Induction heating furnace and bottom tapping mechanism thereof

An induction heating furnace comprising:

• an accommodating vessel for accommodating a material to be melted, the accommodating vessel having a bottom, a tapping portion formed at the bottom, and a side wall formed by a plurality of longitudinally split, conductive segments arrayed circumferentially and insulated from each other;
• a coil arranged at an outer periphery of said tapping portion and said side wall, for subjecting the material in said accommodating vessel to induction heating;
• a power source for supplying power to said coil;
• and
• a power source controller for controlling an amount of power produced by said power source such that said tapping portion may be selectively switched between open and closed states by melting and solidification of the material at the tapping portion,
• wherein said coil is separated into a first coil potion arranged at an outer periphery of said side wall and a second coil portion arranged at an outer periphery of said tapping portion;
• said power source comprises a first power source supplying power to said first coil portion and a second power source supplying power to said second coil portion;
• said second power source comprises a melt-use power source portion producing a first frequency AC power of such a value that the material at the tapping portion is melted, and a solidification-use power source portion producing a second frequency AC power of such a value that the melted material is allowed to solidify;
• said power source controller causes the melt-use power source portion to function when the tapping portion is to be opened, and causes the solidification-use power source portion to function when the tapping portion is to be closed.