Preparation devices for medium borosilicate medicinal glass tubes and methods thereof

1 . A preparation device for a medium borosilicate medicinal glass tube, comprising:

a melting system, wherein the melting system includes a melting zone and a clarification zone disposed in sequence; the melting zone is configured to melt batch material into molten glass and feed the molten glass into the clarification zone, and the clarification zone is configured to perform bubble homogenization and stirring deaeration on the molten glass, and feed the molten glass into a feeder of a forming system through a feed pipe;

the forming system, wherein the forming system includes a muffle furnace, a shaping furnace, and an annealing furnace arranged in sequence; wherein the muffle furnace includes the feeder, the feeder is in a shape of an inverted truncated cone, a guide pipe is arranged below the feeder, the guide pipe extends to a lower end of the shaping furnace from the muffle furnace, a furnace channel is disposed outside the feeder and the guide pipe inside the muffle furnace, the furnace channel is coaxially with the feeder and the guide pipe to form an annular seam; at least one set of traction rollers and at least one guide clamping ring are provided in the shaping furnace, the at least one set of traction rollers and the at least one guide clamping ring are configured to clamp and position glass melt, and the at least one set of traction rollers are arranged on a gripping drive bracket, the gripping drive bracket and the at least one guide clamping ring are arranged on a wall of the shaping furnace and connected to an external servo motor; and at least one set of traction rollers and at least one guide clamping ring are provided on an upper part of the annealing furnace; and

a cutting system that cuts a formed and annealed glass tube according to a preset size, wherein the cutting system is disposed below the forming system, wherein

a side of each of the at least one set of traction rollers is a rotational surface, a plurality of traction rollers are one set of traction rollers which are set at a same horizontal level in the shaping furnace, and generatrices of the rotational surfaces of the traction rollers form an annulus wrapping the glass tube.

2 . The preparation device of claim 1 , further comprising an online inspection system that monitors and provides feedback on glass tube diameter and glass tube condition, wherein the online inspection system is placed at an outlet of the annealing furnace.

3 . The preparation device of claim 1 , wherein heating devices are arranged on outsides of the muffle furnace, the shaping furnace, and the upper part of the annealing furnace; temperature measuring devices are arranged on the outsides of the muffle furnace and the shaping furnace, and the temperature measuring devices are arranged on the outside of the annealing furnace according to a temperature gradient inside the annealing furnace.

4 . The preparation device of claim 1 , wherein a depth of an inner bucket of the feeder is not less than ½ of a total height of the feeder and not greater than the total height of the feeder.

5 . The preparation device of claim 1 , wherein positioning wheels are arranged at both ends of each traction roller.

6 . The preparation device of claim 1 , wherein a minimum diameter of the furnace channel is 2 mm-30 mm greater than a bottom diameter of the feeder.

7 . The preparation device of claim 1 , wherein the melting zone includes a melting furnace and heating electrodes, a flue is arranged at an upper part of a front wall of the melting furnace, and a feeding port is arranged at a lower part of the front wall of the melting furnace; the heating electrodes are arranged in a stacked configuration along a side of a pool wall, burners are arranged on both sides of a breastwall of the melting furnace, and a discharge port is arranged at a bottom of the melting furnace.

8 . The preparation device of claim 7 , wherein the clarification zone includes a clarification channel and a homogenization tank, the clarification channel is connected with the melting furnace and the homogenization tank, the homogenization tank is provided with a stirring device, a bottom bubbling device that bubbles into the molten glass to promote clarification of the molten glass, and an outlet port, the stirring device is configured to homogenize the molten glass, and the outlet port is arranged at a bottom of the homogenization tank.

9 . The preparation device of claim 1 , further comprising an automatic adjusting gate, a level measuring device, a remote processor, a monitoring device, and a detection device; wherein

the automatic adjusting gate is disposed on the feed pipe, and the automatic adjusting gate is configured to regulate a flow rate of the molten glass fed into the muffle furnace via the feed pipe based on a speed adjustment parameter of the molten glass;

the level measuring device is disposed above the furnace channel, and the level measuring device is configured to measure overflow liquid distribution data of the molten glass overflowing from a circular top of the feeder;

the monitoring device is disposed on the feed pipe between the clarification zone and the automatic adjusting gate, and the monitoring device is configured to monitor a discharge rate of the clarification zone;

the detection device is disposed above the furnace channel, and the detection device is configured to detect a molten glass feature at the annular seam; and

the remote processor is configured to:

determine the speed adjustment parameter based on the discharge rate, the molten glass feature, and the overflow liquid distribution data.

10 . The preparation device of claim 9 , wherein the remote processor is further configured to:

determine a flow uniformity value of the molten glass based on the overflow liquid distribution data and the molten glass feature; and

determine the speed adjustment parameter based on the flow uniformity value and the discharge rate.

11 . The preparation device of claim 10 , wherein the remote processor is further configured to:

obtain a glass tube diameter through an online inspection system; and

determine the flow uniformity value of the molten glass by a uniformity value prediction model based on the glass tube diameter, the overflow liquid distribution data, and the molten glass feature; the uniformity value prediction model being a machine learning model.

12 . The preparation device of claim 10 , wherein the remote processor is further configured to:

determine a flow rate of the molten glass based on the discharge rate;

determine a forming quality coefficient of the glass tube corresponding to a candidate adjustment parameter through a first prediction model based on the candidate adjustment parameter, the flow rate of the molten glass, and the flow uniformity value, the first prediction model being a machine learning model; and

determine the speed adjustment parameter based on the forming quality coefficient.

13 . The preparation device of claim 9 , further comprising at least one damping device; wherein

the at least one damping device is located on at least one of the traction rollers, and the at least one damping device is configured to control following strength of the at least one of the traction rollers based on a damping parameter;

the remote processor is further configured to:

obtain a glass tube diameter within a preset time period through an online inspection system;

obtain the molten glass feature within the preset time period through the detection device;

obtain the overflow liquid distribution data within the preset time period through the level measuring device; and

determine the damping parameter based on the glass tube diameter, the overflow liquid distribution data, and the molten glass feature.

14 . The preparation device of claim 13 , wherein the remote processor is further configured to:

determine candidate damping parameters;

determine a forming quality coefficient of the glass tube corresponding to the candidate damping parameters by a second prediction model based on the candidate damping parameters, the glass tube diameter, the overflow liquid distribution data, the molten glass feature, and the speed adjustment parameter, the second prediction model being a machine learning model; and

determine the damping parameter based on the forming quality coefficient.

15 . The preparation device of claim 9 , wherein heating devices are arranged on outsides of the muffle furnace, the shaping furnace, and an upper part of the annealing furnace, temperature measuring devices are arranged on the outsides of the muffle furnace and the shaping furnace, and the heating devices are further configured to heat based on a temperature parameter;

the servo motor is further configured to operate based on a motor parameter;

the remote processor is further configured to:

obtain a temperature of the muffle furnace, a temperature of the shaping furnace, and a temperature of the annealing furnace from the temperature measuring devices;

determine a temperature drop gradient based on the temperature of the muffle furnace, the temperature of the shaping furnace, and the temperature of the annealing furnace; and

determine the temperature parameter and/or the motor parameter based on the temperature drop gradient and the speed adjustment parameter.

16 . A method for preparing a medium borosilicate glass tube using the preparation device of claim 1 , comprising:

putting the batch material into the melting furnace for high temperature glass melting to obtain a first molten glass, the first molten glass having a melt viscosity within a range of 10 2 dPa·s-10 2.3 dPa·s;

feeding the first molten glass to a homogenization tank for glass clarification and deaeration homogenization to obtain a second molten glass, the second molten glass having a clarification homogenization viscosity within a range of 10 2.5 dPa·s-10 3 dPa·s;

feeding the second molten glass into the muffle furnace through the feed pipe, waiting for the second molten glass in the feeder to be full, overflowing from a circular top of the feeder at the same time, and along an outer edge of the feeder, the second molten glass flowing uniformly downward through an annular seam formed by the furnace channel and the feeder, an opening diameter of the second molten glass gradually decreasing and the second molten glass entering the shaping furnace; clamping the molten glass by the at least one set of traction rollers and the at least one guide clamping ring, under a uniform tension of the traction rollers and a gravity of the molten glass, drawing the molten glass into a hollow slender glass tube with a uniform thickness along a pulling tube system; the hollow slender glass tube having a forming and drawing viscosity within a range of 10 4 dPa·s-10 4.3 dPa·s;

feeding the hollow slender glass tube into the annealing furnace for annealing to relieve stress of the hollow slender glass tube, the hollow slender glass tube having a stress-relief viscosity of not less than 10 9 dPa·s; and

feeding the annealed hollow slender glass tube into the cutting device for cutting according to a preset size and completing inspection and packaging.