JP2012006775A - Apparatus and method for supplying raw material to melting furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace, which achieve improvement in operation efficiency in performing additional charge and recharge of a solid raw material on a melt surface in a crucible of the melting furnace, thereby achieving improvement in productivity of various operations using the melting furnace.SOLUTION: The apparatus S for supplying a raw material supplies a solid raw material to a crucible of the melting furnace storing melt, and includes: a supply tank 1 which has a delivery valve 5 and into which the solid raw material is charged; a charging cup 2 which is installed below the supply tank 1 and has a charging valve 6, and into which the solid raw material subdivided into separate portions and delivered from the supply tank 1 is charged; and a valve operating means 3 which performs valve switching operation of the delivery valve 5 and the charging valve 6. The apparatus S subdivides the solid raw material in the supply tank 1 and delivers it into the charging cup 2 by using the valve operating means 3, and subsequently performs valve switching operation to charge the solid raw material charged in the charging cup 2 into the crucible, in supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank 1 to the crucible.

Description

  The present invention relates to a raw material supply apparatus and a raw material supply method for supplying a solid raw material into a crucible of a melting furnace for storing a melt, and in particular, additional charging or recharging of the solid raw material in the crucible during operation of the melting furnace. In particular, the present invention relates to a raw material supply apparatus and a raw material supply method to a melting furnace.

  For example, in a silicon single crystal pulling apparatus for producing a silicon single crystal by the Czochralski method, a melting furnace is used under an inert gas atmosphere such as argon gas, and a relatively high impurity concentration such as phosphorus (P). In a silicon refining apparatus that obtains high-purity silicon from a high silicon raw material, a vacuum melting furnace is used in a reduced pressure atmosphere. Furthermore, a vacuum metallurgical furnace for smelting various metals and alloys under vacuum or reduced pressure, and a vacuum degassing furnace used in the RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus) method when secondary refining of various metals Atmosphere dissolution in which various rare earth element-containing alloys are heated and melted and regenerated under vacuum or reduced pressure, or in an inert gas atmosphere by arc, high frequency induction, electromagnetic induction, resistance heating, etc. Also in various melting furnaces such as furnaces, operations such as smelting and refining are performed by heating and melting the solid raw material supplied in the crucible of the melting furnace to a high temperature in a vacuum / depressurized atmosphere or in an inert gas atmosphere. Has been done.

  And in the operation of such a melting furnace, in order to increase efficiency and save thermal energy, this initial charge puts the crucible in the crucible separately from the so-called “initial charge” performed when the crucible is not heated. After the supplied solid raw material is heated and dissolved, the so-called “additional charge” in which additional solid raw material is added to the crucible until the crucible is filled with the melt, or after the preceding processing operation is completed. When a subsequent processing operation is subsequently performed, a so-called “recharge” is performed in which a new solid raw material is supplied again into a crucible that is empty or a small amount of melt remains between the preceding processing operation and the subsequent processing operation. Is done.

  However, such additional charging and recharging operations are both operations in which a solid material (cold mass) at room temperature is put into a very high temperature crucible, and a cold mass in which a crucible heated to a high temperature is charged. As a result, it is cooled rapidly. On the other hand, since the heating for melting the cold lumps supplied into the crucible is usually heat input from the outside of the crucible, a large temperature difference occurs between the inner surface and the outer surface of the crucible. And the partial temperature difference of the crucible which is a continuum generates a thermal stress derived from the thermal expansion difference, and the magnitude of this thermal stress sometimes reaches such a magnitude that the crucible is broken.

  Whether or not such a crucible as a continuum breaks is treated statistically and expressed as a breakage probability. The numerical value generally described in the catalog as the strength of the crucible material is a numerical value obtained by probabilistically processing the strength test results of a plurality of small test pieces. For a crucible having the same volume as the size of the test piece of the strength test, the probability of failure is close to 1 when a stress of the same order as the strength value of the strength test is applied. The greater the is, the lower the probability of failure at a stress lower than the strength value of the strength test. In addition, when a stress that is half the stress at which the fracture probability is 1 is applied to a crucible having a certain volume and shape, the fracture probability is reduced by several orders of magnitude, so there is almost no failure. .

  From the above, in order to carry out additional charging and recharging while avoiding crucible destruction, by introducing a small amount of solid raw material into the crucible, the temperature drop on the inner surface of the crucible caused by one charging is minimized. In other words, it is important to reduce the thermal stress applied to the crucible as much as possible once, and the importance increases as the crucible becomes larger.

Several proposals have been made so far for apparatuses for performing such additional charging and recharging.
For example, in Patent Document 1, when a silicon single crystal is manufactured by the Czochralski method, a solid polycrystalline raw material (solid raw material) is directly put into a solidified melt surface in a crucible and is suitable for recharging. There has been proposed a recharge pipe that realizes a high supply speed and can efficiently recharge in a short time to improve productivity. Further, Patent Document 2 proposes a raw material supply device that has the same configuration and can uniformly feed agglomerated solid raw material (solid raw material) to the melt in the crucible in the circumferential direction. Yes. Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, a funnel-shaped outer cylinder that is slidable with respect to the recharge tube is provided outside the lower portion of the recharge tube, so that the solid polycrystalline raw material can be charged only in the crucible center, thereby A recharging device has been proposed that enables raw materials to be introduced even when the surface solidification rate is low, thereby improving productivity. Furthermore, in Patent Document 4, a raw material supply capable of preventing the raw material from falling from a gap formed between the raw material supply pipe (hopper body) and the bottom lid by providing a raw material powder fall prevention means on the bottom lid. A device has been proposed.

  However, in any of these proposals, the recharge pipe and the raw material supply pipe used have a structure in which all the solid raw materials are put into the crucible at once when the solid raw material filled in the pipe is put into the crucible. It has become. For this reason, when a relatively large amount of a solid raw material is to be charged into a crucible several times and dissolved several times, each time a small amount of the raw material is filled into a recharge pipe or a raw material supply pipe and charged into the crucible. Need to be done.

  However, in a melting furnace operated in a vacuum / depressurized atmosphere as described above or in an inert gas atmosphere, in order to avoid that the inside of the furnace becomes an air atmosphere every time an object is taken in and out of the furnace, A gas replacement operation with an inert gas is unavoidable. When supplying a solid material to a crucible in a furnace, generally, the solid material is first put in a preliminary exhaust chamber, and the air in the preliminary exhaust chamber is inerted. Substituting with gas, and then opening a gate valve between the pre-exhaust chamber and the furnace body to charge the solid material into the crucible in the furnace. The time required for the atmosphere replacement operation in the preliminary exhaust chamber does not depend on the amount of objects brought into the preliminary exhaust chamber, but exclusively depends on the volume of the preliminary exhaust chamber, so that the amount of objects brought into the preliminary exhaust chamber is small. And become inefficient.

  For this reason, when additional charging or recharging of the solid raw material is performed in the crucible of the melting furnace using the above-described conventional recharge pipe or raw material supply pipe, the number of operations of loading the solid raw material into the recharge pipe or the raw material supply pipe If the gas replacement operation is necessary, the number of gas replacement operations in the pre-exhaust chamber increases, the time required for additional charge and recharge operations increases, and a relatively large amount of solid raw material When additional charging or recharging is required, the number of necessary recharge pipes is increased, and the burden of filling a large amount of solid raw material into small portions is also a burden, which improves the productivity of various operations using melting furnaces. It was a great obstacle.

WO2002 / 068,732 JP 2006-089,294 JP JP 2007-277,069 A JP 2008-088,000 JP

  Therefore, as a result of intensive studies to solve the problems in the raw material supply apparatus for the melting furnace using the conventional recharge pipe and raw material supply pipe, the present inventors cut out the solid raw material into small portions at the lower end. A supply tank having a cut-off valve, a charge cup having a charge valve at the lower end and loaded with a solid material cut from the cut-off valve, and a valve operation for opening and closing the cut-off valve and the charge valve The present invention has been completed by finding that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by a raw material supply apparatus provided with a means.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to perform a plurality of charging operations with a small amount of charging once when performing additional charging or recharging of the solid raw material on the melt surface in the crucible of the melting furnace. It is an object of the present invention to provide a raw material supply apparatus to a melting furnace that can improve the operation efficiency of additional charging and recharging of the solid raw material and thereby improve the productivity of various operations using the melting furnace. .

  Another object of the present invention is to perform additional charging and recharging of the solid raw material on the melt surface in the crucible of the melting furnace using the raw material supply device, and reduce the amount of one charge to multiple times. An object of the present invention is to provide a raw material supply method to a melting furnace capable of improving the operation efficiency when performing a charging operation.

The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows.
(1) A raw material supply device for supplying a solid raw material into a crucible of a melting furnace for storing a melt,
A supply tank provided with a cut-off valve at the lower end and charged with the solid raw material supplied into the crucible, and provided at a lower end of the supply tank, and provided with a feed valve at the lower end and the cut-off valve for the supply tank A charging cup loaded with a solid raw material cut out in small portions, and a valve operating means for opening and closing the cutting valve and the charging valve,
When supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible, the valve operating means divides the solid raw material charged in the supply tank into a charging cup, and then the solid raw material charged in the charging cup is removed. An apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace, characterized in that a valve opening / closing operation to be put into a crucible is performed.

  (2) In addition to the supply tank, the charging cup, and the valve operating means, the apparatus as described in (1), characterized by further comprising lifting means for lifting the entire apparatus and moving it to a raw material charging position on the crucible. It is a raw material supply apparatus to a melting furnace.

  (3) In the above (1) or (2), in addition to the supply tank, the charging cup, and the valve operating means, a charging guide having a lower end opening is provided at a lower position of the charging cup. It is a raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace of description.

  (4) The supply tank is characterized in that the upper part is formed in a vertical cylindrical straight body part and the lower part is formed in a funnel-like hopper part. It is a raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace in any one.

  (5) The cut-off valve has a cut-off valve seat at the opening peripheral edge of the cut-out opening formed at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank, and is seated on the cut-off valve seat and is separated from the cut-off valve seat. And a cut-out valve body for opening and closing the cut-out opening, and when the cut-out opening is closed, the cut-out valve seat and the cut-out valve body are substantially in contact with each other by line contact. (1) It is a raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace in any one of (4).

  (6) The cut-off valve seat of the cut-off valve protrudes in a ring shape upward from the peripheral edge of the cut-out opening at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank, and subdivides the solid raw material in the supply tank. The apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace as described in (5) above, wherein the flow of the solid raw material flowing through the cutting valve is regulated when cutting into the charging cup.

  (7) The cut-off valve body of the cut-off valve is formed such that the upper part is formed in a conical shape and the lower part is formed in an inverted conical shape, and the lower reverse conical surface of the cut-out valve body is seated on the cut-out valve seat. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace as described in (5) or (6) above.

  (8) The charging cup has a receiving opening on the upper end side that is larger than the cutting opening of the supply tank, and has a charging opening on the lower end side. It is possible to move up and down between a receiving position communicating with the outlet opening and a lowering position where the valve opening / closing operation of the inlet valve is performed away from the cutout opening, and the inlet valve of this inlet cup is (1) to (1) characterized in that the opening peripheral edge portion of the charging opening is a charging valve seat, the charging valve body is seated on the charging valve seat, and opens and closes the charging opening away from the charging valve seat. 7. A raw material supply apparatus for a melting furnace according to any one of 7).

  (9) The raw material supply apparatus for a melting furnace according to (8), wherein the charging valve body of the charging valve is formed in a conical shape and a conical surface thereof is seated on the charging valve seat.

(10) The valve operating means includes a cut-off valve operating member that opens and closes the cut-off valve of the supply tank, and moves the input cup between its lowered position and a receiving position, and A closing valve operating member that performs valve opening and closing operation,
When supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible, the cut-off valve operating member opens the supply tank cut-off valve and cuts out the solid raw material into a charging cup, and also by the input valve operating member. The charging cup is moved between its lowered position and a receiving position, and at the lowered position, the charging valve of the charging cup is opened to charge the solid material into the crucible (1) to (9), The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace as described in any of the above.

(11) The charging valve operating member penetrates the supply tank downward from above and movably penetrates the extraction valve body of the extraction valve. The upper end is connected to the elevating means and is connected to the lower end. Is a closing valve operating rod provided with a closing valve body of the closing valve of the closing cup, the cut-off valve operating member is operated via the closing valve operating rod, and the closing cup is in its receiving position. Sometimes the release valve body of the extraction valve is separated from the extraction valve seat to open the extraction opening, and when the closing cup is in its lowered position, the extraction valve body of the extraction valve is set to the extraction valve seat. It is a spacer member that is seated and closes the cutout opening,
When the raw material is charged into the supply tank, the raising / lowering means moves the closing valve operating rod downward to close the cut-off valve. When the entire apparatus is lifted, the lifting / lowering means moves the closing valve operating rod upward. The closing valve is closed and then the charging cup is moved to its receiving position to open the cutting valve, and the cutting opening of the supply tank and the receiving opening of the charging cup are connected in communication with each other. The raw material is charged into the charging cup, and when the raw material is charged into the crucible, the closing valve is moved downward by the lifting means to close the cut-off valve, and the solid raw material is subdivided. The apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace as described in (10) above, wherein the solid raw material subdivided by opening the valve is put into a crucible.

  (12) The charging valve operating rod includes a closing valve closing valve provided at a lower end of the charging cup, and an opening peripheral portion of the receiving opening that moves to the receiving position is a load receiving portion of the supply tank. The apparatus for supplying a raw material to the melting furnace according to (11), wherein a load of a supply tank on the charging cup is supported through a charging cup abutting on the melting cup.

  (13) In addition to the spacer member, the cut-off valve operating member is attached to a central portion in the supply tank via a stay, and has an upper end extending above the upper portion of the supply tank and a lower end extending into the supply tank. The valve operation guide tube, the lower end is connected to the cut valve body of the cut valve, the upper end extends into the valve operation guide tube so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the closing valve operation rod is inside. The apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace as described in (11) or (12) above, further comprising a cut-off valve control pipe penetrating in a vertically movable manner.

  (14) The charging guide has a vertical cylindrical straight body portion which is larger than at least the charging cup and accommodates the charging cup at an upper portion thereof, and a lower end which is smaller than an opening of the straight body portion at a lower portion thereof. A funnel portion having an opening is formed, and the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the charging cup moves up and down in the straight barrel portion and abuts the upper end portion of the funnel portion to define the lowering position of the charging cup. The raw material supply apparatus for a melting furnace according to any one of (8) to (13), wherein a positioning arm is provided.

  (15) When supplying a solid raw material into a crucible of a melting furnace for storing a melt using a raw material supply device, the raw material supply device has a supply tank having a cut-off valve at the lower end, and a charging valve at the lower end. And a charging cup located below the supply tank, and after charging the raw material into the supply tank, the supply tank is moved together with the charging cup onto the crucible. After the valve is opened and closed, the solid material charged in the supply tank is subdivided from the cut-off valve and loaded into the charging cup. Then, the charging valve of the charging cup is opened and the solid material loaded in the charging cup is crucible. This is a method for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace, wherein a subdivided charging operation is repeated a plurality of times and the entire amount of solid raw material in a supply tank is charged onto the melt surface in the crucible.

  (16) The raw material supply method to the melting furnace according to (15), wherein the raw material supply to the melting furnace is performed using the raw material supply device described in any of (2) to (14).

  In the present invention, the raising / lowering means is particularly limited as long as the whole raw material supply device is lifted and moved to the raw material charging position on the crucible, and the raw material supply device can be moved in the vertical direction at this raw material charging position. Although it is not a thing, it is preferably a lifting device comprising a suspension device equipped with a suspension wire and a wire winder, and a motor that connects a rod-shaped member with a key groove for the upper stroke and a gear that moves it up and down. A mechanism etc. can be illustrated.

  Further, the supply tank is not particularly limited as long as the solid raw material can be charged from the upper part of the supply tank and a cut-off valve can be provided at the lower part thereof, but the mounted solid raw material is directed downward. Since it is necessary to cut out the entire amount of the solid material loaded into the input cup little by little, it is preferably formed in a funnel shape below the input cup, while providing a cut-out opening for subdividing into the input cup located. What has a hopper part is good.

  Further, the cut-off valve provided in the supply tank is not particularly limited as long as the solid raw material mounted in the supply tank can be subdivided into the input cup positioned below, but is preferably not limited. The opening peripheral edge of the cut-out opening formed at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank is used as a cut-off valve seat, and has an inverted conical cut-off valve body. An inverted conical cut-out valve body is seated on the reverse conical surface of the (exit valve seat), and the cut-out opening is opened and closed away from the cut-out valve seat. And about the cut-off valve seat and cut-out valve body of these cut-out valves, More preferably, on the reverse conical surface of the opening peripheral part (cut-off valve seat) and / or the reverse conical surface of the cut-off valve body, for example, It has a ring-shaped ridge, and when the cutout opening is closed, the cutout valve seat and the cutout valve body should be substantially in contact with each other by line contact. When the solid raw material is divided into small portions, the flow of the solid raw material passing through the cut-off valve can be regulated. More preferably, the cut-off valve seat of the cut-off valve is formed in a shape protruding in a ring shape upward from the peripheral edge of the cut-out opening at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank, This not only restricts the flow of the solid raw material passing through the cut-off valve in the same manner as described above, but also when the solid raw material is divided into small portions, a small amount of the solid raw material is inverted at the opening peripheral edge (cut-off valve seat). The solid raw material can be prevented from falling from a gap formed between the surface and the inverted conical surface of the cut-out valve body.

  Further, in the present invention, the charging cup preferably has a receiving opening having an opening larger than the cut-out opening of the supply tank on the upper end side and a charging opening on the lower end side, and the receiving opening is It is formed so as to be movable in the vertical direction between a receiving position communicating with the cutout opening opened in the supply tank and a lowered position where the valve opening / closing operation of the closing valve is performed away from the cutout opening. The charging cup is more preferably formed in an inverted truncated cone shape with the receiving opening on the upper end side being larger than the charging opening on the lower end side. A small amount of the cut solid material can be put into a narrower area at the center of the melt surface in the crucible and, if necessary, put accurately into the feeding guide provided below the charging cup. Can do.

  The charging valve provided at the charging opening of the charging cup has a peripheral edge of the charging opening as a charging valve seat, sits on the charging valve seat, and opens and closes the charging opening away from the charging valve seat. Preferably, the charging valve body is formed in a conical shape, and its conical surface is seated on the opening peripheral portion (the charging valve seat) of the charging opening. By forming the shape of the charging valve body into a conical shape in this way, a part of the solid raw material does not remain on the upper portion of the charging valve body when the solid raw material is charged.

  Further, in the present invention, the valve operating means is divided into the charging cup by dividing the solid raw material charged in the supply tank into the charging cup when supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible. If the valve opening / closing operation for charging the solid material loaded in the cup into the crucible can be performed, for example, the operation means for the charging cup, the valve opening / closing operation means for the cut-off valve, and the valve opening / closing operation means for the charging valve are individually provided. Or a suitable combination of some of the means, etc., but is not particularly limited, preferably, a cut-off valve operating member for opening and closing the supply tank cut-off valve, It is preferable that the charging cup is constituted by a charging valve operating member that moves the charging cup between the lowered position and the receiving position and performs opening / closing operation of the charging valve of the charging cup. By configuring in this way, when supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible, the cut-off valve operating member opens the supply tank cut-off valve and cuts out the solid raw material into a charging cup, Further, the charging valve operating member can move the charging cup between its lowered position and the receiving position, and at the lowered position, the charging valve of the charging cup can be opened to charge the solid material into the crucible.

  Further, with respect to the cut-off valve operating member and the closing valve operating member of the valve operating means, more preferably, the closing valve operating member penetrates the supply tank from the top to the bottom and the cut-off valve of the cut-off valve. The upper end is connected to the lifting and lowering means, and the lower end is composed of a closing valve operating rod provided with a closing valve body for a closing cup, and the cutting valve operation When the member is operated via the input valve operating rod and the input cup is in its receiving position, the output valve body of the output valve is separated from the output valve seat to open the output opening. It is good to be comprised by the spacer member which makes the cut-off valve body of a cut-out valve seat to a cut-off valve seat, and closes a cut-out opening when it exists in the lowered position.

  By configuring the cutting valve operating member and the charging valve operating member of the valve operating means in this way, the charging valve operating rod is moved downward by the lifting / lowering means when the raw material is charged into the supply tank. The valve is closed and when the entire apparatus is lifted, the raising / lowering means moves the closing valve operating rod upward to close the closing valve, and then moves the closing cup to its receiving position to open the cut-off valve. In addition, the cut-out opening of the supply tank and the receiving opening of the charging cup are connected to each other so that the solid raw material in the supply tank is loaded into the charging cup. By moving the operating rod downward, the cutout valve is closed to divide the solid raw material, and then the charging valve is opened to divide the solid raw material into the crucible.

  Here, regarding the relationship between the charging valve operating rod, the supply tank and the charging cup, preferably, when the charging cup is in its receiving position, a tank in which the opening peripheral edge of the receiving opening is provided in the supply tank Constructed to contact the load receiving part (for example, a ring-shaped bottom wall provided around the cut-off valve on the outside of the supply tank, a support frame provided on the bottom of the supply tank, etc.) In addition, the length of the spacer member as the cut-off valve operating member is determined by the size of the open / close stroke of the cut-off valve determined by the particle size, fluidity, etc. of the solid raw material, and the receiving position and lowering of the input cup. In consideration of the movement distance to the position, it is preferable to set so that the relationship of “the opening / closing stroke of the cut-off valve” ≦ “the movement distance of the charging cup” is generally maintained. As a result, the closing valve operating rod is provided at the lower end of the charging cup and closed, and the closing valve is moved to the receiving position so that the opening peripheral edge of the receiving opening is the load receiving portion of the supply tank. It is possible to support the load of the supply tank on the charging cup via the charging cup that is in contact with the charging cup. All valve opening and closing operations of the outlet valve and the inlet valve can be covered. It should be noted that the three-way relationship between the connection opening state of the supply tank's cut-out opening and the input opening of the input cup, the open / close state of the cut-off valve, and the open / close state of the input valve depends on the valve of the cut-off valve and the input valve. Since the opening and closing operation is performed in a small amount and is performed above the melt surface in the crucible, it does not necessarily have to be operated strictly, the cutting valve body of the cutting valve, the charging cup, and the charging valve If the injection valve body is in the middle of operation, the cut-off valve and the injection valve are open at the same time with the communication connection between the supply opening of the supply tank and the input opening of the input cup not completed. May temporarily exist.

  In addition to the spacer member, the cut-off valve operation member is attached to the central portion of the supply tank via a stay, and has an upper end extending above the upper portion of the supply tank and a lower end extending into the supply tank. An open pipe-shaped valve operation guide tube, a lower end is connected to the cut-out valve body of the cut-out valve, and an upper end extends into the valve operation guide tube so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and inside the injection valve It is preferable to provide a cut-off valve control pipe through which the operation rod is movable so as to be movable in the vertical direction, whereby the entire device is lifted by the input valve body of the input valve connected to the lower end of the input valve operation rod. When the load is supported, the upper part of the device tilts, causing troubles in the dosing operation of feeding the solid raw material in small portions, and the loading valve body is damaged by the biased load acting on the loading valve body. Questions There can be prevented from occurring in advance. At the upper end of the valve operation guide tube, a gap substantially equal to the thickness of the cut-off valve control tube is formed between the inner wall of the valve operation guide tube and the closing valve operation rod, and the solid raw material or Since the pulverized powder may enter and hinder the vertical movement of the closing valve control rod and the cut-off valve control tube, the closing valve operation rod slides between the upper end of the valve operation guide tube and the closing valve operation rod. It is desirable to provide a sealing member that is movably sealed.

  In the present invention, the introduction guide provided as necessary is not particularly limited as long as it can input the solid raw material to the center position in the crucible, but preferably the upper part thereof is It is preferable that the funnel is formed in a funnel portion that is at least larger than the charging cup and is formed in a vertical cylindrical straight body portion that accommodates the charging cup and has a lower end opening smaller than the opening of the straight body portion. In addition, a positioning arm that moves up and down in the straight body portion is provided on the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the charging cup. When the positioning arm moves downward, the positioning arm abuts on the upper end of the funnel portion. It is recommended that the lowering position is defined.

  By using the raw material supply apparatus of the present invention, after the solid raw material is charged into the supply tank, the supply tank is moved onto the crucible together with the charging cup, and then the opening and closing operation of the cutting valve and the charging valve is performed. After the solid raw material charged in the supply tank is subdivided from the cut-off valve and loaded into the charging cup, the charging valve of the charging cup is opened and the solid raw material charged in the charging cup is charged into the crucible. The subdivided charging operation is repeated a plurality of times, and the entire amount of the solid raw material in the supply tank can be charged onto the melt surface in the crucible.

  According to the raw material supply apparatus and the raw material supply method for the melting furnace of the present invention, the entire amount of solid raw material required for additional charging or recharging is installed in the supply tank (if necessary, the total amount of divided input divided into a plurality of parts). This is transferred to the raw material charging position on the crucible, and when charging from the raw material charging position onto the melt surface in the crucible, it is divided from the supply tank into the charging cup little by little, Since it can be charged a large number of times, the transfer time for transferring the solid material necessary for additional charging and recharging to the material charging position on the crucible can be shortened. It is possible to efficiently perform a small amount charging operation for charging the raw material while suppressing a temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces of the crucible within a necessary range.

  Further, according to the raw material supply apparatus and raw material supply method to the melting furnace of the present invention, when the melting furnace is operated in a vacuum / depressurized atmosphere or in an inert gas atmosphere, the solid raw material transfer time is shortened. In addition, since the number of atmosphere replacement operations performed by introducing the raw material supply apparatus loaded with the solid material into the preliminary exhaust chamber can be significantly reduced, the time required for the atmosphere replacement operation in the preliminary exhaust chamber can be reduced. This can be shortened remarkably, whereby a small amount of charging operation for charging the raw material can be performed efficiently while suppressing the temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces of the crucible generated with the charging of the raw material within a necessary range.

  Furthermore, according to the raw material supply apparatus and the raw material supply method to the melting furnace of the present invention, the number of recharge pipes that have been required when additional charge or recharge of a relatively large amount of solid raw material can be reduced. As a result, the labor and burden of filling a large number of solid raw materials can be reduced, and the operability (productivity) of the melting furnace can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view for explaining a raw material supply apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view for explaining a state when the solid raw material is charged into the supply tank of the raw material supply apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state of the raw material supply apparatus of FIG. 1 employed in the silicon refining apparatus when the entire raw material supply apparatus after the solid raw material is charged in the supply tank is lifted and drawn into the preliminary exhaust chamber. FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which FIG. 4 (a) is drawn into the pre-exhaust chamber on the vacuum melting furnace with respect to the raw material supply apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which, after the atmosphere replacement operation in the pre-exhaust chamber, is moved to the raw material charging position on the crucible of the vacuum melting furnace.

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining a method of performing a divided charging operation by moving a cutting valve and a valve opening / closing operation of the charging valve after moving to the raw material charging position on the crucible in the raw material supply apparatus of FIG. 1 employed in the silicon purification apparatus. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram showing a state immediately before the suspended raw material supply apparatus is set on the apparatus support provided on the vacuum melting furnace side, and FIG. 5A (b) Is an explanatory view showing a state after a small amount of solid raw material is cut out into a charging cup by a cut-off valve after the raw material supply device in which is suspended is set on the device support provided on the vacuum melting furnace side. is there.

FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of performing the subdivided charging operation subsequent to FIG. 5A (b). FIG. 5B (c) shows that the charging valve is opened by the charging valve operating rod and placed in the charging cup. FIG. 5B is an explanatory view showing a state in which a subdivided solid raw material is put on the melt surface in the crucible, and FIG. 5B (d) is put on the melt surface in the crucible in FIG. 5B (d). FIG. 5B is an explanatory view showing a later state, and FIG. 5B (e) is an explanatory view showing a state in which a solid raw material is subdivided from a supply tank and ready to be cut out into a charging cup.

[Raw material supply equipment to melting furnace]
Hereinafter, based on the embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the raw material supply apparatus of the present invention adopted to supply silicon raw material (solid raw material) into the crucible of the vacuum melting furnace of the silicon purification apparatus The embodiment will be specifically described.

  In FIG.1 and FIG.2, the raw material supply apparatus S which concerns on the Example of this invention is shown. This raw material supply apparatus S has a straight body portion 1a having an upper portion formed in a vertical cylindrical shape and a hopper portion 1b having a lower portion formed in a funnel shape, and a cut-out opening 1c formed at the lower end of the hopper portion 1b. Is provided with a cut-off valve 5 and is provided below the supply tank 1 with the silicon raw material 10 charged therein, and has a receiving opening 2a on the upper end side and an input opening 2b on the lower end side and a lower end. Is equipped with a closing valve 6, a closing cup operation for opening and closing the closing valve 5, and a closing cup 2 in which the silicon raw material 10 cut into small portions from the cutting valve 5 of the supply tank 1 is loaded. A rod-shaped charging valve operating rod (valve operation) for moving the member (valve operating means) 3 and the charging cup 2 between its lowered position and receiving position and for opening and closing the charging valve 6 of the charging cup 2 Means valve operating member 4).

  In this embodiment, when the apparatus S is mounted on a cart (not shown) on the outer side of the upper peripheral wall of the straight body portion 1a in the supply tank 1, or when a solid raw material is charged into a crucible of a vacuum melting furnace, A locking arm 9 for locking the device S is provided on a part of the support unit of the carriage and a furnace body of the vacuum melting furnace, and on the outside of the cut-off valve 5 at the lower end of the hopper 1b, A ring-shaped bottom wall portion 1d is attached so as to form the cutout opening 1c and surround the cutout valve 5. The tank wall receiving portion when the bottom wall portion 1d suspends the entire apparatus. It is supposed to function as.

  Further, in this embodiment, the cut-off valve 5 cuts the opening peripheral portion protruding in a ring shape upward from the peripheral edge of the cut-out opening 1c formed at the lower end of the hopper portion 1b of the supply tank 1. The valve seat 5a is formed in an approximately abacus bead shape having an upper cone shape and an inverted cone shape at the lower portion. The reverse cone at the lower portion of the cut valve body 5b. When the cut-out valve 5 is closed by being seated on the cut-out valve seat 5a whose surface protrudes in a ring shape, the cut-out valve seat 5a and the cut-out valve body 5b are substantially in contact with each other by line contact. It is like that. According to the structure of the cut-off valve 5, when the silicon raw material 10 in the supply tank 1 is subdivided into the feed cup 2 by the cut-out valve seat 5a protruding in a ring shape, the cut-off valve 5 passes through the cut-off valve 5. The flow of the silicon raw material 10 flowing in is controlled, and the silicon raw material 10 can be prevented from flowing down at a stroke until the cut-off valve 5 is fully opened, and the cut-off valve seat 5a and the cut-off valve body 5b Since the contact is made substantially by line contact, when a predetermined amount of the silicon raw material 10 is cut into the charging cup 2, the silicon raw material 10 slides between the reverse conical surface of the hopper 1b and the lower conical surface of the cut-off valve body 5b. The remaining silicon raw material 10 can be reduced as much as possible, and the silicon raw material 10 in the supply tank 1 remains in the supply tank 1 by the upper conical surface of the cut-off valve body 5b of the cut-off valve 5. It can be cut out to the end without fail.

  Further, in this embodiment, the charging cup 2 moves between a receiving position where the recording opening 2a communicates with the cutout opening 1c opened in the supply tank 1 and a lowered position away from the cutout opening 1c. In addition, the charging valve 6 of the charging cup 2 has an opening peripheral edge of the charging opening 2a as a charging valve seat 6a, and is seated on the charging valve seat 6a, and is separated from the charging valve seat 6a. And a closing valve body 6b for opening and closing the closing opening 2a. The throwing cup 2 is provided with a positioning arm 2c on the outer surface of the peripheral wall for defining the lowered position of the throwing cup 2 in relation to the throwing guide 8 described later.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, a charging guide 8 having a lower end opening 8c is provided at a position below the charging cup 2. The charging guide 8 has an upper portion larger than the charging cup 2 and is formed in a vertical cylindrical straight barrel portion 8a that can accommodate the charging cup 2. The upper end of the straight barrel portion 8a is the supply tank. 1 is fixed to the bottom wall portion 1d, and a lower portion 8b having a lower end opening 8c smaller than the opening of the straight body portion 8a is formed at the lower portion thereof. 10 is reliably put into the center position in the crucible of the vacuum melting furnace described later.

  The charging guide 8 has an upper end portion of a funnel portion 8b in which a positioning arm 2c of the charging cup 2 is formed at a lower portion of the charging guide 8 when the charging cup 2 moves in the vertical direction within the straight body portion 8a. Thus, the lowered position of the charging cup 2 is defined.

  In this embodiment, the input valve operating rod 4 penetrates the supply tank 1 downward from above and movably penetrates the cut-off valve body 5b of the cut-off valve 5. The upper end will be described later. The lower end is connected to the raising and lowering means, and the lower end is connected to the center position of the upper part of the input valve body 6b of the input valve 6 of the input cup 2, and the cut-off valve operating member 3 When the injection cup 2 is in its receiving position, the extraction valve body 5b of the extraction valve 5 is separated from the extraction valve seat 5a to open the extraction opening 1c, and the introduction cup 2 is lowered. The spacer member 3a is configured to close the cutout opening 1c by seating the cutout valve body 5b of the cutout valve 5 on the cutout valve seat 5a when in the position. When the entire device is suspended, the closing valve operating rod 4 is moved to the receiving valve body 6b of the closing valve provided at the lower end of the closing cup 2 and closed. The opening peripheral edge of the receiving opening 2a supports the load of the supply tank 1 on the charging cup 2 through the charging cup 2 in contact with the tank load receiving portion (bottom wall 1d) of the supplying tank 1. It has become.

  In addition to the spacer member 3a, the cut-off valve operating member 3 is attached to the central portion of the supply tank 1 via three stays 3d, and has an upper end extending above the upper portion of the supply tank 1 and a lower end. A pipe-shaped valve operation guide tube 3b extending into the supply tank 1, a lower end is connected to the cut valve body 5b of the cut valve 5, and an upper end is movable in the valve operation guide tube 3b in the vertical direction. A cut-off valve control pipe 3c extending therethrough and penetrating the input valve operating rod 4 so as to be movable in the vertical direction is provided, so that when the entire apparatus is suspended by the input valve operating rod 4 The upper part of the apparatus is not inclined and does not interfere with the subdivided charging operation, and it is possible to prevent the charging valve body 6b from being damaged by a biased load acting on the charging valve body 6b.

  In this embodiment, a seal member 3e is provided at the upper end of the valve operation guide tube 3b so as to seal the injection valve operation rod 4 so that it can slide between the injection valve operation rod 4 and the valve operation guide tube 3b. As a lifting / lowering means for lifting the entire apparatus and moving it to the raw material charging position on the crucible, a hanging apparatus 7 is adopted, and this hanging apparatus 7 is provided in an upper part of a preliminary exhaust chamber of a silicon purifying apparatus described later. The wire winder 7b and a suspension wire 7a extending from the wire winder 7b and connected to the upper end of the closing valve operating rod 4 are configured.

[About raw material supply method to melting furnace]
Next, based on FIGS. 2 to 5B, the silicon raw material 10 is supplied into the crucible 13 of the vacuum melting furnace 12 in which the melt 10a is stored in the silicon purification device 11 using the raw material supply device S according to this embodiment. A raw material supply method for (recharging) will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, the raw material supply device S is set by the locking arm 9 to the device support portion 15 of the carriage and moved to the silicon raw material charging position. The trough 4 is moved downward, the cut-off valve 5 is closed, and a predetermined amount of silicon raw material 10 is charged into the supply tank 1. At this time, the cut-off valve 5 is in a completely closed state because the cut-off valve body 5b is pressed downward by the weight of the silicon raw material 10.

  In this state, after the charging of the silicon raw material 10 into the supply tank 1 is completed, the apparatus S is moved to the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 of the silicon purifying apparatus 11, and as shown in FIG. The tip of the suspension wire 7a of the suspension device 7 provided at the upper part of the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 is connected to the upper end of the closing valve operating rod 4, and the suspension wire 7a is wound up by the wire winder 7b to raise the entire device. .

  When the entire apparatus is lifted via the closing valve operating rod 4, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A (a), the closing valve 6 of the charging cup 2 attached to the lower end of the closing valve operating rod 4 is the closing valve. The body 6b sits on the closing valve seat 6a and closes, then the closing cup 2 is pulled up, and the peripheral edge of the receiving opening 2a comes into contact with the bottom wall portion (tank load receiving portion) 1d of the supply tank 1, so that the charging cup 2 rises to its receiving position. After the charging cup 2 reaches its receiving position, when the entire apparatus is completely lifted, the cutting valve 5 of the supply tank 1 is lifted by the spacer member 3a of the cutting valve operating member 3. The cut-out opening 1c of the supply tank 1 and the receiving opening 2a of the input cup 2 communicate with each other, and the silicon raw material 10 in the supply tank 1 moves along the inner surface of the hopper portion 1b of the supply tank 1 by its own weight. It passes through the cutoff valve 5 and is loaded into the charging cup 2. At this time, the flow of the silicon raw material 10 passing through the cut-off valve 5 is stopped when the charging cup 2 is full.

  Next, the device S is drawn into the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 while being suspended by the suspension device 7, and then the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 containing the device S is directed to the vacuum melting furnace 12 of the silicon purification device 11. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), it is set on the furnace body of the vacuum melting furnace 12 through a closed gate valve 12a. After that, while the device S is suspended in the preliminary exhaust chamber 14, the atmosphere in the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 is exhausted by a vacuum pump 16 or the like (not shown) and replaced with vacuum or inert gas. After the atmosphere of the vacuum melting furnace 12 is matched, the gate valve 12a is opened, the apparatus S is lowered into the furnace by the suspending device 7, and the engaging arm 9 is engaged with the apparatus support 12b of the furnace body. Then, the apparatus S is set above the surface of the melt 10a in the crucible 13.

  After the setting of the apparatus S to the furnace body of the vacuum melting furnace 12 is completed, as shown in FIG. 5A (b), the closing valve 7 is lowered by the suspending device 7 and the cut-off valve 5 of the supply tank 1 is removed. Is closed, a predetermined amount of silicon raw material 10 is cut out from the supply tank 1 into the charging cup 2, and the charging cup 2 is lowered to its lowered position. After the charging cup 2 has been lowered to its lowered position, the charging valve operating rod 4 is further lowered by the suspending device 7 and the charging valve 6 of the charging cup 2 is then lowered as shown in FIGS. 5B (c) and 5 (d). Is opened, and a predetermined amount of the silicon raw material 10 cut out into the charging cup 2 is charged onto the surface of the melt 10 a in the crucible 13.

  After the introduction of the silicon raw material 10 in the charging cup 2 is completed, as shown in FIGS. 5B (d) and 5 (e), the charging valve operating rod 4 is raised by the suspending device 7 to close the charging valve 6. Subsequently, the closing device 7 raises the closing valve operating rod 4 until the receiving opening 2a of the closing cup 2 comes into contact with the bottom wall 1d of the supply tank 1, and again, as shown in FIG. Is opened, the cutout opening 1c of the supply tank 1 and the receiving opening 2a of the input cup 2 are communicated, and a predetermined amount of the silicon raw material 10 in the supply tank 1 is divided into small portions and loaded into the input cup 2.

  Such a predetermined amount of the silicon raw material 10 in the supply tank 1 is divided into small portions and cut out, and the silicon raw material 10 is charged into the melt 10 a surface in the crucible 13 from the charging cup 2. The process is performed until the raw material 10 is completely removed, and then the apparatus S is placed in the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 by a procedure reverse to the procedure when the apparatus S is set on the furnace body of the vacuum melting furnace 12, and the gate valve 12a The atmosphere is replaced by introducing an inert gas into the preliminary exhaust chamber 14 and then returned to the atmospheric pressure after being closed, and then moved from the furnace body of the vacuum melting furnace 12 and set on the apparatus support 15 of the carriage, All the operations of the raw material supply apparatus S are completed.

  Such a raw material supply operation by the raw material supply apparatus S is performed in consideration of the supply amount of the solid raw material required for additional charging or recharging into the crucible 13 of the vacuum melting furnace 12 and the internal volume of the supply tank 1. The basic apparatus S may be prepared and carried out, or the supply operation may be repeated a plurality of times by the single apparatus S.

[Application example]
Furthermore, using the raw material supply apparatus for the melting furnace of the present invention, the case where 400 kg of silicon raw material is recharged in the crucible of the vacuum melting furnace in the silicon purification apparatus is compared with the case where a conventional recharge pipe is used. The effect of the raw material supply method of the present invention is confirmed.

  First, in order to keep the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the crucible within 200 ° C. when recharging 400 kg of silicon raw material using a conventional recharge tube, 10 recharge tubes are required. 10kg for the 2nd and 2nd, 20kg for the 3rd and 4th, 30kg for the 5th, 40kg for the 6th, 50kg for the 7th, 60kg for the 8th, and 80kg for the 9th and 10th. .

  Here, during the time required for recharging, the recharge pipe is placed in the pre-exhaust chamber, the atmosphere in the pre-exhaust chamber is replaced and adjusted to the furnace pressure (3000 Pa reduced pressure state), and then connected to the furnace body, and the silicon raw material is crucible. It takes 40 minutes to put it into the interior, and 20 minutes are required to return the pre-exhaust chamber to the atmospheric pressure with an inert gas and take out the recharge pipe from the furnace body. On the other hand, it takes time for the silicon raw material charged in the crucible to dissolve in the melt. The time required for the latter dissolution varies depending on the amount of dissolution, but the time required for the recharge is determined by the longer one of these machine operation time and dissolution time.

  In this application example, the time required for dissolution was 1 hour when the maximum raw material input amount was 80 kg. From 1st to 8th, the raw material input amount is less than 80 kg, so the raw material melting / temperature recovery time is completed within 1 hour, but the raw material input operation takes 1 hour. 40 minutes are required before the raw material charging operation, so that the total is 40 minutes + 1 hour × 10 each, and a total of 10 hours and 40 minutes are required.

On the other hand, when the raw material supply apparatus of the present invention is used, 200 kg of silicon raw material can be filled in the supply tank 1 of each apparatus. It takes 40 minutes before the raw material charging operation of the equipment. In addition, when the raw material charging amount is 80 kg, the raw material melting / temperature recovery time is about 1 hour. The total is 40 minutes + {(200 kg ÷ 80 kg) × 1 hour} +20 minutes + 40 minutes + {(200 kg ÷ 80 kg) × 1 hour} +20 minutes, and a total of 7 hours are required.
As a result, in the case of the present invention, a saving of 3 hours and 40 minutes is achieved as compared with the case where the conventional recharge tube is used.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Supply tank, 1a ... Straight body part, 1b ... Hopper part, 1c ... Cut-out opening, 1d ... Bottom wall part (tank load receiving part), 2 ... Loading cup, 2a ... Receiving opening, 2b ... Loading opening, 2c ... Positioning arm, 3 ... Cut-off valve operation member (valve operation means), 3a ... Spacer member, 3b ... Valve operation guide pipe, 3c ... Cut-off valve control pipe, 3d ... Stay, 3e ... Seal member, 4 ... Injection valve Operating rod (closing valve operating member of valve operating means), 5 ... Cut valve, 5a ... Cut valve seat (opening peripheral edge), 5b ... Cut valve body, 5c ... Lower inverted conical surface, 6 ... Clamp valve, 6a: closing valve seat, 6b: closing valve body, 6c: conical surface, 7: hanging device (lifting means), 7a: hanging wire, 7b: wire winder, 8 ... loading guide, 8a: straight body , 8b ... funnel part, 8c ... lower end opening, 9 ... locking arm, 10 ... silicon raw material (solid raw material), 10a ... melt, 11 ... silicon purifier, 12 ... vacuum melting furnace, 12a ... gate valve, 12b ... Furnace body Device support unit, 13 ... crucible, 14 ... preliminary exhaust chamber, 15 ... device support unit of carriage, 16 ... vacuum pump.

Claims (16)

A raw material supply device for supplying a solid raw material into a crucible of a melting furnace for storing a melt,
A supply tank provided with a cut-off valve at the lower end and charged with the solid raw material supplied into the crucible, and provided at a lower end of the supply tank, and provided with a feed valve at the lower end and the cut-off valve for the supply tank A charging cup loaded with a solid raw material cut out in small portions, and a valve operating means for opening and closing the cutting valve and the charging valve,
When supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible, the valve operating means divides the solid raw material charged in the supply tank into a charging cup, and then the solid raw material charged in the charging cup is removed. An apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace, wherein the valve is opened and closed to be put into a crucible.   2. The melting furnace according to claim 1, further comprising lifting means for lifting the entire apparatus to a raw material charging position on the crucible in addition to the supply tank, the charging cup, and the valve operating means. Raw material supply equipment.   3. The melting furnace according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to the supply tank, the charging cup, and the valve operating means, a charging guide having a lower end opening is provided at a position below the charging cup. Raw material supply equipment.   4. The melting according to claim 1, wherein the supply tank has an upper part formed in a vertical cylindrical straight body part and a lower part formed in a funnel-like hopper part. Raw material supply equipment to the furnace.   The cut-off valve has a cut-off valve seat at the opening peripheral edge of the cut-out opening formed at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank, and is seated on the cut-off valve seat and cut out from the cut-off valve seat. 2. A cut-off valve body that opens and closes the opening, and the cut-off valve seat and the cut-out valve body contact each other by substantially line contact when the cut-out opening is closed. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace in any one of 4.   The cut-off valve seat of the cut-off valve protrudes in a ring shape upward from the periphery of the opening of the cut-out opening at the lower end of the hopper portion of the supply tank, and divides the solid material in the supply tank into the injection cup 6. The raw material supply apparatus for a melting furnace according to claim 5, wherein the flow of the solid raw material that flows through the cut-off valve is regulated when cutting into the melting furnace.   The cut-out valve body of the cut-out valve has a conical shape at the top and an inverted conical shape at the bottom, and the lower reverse conical surface of the cut-out valve body is seated on the cut-out valve seat. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace of Claim 5 or 6.   The charging cup has a receiving opening having an opening larger than the cutting opening of the supply tank at the upper end side and a charging opening at the lower end side, and the receiving opening is a cutting opening that is opened by the supplying tank. It is possible to move up and down between a communicating receiving position and a lowering position where the valve opening / closing operation of the charging valve is performed away from the cutout opening. The opening periphery of the opening is used as a closing valve seat, and has a closing valve body that sits on the closing valve seat and opens and closes the closing opening away from the closing valve seat. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace as described.   The raw material supply apparatus for a melting furnace according to claim 8, wherein the charging valve body of the charging valve is formed in a conical shape, and a conical surface thereof is seated on the charging valve seat. The valve operating means includes a cut-off valve operating member for opening and closing the cut-off valve of the supply tank, and a valve opening / closing operation of the input valve of the input cup while moving the input cup between its lowered position and the receiving position. And a charging valve operating member
When supplying the solid raw material from the supply tank into the crucible, the cut-off valve operating member opens the supply tank cut-off valve and cuts out the solid raw material into a charging cup, and also by the input valve operating member. The charging cup is moved between its lowered position and a receiving position, and at the lowered position, the charging valve of the charging cup is opened to charge the solid material into the crucible. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace as described in 2. The charging valve operating member penetrates the supply tank downward from above and movably penetrates the extraction valve body of the extraction valve. The upper end is connected to the elevating means and the lower end is an injection cup. A closing valve operating rod provided with a closing valve body of the closing valve, and the cutting valve operating member is operated via the closing valve operating rod, and the cutting valve body and the closing valve of the cutting valve When the charging cup is in its receiving position, the cutting valve body of the cutting valve is moved away from the cutting valve seat to open the cutting opening. A spacer member that closes the cutout opening by seating the cutout valve body of the cutout valve on the cutout valve seat when in the lowered position;
When the raw material is charged into the supply tank, the raising / lowering means moves the closing valve operating rod downward to close the cut-off valve. When the entire apparatus is lifted, the lifting / lowering means moves the closing valve operating rod upward. The closing valve is closed and then the charging cup is moved to its receiving position to open the cutting valve, and the cutting opening of the supply tank and the receiving opening of the charging cup are connected in communication with each other. The raw material is charged into the charging cup, and when the raw material is charged into the crucible, the closing valve is moved downward by the lifting means to close the cut-off valve, and the solid raw material is subdivided. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace according to claim 10, wherein the solid raw material divided into small portions by opening the valve is put into the crucible.   The closing valve operating rod includes a closing valve closing valve provided at the lower end of the charging cup, and the opening peripheral edge of the receiving opening abuts the tank load receiving portion of the supply tank. The apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace according to claim 11, wherein a load of a supply tank on the charging cup is supported through a charging cup in contact therewith.   In addition to the spacer member, the cut-off valve operating member is attached to a central portion in the supply tank via a stay, and has a pipe-like valve operation in which an upper end extends above the upper portion of the supply tank and a lower end extends into the supply tank. The guide pipe and the lower end are connected to the cut valve body of the cut valve, and the upper end extends into the valve operation guide pipe so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the closing valve operating rod moves in the vertical direction inside The apparatus for supplying a raw material to a melting furnace according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising a cut-off valve control pipe penetrating through the pipe.   The charging guide has a vertical cylindrical straight body portion which is larger than at least the charging cup and accommodates the charging cup at an upper portion thereof, and has a lower end opening which is smaller than an opening of the straight body portion at a lower portion thereof. A funnel portion is formed, and a positioning arm that moves up and down in the straight barrel portion on the outer peripheral surface of the charging cup and abuts the upper end of the funnel portion to define the lowering position of the charging cup. The raw material supply apparatus to the melting furnace according to claim 8, wherein the raw material supply apparatus is provided.   When supplying a solid raw material into a crucible of a melting furnace for storing a melt using a raw material supply device, the raw material supply device has a supply tank having a cut-off valve at a lower end and a supply valve at a lower end and the supply. A charging cup located below the tank, and after charging the supply tank with the solid raw material, the supply tank is moved together with the charging cup onto the crucible, and then the opening and closing operation of the cutting valve and the charging valve is performed. After charging the raw material charged in the supply tank into small portions from the cut-off valve and loading it into the charging cup, the charging valve of the charging cup is opened and the solid material charged in the charging cup is charged into the crucible. The method of supplying a raw material to a melting furnace is characterized in that the subdivided charging operation is repeated a plurality of times and the entire amount of the solid raw material in the supply tank is charged onto the melt surface in the crucible.   The raw material supply method to the melting furnace of Claim 15 which performs the raw material supply to a melting furnace using the raw material supply apparatus described in any one of Claims 2-14.

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