Abstract: A process and apparatus for extruding aluminum into products, wherein aluminum logs are first heated to a predetermined temperature in a furnace, then are cut into billets of predetermined lengths, and then the billets, while still hot, are extruded into predetermined products in an extruder. In the process, the logs are cut into billets with a cross cut circular saw immediately after the logs are heated and before the logs are permitted to cool to a temperature below a suitable extruding temperature. The circular saw is cooled and lubricated during the cutting to as to restrain the saw from sticking in the heated aluminum and so as to maintain the temperature of the log at the cut within a predetermined range wherein the aluminum is relatively easy to cut and waste is minimized.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for extruding aluminum into products, wherein aluminum logs are first heated to a predetermined temperature in a furnace, then are cut into billets of predetermined lengths, and then the billets, while still hot, are extruded into predetermined products in an extruder. In the process, the logs are cut into billets with a cross cut circular saw immediately after the logs are heated and before the logs are permitted to cool to a temperature below a suitable extruding temperature. The circular saw is cooled and lubricated during the cutting to as to restrain the saw from sticking in the heated aluminum and so as to maintain the temperature of the log at the cut within a predetermined range wherein the aluminum is relatively easy to cut and waste is minimized.

Abstract: A spray booth ventilation system is adapted for receiving long, slender workpieces suspended from an overhead monorail conveyor. The pieces are carried into and out of this booth, where the paint is applied by conventional equipment. The gases within the booth, which are a mixture of fresh air and evaporated paint solvents, is partially recirculated and re-injected into the booth at discharge orifices defining the edges of the entrance of the booth. Arrangements are provided for equalizing the flow throughout the booth in a vertical direction to avoid points of stagnation which might cause fumes from the booth to emerge from the opening, so that the velocities of the inflow can be minimized to eliminate the danger of collision of the parts as they swing in response to the gas flow, and thus cause damage to the painted surfaces.

Abstract: Metal billets are cut from heated logs emerging from a furnace by a shearing system controlled by information detected as the logs emerge from the furnace. Detection in this position eliminates the variations inherently present in the length of the logs resulting from temperature gradients within the furnace, and from a length of time the logs are subject to these gradients. The advancing end of an isolated log is sensed by an electric eye, and the interface between one log and the following log is detected by an eddy current device. The data from these sensing devices is supplied to a computer, which controls the shearing operation so that billets can be cut with a minimum of waste. The billets can be of two segments, and the equipment establishes cutting operations that produce the combined billet length, regardless of the position of the interface between the logs.

Abstract: A thermocouple probe assembly for a billet furnace is provided with replaceable contact tips joined to the shanks of the probe rods within a surrounding insulator to inhibit oxidation of the junctions. Two pairs of probes are used, each pair being associated with an independent control circuit as a safety backup system. The assembly is preferably mounted on a bracket that is extendable on an angle forty-five degrees to the horizontal to provide correct probe positioning for various sizes of billets, and has a heat shield correspondingly adjustable along the probe assembly to accommodate various degrees of penetration of the probe assembly into the furnace.