US3190524A

US3190524A - Furnaces for heating and assembling metallic composite units

Info

Publication number: US3190524A
Application number: US212298A
Authority: US
Inventors: John B Ulam
Original assignee: Composite Metal Products Inc
Current assignee: Composite Metal Products Inc
Priority date: 1962-07-25
Filing date: 1962-07-25
Publication date: 1965-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1982-06-22
Also published as: DE1433718B1; GB987525A

Description

J. a ULAM 5 FURNACES FOR HEATING AND ASSEMBLING METALLIC COMPOSITE UNITS Filed July 25, 1962 XNVENTOR John B. Ulum United States Patent 3,19%,524 FURNAQES EGR HEATING AND AdSEh/IIELING METALLIC CIIMIPOSITE UNITS Iolm II. Iliam, *Canonsburg, Pan, assignor to tCornposite Metal Products, Inc. File-:1 Italy 25, I962, der. No. 212,298 9 @Ciaims. (El. 22$4) This invention relates to furnaces for heating and assembling metal composite bodies and particularly to a furnace for heating multiple strands of metal and assembling said multiple strands into a composite within the confines of the furnace.

In the manufacture of metallic composite bodies where, for example, an inner layer of aluminum is placed between two outer layers of stainless steel to form a single composite element, great difficulty has been experienced in properly heating the several strands and bringing them together without oxidizing the facing surfaces, through which the bond is established. I have pointed out in my Patent 2,758,368 that it is imperative that the surfaces which are to be brought together be cleaned by a mechanical cleaning process and that those cleaned surfaces must be maintained clean and free of oxidation product if a satisfactory bond is to be achieved. This has posed real problems in heating and handling the strip during the formation of the composite and its introduction into the rolling mill. I have invented a furnace which is capable of delivering a multiplicity of strands of metal properly cleaned and heated out of the furnace in the form of a single composite unit which may go directly to the reduc tion mills to form a composite and to reduce the composite to its final shape.

Preferably, I provide a furnace having an elongated housing, a heating portion and an exit portion, a central conveyor extending midway between the top and the bottom and adapted to carry a sheet or plate of core metal, spaced above and below this center hearth are longitudinally extending passageways each adapted to receive a strip for forming the outer surface layer of the composite, heating means are provided in the heating portion of the furnace heating the several strands in the furnace body, a pair of bending rolls in the exit chamber on each side of the line of travel of the center strip, said bending rolls bending the upper and lower strips toward the center and again parallel to, and in contact with the central strand, a pair of pinch rolls in the exit portion adjacent the bending rolls, one on each side of the center line of the central strip, receiving all of the strands therebetween and urging the strands into intimate contact and an exit opening in the furnace adjacent the pinch rolls sealingly engaging the strip leaving the pinch rolls through which the strip passes from the interior of the furnace.

In the foregoing general description, I have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which-- FIGURE 1 is aside elevation of a furnace according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of a segment of the furnace broken away to show the heating means; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged segmental isometric view of a baffle arrangement for use in the furnace of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a furnace Iii having a heating portion Ilia and an exit chamber or portion Itib and having a central roll conveyor II, extending lengthwise of the furnace. Spaced strip conveyor entrance rolls I2 and 13 are provided on opposite sides of the roll conveyors 11. The conveyors II are adapted to carry a central core of metal 14-. The conveyor rolls I2 and i3 carry a strip of metal 15 and I6 respectively against skid rails 17 on the bottom of the furnace and I? on the top of the furnace. The strip 15 and the strip 16 are heated by gas passing across

radiant tubes

19 and 20 respectively which extend transversely of the furnace to an exhaust stack 21. The gases pass from the radiant tubes through jet plates 22. The central or core strand passes between jet plates 24 on opposite sides of the roll conveyor whereby the strip is heated. The central strand 14 reaches the exit chamber Iiib through an opening 23 along with heated gases from the heating portion into the furnace exit chamber 1%, where it passes between bending rolls 25 and pinch rolls SI. The two strands I5 and 15 pass from the furnace along with heated gases from the furnace into exit chamber lttib. The heated gases maintain the heating chamber and the bending and pinch rolls at a temperature sufficient to promote bonding of the metal in the pinch rolls. Bending rolls 29 and 3t bend the two strands I5 and I6 upwardly and downwardly respectively into the bending rolls 25 which bend the strands I5 and 16 into parallelism with the central strip 14, and into contact with said central strip. The three elements I4, 15 and 16 are then passed into pinch rolls 31 within the exit chamber fill; which urges the three components I4, I5 and 16 into intimate contact and feeds them in contact with one another through the exit opening 32 into pinch rolls 33 feeding the rolling mill strand.

The atmosphere in the furnace chamber and in the exit chamber is one that is compatible with maintenance of oxide free conditions on the surfaces of the metal components 14, I5 and 16, for example, argon, hydrogen, nitrogen or any other gas which will produce the desired result. This protective gas may be introduced in conventional manner.

The heating structure is most clearly shown in FIGURE 3. The protective gas is drawn through slots 4t into the heating intake cell 41, across the radiant tubes 19 where it is heated. A fan 12 draws the gas from the heating intake cell ill into fan housing 42a and discharges it into heating discharge cell 4-3 and through

perforated jet plates

22 and 24 onto the surfaces of the several strips to be heated. The fan 42 is preferably driven from a motor 44 mounted externally of the furnace. Movable baflies 45 above and below jet plates 24 which control the flow of heat the strip 14- permit the temperature of the strip 14- to be varied with respect to strips 15 and 16 so that the three strips may be heated to different temperatures in the furnace units.

In the foregoing specification, I have set out certain preferred embodiments of my furnace. It will be understood, however, that this invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

I. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an elongated housing, having a heating portion and an exit portion, a conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a strip therethrough, a second conveyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion, bending rolls acting on at least one of the two strips adapted to guide them into contact With one another in the exit portion and means applying pres sure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

2. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an elongated housing, having a heat-ing portion and an exit portion, a conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a strip therethrough, a second conveyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion, bending rolls acting on at least one of the two strips adapted to guide them into contact with one another in the exit portion, means for maintaining a common protective atmosphere within the heating portion and the exit portion and means applying pressure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

3. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an elongated housing, having a heating portion and an exit portion, a conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a first strip therethrough, a second conveyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, a third conveyor means spaced from and on the opposite side of said central conveyor from the second conveyor adapted to carry a third strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion, bending rolls in the exit portion between the first strip and each of the second and third strips adapted to guide said second and third strips into contact with the first strip on opposite sides thereof and means applying pressure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

4. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an eiongated housing, having a heating portion and an exit portion, a conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a strip therethrough, a second conveyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion, said heating means including a plurality of recirculating heating cells adapted to direct a heated gas over a heat source onto the surfaces to be heated and return the gas to the heat source for reheating, bending rolls acting on at least one of the two strips adapted to guide them into contact with one another in the exit portion and means applying pressure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

5. A furnace as claimed in claim '4 wherein the gas is a gas selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, nitrogen and the inert gases.

6. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an elongated housing, having a heating portion and an exit portion, roll conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a first strip therethrough, a second conveyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion, a bending roll on the path of travel of the second strip adapted to bend the second strip toward the first strip, a second bending roll adjacent the path of the first strip adapted to bend the second strip into contact with said first strip in the exit portion and pinch roll means applying pressure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

7. A furnace for heating and combining a plurality of strips to be formed into a single member comprising an elongated housing, having a heating portion and an exit portion, a conveyor means extending lengthwise of the housing intermediate the top and bottom thereof and adapted to convey a strip therethrough, a second coneyor means spaced from and on one side of said central conveyor adapted to carry a second strip therethrough, heating means acting on the adjacent sides of said strips in the heating portion to heat said strips to different selected temperatures, bending rolls acting on at least one of the two strips adapted to guide them into contact with one another in the exit portion and means applying pressure on said pieces in the exit portion to bond them and feed them out of said furnace as a single strand.

8. A furnace as claimed in claim 7 wherein the heating means includes movable battles restricting the flow of heat to selected surfaces.

9. A furnace as claimed in claim '7 wherein the heating means acts on the plurality of strips in both the heating and exit portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 11,927 8/01 Allis 2 2,133,051 10/38 Bollinger 802 2,205,182 6/40 Whitten 80-2 2,349,569 5/44 \Vilson 2l9-l0.61 2,499,191 2/50 Jones 2633 2,691,208 10/54 Brennan 78-82 2,797,074 6/57 Flynn 2633 2,921,778 1/60 Ruff 263-3 WILLIAM J. STEPHENSON, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Examiner.

Claims

1. A FRAME FOR HEATING AND COMBINING A PLURALITY OF STRIPS TO BE FORMED INTO A SINGLE MEMBER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HOUSING, HAVING A HEATING PORTION AND AN EXIT PORTION, A CONVEYOR MEANS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF THE HOUSING INTERMEDIATE THE TOP AND BOTTOM THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO CONVEY A STRIP THERETHROUGH, A SECOND CONVEYOR MEANS SPACED FROM AND ON ONE SIDE OF SAID CENTRAL CONVEYOR ADAPTED TO CARRY A SECOND STRIP THERETHROUGH, HEATING MEANS ACTING ON THE ADJACENT SIDES OF SAID STRIPS IN THE HEATING PORTION, BENDING ROLLS ACTING ON AT LEAST ONE THE TWO STRIPS ADAPTED TO GUIDE THEM INTO CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THE EXIT PORTION AND MEANS APPLYING PRESSURE ON SAID PIECES IN THE EXIT PORTION TO BOND THEM AND FEED THEM OUT OF SAID FURNACE AS A SINGLE STRAND.