US647614A - Electric furnace. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Apr. I7, |900.

M. BUTHENBURG.

ELECTRIC FUBNACE.

(Applicatinn led Nov. 22, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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WITNESSES:

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NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARCUS RUTHENBURG, OF PHILADELPHA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC FU RNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 647,614, dated April 17, 1900. Application filed November 22, 1899. Serial No. 737,853. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, MARCUS RUTHENBURG, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Furnaces, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to an electric furnace peculiarly adapted to be used in smelting and relinin g ores. As ordinarily constructed such furnaces are arranged to be operated intermittently, the material to be treated being alternately charged and discharged with respect to a hearth.

. Itis the object of my invention to provide a furnace of such construction and arrangement as to permit of the continuous operation thereof, and thus increase the output by avoiding the delays incident to the operation of charging and discharging aforesaid.

My invention consists in a furnace comprising terminals of an electric circuit opposed within a casing or bosh which is open at both .top and bottom and through which the material to be treated may be continuously fed, said furnace being provided beneath said bosh with a crucible to receive the smelted material, said crucible comprising an outlet from which the smelted material may be continuously overflowed and discharged.

My invention also comprehends certain details of construction hereinafter more definitely specified and claimed,

In the accompanying drawings, wherein have shown a convenient embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a central longitudinal sectional View, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewA Fig. '3 is a perspective view of the bosh.

In said figures, A is the casing or bosh, which is open at both top and bottom, as shown, and is preferably in the form of an inverted quadrilateral pyramid conveniently formed of slabs of refractory material. Said bosh is formed of the peculiarshape indicated in order that the material may be retarded in passing therethrough and in a measure supported by the inclined side walls thereof until liquefied. The opposed walls a a of said bosh are perforated to receive the proximal ends of the electrodes B B', which are mounted to slide within tubular bearings C C', provided with means, such as the screws D D', to facilitate theirlongitudinal adjustment. Said bearings C C are surrounded by jackets E E in such relation therewith as to permit the flow of water or any other convenient cooling medium therebetween, the circulation of said cooling medium being conveniently effected by means of inlets c e and outlets e2 e3. Said bearings and the jackets surrounding them are respectively insulated and mounted upon standards F F in rigid relation in connection with the current-conductors f f. Beneath said bosh A is a crucible G, preferably of hemispherical form, as shown. Said Crucible is provided with an outlet g at its top, be-f neatli said bosh, arranged to overhang the wheeled receptacle or carrier H, so that the material overiiowed through said dischargeoutlet is deposited Within said receptacle and may be conveniently removed.

The operation of the device is as follows: The material to be treated is continuously fed within the bosh A by any convenient means, and said material lodges within said bosh, upon the inclined sides thereof,until liquefied by the current passing between the electrodes B BC The liquefied material gravitates into the Crucible G and rising therein to the level of the outlet gis discharged through the lat` ter. The molten liquidwithin said crucible G forms an additional check to the passage of the unsmelted material through said bosh, and the furnace is to a certain extent selfregulated, in that the material is retained Within the bosh until smelted and is discharged therefrom as rapidly as it is liquelied, the rate of flow being of course determined by the nature of the material and the proportions of the current employed. Vllen the terminals B B are composed of carbon, I find that advantageous results are secured when the current passing therethrough equals one thousand amperes per square inch of the cross-section thereof.

In view of the state of the art it is to be un derstood that I do not desire to broadly claim IOO tric furnace the elements hereinbefore de- 2. In an electric furnace, the combination with opposed terminals ol an electric circuit, of a bosh of quadrilateral form, laterally1 inclosing said terminals and open at the top and bottom thereof, a Crucible directly be neath said bosh, andan overflow-outlet at the top of said Crucible, substantially as .set forth.

IIIARCIIS RUTI'IENBURG.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR E. Pillen, E. L. FULLERTON.

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