Patent ID: 7815846

Claim:
A melting furnace with agitator comprising: a melting furnace main body for melting a raw material to make a melt; and an agitator for applying an alternating field to the melt in the melting furnace main body to agitate the melt, the agitator including a plurality of permanent magnets, each of the magnets having magnetic poles on an upper portion and a lower portion thereof, and wherein said magnets are arranged so that magnetic lines of force emitted from one of the permanent magnets pass through the melt in the melting furnace main body and return to another magnet, the magnets being fixed to the inclined surface of a rotatable turntable which is inclined by an angle with respect to a horizontal surface creating a first angle between the agitator and the bottom of the melting furnace main body and a second angle between a support base and the agitator, and being rotatable in one plane around an axis substantially perpendicular to the inclined surface; and wherein the magnetic poles of the upper portions of two permanent magnets adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction on the turntable differ from each other, said agitator provided to the support base located below the melting furnace main body and wherein the first and second angles are adjustable by lifting up or pulling down one side of the support base and rotating around a substantially horizontal axis.