Shearing
In an uninterrupted flow the mol
ten glass is conveyed to the glass-
making machine. For the Heineken
bottles elements are added to the mix
ture (sand, chalk and soda) to obtain
the characteristic green colour.
A shearing mechanism cuts off
identical-sized droplets from that
flow. Each droplet falls into a mould
which is upside down. As soon as the
head of the bottle-to-be has cooled
down sufficiently, the mould is turned
over and the semi-liquid glass is
blown into the required shape.
This process calls for a great deal
of precision and you would expect this
to slow things down. But the opposite
is true: after watching the glass
machine at work for a couple of
seconds it becomes clear that the
glassworks must turn out enormous
quantities of bottles each day. We
were told that the factory in Leerdam
produces 3 million bottles a day.
According to branch manager
H.A.A. van der Wal the trick of the
trade lies in the glass-making ma
chine. 'After blowing it's a matter of
MEÏ Aft It-
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it ■HBirmii si
