b are schematic longitudinal sectional views of the lower part of the fixing chuck according to fig. 3 in a position in which the opening width of the clamping jaws is relatively large and in a position in which the opening width of the clamping jaws is relatively small; and

fig. 5 shows typical characteristic lines of the fastening chuck according to the invention for different spring pretensions.

In the drawings, like reference numerals designate elements or groups of elements that are the same or have substantially the same effect.

Detailed Description

First, the general configuration of the fixing chuck according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 3.

The fixed chuck 50 is arranged in a glass processing machine (not shown), for example, in a receiving member of a rotating plate. The fixing chuck 50 comprises a base member 51 which is generally configured in a rotationally symmetrical manner and in which a supply channel 52 is formed, which supply channel 52 extends in the longitudinal direction for the glass tube 9 to be fixed and extends to the guide block 2, in which guide block 2 the clamping jaws 4 for fixing the glass tube (not shown) are accommodated and guided in a frictionally engaging manner. At the upper end of the base member 51, a drive motor is provided to move the fixing chuck to thermoform the fixed glass tube in a rapid rotational motion about the longitudinal axis of the supply channel 52. More specifically, the drive motor 57 is accommodated in a motor housing 56, which motor housing 56 is arranged directly on the outside of the base member 51, in particular on the shaft. In practice, the motor housing 56 is directly fixed to the rotating ring of the thermoforming apparatus (not shown) by means of fixing flanges 58 or the like. Bearings 59, 60 are provided between the drive motor 57 and the base member 51 or shaft such that the base member 51 or shaft is moved directly by the rotational movement of the drive motor 57. Due to the small mass of the moving object, the rotational movement can be accelerated rapidly and braked again, which makes the cycle rate of the thermoforming apparatus according to the invention very high.

Above the guide block, which is arranged fixed at the lower end of the supply channel 52 or the base member 51, an actuating element 1 is arranged, which actuating element 1 is constructed in a rotationally symmetrical manner as a whole and which actuating element 1 is adjustable on the base member 51 in an actuating direction B. The actuation direction B is parallel to the longitudinal axis or centerline of the supply passage 52, as indicated by the double-headed arrow.

As shown in fig. 4a and 4b, the actuating element 1 comprises an upper sleeve 10 and a lower sleeve 11 of cylindrical configuration. A radially protruding flange 12 is formed between the upper sleeve 10 and the lower sleeve 11. The lower end of a spring 54 is supported on the radially projecting flange 12, the other end of which is supported on a spring stop 53 on the base member 51, in order to resiliently pretension the actuating element 1 on the base member 51. If necessary, the elastic force of the spring 54 may be adjusted according to the product, for example, using a nut and adjusting the elastic force of the spring 54 by axially adjusting the spring stopper 53 on the base member 51. The guide block 20 is generally configured in a cylindrical manner.

At least two jaws 4 are arranged at the lower end of the guide block 20, at equal angular intervals from each other. Preferably, at least three clamping jaws 4 are provided in order to clamp the glass tube in a uniform manner at least at three punctiform areas.

The clamping jaws 4 are supported in a slidable manner in correspondingly configured guide sleeves 21 at the lower end of the guide block. The guide sleeve 21 is oriented in such a way that: i.e. the jaws 4 are adjusted so as to precisely guide the jaws 4 radially inwards towards the centre line 55 of the supply channel. According to the invention, no axial displacement takes place during radial adjustment of the clamping jaws 4. The jaws 4 are synchronously adjusted by activating the actuating element 1. In order to clamp the glass tube uniformly, it should be ensured that all the clamping jaws 4 are of the same length.

For precise guidance of the clamping jaws 4, the clamping jaws 4 have a cylindrical cross section and the clamping jaws 4 are guided in correspondingly configured cylindrical guide sleeves 21 of the guide block 20. This has the advantage that the clamping jaws 4 can be manufactured precisely by means of a mechanical turning operation and that the guide sleeve 21 can also be drilled or milled precisely. In principle, however, the clamping jaw 4 can also have a cross section of other shapes, in particular a polygonal cross section.

The guide sleeve 21 extends exactly in a horizontal manner, that is to say perpendicularly to the centre line 55 of the supply channel, so that, during adjustment, the clamping jaws 4 are guided exactly horizontally, radially inwards and without any axial offset, in order to hold the glass tube by frictional engagement without longitudinal displacement. By precisely guiding the clamping jaws 4 radially inwards, no disruptive axial deflection occurs when clamping the glass tube.

The jaws 4 are connected in an articulated manner to the actuating element 1 by means of the relative levers 3. More specifically, a slide pin 33 is provided at the front end of the first leg 30 of the lever 2, the slide pin 33 being slidably supported in the guide groove 14, wherein the guide groove 14 is formed in the guide arm 13 at the lower end of the actuating element 1. Furthermore, a sliding pin 34 is provided at the front end of the second leg 31 of the lever 3, which sliding pin 34 is slidably guided in a guide groove 21, which guide groove 21 is formed in the corresponding jaw 4.

By pressing the clamping ring flange 12 in the direction of the spring 54 by means of an external force, the pretensioning force of the spring 54 can be overcome. Then, the actuating element 1 slides in an upward direction on the base member 51 and simultaneously carries the three levers 3. The lever 3 is connected to the guide block 20 by a slide pin 34. The guide block 20 is in turn slidably guided in the actuating element 1. The lever 3 rotates around the guide block 20. Thus, the swivel bearing and the jaw 4 are adjusted so as to adjust the opening width of the jaw 4.

In order to compensate for the longitudinal difference between the linear and rotational movement, the components (actuating element 1 and clamping jaw 4) are provided with guide grooves, which are advantageously configured as elongated holes. The orientation of these guide slots or elongate holes depends on whether radial or axial movement components have to be blocked or not.

Preferably, the guide groove 14 extends in the guide arm 13 exactly in the horizontal direction, perpendicular to the centre line 55 of the supply channel. Furthermore, the guide grooves 41 preferably extend in a precisely perpendicular manner parallel to the centre line 55 of the supply channel in the respective clamping jaw 4. In principle, however, other orientations of the guide grooves 14, 41 are also possible, since in any case, due to the orientation of the guide sleeve 21, a precise horizontal adjustment movement of the clamping jaws 4 is ensured. However, the orientation of the guide slots 14, 41 shown in fig. 4a and 4b enables the adjustment of the clamping jaw 4 in a relatively labor-saving manner.

The rotation shaft 32 of the lever 3 is supported in the guide block 20, and since the guide block 20 is fixedly disposed at the lower end of the supply passage and a radially symmetrical force exists at this position, the guide block 20 generally supports the rotation shaft 32 to maintain a constant interval from the center line 55 of the supply passage. As shown in fig. 3, the rotation shaft 32 may be supported in a hole of the guide block 20.

However, in order to achieve a more precise fixing of the position of the lever 3 and its pivoting movement about the rotation axis 32, the guide slot 14 is preferably configured to guide the sliding pin 30 by mechanical rotation of the actuating element 1. This is because, by means of the mechanical rotation of the actuating element 1, it can be ensured that all guide grooves produced are subject to very small tolerances and that all guide grooves can precisely guide the sliding pin 30 radially inwards or outwards. The sliding pins 30, 31 of the lever 3 can be designed as cylindrical fixing pins which are guided in a fixed manner by means of fixing rings in the associated guide grooves 14, 41.

As can be seen from fig. 4a and 4b, the lever 3 is configured as an angular lever, wherein the two legs 30, 31 of the lever 3 together define an angle, advantageously in the range between 45 ° and 135 °, and preferably in the range between 60 ° and 120 °, even more preferably 90 °, or only a few degrees different from 90 °.

The lever 3 enables an adjustment of the actuating element 1 in the actuating direction B according to the toggle lever principle to be advantageously transferred to an adjustment of the clamping jaw 4 in a horizontal direction (perpendicular to the centre line of the supply channel). A particular feature of the elbow lever principle relates to the translational ratio of the forces applied to the resultant force or the force of the primary stroke to the secondary stroke during a movement that enables continuous displacement. According to the invention, this enables the jaws 4 to be moved during their adjustment first quickly and with a large stroke towards the glass tube, the jaws 3 in the central area to be moved with a medium speed and a medium stroke towards the glass tube, while the jaws 4 for smaller glass tube diameters can finally be moved with a low speed and a very small stroke towards the glass tube.

This corresponds to the main clamping force in the above-mentioned region: for larger glass tube outer diameters, the clamping force generated by the clamping jaw 4 is larger; for a medium sized glass tube outside diameter, the clamping force generated by the clamping jaw 4 is medium; for smaller outside diameters of the glass tube, the clamping force generated by the clamping jaws 4 is smaller. Thus, over a large diameter range, the main clamping force can be adapted in an optimum manner to the stability of the glass tube, since glass tubes of larger diameter have a higher stability, while glass tubes of smaller diameter have a lower stability.

As shown in fig. 4a and 4b, the lever 3 is oriented in such a way over a large glass tube diameter (fig. 4 a): the first leg 30 extends in an acute angle inclined relative to the lower end of the supply channel, while the lever 3 is oriented within a relatively small glass tube diameter (fig. 4b) such that the first leg 30 extends substantially perpendicular to the centre line 55. Meanwhile, in a large glass tube diameter range (fig. 4a), the slide pin 23 at the front end of the first leg 30 is disposed at a relatively distant position within the guide groove 14, while the slide pin 34 at the front end of the second leg 31 in the upper or central region of the guide groove 41 is disposed in the gripper jaw 4; while in the relatively small glass tube diameter range (fig. 4b) the slide pin 23 at the front end of the first leg 30 is located relatively far outwards in the guide groove 14, while the slide pin 34 at the front end of the second leg 31 in the lower region of the guide groove 41 is located in the clamping jaw 4. In this manner, a wide range of glass tube diameters can be covered with the fixture chuck. Ideally, the lever ratio is selected in such a way that: that is, all conventional glass tubes used for the manufacture of primary packaging means for pharmaceutical active ingredients, in particular glass bottles (vials), cartridges or syringe bodies, are covered in diameter, in particular in the range between about 6mm and 32 mm.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a preferred leverage ratio of the fixing chuck according to the invention: therein, the following variables are listed:

k is spring constant

s₀Spring pre-tightening force

s₁Spring path

a₁The leg length of the first leg 30

a₂The leg length of the second leg 31

Correlation of clamping force to spring path s:

for the same leg length preference, this correlation can be reduced to a₁＝a₂：

Furthermore, the same applies to the preferred case of equal leg length:

thus, by appropriate selection of leg lengths, force ratios can be adjusted in an appropriate manner according to the invention for different ranges of glass tube diameters.

For the preferred embodiment of the toggle lever, fig. 2a to 2d combine the angular ratio and geometry of the relatively small and relatively large opening widths of the jaws during clamping.

Fig. 5 shows typical characteristic lines of the fixed chuck for different spring pretensions according to the invention. It can be seen that the primary pinching force for smaller tube diameters is relatively small, and that the pinching force for larger tube diameters increases continuously, preferably without visible discontinuities or inflection points on the characteristic line.

As will be readily apparent to the skilled person, the fixing chuck according to the invention can also be used for manufacturing other types of glass containers made by thermoforming from a glass tube (in particular commonly used for manufacturing glass packaging tools), also of a size larger than the size of the containers commonly used for storing pharmaceutical active ingredients.

List of reference numerals

1 actuating element

2 guide block

3 angular lever

4 clamping jaw

9 glass tube

10 upper sleeve

11 lower sleeve

12 Flange

13 guide arm

14 guide groove

15 holes

20 guide block

21 guide sleeve

25 fixed slot

30 first lever arm

31 second lever arm

32 rotating shaft

33 first sliding pin

34 second sliding pin

40 clamping jaw cylinder

41 guide groove

50 fixed chuck

51 base member

52 supply channel

53 spring stop dog

54 clamping spring

55 center line

56 Motor casing

57 drive motor

58 securing flange

59 bearing

60 bearing

B direction of actuation