Loading system for an annealing furnace charge and components therefor

Claim 1

A loading system for the charge of an annealing furnace of the kind employed for the treatment within a cylindrical inner muffle cover of a plurality of hollow-cored coils of metal products stacked in the muffle cover one on top of the other with the hollow cores thereof registered vertically with one another, and their outer cylindrical surfaces spaced from the inner cylindrical surface of the muffle cover to form an anular space between said cylindrical surfaces, the structure comprising: a lowermost diffuser member adapted for support of the furnace charge, comprising a circular back plate member having at its centre an aperture for the reception of a gas impeller adapted to receive gas flowing axially from the registered hollow cores of the coils and discharge it radially through the diffuser member, the back plate having thereon a plurality of upstanding circumferentially spaced diffuser elements providing between themselves a corresponding plurality of radially-outwardly-extending gas flow passages from its centre to its periphery, the said passages conveying the impelled gas therethrough and discharging it radially and circumferentially into the annular space between the furnace muffle inner wall and the stacked furnace charge to move helically upward therein; a lower load convector member for mounting on the diffuser member comprising a circular back plate member having thereon a plurality of upstanding, circumferentially-spaced plate members, said plate members receiving the lower end of the lowest coil, and providing between themselves a corresponding plurality of radially extending gas passages conveying impelled gas radially inward from said annular space to the impeller in heat exchange contact with the said coil lower end; at least one intermediate convector plate member for mounting on the upper end of a coil and for receiving the lower end of a superimposed coil, comprising a plurality of connected circumferentially-spaced wedge-shaped members forming between themselves respective radially-extending gas passages conveying impelled gas radially inward from said annular space to the coil cores in heat exchange contact with the respective upper and lower coil ends; an upper load convection member for mounting on the upper end of the uppermost coil, comprising a circular back plate member having thereon a plurality of downwardly-extending circumferentially-spaced diffuser elements providing between themselves a corresponding plurality of radially-extending gas passages conveying impelled gas radially inward from said annular space to the core of the uppermost coil in heat exchange contact with the upper end of the uppermost coil; and a flow plug member interposed in the path of the gas flowing from the said annular space into the uppermost coil core through the coil upper end, the flow plug member being mounted on the upper end of the uppermost coil so as to protrude downwards into the coil core and providing an opening to the uppermost coil core within the core restricting the flow of gas into the said uppermost coil core and facilitating the flow of gas through the vertically registered cores to follow a helical path in contact with the innermost turns of the coils.