Project Requirements:
This project required replacing an existing system at the exit of an ingot soak furnace.
Forks mounted on a hydraulically operated rack doubling sled extended into the soak furnace to latch onto ingot pads that slide on rails. The fork/sled system pulls the ingot on pads out of the furnace to rails on the machine into position.
Next a hydraulically operated tilt cradle lifts and rotates the ingot, so as to position it flat so that an overhead lift system can pick up the ingot and transfer it onto a rolling conveyor. For maintenance, the tilt system included locking pins.
The whole system was designed in modular way for installation. The interior of the building where this system is installed was not tall enough to accommodate a large enough crane capable of booming this very heavy system (fully assembled) over the rolling conveyor to its installation position. Individual sections of this system were designed for easy removal/installation, and with lifting points over the center of gravity for each section for easy lifting.
System was designed using Autodesk Inventor
