Electric smelting furnace and associated charging equipment and bins

Claim 1

In an electric smelting furnace arrangement of the type having an electric smelting furnace including a furnace vessel, bins, charging equipment means operable for transporting a charge into the bins, conveying means and metering means for removing the charge from the bins, charging tubes for feeding the charge into the furnace vessel, an elongated furnace bay, an elongated ladle bay longitudinally extending adjacent to the furnace bay and crane runways, one of said crane runways being longitudinally extended over a respective one of each of the furnace bay and ladle bay, the improvement wherein the electric smelting furnace is provided in the furnace bay at a side close to the ladle bay adjacent to the furnace bay, the bins comprising first bins for iron stock and second bins for fluxing material and alloying means, and first outlet means connected to said first bins, second outlet means connected to said second bins, conveyors and metering devices located underneath said first and second outlet means, wherein said first and second bins, said first and second outlet means, said conveyors and said metering devices are sequentially mounted in the longitudinal direction of said furnace and ladle bays in a vertical zone between said crane runways of the furnace bay and the adjacent ladle bay, and a reversible conveyor extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of said furnace and ladle bays at lower level beneath said bins, said outlet means, said first-mentioned conveyors and said metering devices, discharge means at both ends of said reversible conveyor, and charging tubes for receiving discharge from said discharge means.