Patent ID: 6669895
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: C22B,F27B,F27D,Y02P

Abstract:
A furnace system for recovering a non-ferrous metal from a charge of material containing the metal, comprising:a furnace chamber having walls defining a refractory chamber, the refractory chamber adapted to receive the charge of material and the metal contained in the charge of material being heatable into a flowable mode in the refractory chamber, the walls of the furnace chamber further defining an inlet passage to provide access to the refractory chamber; a rolling surface disposed on the furnace chamber adjacent the inlet passage; a door having a closed position adjacent the inlet passage and an open position to provide access to the inlet passage; a plurality of rollers disposed on the door that engage the rolling surface when the door is in the closed position and during operation of the furnace system allow the furnace chamber to rotate with respect to the door; and a support structure coupled to the door with a suspension; wherein during operation of the furnace system and thermal expansion of the furnace chamber the rollers and suspension maintain the door in the closed position.