Patent ID: 6966770

Claim:
Rotary hearth furnace for use in the iron and steel industry, comprising a furnace ( 12 , 112 ) with plan in the shape of an annulus, closed at the bottom by a rotary hearth ( 14 , 114 ), lined at the top with refractory material ( 15 , 115 ), and a base ( 28 , 128 ; 30 , 130 ) of the furnace ( 12 , 112 ), wherein said hearth ( 14 , 114 ) comprises a plurality of sectors of an annulus ( 17 , 117 ; 17 ′, 117 ′), all the same as one another and connected to form an annulus, complementary to that of the internal plan of the furnace ( 12 , 112 ), which rotate around the central axis of the annulus, by means of two concentric sets of wheels ( 26 , 126 ) arranged according to two circumferences, set at equal distances, with supports ( 25 , 125 ), fixed to the base ( 28 ) or below the hearth ( 114 ), complementary to two circular rails ( 20 , 120 ), fixed respectively below the hearth ( 14 ) or the base ( 128 ), wherein both said sets of wheels ( 26 , 126 ) and said two rails ( 20 , 120 ) are positioned in such a way as to have an equal load distribution and wherein both said sets of wheels ( 26 , 126 ) and said two rails ( 20 , 120 ) are positioned symmetrically with respect to a circumference which divides the annulus of the hearth ( 14 , 114 ) into two concentric annuli loaded in the same way, said circumference being larger than the median circumference of said annulus of the hearth ( 14 , 114 ).