Cold crucible structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11125504-B2
Application number	US-201816205154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 29, 2018
Priority date	Nov 29, 2018
Publication date	Sep 21, 2021
Grant date	Sep 21, 2021

Abstract

A cold crucible structure according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cold crucible structure according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a cold crucible unit including hollow top and bottom caps, a plurality of segments connecting the top cap and the bottom cap, slits disposed between the segments, and a reaction area surrounded by the segments; and an induction coil unit disposed to cover the outer side of the cold crucible unit and disposed across the longitudinal directions of the segments and the slits, in which the diameter of the reaction area is defined as a crucible diameter, the crucible diameter is 100 to 300 mm, and a width of each of the slits is defined bydslit≤0.3×∅50(mm)(where dslit is the width of each of the slits and Ø is the crucible diameter).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cold crucible structure comprising:
a cold crucible unit including hollow top and bottom caps, a plurality of segments connecting the top cap and the bottom cap, slits each extending from a bottom of the top cap to a top of the bottom cap in an axis direction of the cold crucible unit and being disposed between the segments in a circumference direction of the cold crucible unit, and a reaction area surrounded by the segments, the top and bottom caps being free of the slits; and
an induction coil unit disposed to cover the outer side of the cold crucible unit and disposed across the longitudinal directions of the segments and the slits,
wherein a diameter of the reaction area is defined as a crucible diameter, the crucible diameter is 100 to 300 mm, and a width of each of the slits is defined by the following Equation 1,

d
slit

≤

0.3
×

∅
50

⁢

(
mm
)

[

Equation
⁢

⁢
1

]

where d slit is the width of each of the slits and Ø is the crucible diameter.

2. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the segments is set in the range of 15 to 25 mm and a number of the slits is defined by the following Equation 2,

n
slit

≤

π∅

d
thick

[

Equation
⁢

⁢
2

]

where n slit is the number of slits and d thick is the thickness of the segments, and Ø is the crucible diameter.

3. The cold crucible structure of claim 2 , wherein the number of the slits is in the range of 15 to 60.

4. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein the induction coil unit is spaced apart from the top cap and the bottom cap,
the upper end and the lower end of the induction coil unit are spaced apart from the top cap and the bottom cap, respectively,
a ratio of a length of the slit to a height of the induction coil is set in a range of

h
slit

h
coil

⁢
1.5

∼
3

where h slit is the length of the slits and h coil is the height of the induction coil unit, and
the upper end and the lower end are spaced a predetermined distance apart from the upper portion and the lower portion of the cold crucible, respectively.

5. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein the induction coil unit is disposed at the central area in the longitudinal direction of the segments.

6. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein the cold crucible includes cooling channels disposed in the segments, and
a diameter of the cooling channels is set in a range of 8 to 15 mm.

7. The cold crucible structure of claim 6 , further comprising:
a support connected to the bottom cap; and
cooling tubes for supplying cooling water for cooling the segments through the support,
wherein the cooling tubes are connected to the cooling channels.

8. The cold crucible structure of claim 6 , wherein the cooling channels include an inlet channel for supplying cooling water and an outlet channel for discharging cooling water.

9. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein a spacing distance between upper ends of the slits and an uppermost one of the induction coils and a spacing distance between lower ends of the slits and a lowermost one of the induction coil unit are same.

10. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein the top cap and the bottom cap each have a continuous wall in the circumferential direction and are integrally formed with the segments.

11. The cold crucible structure of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of each of the top cap and the bottom cap is greater than a thickness of each of the segments.

Assignees

• Korea Inst Ind Tech

Inventors

• Moon Byung Moon
• Lee Hyun Jae
• Jung Hyun Do

Classifications

• C30B35/002

  Crucibles or containers · CPC title

• Y02P10/25

  Process efficiency · CPC title

• C30B30/02

  using electric fields, e.g. electrolysis · CPC title

• C22B9/003

  by induction · CPC title

• C30B15/10

  Crucibles or containers for supporting the melt · CPC title