Furnace for heating slabs, billets, rough castings and the like

Abstract

A furnace for heating all sides of products such as metal slabs, billets, rough castings and the like includes a furnace chamber having a charging end and a discharging end. A plurality of carriages are positioned throughout the length of the furnace chamber to support products to be heated and are sequentially movable through the chamber from the charging end thereof to the discharging end thereof. Each carriage includes a support bench having extending upwardly therefrom support members to directly contact and support the products to be heated. A charging station is located adjacent the charging end of the furnace chamber for loading a product to be heated onto the carriage and introducing the thus loaded carriage into the furnace chamber, thereby displacing loaded carriages within the furnace chamber toward the discharging end and discharging a downstream-most loaded carriage from the discharging end of the furnace chamber. An unloading structure is located adjacent the discharging end for unloading a heated product from the carriage discharged from the discharging end. A return chamber extends from adjacent the unloading structure to the charging station to enable the unloaded carriage to be returned to the charging station. A heat insulation device within the return chamber reduces heat loss from the unloaded carriage while in the return chamber.