Melting furnace system

A melting furnace system comprising:

• a conveyor for moving a stack of ingots toward an ingot melting station, the conveyor includes a platform and a pair of spaced ribs extending from the platform for engaging the stack of ingots, the conveyor configured to automatically transfer the stack of ingots toward a bucket located at a downstream end of the conveyor,
• the bucket is intertwined with the conveyor and is sized to receive the stack of ingots, the pair of spaced, parallel ribs of the conveyor initially positions the stack of ingots above a bottom wall of the bucket;
• and
• at least one sensing device associated with the bucket and adapted to detect whether the bucket is in position for receipt of the stack of ingots from the conveyor.

A method for automatically transferring a stack of ingots to an ingot melting station of a melting furnace system, comprising:

• positioning the stack of ingots on at least one rib extending from a movable platform of a conveyor;
• locating a bucket at a downstream end of the conveyor, the bucket is sized to receive the stack of ingots;
• intertwining the bucket and the conveyor by providing a bottom wall of the bucket with at least one elongated channel and positioning the at least one rib of the conveyor within the at least one channel;
• positioning an inner surface of the bottom wall below an engaging surface of the at least one rib of the conveyor thereby allowing the stack of ingots to be automatically delivered into the bucket without directly engaging the inner surface of the bottom wall;
• and
• raising the bucket together with the stack of ingots toward the ingot melting station.