JPH05164469A - Melting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out melting and casting operations in continuous mode with high efficiency by installing a raw material chamber in the upper part of a vacuum vessel by way of a gate valve, setting the inside of the chamber to an atmosphere same as that of the vacuum vessel and installing a hopper into the raw material chamber in such a fashion that the hopper may slant its outlet in any arbitrarily direction. CONSTITUTION:A raw material chamber 3 is laid out in the upper part of a vacuum vessel 1 which is provided with a crucible 2 where air tight is provided between the vacuum chamber 1 and the raw material chamber with a vacuum gate valve installed and they are communicated with each other under the same atmosphere at the same time. Both the vacuum vessel and the raw material chamber are set to the same atmosphere. A hopper 5 is installed in the raw material chamber 3, suspended and laid out at the upper part 6a of a bottom fork of a cylinder shaft 6. A bottom cover 50 of the hopper 5 is coupled with the cylinder shaft 6 by way of an opening/closing lever 51, semi-circular-shaped gears 48 and 49. The raw materials are supplied to the crucible 2 by opening the gate valve 4, driving the cylinder shaft 6, moving a charging port of the hopper 5 to the position of the crucible 2 and opening the bottom cover 50 by means of the lever 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a melting apparatus applied to melting of raw materials, casting, etc. in a vacuum or reduced pressure atmosphere of an inert gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, melting of raw materials in a vacuum atmosphere,
Casting is performed in a batch system in which the raw material is supplied to a crucible installed in a vacuum container each time.

[0003]

As described above, melting and casting of raw materials in a vacuum atmosphere are performed in a batch system, and the crucible installed in the vacuum container does not break the vacuum in the vacuum container. It is impossible to continuously supply the raw material to perform melting and casting. Further, it is difficult to supply the raw material to any place in the crucible with a focus.

[0004]

The melting apparatus according to the present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a vacuum container in which a crucible is installed and which is kept in an atmosphere of an inert gas in which the inside is vacuumed or depressurized. And a raw material chamber which is provided above the vacuum container via a sluice valve and the inside of which is formed in the same atmosphere as the inside of the vacuum container, and the raw material chamber in which the outlet can be tilted in any direction to feed the raw material. It is characterized by a configuration including a hopper that supplies the crucible.

[0005]

That is, in the melting apparatus according to the present invention, the inside of the above-mentioned vacuum container is provided via a sluice valve above the vacuum container in which a crucible is installed and the inside is kept in a vacuum or depressurized atmosphere of inert gas. The raw material chamber is formed in the same atmosphere as the inside, and the hopper is installed in the raw material chamber so that the outlet can be tilted in any direction to supply the raw material to the crucible. The raw material is supplied to the crucible. In this case, the sluice valve is closed and the raw material is put into the hopper to make the raw material chamber have the same atmosphere as the inside of the vacuum container, then the sluice valve is opened and the raw material is supplied to the crucible from the outlet of the hopper tilted in any direction. To do. In this way, the raw material can be concentratedly supplied to an arbitrary place in the crucible, for example, a place where the melting is progressing, without destroying the atmosphere in the vacuum container.

[0006]

1 to 3 are explanatory views of a melting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the melting apparatus according to the present embodiment is used for melting raw materials in a vacuum atmosphere or a reduced pressure inert gas atmosphere, and a crucible 2 is provided inside a vacuum container 1 as shown in the figure. A raw material chamber 3 is attached to the upper portion of the vacuum container 1. Vacuum container 1
A vacuum sluice valve 4 is provided between the raw material chamber 3 and the raw material chamber 3 to provide an airtight partition. The inside of the raw material chamber 3 can be made to have the same vacuum atmosphere as the inside of the vacuum container 1 or the same atmosphere of decompressed inert gas as the inside of the vacuum container 1. Inside the raw material chamber 3, a hopper 5 is suspended from a lower fork-shaped portion 6 a of a cylindrical shaft 6 via a pair of suspension plates 7. A raw material supply chute 8 for the hopper 5 and a vacuum sluice valve 9 are attached to the upper corner of the raw material chamber 3. A bearing 10 for a cylindrical shaft 6 is provided on the upper surface of the raw material chamber 3, and the cylindrical shaft 6 penetrates the bearing 10 in a state where a vacuum seal 11 and a bearing 12 are fitted into the bearing 10 to maintain airtightness, and the shaft 10 moves vertically. It is possible to move and rotate in any direction. A pair of guide shafts 13 are fixed to the upper surface of the raw material chamber 3 by bearing fittings 14, and the upper part of the guide shafts 13 is provided with the shaft support plate 1.
Supported by 5.

The first elevating plate 16 is guided by a guide shaft 13 so as to be vertically movable by bearing portions 16a at both ends. A timing pulley 17 is provided above the cylindrical shaft 6.
Is installed. The cylindrical shaft 6 is the first lifting plate 16
Is rotatably mounted on. A motor 18 is attached to the upper surface of the first elevating plate 16, a timing pulley 19 is attached to the output shaft of the motor 18, and a timing belt 20 is hung between the timing pulleys 17 and 19. A screw shaft 21 is rotatably attached between the raw material chamber 3 and the shaft support plate 15, and a timing pulley 22 attached to the screw shaft 21 is an output shaft of a motor 23 attached to the shaft support plate 15. It is connected by a timing belt 24 and a timing pulley 24 attached to the. The nut 26 of the screw shaft 21 is fixed to the first elevating plate 16.

A shaft 27 penetrates the inner diameter of the cylindrical shaft 6, and the shaft 27 is supported at both ends of the cylindrical shaft 6 so as to be movable and rotatable in the axial direction and is hermetically sealed. 28 and 29 are bearings and 30, 3
Reference numerals 1 and 32 are vacuum seals. Bearing retainer 33,3
4 is fixed to the end surface of the cylindrical shaft 6. The second elevating plate 35 is guided by the guide shaft 13 so as to be vertically movable by the bearing portions 35a at both ends. The second elevating plate 35 is connected to a cylinder 36 attached to the first elevating plate 16 by a rod tip fitting 37. The upper end of the shaft 27 is rotatably supported by the second elevating plate 35 and has a timing pulley 38 attached thereto. A motor 39 is attached to the second elevating plate 35, and a timing belt 41 is hung between the timing pulley 40 and the timing pulley 38 attached to the output shaft of the motor 39.

A bevel gear 42 is fitted to the lower portion of the shaft 27 so as to be non-rotatable and axially movable with respect to the shaft 27. The bevel gear 42 is fitted in the bearing retainer 34 so as to be rotatable and immovable in the axial direction. The shaft portion 43a of the bevel gear 43 meshing with the bevel gear 42 is rotatably attached to the bearing portion 6b of the lower fork-shaped portion 6a of the cylindrical shaft 6 through the suspension plate 7. Bevel gear 4
The shaft portion 43a of No. 3 and the suspension plate 7 are non-rotatably attached. A tip fitting 44 is rotatably attached to the lower end of the shaft 27, and the tip fitting 44 and one end of the lever arm 45 are connected by a link 46.

Bearing bracket 4 fixed to suspension plate 7
A pair of fan gears 48 and 49 are rotatably attached to the bearing portion 47a of No. 7, and the other end of the lever arm 45 is non-rotatably attached to the shaft end portion of the fan gear 48. An opening / closing lever 51 of a bottom lid 50 of the hopper 5 is connected by a pin 52 to the side of the fan-shaped gears 48, 49 opposite to the teeth. The bottom lid 50 is attached to the hopper 5 via a hinge 53 so as to be openable and closable. The bottom lid 50 and the lower end of the opening / closing lever 51 are connected by a pin 54. When the cylinder shaft 6 and the shaft 27 are actually used, cooling water is circulated therein.

When the raw material is supplied to the hopper 5, first, the vacuum sluice valve 4 is closed and the vacuum sluice valve 9 is opened, and the raw material supply chute 8 is extended to the chain line position in FIG. Throw in.
Next, the raw material supply chute 8 is returned to its original position and the vacuum sluice valve 9 is closed. The same reduced pressure inert gas atmosphere is used. When supplying the raw material to the crucible 2, first, the vacuum sluice valve 4 is opened and the motor 23 is operated to operate the timing pulley 24, the timing belt 25, and the timing pulley 2.
When the screw shaft 21 is rotated via 2 to lower the first elevating plate 16, the hopper 5 descends toward the crucible 2,
The hopper 5 is set to a height suitable for feeding raw materials. Second
Since the lifting plate 35 is also connected by the cylinder 36,
It descends together with the first lifting plate 16. By rotating the motor 39, the shaft 27 is rotated through the timing pulley 40, the timing belt 41, and the timing pulley 38, and by the rotation of the bevel gears 42 and 43, the hopper 5 is moved along a vertical plane as shown by a chain line in FIG. In the radial direction of the crucible 2, swinging and tilting in the direction of the hopper 5
Is set at the position where the ingredients are charged. The tip fitting 4
4 is rotatable with respect to the shaft 27,
The rotation of the shaft 27 is not transmitted to the link 46 and thereafter.
When the motor 18 rotates, the timing pulley 1
9, the cylindrical shaft 6 rotates via the timing belt 20 and the timing pulley 17 to rotate the hopper 5 parallel to the horizontal plane. At the same time, the motor 39 is also rotated to rotate the shaft 27 in synchronization with the rotation of the cylindrical shaft 6. By these operations, the raw material charging port of the hopper 5 can be moved to any position in the crucible 2. Next, the cylinder 36 is operated to move the second elevating plate 35 downward, whereby the shaft 27, the tip fitting 44,
The fan-shaped gear 48 via the link 46 and the lever arm 45,
49 rotates, the open / close lever 51 is pulled upward, the bottom lid 50 is opened, and the raw material is supplied into the crucible 2. When the required amount of raw material is charged, the cylinder 36 is operated to close the bottom lid 50. In this way, it is possible to charge the required amount of raw material to an arbitrary position of the crucible 2 without destroying the vacuum atmosphere in the vacuum container 1 or the atmosphere of the depressurized inert gas.

In this way, the raw material chamber 3 is provided above the vacuum container 1 so that the two vacuum chambers can be shut off by the vacuum sluice valve 4, and the raw material charging port to the hopper 5 provided in the raw material chamber 3 The raw material is fed from the vacuum sluice valve 9 into the hopper 5, but an actuator for controlling the position and the posture of the hopper 5 is provided outside the raw material chamber 3 to transmit the power to the hopper 5 in the raw material chamber 3 from the outside. The operation is performed via a double shaft that penetrates into the chamber 3, and the motor 23 operates to move the cylindrical shaft 6 in the vertical direction, so that the hopper 5 hung at the lower end of the cylindrical shaft 6 is suspended. Performs vertical positioning. Further, the cylindrical shaft 6 is rotated by the operation of the motor 18, and the hopper 5 is rotated in parallel with the horizontal plane to determine the position. The shaft 2 penetrating the cylindrical shaft 6 by the operation of the motor 39 so as to be movable and rotatable in the vertical axis direction.
The position of the hopper 5 is determined by rotating the hopper 7, swinging the hopper 5 in the direction along the vertical plane, and swinging it. In addition, the operation of the cylinder 36 moves the shaft 27 in the vertical direction to move the shaft 27.
The bottom lid 50 is opened and closed.

When the raw material is supplied to the hopper 5, the vacuum sluice valve 4 is closed and the vacuum sluice valve 9 is opened to feed the raw material from the raw material supply chute 8 to the hopper 5. Then, after closing the vacuum sluice valve 9 to make the inside of the raw material chamber 3 the same atmosphere as the inside of the vacuum container 1, the hopper 5 is placed in the crucible 2 in which the vacuum sluice valve 4 is opened.
Bring the ingredients closer together. Thereby, the raw material can be supplied to the crucible 2 without destroying the atmosphere in the vacuum container 1. When supplying the raw material to the crucible 2, the position and posture of the hopper 5 in the crucible 2 are set by moving the hopper 5 in the vertical direction, swinging in the direction along the vertical plane, and rotating motion parallel to the horizontal plane. After that, by opening and closing the bottom lid 50, the necessary amount of raw material can be gently supplied to the target position in the crucible 2. In addition, the airtight sealing of the vacuum container 1 can be performed easily and reliably by combining the axial movement of the double shaft and the rotational movement.

When the flowability of the raw material is bad or the particle size and shape are not uniform, the melting does not proceed uniformly in the crucible 2, but the hopper 5 in the present melting device confirms the progress of the melting and advances the melting. Since the raw materials can be mainly charged to the places where they exist, the dissolution efficiency is improved. Also,
Since the raw material can be charged by bringing the hopper 5 close to an arbitrary position, damage to the crucible 2 at the time of charging the raw material is reduced. Further, since the operation of the actuator outside the raw material chamber 3 is performed by penetrating the double shaft into the vacuum container 1 and moving and rotating the vertical shaft in the vertical direction, the positioning and opening / closing of the hopper 5 are performed. This simplifies the structure of the seal between the vacuum container 1 and the double shaft and in the double shaft, and ensures reliable sealing.

[0015]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION The melting apparatus according to the present invention is configured as described above, and the raw material can be focused on an arbitrary position in the crucible, for example, where melting is progressing, without destroying the atmosphere in the vacuum container. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform continuous melting and casting in a vacuum or reduced pressure inert gas atmosphere.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a dissolving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

3 (a) is a sectional view taken along the line aa in FIG.
3B is a view taken along the line bb in FIG. 2, and FIG.
It is a cc sectional view in (a).

[Explanation of symbols] 1 vacuum container 2 crucible 3 raw material chamber 4 vacuum gate valve 5 hopper 6 cylindrical shaft 6a lower fork portion 7 suspension plate 8 raw material supply chute 9 vacuum gate valve 13 guide shaft 15 shaft support plate 16 first lift plate 18 motor 21 screw shaft 23 motor 27 shaft 36 cylinder 39 motor 42 bevel gear 43 bevel gear 48 fan gear 49 fan gear 50 bottom lid 51 open / close lever

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum container in which a crucible is installed and which is maintained in an atmosphere of an inert gas which is vacuumed or decompressed, and an inside of the vacuum container which is provided above the vacuum container via a gate valve. A melting apparatus, comprising: a raw material chamber formed in the same atmosphere as that of the state; and a hopper that is installed in the raw material chamber so that an outlet can be tilted in any direction to supply the raw material to the crucible.