Patent ID: 6963057

Claim:
An apparatus for simultaneously induction heating an at least two elongated workpieces adjacently disposed to each other, the apparatus comprising an at least one induction heating coil assembly wherein the transverse axis of at least one of the at least one induction heating coil assembly is skewed to the longitudinal axis of each of the at least two elongated workpieces; and a conveyor means for independently moving each one of the at least two elongated workpieces through each of the at least one induction heating coil assembly in varying and alternating forward and reverse directions along the longitudinal axis of each of the at least two workpieces, wherein the conveyor means comprises a plurality of rollers for each of the at least two workpieces, each of the plurality of rollers connected to a drive means for selectively rotating each of the plurality of rollers in the clockwise or counterclockwise directions to independently move each of the at least two elongated workpieces through the at least one induction heating coil assembly, wherein each of the plurality of rollers are rotationally connected to a common support structure, and each of the plurality of rollers are independently rotationally-driven by a drive means, the drive means connected to each of the plurality of rollers by an inner and outer concentric shaft, respectively, the inner and outer shafts coaxially disposed within the common support structure.