Patents Examined by Scott Kastler
  • Patent number: 9618266
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to a ladle metallurgy furnace having an improved roof structure. The improved roof may comprise an internal surface structure having a substantially smooth exterior surface, an external surface structure spaced apart from the internal surface structure, a plurality of channels that are defined intermediate the internal and external surface structures, a supply port in fluid communication with at least one channel through the second surface structure and in further fluid communication with a supply line, and a return port in fluid communication with at least one channel through the external surface structure and in further fluid communication with a return line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Superior Machine Co. of South Carolina, Inc.
    Inventor: Kenneth L. Carraway
  • Patent number: 9617610
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process of melting ferrous metal using a gaseous fuel, a liquid fuel or a pulverized solid fuel in a cokeless horizontal reverberatory furnace (FIG. 1) consisting of a hearth (1), an sloped melting chamber (2) a vertical refractory grid (4), a burner (3), a recuperator or regenerator (5) to transfer heat from waste gas and products of combustion to fresh oxygen bearing gases, whereas a burner system is installed on the hearth for combustion of the fuel and oxygen bearing gas, the hearth under the burner acts as a superheater to achieve the temperature necessary for alloying and to receive the molten metal cascading from the sloped melting chamber, the sloped melting chamber being fed from one end by the rising gas products of combustion and in which the waste gases are subject to post-combustion of carbon monoxide and volatiles before passing through a recuperator or a regenerator to pre-heat the oxygen bearing gases necessary for combustion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Inventor: Baha Elsayed Abulnaga
  • Patent number: 9618265
    Abstract: A method of tapping a steelmaking furnace comprised of determining a desired level of steel to be attained in a ladle, and calculating the weight of molten steel that will be present when the desired level is attained following a transfer of molten steel from the furnace to the ladle. The furnace is operated such that slag is formed on top of molten steel contained therein. The furnace is moved to a first position to cause transfer of molten steel to the ladle to begin. The transfer of molten steel from the furnace to the ladle is continued, and at the first occurrence of molten steel attaining the desired level in the ladle, molten steel attaining a maximum allowable weight in the ladle, or an excessive amount of slag being present upon the molten steel in the ladle, transfer of molten steel to the ladle is ceased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Nupro Corporation
    Inventors: Frank L. Kemeny, David I. Walker
  • Patent number: 9611519
    Abstract: The invention pertains to the heating of a metal strip, and relates to equipment for heating a metal strip that comprises a pre-heating housing provided with a device for projecting hot gases towards the strip, a heating housing with regenerative burners, a duct for discharging the gases from the heating housing, a three-way adjustable valve and an adjustment device including a sensor for detecting the setpoint temperature of the metal strip and a member for adjusting the three-way valve so that it can adjust the amount of hot gases fed to the projection device. The invention can be used in equipment for heating narrow strips before annealing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: GDF SUEZ
    Inventors: Philippe Buchet, Nicolas Richard, Pierre-Jacques Lhomme
  • Patent number: 9612055
    Abstract: A kit enables selective circulation and transfer of molten metal of a furnace. The kit includes a transfer block of refractory material adapted to be disposed downstream of a refractory pump wall of a pump well. The block includes a transfer passageway that extends from alignment with an opening in the pump wall toward an exterior vessel outside the furnace. A support structure can be adapted to be fixed over the furnace. Pulleys can be carried by the support structure. An actuator can be positioned outside of the furnace. A cable can be fastened at one end portion to the transfer block and at another end portion to the actuator and extends around the pulleys. When actuated in one stroke the actuator moves the cable so as to move the block upward out of alignment with the pump wall opening to cause molten metal circulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Inventor: Bruno Thut
  • Patent number: 9611521
    Abstract: Extracting gallium and/or arsenic from materials comprising gallium arsenide is generally disclosed. In some example embodiments, a material comprising gallium arsenide may be exposed to a first heating condition to form a first exhaust. The first exhaust may be directed to an arsenic collection bed including aluminum, which may form aluminum arsenide. The material including gallium arsenide may be exposed to a second heating condition and/or a vacuum may be applied, which may form a second exhaust. The second exhaust may be directed to a gallium collection bed including aluminum, which may form gallium alloys of aluminum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC
    Inventor: Michael R. Sievers
  • Patent number: 9605330
    Abstract: The vacuum heat treatment device includes: a guide plate used to guide a cooling medium supplied by a cooling unit, into a heat-insulating container through one of at least two openings of the heat-insulating container in a state where the two openings of the heat-insulating container are opened; and a movement mechanism used to move the guide plate so that at least part of the guide plate is inserted into a movement area of a cover portion in a state where the two openings of the heat-insulating container are opened and so that the guide plate is retracted from the movement area of the cover portion before the cover portion is moved in order to close the two openings of the heat-insulating container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignees: IHI CORPORATION, IHI MACHINERY AND FURNANCE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Katsumata, Noboru Kiya, Noriaki Nagai, Noboru Hiramoto
  • Patent number: 9605331
    Abstract: A batch annealing furnace includes a coil support base on which an end face of a coil is mounted and that supports the coil with an axis of the coil being upright, an inner cover that covers an entire body of the coil mounted on the coil support base, and a cooling pipe that extends downward from the upper part of the inner cover to a cavity of the inner peripheral part of the coil mounted on the coil support base and cools the coil from the inner surface side by passing a coolant through the inside of the cooling pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seiko Nara, Toshio Ishii, Shinji Koseki, Katsuhiro Takebayashi, Naoki Nakata, Hiroyuki Fukuda, Eitaro Shidara, Takashi Wada
  • Patent number: 9597726
    Abstract: A melt circulating drive device mounted on a side wall of a main bath and driven to agitate nonferrous metal melt present in a melt storage room storing nonferrous metal melt of the main bath. The melt circulating drive device includes a melt drive tank, a melt drive unit, and a partition plate. The melt drive tank includes a hermetically-sealed drive chamber including an opening allowing the drive chamber to communicate with the melt storage room, and the melt drive tank stores melt, which flows from the opening, in the drive chamber. The melt drive unit includes a permanent magnet unit rotated about a first up and down axis while making magnetic lines of force up and down pass through the melt, and a drive unit for the permanent magnet unit that rotates the melt, about the first up and down axis by rotationally driving the permanent magnet unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Inventor: Kenzo Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9598751
    Abstract: In a high strength cold-rolled steel plate having a specific chemical composition, a soft first phase (ferrite) has an area ratio of 20-50%, the remainder being a hard second phase (tempered martensite and/or tempered bainite), among all the ferrite grains, ferrite grains that have an average grain diameter of 10-25 ?m account for a total area ratio of 80% or more, the number of the cementite grains that have an equivalent circle diameter of 0.3 ?m or more is more than 0.15 piece and 1.0 piece or less per 1 ?m2 of ferrite, and the tensile strength is 980 MPa or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomokazu Masuda, Katsura Kajihara, Toshio Murakami, Masaaki Miura, Muneaki Ikeda
  • Patent number: 9599400
    Abstract: An apparatus to feed and pre-heat a metal charge to a melting furnace of a steelworks comprises a feeding and pre-heating tower separate from the melting furnace provided with at least one compartment to temporarily contain said metal charge, transfer means to transfer said metal charge to said melting furnace and conveying means to convey the fumes exiting from the melting furnace to said compartment. The apparatus also comprises a post-combustion chamber, disposed adjacent to and below said compartment, and connected on one side to said compartment and on another side to said conveying means, the post-combustion chamber being configured to determine the expansion of the fumes introduced by the conveying means and to direct said expanded fumes toward said compartment along a path such as to determine a desired residence time of said fumes suitable to obtain at least the substantial complete combustion of the unburned gases present in said fumes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: DANIELI & C. OFFICINE MECCANICHE SPA
    Inventor: Alfredo Poloni
  • Patent number: 9599399
    Abstract: A material supply apparatus and process for co-injecting heated solid metalliferous material and solid carbonaceous material via a solids injection lance into a direct smelting vessel are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: Technological Resources Pty Limited
    Inventor: Rodney James Dry
  • Patent number: 9593395
    Abstract: One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a metastable ? titanium alloy comprising, in weight percentages: up to 0.05 nitrogen; up to 0.10 carbon; up to 0.015 hydrogen; up to 0.10 iron; greater than 0.20 oxygen; 14.00 to 16.00 molybdenum; titanium; and incidental impurities. Articles of manufacture including the alloy also are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: ATI PROPERTIES LLC
    Inventors: Victor R. Jablokov, Howard L. Freese
  • Patent number: 9593393
    Abstract: A rail heat treatment device includes a cooling header, an oscillation mechanism, and a control system including: a storage unit that stores therein at least information required for a oscillation control; and a control unit that obtains a permissible range of required cooling time for a rail that satisfies a permissible range of hardness of the rail based on a correlation expression representing a correlation between the cooling time for the rail with the cooling header and the hardness of the rail after cooling, controls a stroke and a speed of relative reciprocation of the rail and the cooling header based on the permissible range of the required cooling time, and causes the oscillation mechanism to perform the relative reciprocation of the rail and the cooling header by the stroke and at the speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Yoshida, Hideki Takahashi, Rinya Kojo, Ryo Matsuoka, Yuzuru Kataoka, Tomoo Horita
  • Patent number: 9593884
    Abstract: The agitator includes a furnace body that includes a molten metal room, and an agitating unit that agitates molten metal stored in the furnace body. The agitating unit includes a molten-metal driving room-forming part that applies a driving force to the molten metal, and forms a driving room of which both ends are opened; a pair of electrodes that is disposed in the driving room and makes current flow in the driving room under the presence of the molten metal; and a magnetic field unit which is formed of a permanent magnet disposed outside the furnace body, of which one pole of an N pole and an S pole faces the furnace body so that magnetic lines of force generated from the one pole cross the current, and which generates an electromagnetic three for driving the molten metal from one end toward the other end in the driving room.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Inventor: Kenzo Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9592551
    Abstract: A trough for cooling and delivering molten metal to a casting station. The trough comprises a refractory portion for holding the molten metal and heat transfer means associated to external walls of the refractory portion for extracting heat from the molten metal. The heat transfer means may comprise a fluidized bed compartment for holding and fluidizing a fluidization material. Also, the heat transfer means may comprise a cooling jacket, an inner wall of the cooling jacket and the external walls of the refractory portion defining the fluidized bed compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: Rio Tinto Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: André Larouche, Éric Hébert, Danny Jean, Joseph Langlais, Serge Lavoie
  • Patent number: 9593402
    Abstract: A system for treating wire includes an elongated vessel that contains a molten fluid. A pump is disposed in the molten fluid in the vessel. The pump includes an elongated discharge conduit extending for at least a portion of the length of the vessel. Conveyance structure enables the wire to be conveyed through the molten fluid. Operation of the pump enables a temperature of the molten fluid in the vessel to be changed. The wire is heat treated as a result of passing through the molten fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Inventor: Bruno Thut
  • Patent number: 9587883
    Abstract: Disclosed is a transportable vessel for use in a factory for processing molten metal. The vessel is not connected to a reverbatory furnace and can be moved to different locations in the factory. The vessel includes a transfer conduit in communication with a cavity of the vessel. A molten metal pump can be positioned in the transfer conduit to move molten metal out of an outlet in communication with the transfer conduit and into another vessel without the need to tip or tilt the transportable vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Molten Metal Equipment Innovations, LLC
    Inventor: Paul V. Cooper
  • Patent number: 9587882
    Abstract: A hearth for a metallurgical reactor, in particular for a blast furnace, has an outer shell and an annular wall lining of refractory material inside the shell, the wall lining having a lower region with a multi-layered construction, a radially inner layer faces the interior of the hearth and includes at least one inner ring of refractory elements, radially outer layer faces the outer shell and has at least one outer ring of refractory elements, where in the at least one inner ring elements are made of a first carbonaceous refractory material that is different from one or more carbonaceous refractory materials of the elements in the outer layer such that, the first refractory material contains, in a proportion of at least 5% by mass in total, at least one property-enhancing additive other than metallic silicon or silicon carbide. In beneficial combination therewith, the at least one inner ring has a wall thickness of less than 45%, of the corresponding total wall thickness of the wall lining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: PAUL WURTH S.A.
    Inventors: Jacques Piret, Gilles Kass
  • Patent number: 9587289
    Abstract: A vertical drainage system for a heap leaching operation comprising vertical drainage conduits for draining fluid pockets down through the strata of a heap pile. The drainage conduits are spaced in a parallel array throughout the ore heap, and are preferably in fluid communication from a top of said ore heap to said one or more collection pipes for draining trapped and avoiding slope or geotechnical failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Inventor: James M. Cramer