Arrangement for charging a furnace in a gastight and dust-tight manner

Abstract

A furnace has a filling inlet normally closed by a removable cover. An arrangement is disclosed which opens the filling inlet, then fills the interior of the furnace, and then recloses the inlet all in gas-tight and dust-tight manner in order to prevent the free escape of dust and gases to the ambient atmosphere when the cover is removed from the filling inlet. The arrangement includes a housing surrounding the filling inlet and having a discharging port and a first opening separate from the discharging port, and a filling arrangement which is operative for conveying a charge from the discharging port through the interior of the housing and into the filling inlet when the latter is opened. A cover-extracting arrangement is operative for removing and subsequently repositioning the cover. The cover-extracting arrangement includes a hood which has a second opening and which is movable relative to the housing to and from a position in which both of said openings are juxtaposed in sealing relationship so that the interior of the hood can communicate with the interior of the housing. The cover-extracting arrangement also includes an electromagnet which is movable from the interior of the hood through the juxtaposed openings to the interior of the housing at a location adjacent the cover for engaging the latter. The electromagnet is operative for opening and subsequently reclosing the filling inlet. Thus, in accordance with the invention, any dust and gas escaping from the filling inlet towards the ambient atmosphere when the cover is removed from the filling inlet are confined within the respective interiors of the housing and the hood. Advantageously, the arrangement is used in conjunction with a battery of furnaces having respective filling inlets arranged in a row, and the cover-extracting arrangement, as a whole, is movable into sealing engagement with successive ones of the filling inlets for filling successive ones of the furnaces.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.