PIPE HEATING APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR UNIFORM END HEATING AND CONTROLLED HEATING LENGTH

摘要

Induction heating apparatus and methods are presented for pipe end heating using a solenoid coil to heat a controlled length of a pipe workpiece by adjusting the relative positions of the solenoid coil with a flux diverter positioned relative to the pipe end to divert flux from the coil to control inductive heating of the pipe workpiece end.

主权项

1. An induction heating apparatus for heating a pipe workpiece, comprising:
a coil extending longitudinally along a coil length distance having a plurality of turns radially spaced outwardly from a longitudinal axis to at least partially surround an interior area to accommodate at least a portion of a pipe workpiece; a workpiece positioning apparatus operative to position at least one of the coil and a pipe workpiece relative to one another along the longitudinal axis with the coil outlying a first portion of the pipe workpiece along a longitudinal heating length of the pipe workpiece, the longitudinal heating length including a first end of the pipe workpiece; an AC supply operatively coupled with the coil to provide AC current to energize the coil to inductively heat the first portion of the pipe workpiece; a flux diverter structure positioned along the longitudinal axis and having a first end facing the first end of the pipe workpiece; and a diverter positioning apparatus operative to position the flux diverter structure relative to the first end of the pipe workpiece along the longitudinal axis with the first end of the flux diverter structure spaced from the first end of the pipe workpiece to divert flux from the coil to control inductive heating of the first end of the pipe workpiece.