Infrared furnace with atmosphere control capability

An infrared furnace comprising:

• an elongated rectangularly shaped heating chamber having its interior top, bottom, side, and end walls formed of sheets of insulation;
• a sheet metal housing enclosing the insulating walls of said heating chamber;
• a conveyor belt passing into and out of the heating chamber through openings provided in the end walls thereof;
• a first series of infrared heating elements in said heating chamber transversely disposed above said conveyor belt with their terminal ends extended through the side walls thereof;
• a second series of infrared heating elements in said heating chamber transversely disposed below said conveyor belt with their terminal ends extending through the side walls thereof;
• and
• elongated quartz rods extending lengthwise through said heating chamber on which said conveyor belt rides.

An infrared furnace comprising:

• a housing having insulated walls defining an elongated tunnel disposed on a longitudinal axis between an entrance and an exit;
• a conveyor continuously moving through the tunnel along the longitudinal axis between the entrance and the exit;
• a plurality of parallel spaced apart rods;
• means for holding the rods to extend through the tunnel parallel to its longitudinal axis directly under the conveyor to support the conveyor such that the rods are free to rotate;
• and
• means in the tunnel for radiating infrared energy onto the conveyor.

An infrared furnace comprising:

• a housing having walls defining an elongated tunnel disposed between an entrance and an exit, the walls each comprising a porous insulative inner panel opening into the tunnel and a non-porous outer panel;
• a conveyor moving through the tunnel between the entrance and the exit;
• means for supplying gas under pressure between the inner and outer panels to induce flow through the inner panel to the tunnel;
• and
• means in the tunnel for radiating infrared energy onto the conveyor.

An infrared furnace comprising:

• an elongated rectangularly shaped heating chamber having its interior top, bottom, side, and end walls formed of sheets of insulation in the form of compressed, white alumina fiber;
• a sheet metal housing enclosing the insulating walls of said heating chamber;
• a conveyor belt passing into and out of the heating chamber through openings provided in the end walls thereof;
• a first series of infrared heating elements in said heating chamber transversely disposed above said conveyor belt with their terminal ends extended through the walls thereof;
• and
• a second series of infrared heating elements in said heating chamber transversely disposed below said conveyor belt with their terminal ends extending through the side walls thereof.