Material feeding mechanism in association with continuous sintering apparatus

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(11)

EP 1 241 422 A3

(12)	EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88)	Date of publication A3:
	26.11.2003 Bulletin 2003/48

(43)	Date of publication A2:
	18.09.2002 Bulletin 2002/38

(21)	Application number: 01307825.8

(22)	Date of filing: 14.09.2001

(51)	International Patent Classification (IPC)⁷: F27B 21/00, F27D 3/00, F27D 3/04, F27B 9/04

(84)	Designated Contracting States:
	AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE TR
	Designated Extension States:
	AL LT LV MK RO SI

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Priority:

14.03.2001 JP 2001071701

(71)	Applicant: JAPAN NUCLEAR CYCLE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
	Naka-gun Ibaraki-ken (JP)

(72)	Inventors:
	Aono, Shigenori, c/o Japan Nuclear Cycle Developm. Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken (JP) Kato, Mitsuaki, c/o Japan Nuclear Cycle Developm. Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken (JP) Kobayashi, Hitoshi, c/o Japan Nuclear Cycle Devel. Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken (JP)

(74)	Representative: Kyle, Diana et al
	Elkington and Fife Prospect House 8 Pembroke Road Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1XR Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1XR (GB)

(54)	Material feeding mechanism in association with continuous sintering apparatus

(57) In a material feeding mechanism in association with a continuous sintering apparatus, a material (S) carried by a transporting conveyer (1) into an atmosphere-displacement chamber (2) is fed into a furnace casing (4) of the continuous sintering apparatus by using a loading pusher (3). The transporting conveyor (1), the atmosphere-displacement chamber, and the loading pusher (3) are arranged in such a manner that a direction in which the material is carried by the transporting conveyor and a direction in which the material is fed from the atmosphere-displacement chamber into the furnace casing by the loading pusher are linearly aligned, and the loading pusher and a drive unit (3a) thereof are installed under a floor of the atmosphere-displacement chamber (2) so that the loading pusher moves up over the floor surface of the atmosphere-displacement chamber and moves forward and backward on the floor surface of the atmosphere-displacement chamber when the material is fed into the furnace casing (4). By such a construction, the longitudinal dimension of the continuous sintering apparatus can be made as short as possible to realize a compact design as a whole.

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