Patent ID: 6604570
Filing Date: 2003-08-12
Classification: B22D

Abstract:
An apparatus for manufacturing metal filaments comprising:metal bar supply assembly including a support member adapted to support a plurality of metal bars, a screw adapted to rotate for a vertical movement thereof by a servo-motor, and a guide rod adapted to guide the screw to carry out an accurate vertical movement, the support member connecting the metal bars, the screw, and the guide rod, and vertically feeding the metal bars at a speed of 0.1 to 100 mm/min, the metal bar supply assembly being configured to individually control the metal bars; metal bar heating assembly including an induction coil arranged near the tip of the metal bars, and adapted to melt a limited part of the metal bars in accordance with a heating operation thereof, a coil block adapted to supply high frequency induction current to heat each of the metal bars to a melting temperature, and a coil cooling water supplier adapted to prevent the induction coil from being melted, the induction coil being upwardly bent in the form of a nose shape at regions thereof where metal filaments are discharged while being soared up, respectively, so as to prevent the molten metal of each of the metal bars from being affected by the induction coil during soaring of the metal filaments; cooling assembly including a spinning disk provided at a peripheral surface thereof with a plurality of disk blades each having a sharp edge, the spinning disk serving to quench the molten metal at a rate of 104 to 106Â° C./sec while rotating at a linear speed of 1 to 100 m/sec, thereby spinning a metal filament; and wiping assembly including a heat-resistant non-woven fabric adapted to come into direct contact with the spinning disk, thereby removing residual metal materials left on the spinning disk without being released from the spinning disk during the soaring of the metal filaments, and a rotating drum adapted to support the non-woven fabric while enabling a continuous cleaning operation and reducing generation of friction; wherein the metal bar heating assembly, the cooling assembly, and the wiping assembly are arranged in the interior of a vacuum chamber, the molten metal is hung in the form of a droplet depending from its metal bar by its surface tension without using any particular vessel, and the soaring metal filaments have a diameter of 10 to 150 &mgr;m.