May 2025 Volume 7

AUTOMATION

FORGING TO THE LAST BILLET Inductoheat’s Billet Pushout System By Brian P. Lockitski

How the Inductoforge Billet Pushout System Operates

The operator controls the operation of the billet pushout system via the HMI screen. Once the billet pushout system is initiated, the system operates fully automatically. After the operator selects the “initiate cleanout” button, the feeding of billets from the step feeder is halted. At this point, no additional billets will be fed from the step feeder onto the infeed chain conveyor. However, the billet heater continues to heat billets at the recipe cycle time and power level. A set of sensors located on the infeed chain conveyor monitors the motion of billets on the conveyor and looks for the last billet from the step feeder to pass. Once the sensors are clear of billets, the billet pushout system feeds the billet pushout bar onto the chain infeed conveyor. The nose of the billet pushout bar is driven forward until it contacts the tail end of the last billet and continues to apply pressure to the billets.

Eliminating rejected billets is key to saving energy and maximizing equipment uptime. This includes forging all the billets in the induction coil line before shutting down. A billet pushout device enables forging to the last billet and eliminates rejecting an entire coil line of hot billets before a system shuts down. T he challenge for every forging company that heats billets with a continuous fed induction heating system is maximizing forging production while minimizing rejected billets. This is even more of a challenge during a shift change or when the induction heater must stop, and billets remain in the induction coil line. Historically, the only choice for operators was to push billets out of the coil and have them directed into a reject bin. Rejecting billets is counterproductive when the main goal is to forge heated billets and produce products. As the need for automation grows, induction heating suppliers are asked to develop solutions to provide automation for feeding billets into an induction heater and unloading heated billets from the induction coil line. The Inductoforge® Billet Heating System offers a state-of-the-art infeed material handling system that includes a hydraulic bin tipper, hydraulic step feeder and most importantly, an automatic billet pushout system. A billet pushout system allows a forging company the ability to automatically unload the induction coil line and forge to the final billet. The benefits of an Inductoforge Billet Pushout System include reducing rejected billets, allowing operators to forge to the last billet while emptying the induction coil line, allowing maintenance departments the

opportunity to inspect coils and allow operators to clean scale out of the induction coil line. All these benefits lead to maximizing the overall efficiency of an induction heating system.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2025 26