A charging material preheater for preheating the charging material for a metallurgical smelting unit comprising a container for accommodating the charging material to be preheated, which is provided at the bottom with a grid comprising individual mutually spaced-apart grid bars which are passed outwardly through passage openings in the wall of the container and which are mounted in groups in support beams which are movable by an actuating means between a closed position in which the grid bars project into the interior of the container and a release position in which the grid bars are withdrawn from the interior of the container. In order to permit replacement of the individual grid bars during operation of the preheater and to reduce the obstacle presented by jammed pieces of charging material to the withdrawal movement of the grid bars from the interior of the container into the release position, the grid bars are mounted rotatably about a horizontal axis in the support beam and supports are associated with the grid bars at the points of entry into the container. Control edges at the undersides of the grid bars provide that the grid bars can be caused to move with a pivotal motion when they are retracted from the interior of the container.
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