Patent · US Expired

Walking hearth furnace

US5314330A · kind A · utility

7Cited by
10References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 1, 1992
Grant dateMay 24, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 1, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
  • CPC primaryF27B9/205
  • WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A furnace is provided for continuous high-temperature heat processing in which a work product is conveyed through a furnace muffle by rectilinear beam motion. An inner and an outer beam are equipped with interleaved rods which are used to alternately lift the work product and advance it through the muffle. A continuous cycle of sequentially raising and advancing the rods attached to one beam, while lowering and retracting the rods of the other beam causes stepwise movement of the work product through the furnace. At no point in the cycle does the work product, rods, or beams make contact with the muffle, nor do the interleaved rods touch each other. The result is frictionless conveyance of the work product through the muffle which virtually eliminates particle generation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.