Patent ID: 8210000

Claim:
A bead furnace, comprising a furnace chamber ( 4 ) having an opening ( 6 ); a closure assembly ( 20 ); and a closure assembly mounting ( 22 ) for the closure assembly, wherein the closure assembly ( 20 ) comprises: a closure body ( 24 ) having a crucible drive ( 34 ); a first closure element ( 26 , 32 ) on a first side of the body, the first closure element being adapted to seal the opening with the closure assembly in a load state; an active closure element ( 32 ) on a second side of the body, the active closure element being adapted to seal the opening with the closure assembly in an operation state; a mould holder extending ( 60 ) from the active closure element; and a crucible holder ( 44 ) extending from the active closure element and connected to the crucible drive for agitating a crucible held in the crucible holder and pouring contents of a crucible held in the crucible holder into a mould held in the mould holder; and a closure drive ( 62 , 64 , 66 ) for driving the closure assembly on the closure assembly mounting between the load state with the blank closure element sealing the opening and the operation state with the active closure element sealing the opening.