Crucible shuttle assembly

摘要

A crucible handling shuttle includes a pair of opposed dual crucible-gripping arms mounted on a rotatable head and moves between an induction furnace pedestal and a crucible loading station, such that one pair of arms pick up a crucible loaded with a preweighed sample, the shuttle moves to the induction furnace, where the other pair of arms grip and remove a spent crucible. The shutter head then rotates to deposit the new sample-holding crucible onto the pedestal and subsequently moves out of the furnace area to a sample disposal chute positioned between the crucible loading station and the furnace, whereupon the spent crucible is dropped for disposal. The shuttle head is then rotated and moved to the loading station to pick up a new crucible.

主权项

1. A shuttle assembly for loading and unloading crucibles between a crucible loading station and a pedestal of an analytical furnace associated with an analyzer comprising:
a crucible loading station for clean crucibles to be introduced into the analytical furnace; a discharge chute for receiving spent crucibles, said discharge chute spaced from said crucible loading station; a shuttle including pairs of opposed crucible-gripping arms aligned in outward non-facing directions for simultaneously gripping crucibles on opposite sides of an axis of rotation; actuators coupled to said shuttle and engaging said gripping arms to open and close said gripping arms to selectively grip and release crucibles; said shuttle including a head for rotatably supporting said arms and further including a mechanism for selectively raising and lowering said pairs of gripping arms; and a drive coupled to said shuttle for moving said head and gripping arms between said crucible loading station and a crucible-holding pedestal of said furnace with one pair of arms aligned with said crucible loading station for holding clean sample-holding crucibles for introduction into the furnace, said shuttle rotatable to position a clean sample-holding crucible in said analytical furnace and having an opposed set of arms when said shuttle is again rotated to pick up spent crucibles from said furnace, said shuttle movable to said discharge chute where said opposed set of arms are aligned with said discharge chute for disposing of spent crucibles.