Patent ID: 6523599
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: B22D

Abstract:
A casting furnace for producing castings which are directionally solidified in monocrystalline or polycrystalline form, comprising an upper heating chamber with a heating chamber wall, the heating chamber contains at least one heater element, a furnace cover, a lower cooling chamber, a casting mold with a plurality of individual casting mold bodies and having an empty space between each individual mold body, a conveyor device for the casting mold, and an internal heater, which contains at least one heater element and is arranged in the middle area of the upper heating chamber centrally between the casting mold bodies with a direct line of sight between said heating elements and said mold bodies such that an uniform temperature is maintained around each individual mold body, wherein the internal heater is arranged in a middle area of the upper heating chamber and is of hollow cylindrical configuration, and above the internal heater there is a funnel which, via a connecting tube and a tubular extension of the casting mold, is connected to the casting mold in such a way that it is possible to fill the casting mold bodies via the funnel, the connecting tube and the tubular extension through the hollow cylindrical heater.