Installation for the fusion of metal ingots

In an installation for the fusion of metal ingots including an electric furnace, a float which detects variations of the level of the bath of molten metal in the furnace, and a mechanism, activated by the float, for controlling the progressive lowering of a metal ingot into the bath, wherein the installation includes a rail on which can be suspended several metal ingots one behind the other, said rail being inclined towards the surface of the bath so that its lower end is above the surface of the bath and so that the ingots slide along the rail under their own weight towards said lower end, a means of retention for the ingots at the lower end of the rail which can deliver, when it is activated, the first of the ingots adjacent to the lower end of the rail, a means of anchoring for the ingots delivered by the means of retention which can be displaced between a high position where it is situated in a position adjacent to the lower end of the rail and a low position in which it is situated above and near the surface of the bath, said means of anchoring being commanded to move from its high position to its low position by the mechanism which is activated by the float, said means of retention has two finger bars in one piece with a supporting axle which is capable of movement perpendicular to the rail, said finger bars being parallel to their supporting axle and being displaced in relation to each other along a longitudinal direction in relation to the rail, the free ends of said finger bars facing each other.