Patents Examined by Michael Aboagye
  • Patent number: 11512899
    Abstract: Disclosed is a blast furnace apparatus includes: a rotating chute; a plurality of tuyeres; a profile measurement device configured to measure surface profiles of a burden charged into the blast furnace through the rotating chute; and a blowing amount controller configured to control a blowing amount of at least one of hot blast or pulverized coal in each of the plurality of tuyeres, in which the profile measurement device includes: a radio wave distance meter installed on the blast furnace top and configured to measure the distance to the surface of the burden charged; and an arithmetic unit configured to derive the surface profiles of the burden on a basis of distance data for the entire blast furnace related to distances to the surface of the burden obtained by scanning a detection wave of the radio wave distance meter in the blast furnace in a circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusuke Kashihara, Yuki Okamoto, Natsuo Ishiwata
  • Patent number: 11508519
    Abstract: Disclosed are a continuous heat treatment device and method for a sintered Nd—Fe—B magnet workpiece. The device comprises a first heat treatment chamber, a first cooling chamber, a second heat treatment chamber, and a second cooling chamber continuously disposed in sequence, as well as a transfer system disposed among the chambers to transfer the alloy workpiece or the metal workpiece; both the first cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber adopt a air cooling system, wherein a cooling air temperature of the first cooling chamber is 25° C. or above and differs from a heat treatment temperature of the first heat treatment chamber by at least 450° C.; a cooling air temperature of the second cooling chamber is 25° C. or above and differs from a heat treatment temperature of the second heat treatment chamber by at least 300° C. The continuous heat treatment device and method can improve the cooling rate and production efficiency and improve the properties and consistency of the products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Fujian Changting Golden Dragon Rare-Earth Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Qingjiang Wang, Ying Luo, Jianpeng Wu
  • Patent number: 11505840
    Abstract: A cooling plate for a metallurgical furnace including a body with a front face and an opposite rear face, the body having at least one cooling channel therein having an opening in the rear face and a coolant feed pipe is connected to the rear face of the cooling panel and is in fluid communication with the cooling channel, where in use, the front face is turned towards a furnace interior, and at least one emergency cooling tube is arranged within the cooling channel, the emergency cooling tube having a cross-section smaller than a cross-section of the cooling channel, the emergency cooling tube has an end section with connection means for connecting an emergency feed pipe thereto, and in an emergency operation, the emergency cooling tube is physically connected to an emergency feed pipe via the connection means; while, in a normal operation, the connection means of the emergency cooling tube is physically disconnected from the emergency feed pipe. The invention also concerns the use of such a cooling plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: PAUL WURTH S.A.
    Inventor: Nicolas Maggioli
  • Patent number: 11499202
    Abstract: A cooling method for a workpiece includes placing entirety of the workpiece in an inner space of a recess provided on a molding surface of a lower mold, pressing or restraining the workpiece by a mold including the lower mold and an upper mold in which a protrusion corresponding to the recess of the lower mold is provided on a molding surface, supplying a liquid coolant to the inner space of the recess through a coolant supply passage provided in at least one of the lower mold and the upper mold by a pump, and discharging air in the inner space of the recess upward through an air escape passage, and cooling the workpiece by immersing the entirety of the workpiece, which has been heated, in the liquid coolant that fills the recess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: AISIN FUKUI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Seki, Nobuyuki Naito, Yoichi Jinza, Hiroshi Fukuchi, Kazuo Hikida, Ken Takata, Naruhiko Nomura
  • Patent number: 11473842
    Abstract: A melting work device and a melting work method by which work can be easily performed on a melting furnace without a worker approaching the melting furnace. A melting work device performs work on a melt obtained by melting a material in a melting furnace. The melting work device has a drive mechanism; and a plurality of work tools that are operated by the drive mechanism; wherein the drive mechanism is able to move the work tools in an arbitrary direction at an arbitrary location above the melting furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: SINTOKOGIO, LTD.
    Inventors: Kenji Tamaki, Takahiro Yano, Masayuki Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 11473841
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electric furnace including: a cylindrical furnace wall; a furnace cover that is provided at an upper end of the furnace wall; and a furnace bottom that is provided at a lower end of the furnace wall and includes a deep bottom portion and a shallow bottom portion as a region having a height of 150 mm to 500 mm from a deepest point of the deep bottom portion, in which a slag pouring port into which molten slag or a solidified slag lump is capable of being poured from a slag transport container directly or through a tilting trough is provided, the slag pouring port overlaps the shallow bottom portion in a plan view, and the area ratio of the shallow bottom portion to the furnace bottom in a plan view is 5% to 40%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Toshiya Harada
  • Patent number: 11466332
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for injecting particulate material into a liquid metal bath wherein the liquid metal bath contains species to be oxidized, wherein the particulate material is carried to the liquid bath by means of a first gas stream. The solids injection rate is controlled such that the liquid bath temperature and/or the evolution of the liquid bath temperature is maintained within a pre-defined temperature range and the penetration depth of the first gas stream into the liquid bath is controlled by adjusting the flow of the first gas stream. At least one second gas stream is injected into the liquid, wherein the first and the second gas streams are an oxidizing gas, in particular oxygen, and the sum of the gas flows of the first and the second gas streams is determined based on the mass of the species to be oxidized and on the desired time for oxidizing the mass of the species.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Linde GmbH
    Inventor: Andrew Cameron
  • Patent number: 11454445
    Abstract: The present invention relates to delivering sand to a metal melting furnace to fill a tap hole. The swiveling sander moves into position through a horizontal arcing movement. The Swiveling Sanding Systems comprises a swiveling sander with slag plunger. The Swiveling Sander swivels from a home position into a sanding position in order to add sand to a metal melting furnace at the same time as the slag plunger moves out of the way. After delivering sand, the swiveling sander swivels back to home position while the slag plunger also moves back to home position followed by the plunger clearing any slag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: Celebre 2000 Inc.
    Inventors: Claudio Celebre, Harpreet Singh
  • Patent number: 11448227
    Abstract: A tool for simultaneous local stress relief of each of a multiple of linear friction welds includes a columnar track defined along an axis, the columnar track having a helical slot; and a support structure engaged with the helical slot to translate and rotate a heat treat fixture portion along the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel A. Bales, Andrew L. Haynes, Luke H. Rettberg
  • Patent number: 11428468
    Abstract: A rotary hearth furnace includes: a furnace body which surrounds a ring-like space; a hearth portion which forms a bottom portion of the ring-like space and is rotatable in the rotational direction; a gas exhaust portion which discharges an exhaust gas generated in the ring-like space to the outside of the furnace body; an introducing portion; and a flow rate regulating portion. The introducing portion is disposed upstream of the gas exhaust portion in the rotational direction and introduces a pressure regulating gas into a non-heating section of the ring-like space. The flow rate regulating portion is disposed between the introducing portion and the gas exhaust portion and regulates a flow rate of a gas by adjusting an opening area of the non-heating section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoki Uemura, Sumito Hashimoto, Koji Tokuda
  • Patent number: 11421289
    Abstract: A method for the production of cast iron starting from pre-reduced iron ore (DRI) with an electric arc furnace includes the steps of preparing a charge of pre-reduced iron ore DRI having a metallization higher than 90% and containing over 2.8% by weight of carbon, wherein at least 80% of the carbon is combined with the iron to form iron carbide Fe3C; charging the charge of pre-reduced iron ore into the electric arc furnace; and melting the DRI charge to form liquid cast iron having at least 80% by weight of actual carbon content deriving from the carbon in the charge of pre-reduced iron ore, the melting step being in a reducing atmosphere and in a melting chamber of the electric arc furnace subjected to a positive internal pressure generated by the gases produced by reduction reactions that develop during melting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Inventors: Francesco Memoli, Cesare Giavani, Silvio Maria Reali, Kyle James Shoop
  • Patent number: 11415368
    Abstract: A melting and holding furnace includes a main body and a material input mechanism supplying a molten metal to the body which includes a melting chamber; a molten metal receiving chamber; a pumping-out chamber; and a molten metal heating mechanism. The input mechanism includes a molten-metal surface level sensor to detect that the surface height position of the metal in the pumping-out chamber has reached a lower limit that is set to be above the lower surface height position of a lid of the melting chamber, and is set to supply the receiving chamber with the metal and/or the metal block when the sensor detects that the surface height position of the metal in the pumping-out chamber has reached the lower limit so that the surface height position of the metal in the pumping-out chamber is always kept above the lower surface height position of the lid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: TOUNETSU CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kiyata Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 11414723
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for manufacturing a pipe bend is disclosed, comprising: heating, with an induction coil, a first annular band of a wall of a first end portion of a moving pipe; directing quenching fluid toward an outer and inner surface of the first annular band; heating a second annular band of a wall of a bend portion of the moving pipe; directing the quenching fluid toward an outer and inner surface of the second annular band; decreasing a speed of the pipe while moving the induction coil from stationary and maintaining a relative speed between the pipe and the induction coil substantially constant; heating a third annular band of a wall of a second end portion of the pipe while moving the induction coil; and directing the quenching fluid toward an outer surface and an inner surface of the third annular band while moving the induction coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Welspun Corp Limited
    Inventors: Balkrishan Goenka, Prasanta Mukherjee, Shashidhar Dwivedi, Hardik Shah, Suresh Dungrani
  • Patent number: 11407020
    Abstract: A method for molding a sheet into a motor-vehicle component includes heating the sheet by a kiln, prior to forming the component. The kiln has a main body with a roller shape, having a plurality of sectors extending along a radial direction with respect to a longitudinal axis of the roller body. The sectors are configured to each receive a sheet, so that the main body with a roller shape is arranged to simultaneously carry a plurality of sheets. The kiln includes a plurality of heating elements in said main body with a roller shape and configured to heat only the first portion of the roller body, so that the roller shaped main body is designed to heat the sheets in a differentiated way, particularly at their areas in contact with said first portion of the roller body. The kiln includes at least one electronically-controlled drive motor, arranged to rotate the roller-shaped main body around the longitudinal axis of the kiln, so as to vary the position of the sectors with respect to the inlet and outlet ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: C.R.F. Società Consortile per Azioni
    Inventors: Daniele Bassan, Marco Colosseo
  • Patent number: 11401575
    Abstract: A sealing device is installed in heating treatment equipment through which a steel strip passes, the device including a rotary damper which is placed above the steel strip so as to be in contact with the steel strip, and a roll which is placed below the steel strip so that the roll opposes the rotary damper to form a pair consisting of the rotary damper and the roll opposing each other, the steel strip passing through a gap, which is formed between the rotary damper and the roll opposing each other, in which two pairs each of which is the pair consisting of the rotary damper and the roll opposing each other are arranged in tandem in a moving direction of the steel strip in the heating treatment equipment, and an inert gas is fed into a space defined by the two pairs arranged in tandem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Doi, Shoji Kasai, Teruhiko Tobe, Takumi Koyama
  • Patent number: 11401576
    Abstract: A continuous induction heat treating apparatus is provided including a conveyor path defining an axis for a workpiece to be conveyed through the apparatus. The apparatus includes an induction heating station positioned along the conveyor path and operable to induce heating in the workpiece as the workpiece is conveyed through the induction heating station. A quenching station is positioned in a downstream direction from the induction heating station. The quenching station is coupled to a water supply and includes a plurality of sprayers in fluid communication with the water supply and operable to spray water toward the axis for quenching the workpiece as the workpiece is conveyed through the quenching station. The apparatus further includes a quench adjustment mechanism including an actuator coupled to at least a first one of the plurality of sprayers for re-positioning a point of intersection defined between the first sprayer and the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: METALSA S.A. DE C.V.
    Inventors: Rene Javier Hinojosa Garza, Laura Isabel Garcia Villareal, Felipe Arturo Martinez Carrasco, Javier Tenorio Cervantes
  • Patent number: 11401577
    Abstract: A manufacturing process of a press hardened coated part including providing a furnace containing N zones, each furnace zone being respectively heated at a setting temperature ?1F, ?2F, . . . ?iF, . . . , ?NF, including: providing a steel sheet with thickness th between 0.5 and 5 mm, the steel sheet covered by an aluminium alloy precoating with a thickness between 15 and 50 ?m, the emissivity coefficient being equal to 0.15(1+?), ? being between 0 and 2.4, then cutting the steel sheet to obtain a precoated steel blank, then placing the precoated steel blank in furnace zone 1 for a duration t1 between 5 and 600 s, wherein ?1F and t1 are such that: ?1Fmax>?1F>?1Fmin then transferring the precoated steel blank in the furnace zone 2 heated at a setting temperature ?2F=?1B and maintaining isothermally the precoated steel blank for a duration t2, then transferring the precoated steel blank in further zones (3, . . . i, . . . , N) of the furnace, so to reach a maximum blank temperature ?MB between 850° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: ArcelorMittal
    Inventor: Alexandre Blaise
  • Patent number: 11390927
    Abstract: A melting furnace for metallurgical plant comprising a vessel provided with a bottom; a tapping duct passing through the bottom; rotation means to rotate the vessel so that the tapping duct passes from a first reference position to a second position inclined with respect to said first reference position, and vice versa; wherein said tapping duct has a first stretch arranged in the thickness of the bottom and completely passing through the bottom, and a second stretch, adjacent to the first stretch, protruding inside the vessel; wherein there is provided a cover of the second stretch shaped as a tube closed at an upper end thereof and open at a lower end thereof; said tube being coaxial and spaced from said second stretch, and being spaced from a zone of the bottom which includes the first stretch of the tapping duct, whereby the cover, in cooperation with the second stretch of the tapping duct, acts as a tapping hood.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: DANIELI & C. OFFICINE MECCANICHE S.p.A.
    Inventors: Stefano Terlicher, Mattia D'odorico, Michael Sansa
  • Patent number: 11384985
    Abstract: A furnace stave comprising a plurality of internal channels or conduits for circulating cooling fluid through the stave; an inlet and an outlet channel associated with each internal channel or conduit; wherein one of the internal channels or conduits is disposed in a protrusion from the stave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Berry Metal Company
    Inventors: Brayton Carner, Jacob White
  • Patent number: 11377701
    Abstract: A shaft furnace, in particular a blast furnace, includes a metal jacket defining the furnace outer wall and a protective layer protecting the inner surface of the outer wall. At least one condition monitoring probe is arranged inside within the protective layer to monitor the latter. The condition monitoring probe is connected to a wireless module arranged outside the outer wall to transmit condition monitoring data. The wireless module is located inside a casing mounted to the outer surface of the metal jacket. The condition monitoring probe includes one or more conductive loops positioned at predetermined depths below the front face of the cooling plate body, or of the refractory lining, so that wear of the body, resp. refractory, can be detected by a change of an electrical characteristic of the loop(s) due to abrasion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: PAUL WURTH S.A.
    Inventors: Christian De Gruiter, Yves Heinen, Nicolas Maggioli, Paul Tockert