Inductotherm Industries, Inc.

Inductotherm Corp.

Robert C Turner

John H Mortimer

Oleg S Fishman

Henry M Rowan

Paul C Boehm

An induction heating apparatus having a refractory vessel for holding a quantity of material to be heated by the apparatus. The vessel being surrounded by, but does not touch, an induction coil having a plurality of helical turns. The turns of the induction coil have a surface on which is disposed a layer of high temperature superconducting material.

Induction heating and melting apparatus with superconductive coil and

An induction furnace which provides a controlled escape pathway for superheated metal is disclosed. The induction furnace comprises a base layer of refractory material in the bottom of the furnace vessel. The base layer of refractory is composed of a first refractory having a maximum operational temperature and a second refractory having a maximum operational temperature lower than that of the first refractory. At least a portion of the second refractory is arranged in a contiguous zone through the thickness of the base layer. The base layer supports a packed granular refractory lining that extends up along the side wall of the vessel. In one embodiment of the invention, the base layer takes the form of a means for pushing out the packed granular lining from the furnace. The pusher means is arranged for axial movement within the furnace in response to a driving force applied from below the base layer. The pusher means contains the contiguous zone of the second refractory. In another embodiment of the invention, the base layer is comprised of tiers of refractory, each tier comprising a portion of the second refractory in the same location as in each other tier forming a contiguous zone of the second material. The failure of the second refractory zone allows the superheated metal to escape through the base of the furnace in a controlled manner at the preselected location of the second zone.

Induction furnace providing controlled escape of superheated metal

A plurality of zones of an induction heating coil are individually controlled by varying the current through one or more zones of the coil to obtain a desired temperature profile in a workpiece. The current flow through a zone of the coil is determined by the conduction state of an associated saturable reactor, which is controlled in accordance with a preselected value or a variable value generated, for example, by a computer.

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Edgewater Park, NJ, United States of America

Robert C Turner