CN113544452A

CN113544452A - Heat treatment furnace

Info

Publication number: CN113544452A
Application number: CN202080001224.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 小牧毅史; 金南大树
Original assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
Current assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-17
Filing date: 2020-02-17
Publication date: 2021-10-22
Also published as: JPWO2021166048A1; KR102266685B1; JP6793875B1; WO2021166048A1; TWI751685B; EP3896375A1; EP3896375A4; TW202132739A

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a heat treatment furnace which can efficiently perform heat treatment on an object to be treated conveyed on a conveyance path defined by a plurality of guide rollers. The heat treatment furnace is provided with: a furnace body; a transport device for transporting the object to be processed from the input port to the output port through the processing chamber; a plurality of guide rollers disposed in the processing chamber; and a heating device disposed in the processing chamber for heating the object to be processed. The heating device includes first heaters disposed inside the guide rollers and/or in the vicinity of the guide rollers, respectively, for heating the object to be processed. The heating device further includes a second heater that heats the object to be processed in the vicinity of the intermediate position of the guide rollers adjacent to each other in the conveying direction on the conveying path of the object to be processed. The second heater is a heater that radiates electromagnetic waves in the infrared region.

Description

Heat treatment furnace

Technical Field

The technology disclosed in the present specification relates to a heat treatment furnace for heat-treating an object to be treated.

Background

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in international publication No. 2014/163175, a material to be treated is passed through a treatment chamber from an inlet to an outlet. The object to be treated is fed from the inlet into the treatment chamber, and is subjected to heat treatment while being conveyed in the treatment chamber, and is then fed from the outlet. In the heat treatment furnace, the object to be treated is guided by a plurality of guide rollers disposed in the treatment chamber, and is conveyed on a predetermined conveyance path in the treatment chamber.

Disclosure of Invention

In the heat treatment furnace, the object to be treated is conveyed from the inlet to the outlet via a conveyance path defined by a plurality of guide rollers. Therefore, in order to effectively perform the heat treatment on the object to be treated, it is necessary to appropriately heat the object to be treated at each position on the conveyance path. The present specification discloses a technique that can efficiently perform heat treatment on an object to be treated conveyed on a conveyance path defined by a plurality of guide rollers.

The heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification includes: the device comprises a furnace body, a conveying device, a plurality of guide rollers and a heating device. The furnace body is provided with: an input port, an output port, and a process chamber disposed between the input port and the output port. The transport device transports the object to be processed, which is mounted from the input port to the output port, from the input port to the output port through the processing chamber. The guide rollers are disposed in the processing chamber and guide the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device. The object to be processed is conveyed from the input port to the output port through a conveyance path defined by a plurality of guide rollers. The heating device includes a first heater disposed inside and/or in the vicinity of the guide rollers for heating the object to be processed, and a second heater disposed on the conveyance path in the vicinity of the intermediate position of the guide rollers adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed, for heating the object to be processed. The second heater is: a heater for emitting electromagnetic waves in the infrared region.

In the heat treatment furnace, the heating device includes a first heater disposed inside the guide roller and/or in the vicinity of the guide roller, and a second heater disposed on the conveyance path and in the vicinity of an intermediate position between adjacent guide rollers. In addition, the second heater uses a heater that emits electromagnetic waves in the infrared region. Therefore, the heat supplied from the first heater and the second heater to the object to be processed can be appropriately controlled, and the object to be processed can be efficiently heat-treated. Further, the second heater may be: the heater in which the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave that emits the predetermined wavelength range (infrared range) is not controllable may be: a heater capable of controlling the wavelength region of the emitted electromagnetic wave.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a heat treatment furnace according to example 1.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a heater according to embodiment 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a gas supply tube according to example 1.

Detailed Description

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the first heater may be disposed on the conveyance path of the object to be treated, in the vicinity of the position where the guide roller is disposed, and may be a heater that emits an electromagnetic wave in the same type of infrared region as the second heater. In addition, the object to be processed may be located between the first heater and the guide roller. According to such a configuration, since the first heater that heats the object to be processed at the position where the guide roller is disposed is the same type of heater as the second heater, the configuration of the heating furnace can be simplified.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the first heater may include: and a flow path which is arranged inside the guide roller and is used for the circulation of the heat medium for heating the guide roller. With this configuration, the object to be treated can be heated by the guide roller.

The heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification may further include: and a gas supply device for supplying gas into the processing chamber. The gas supply device may include a plurality of gas supply pipes which are disposed in the processing chamber at positions different from the positions where the first heaters are disposed and different from the positions where the second heaters are disposed, and which discharge the gas toward the object to be processed. In addition, the second heater and the air supply pipe may be alternately arranged along the conveying path. According to such a configuration, since the air supply pipe is disposed at a position different from the positions where the first heater and the second heater are disposed, the degree of freedom of the position where the air supply pipe is disposed is improved, and the air supply pipe can be disposed at an optimum position. Further, since the gas is ejected from the gas supply pipe toward the object to be processed, the ejected gas collides with the surface of the object to be processed, and the temperature of the surface of the object to be processed is easily made uniform. In particular, the second heaters and the air supply pipe are alternately arranged along the conveyance path, and therefore, the temperature of the surface of the object to be processed is further uniformized. This can improve the heat treatment efficiency of the object to be treated.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the ejection direction of the gas ejected from the plurality of gas supply pipes may be orthogonal to the surface of the object to be treated. With this configuration, the gas from the gas supply pipe can be strongly discharged to the surface of the object to be treated.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the plurality of guide rolls may include: a first guide roller that changes a transport direction of the object to be processed, which is input from the input port, to a first direction; a second guide roller that changes a conveying direction of the object to be processed conveyed in the first direction to a second direction different from the first direction; and a third guide roller that changes a conveyance direction of the object to be processed conveyed in the second direction toward the discharge port. The furnace body may include: a first wall located on the first direction side when viewed from the center of the processing chamber, and a second wall located on the second direction side when viewed from the center of the processing chamber. The first wall may have: the first exhaust port configured to exhaust the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber, the second wall may include: and a second exhaust port for exhausting the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber. If the object to be treated is bridged from the input port to the output port, the treatment chamber is divided into a space on the first wall side and a space on the second wall side by the object to be treated. Since the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber is exhausted from both sides of the first wall and the second wall, the flow of air in the processing chamber can be made smooth.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the plurality of gas supply pipes may include: a first gas supply pipe disposed in a space between the object to be treated and the first wall; and a second gas supply pipe disposed in a space between the object to be treated and the second wall. With this configuration, the air supply pipes are disposed in each of the 2 spaces partitioned by the object to be treated, and the air flow in the treatment chamber can be made smooth.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the reflectance of the electromagnetic wave in the reflected infrared region of the inner surface of the treatment chamber may be 50% or more. According to such a configuration, the electromagnetic wave emitted from the heater can efficiently irradiate the object to be processed, and the object to be processed can be efficiently heated.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the conveyance device may further include: a charging port roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the charging port, around which the object to be treated is wound; and an outlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the outlet, and configured to wind the object to be processed conveyed in the processing chamber. The object to be treated wound around the inlet roller can be fed from the inlet roller and conveyed in the treatment chamber by rotating the inlet roller and the outlet roller. With this configuration, the heat treatment can be continuously performed on the object to be treated wound around the inlet roller.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the object to be treated may include: a thin film, and a paste applied on at least one of the front and back surfaces of the thin film. The heating device can remove moisture contained in the paste. Such a treatment object has a small heat capacity and a large influence by the guide roller. Therefore, the first heater has a significant effect of suppressing a decrease in the heat treatment efficiency (that is, the moisture removal rate) of the object to be treated.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the second heater may adjust the wavelength of the emitted electromagnetic wave according to the characteristics of the object to be treated. With this configuration, the object to be processed can be heated well according to the characteristics of the object to be processed.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the plurality of second heaters may be arranged along the conveyance path from the input port toward the output port. The wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the second heater can be adjusted according to the position on the transport path on which the second heater is disposed. The object to be processed is heat-treated in correspondence with the object to be processed being conveyed along the conveyance path in the processing chamber. Therefore, the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave is adjusted according to the progress of the heat treatment, and therefore, the heat treatment can be performed on the object to be treated favorably.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the heating device can remove moisture contained in the object to be treated. The wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the second heater may be adjusted so as to be gradually longer from the input port toward the output port. The moisture contained in the object to be treated gradually decreases from the input port toward the output port. By gradually increasing the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the second heater from the input port toward the output port, moisture contained in the object to be treated can be effectively removed.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the atmosphere in the treatment chamber may be an inert gas atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower. With this configuration, condensation of moisture contained in the atmosphere gas can be suppressed.

[ example 1 ]

The heat treatment furnace 10 according to example 1 will be described below. The heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment is a drying furnace (dehydration apparatus) for removing moisture contained in a workpiece W (an example of a workpiece). The work W is a sheet continuously extending in the longitudinal direction, and a thin film used in, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL, a battery, or the like belongs to the work W. In such a film (sheet), the film itself may contain moisture, or in the case where the film is coated with a coating layer, the coating layer may contain moisture. Therefore, first, moisture contained in the film is removed, and then, the film from which the moisture is removed is cut into a desired size, thereby manufacturing a final product. The heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment can be used to remove moisture from the sheet.

The structure of the heat treatment furnace 10 will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the heat treatment furnace 10 includes: a furnace body 12 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a transport device 20 for carrying a workpiece W in and out of the furnace body 12, heating devices (26, 28) for heating the workpiece W, and a gas supply device (38) for supplying a cooling gas to the surface of the workpiece W.

The furnace body 12 includes: a lower wall 13, an upper wall 14 facing the lower wall 13, side walls 17 and 18 (see fig. 2) having one end connected to the lower wall 13 and the other end connected to the upper wall 14, and an input side wall 15 and an output side wall 16 which close the ends of processing chambers (19a and 19b) surrounded by the

walls

13, 14, 17, and 18.

The lower wall 13 is a plate material having a rectangular shape in plan view, and is disposed below the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). As shown in fig. 1, the lower wall 13 is provided with a plurality of exhaust ports 13a at substantially constant intervals in the x direction. Of the exhaust ports 13a, 5 exhaust ports 13a arranged at the center are arranged: and a position opposed to a guide roller 24 described later. Among the exhaust ports 13a, the exhaust port 13a disposed at one end in the x direction is disposed: adjacent to the input sidewall 15. Of the exhaust ports 13a, the exhaust port 13a disposed at the other end in the x direction is disposed: adjacent the output side wall 15. The exhaust ports 13a are connected to exhaust fans 13b, respectively. When the exhaust fan 13b is operated, the atmosphere gas in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) is exhausted to the outside of the processing chambers (19a, 19 b).

The upper wall 14 is a plate material having the same shape as the lower wall 13, and is disposed above the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). As with the lower wall 13, the upper wall 14 is also provided with a plurality of exhaust ports 14a at substantially constant intervals in the x direction. The exhaust ports 14a are respectively disposed: and positions opposed to the exhaust ports 13a, respectively. The exhaust ports 14a are connected to exhaust fans 14b, respectively. When the exhaust fan 14b is operated, the atmosphere gas in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) is exhausted to the outside of the processing chambers (19a, 19 b).

The input sidewall 15 is provided with an input port 15a, and the output sidewall 16 is provided with an output port 15 b. The input port 15a and the output port 15b are at the same position in the height direction, and the input port 15a and the output port 15b are opposed to each other. As can be seen from fig. 1: the processing chambers (19a, 19b) are disposed between the input port 15a and the output port 15 b.

The inner surfaces of the

walls

13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 constituting the furnace body 12 (i.e., the surfaces on the treatment chamber (19a and 19b) side) are mirror-finished. As a result, the reflectance of the electromagnetic wave in the infrared region of the surface (specifically, the electromagnetic wave radiated from the heaters 26 and 28 described later) is 50% or more. This enables the electromagnetic waves emitted from the heaters 26 and 28 to be effectively radiated to the workpiece W.

The conveyance device 20 includes: a charging port roller 21 disposed outside the furnace body 12 and in the vicinity of the charging port 15 a; an outlet roller 25 disposed outside the furnace body 12 and in the vicinity of the outlet 16 a; and a plurality of guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) disposed in the processing chambers (19a, 19 b).

The work W is wound around the inlet roller 21. The workpiece W wound around the inlet roller 21 is stretched from the inlet 15a to the outlet 16a through the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). Specifically, the work W is bridged from the entrance roller 21 to the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) through the entrance 15a, and further bridged from the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) to the exit roller 25 through the exit 16 a.

The outlet rollers 25 are: and a roller for winding the work W outputted from the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). A driving device, not shown, is connected to the delivery-out roller 25, and the delivery-out roller 25 is rotationally driven by the driving device. When the delivery exit roller 25 rotates, the workpiece W wound around the delivery exit roller 21 is delivered to the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). The workpiece W sent out from the entrance roll 21 is guided by the guide rolls (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) to move on predetermined conveyance paths in the processing chambers (19a, 19b), sent out from the exit 16a to the processing chambers (19a, 19b), and wound around the exit roll 25. That is, the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) define a conveyance path of the workpiece W in the processing chambers (19a, 19 b).

The guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) are provided with: a plurality of upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) disposed in the vicinity of the upper wall 14, and a plurality of lower guide rollers 24 disposed in the vicinity of the lower wall 13. In the present embodiment, the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) are contact rollers that contact the workpiece W, but non-contact rollers that guide the workpiece W in a non-contact manner may be used.

The upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) are arranged with a constant interval in the x direction. Specifically, the upper guide roller 22a (an example of a first conveying roller in the claims) is disposed adjacent to the input port 15a, and the upper guide roller 22c (an example of a third conveying roller in the claims) is disposed adjacent to the output port 16 a. The guide rollers 22b are disposed at equal intervals between the upper guide roller 22a and the upper guide roller 22 c. The upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) are each positioned at the same position in the height direction.

The plurality of lower guide rollers 24 (an example of the second conveying roller in the claims) are arranged with a constant interval in the x direction, like the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, and 22 c). The interval in the x direction between the adjacent lower guide rollers 24 is the same as the interval in the x direction between the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22 c). The positions of the plurality of lower guide rollers 24 in the x direction are at the central positions of the adjacent upper guides (22a, 22b, 22 c). The positions of the plurality of lower guide rollers 24 in the height direction are the same.

As described above, since the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) and the lower guide roller 24 are arranged, the workpiece W conveyed in the x direction from the input port 15a is conveyed downward by the upper guide roller 22a, then conveyed upward by the lower guide roller 24, and then repeatedly conveyed in the up-down direction by the upper conveying roller 22b and the lower conveying roller 24. Then, the workpiece W conveyed upward from the lower conveying rollers 24 disposed closest to the output port 16a is conveyed toward the output port 16a by the upper guide rollers 22 c. By repeating the vertical conveyance in the processing chambers (19a, 19b), the space in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) can be effectively used, and the processing time for drying the workpiece W can be ensured. Further, as can be seen from fig. 1: the processing chambers (19a, 19b) are divided into an upper processing chamber 19a disposed on the upper wall 14 side and a lower processing chamber 19b disposed on the lower wall 13 side by the work W mounted on the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24).

The heating device is disposed in the processing chambers (19a, 19b), and heats the workpiece W conveyed by the conveying device 20. The heating device is provided with: first heaters (26a, 26b) disposed in the vicinity of the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24); and a second heater 28 disposed at a height between the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) and the lower guide roller 24. As shown in fig. 2, the first heaters (26a, 26b) and the second heater 28 extend in the axial direction of the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), and can heat the entire width direction (y direction) of the workpiece W.

As shown in fig. 1, the first heaters (26a, 26b) include: a plurality of first upper heaters 26a disposed above the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22 c); and a plurality of first lower heaters 26b disposed below the lower guide roll 24. The first upper heater 26a is configured to: the first lower heaters 26b are arranged so as to face the corresponding upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22 c): respectively, are opposed to the corresponding lower guide rollers 24. Therefore, the workpiece W is positioned between the first upper heater 26a and the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c), and the workpiece W is directly heated by the first upper heater 26 a. Similarly, the workpiece W is positioned between the first lower heater 26b and the lower guide roller 24, and the workpiece W is directly heated by the first lower heater 26 b.

2 second heaters 28 are disposed below the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) at intervals in the z direction. Further, 2 second heaters 28 are disposed above the lower guide rollers 24 with an interval therebetween in the z direction. Thus, it is configured to: the 11 second heaters 28 are arranged with intervals in the x direction, and the 2 second heaters 28 are arranged with intervals in the y direction. As can be seen from the figure: the second heater 28 is disposed at a position facing the workpiece W mounted on the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, and 22c) and the lower guide roller 24 (i.e., in the vicinity of an intermediate position between adjacent guide rollers in the conveying direction of the workpiece W). Since the second heaters 28 extend in the axial direction of the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), the entire width direction of the workpiece W bridged between the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) and the lower guide roller 24 is heated by the second heaters 28.

The first heaters (26a, 26b) are: the first heaters (26a, 26b) and the second heater (28) have the same structure. Therefore, the structure of the second heater 28 will be briefly described here.

As shown in fig. 3, the second heater 28 includes: a filament 30, an inner tube 32 for receiving the filament 30, and an outer tube 34 for receiving the inner tube 32. The filament 30 is a heating element made of, for example, tungsten, and is supplied with power from an external power supply not shown. When the filament 30 is supplied with power and reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, 1200 to 1700 ℃), electromagnetic waves including infrared rays are emitted from the filament 30. The inner tube 32 is formed of an infrared-transmitting material through which only electromagnetic waves in a specific wavelength region (infrared region in this embodiment) of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the filament 30 can transmit. By appropriate selection: the infrared transmitting material used to form the inner tube 32 can adjust the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the filament 30 to the outside of the inner tube 32 to a desired wavelength. The outer tube 34 is also formed of the same infrared-transmitting material as the inner tube 32. Therefore, the electromagnetic wave transmitted through the inner tube 32 is transmitted through the outer tube 34 and radiated to the outside. The space 36 between the inner tube 32 and the outer tube 34 is: a cooling medium flow path through which a cooling medium (for example, air) flows. By supplying the refrigerant to the space 36 (i.e., the refrigerant passage), the temperature of the outer tube 34 can be prevented from becoming excessively high. Accordingly, the workpiece W can be prevented from overheating. Further, a heater in which the wavelength of an electromagnetic wave emitting in the infrared region is controllable has been disclosed in detail in, for example, japanese patent No. 4790092.

The air supply device is provided with: a plurality of gas supply pipes 38 extending in the y direction within the process chambers (19a, 19 b); and a gas supply fan (not shown) disposed outside the processing chambers (19a, 19b) and configured to supply cooling gas to the plurality of gas supply pipes 38. As shown in fig. 4,

ejection holes

39a, 39b are formed at 2 in the circumferential direction of the air supply pipe 38. Therefore, the cooling gas supplied from the supply fan to the supply pipe 38 is ejected from the

ejection holes

39a, 39b into the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). In the present embodiment, the orientation of the gas supply pipe 38 is adjusted so that the ejection direction of the cooling gas ejected from the

ejection holes

39a, 39b is orthogonal to the surface of the workpiece W. As shown in fig. 4, the discharge holes 39a and 39b are disposed: opposite to each other with the axis of the gas supply pipe 38 therebetween. Therefore, when the workpiece W is positioned on the input port 15a side and the output port 16a side of the gas supply pipe 38, the cooling gas injected from the injection holes 39a of the gas supply pipe 38 is injected toward one workpiece W, and the cooling gas injected from the injection holes 39b of the gas supply pipe 38 is injected toward the other workpiece W. As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of

discharge holes

39a and 39b of the air supply pipe 38 are formed at intervals in the y direction. Therefore, the cooling gas ejected from the

ejection holes

39a, 39b is ejected over the entire width direction (y direction) of the workpiece W.

As shown in fig. 1, 2 air supply pipes 38 are disposed below the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, and 22c) at intervals in the z direction. Further, 2 air supply pipes 38 are disposed above the lower guide rollers 24 with an interval therebetween in the z direction. As can be seen from fig. 1: the air supply pipe 38 is disposed at a position different from the positions where the first heaters (26a, 26b) and the second heater 28 are disposed. Specifically, the second heaters 28 and the air supply pipes 38 are alternately arranged at equal intervals in the z direction (conveying direction). Further, as described above, the processing chambers (19a, 19b) are divided into the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19b by the work W mounted on the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), and the air supply pipe 38 is disposed in each of the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19 b.

As the cooling gas to be supplied to the gas supply pipe 38, for example, an inert gas, nitrogen, Ar gas, or the like can be used. The atmosphere gas in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) is adjusted by gas injected into the processing chambers (19a, 19b) from the gas supply pipe 38. In this embodiment, since moisture contained in the workpiece W is removed, the atmosphere gas in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) is adjusted to: gas with dew point below 0 ℃. Further, as the cooling gas, an atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower may be used.

The controller 44 is constituted by a processor including a CPU, ROM, and RAM, and controls the conveying device 20, the heating devices (26, 28), and the air supply device. Specifically, the controller 44 controls the conveying speed and tension of the workpiece W by controlling the conveying device 20, controls the heating amount of the workpiece W by controlling the heating devices (26, 28), and controls the flow rate and flow velocity of the cooling gas ejected from the gas supply pipe 38 toward the workpiece W by controlling the gas supply device.

Further, the heat treatment furnace 10 is provided with: and a penetration device for attaching the workpiece W wound around the entrance roller 21 to the exit roller 25. As shown in fig. 1, the penetration device includes: a chain 42 that circulates inside the processing chambers (19a, 19b) and outside the processing chambers (19a, 19b), and a driving device (not shown) for driving the chain 42. Similarly to the workpiece W mounted on the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), the chain 42 extends from the input port 15a to the output port 16a while changing its orientation in the vertical direction, and returns to the input port 15a after passing through the output port 16a and outside the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). As shown in fig. 1, the path along which the work W is erected (i.e., the conveying path of the work W) intersects at a plurality of points with the path along which the work W is erected. The chain 42 is disposed at the following positions: since the workpiece W is located at the outer side in the width direction (y direction), the chain 42 and the workpiece W do not interfere with each other (see fig. 2). In order to attach the workpiece W to the delivery outlet roller 25 by the tandem connection device, first, the workpiece W wound around the delivery outlet roller 21 is clamped by a jig, not shown, provided to the chain 42. Next, the chain 42 is circulated by the driving device, and the workpiece W is sent out from the inlet roller 21. Accordingly, the workpiece W held by the clamps of the chain 42 moves together with the chain 42 in the processing chambers (19a, 19b) and moves to the output port 16 a. When the workpiece W moves to the delivery port 16a, the gripper is operated, the workpiece W is released from the chain 42, and the workpiece W is mounted on the delivery port roller 25. Finally, the work W is stretched from the entrance 15a to the exit 16a by the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) by rotating the exit roller 25 and applying tension to the work W.

Next, a process of removing water from the workpiece W by using the heat treatment furnace 10 will be described. First, a cooling gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 38 into the processing chambers (19a, 19b), and the inside of the processing chambers (19a, 19b) is adjusted to a predetermined atmosphere. Next, the controller 44 drives the transfer device 20 to transfer the workpiece W from the input port 15a to the output port 16a through the processing chambers (19a, 19 b). At this time, the controller 44 controls the heating devices (26, 28) so as to irradiate the workpiece W with electromagnetic waves in the infrared region and eject cooling gas from the gas supply pipe 38 toward the surface of the workpiece W. When electromagnetic waves in the infrared region are irradiated from the heating devices (26, 28), moisture contained in the workpiece W absorbs the irradiated electromagnetic waves, and the moisture evaporates. The moisture evaporated from the work W is removed from the surface of the work W by the cooling gas ejected from the gas supply pipe 38. The atmosphere gas containing the moisture removed from the surface of the workpiece W is discharged from the exhaust port 13a of the lower wall 13 and the exhaust port 14a of the upper wall 14 to the outside of the processing chambers (19a, 19b), respectively. The workpiece W is deprived of moisture while being conveyed from the input port 15a to the output port 16 a. The workpiece W from which the moisture is removed is wound around the delivery-out roller 25.

According to the heat treatment furnace 10 described above, the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) are provided in the vicinity thereof with: first heaters (26a, 26b) opposed to the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24). Further, a second heater 28 is provided between the upper guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c) and the lower guide roller 24. The

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 can control the heat balance of the workpiece W in a state of being in contact with the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, and 24), and can also control the heat balance of the workpiece W in a state of not being in contact with the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, and 24). Therefore, the heat budget of the workpiece W can be well controlled, and the efficiency of the process of removing moisture from the workpiece W can be significantly improved. For example, when the workpiece W is cooled too much due to heat flowing from the workpiece W to the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24) caused by contact between the workpiece W and the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), the amount of heat supplied from the first heaters (26a, 26b) to the workpiece W is increased so that the workpiece W is not cooled too much. Accordingly, a decrease in the efficiency of removing water from the workpiece W can be prevented.

In the heat treatment furnace 10, the gas supply pipe 38 and the second heater 38 are alternately arranged in the conveyance direction, and the cooling gas from the gas supply pipe 38 is ejected from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece W. Accordingly, the moisture evaporated from the inside of the workpiece W is quickly removed from the surface of the workpiece W, and the removal of the moisture from the workpiece W is promoted. This can improve the efficiency of removing moisture from the workpiece W.

The processing chambers (19a, 19b) are divided into an upper processing chamber 19a and a lower processing chamber 19b by the work W mounted on the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), and the air supply pipe 38 and the

exhaust ports

14a, 13a are disposed in both the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19 b. Therefore, the cooling gas supplied to the upper processing chamber 19a and the cooling gas supplied to the lower cooling chamber 19b are quickly discharged to the outside of the processing chambers (19a, 19b) together with the removed moisture. This optimizes the gas flow in the processing chambers (19a, 19b), and improves the moisture removal efficiency of the workpiece W.

Further, the heaters (26a, 26b, 28) select: the wavelength region of the emitted infrared rays can be adjusted by the infrared ray transmitting material used for forming the inner tube and the outer tube. Therefore, the heat treatment efficiency of the workpiece W can be improved by adjusting the wavelength of the emitted electromagnetic wave according to the characteristics of the workpiece W. For example, it is conceivable that a substance comprising a solid component (phenol-epoxy resin, 10 to 90 wt%) and a solvent (water or a solvent (for example, IPA (isopropyl alcohol, NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), etc.)) for making the solid component in a slurry state or a paste state is dried as the workpiece W, and when such a workpiece W is dried, the water or the solvent is dried by heaters (26a, 26b, 28) for selecting a wavelength of near infrared rays in the first half of the heat treatment furnace 10, and annealing is performed by heaters (26a, 26b, 28) for selecting a wavelength of far infrared rays in the second half of the heat treatment furnace 10.

In the above-described embodiment, the heaters (26a, 26b, 28) emit electromagnetic waves in all the same wavelength regions, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example. For example, the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the heaters (26a, 26b, 28) can be adjusted according to the position on the conveying path. For example, when moisture is removed from the workpiece W in the heat treatment furnace 10, the amount of moisture contained in the workpiece W gradually decreases from the input port 15a toward the output port 16 a. Therefore, by gradually increasing the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the heaters (26a, 26b, 28) from the input port 15a toward the output port 16a, the electromagnetic waves corresponding to the moisture amount can be irradiated to the workpiece W.

In the above-described embodiment, the first heaters (26a, 26b) are disposed in the vicinity of the guide rollers (22a, 22b, 22c, 24), and the workpiece W is heated by the first heaters (26a, 26b), but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example. For example, a flow path through which the heat medium flows may be provided inside the guide roller. The work W is heated by the guide roller. With this configuration, the heat balance of the workpiece W in the state of being in contact with the guide roller can be controlled, and the heat treatment efficiency of the workpiece W can be improved.

Technical elements described in the specification and drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the techniques illustrated in the present specification or the drawings achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and the technique itself achieving one of the objects has technical usefulness.

Claims

1. A heat treatment furnace is characterized by comprising:

a furnace body having an inlet, an outlet, and a processing chamber disposed between the inlet and the outlet;

a transport device that transports the object to be treated, which is mounted from the inlet port to the outlet port, from the inlet port to the outlet port through the treatment chamber;

a plurality of guide rollers disposed in the processing chamber and configured to guide the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device; and

a heating device disposed in the processing chamber and configured to heat the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device,

the object to be processed is conveyed from the input port to the output port through a conveyance path defined by the guide rollers,

the heating device is provided with:

first heaters, which are disposed inside the guide rollers and/or in the vicinity of the guide rollers, respectively, for heating the object to be processed; and

a second heater disposed on the conveyance path in the vicinity of an intermediate position of the guide rollers adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed, for heating the object to be processed,

the second heater is: a heater for emitting electromagnetic waves in the infrared region.

2. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1,

the first heater is: a heater disposed on the conveyance path of the object to be processed and in the vicinity of the position where the guide roller is disposed, the heater emitting an electromagnetic wave in the same type of infrared region as the second heater,

the processed object is located between the first heater and the guide roller.

3. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1,

the first heater includes: and a flow path which is arranged inside the guide roller and is used for the circulation of a heat medium for heating the guide roller.

4. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the heat treatment furnace further includes: a gas supply device for supplying gas into the processing chamber,

the gas supply device includes a plurality of gas supply pipes which are disposed in the processing chamber, are disposed at positions different from the positions where the first heaters are disposed, and are different from the positions where the second heaters are disposed, and which discharge gas toward the object to be processed,

the second heaters and the air supply pipes are alternately arranged along the conveyance path.

5. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 4,

the ejection direction of the gas ejected from the plurality of gas supply pipes is orthogonal to the surface of the object to be processed.

6. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 4 or 5,

the plurality of guide rollers include:

a first guide roller that changes a transport direction of the object to be processed, which is input from the input port, to a first direction;

a second guide roller that changes a conveying direction of the object to be processed conveyed in the first direction to a second direction different from the first direction; and

a third guide roller that changes a transport direction of the object to be processed transported in the second direction toward the output port,

the furnace body is provided with: a first wall located on the first direction side as viewed from the center of the process chamber, and a second wall located on the second direction side as viewed from the center of the process chamber,

the first wall is provided with: a first exhaust port for exhausting an atmosphere gas in the processing chamber,

the second wall is provided with: and a second exhaust port for exhausting the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber.

7. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 6,

the plurality of gas supply pipes are provided with:

a first air supply pipe disposed in a space sandwiched by the object to be treated and the first wall; and

and a second air supply pipe disposed in a space sandwiched between the object to be treated and the second wall.

8. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the inner surface of the processing chamber has a reflectance of 50% or more for reflecting the electromagnetic wave in the infrared region.

9. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

the conveying device further includes:

a feed inlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the feed inlet, the feed inlet roller being configured to wind the object to be treated; and

a delivery outlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the delivery outlet, the delivery outlet roller configured to wind the object to be processed conveyed in the processing chamber,

the object to be treated wound around the inlet roller is fed out from the inlet roller by rotating the inlet roller and the outlet roller, and is conveyed in the treatment chamber.

10. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the object to be treated is provided with: a thin film and a paste applied on at least one of the front and back surfaces of the thin film,

the heating device removes moisture contained in the paste.

11. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 10,

the second heater adjusts the wavelength of the emitted electromagnetic wave according to the characteristic of the object to be processed.

12. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 10,

the plurality of second heaters are arranged along the transport path from the input port toward the output port,

the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the second heater is adjusted according to the position on the transport path where the second heater is disposed.

13. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 12,

the heating device removes moisture contained in the object to be treated,

the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the second heater is adjusted so as to be gradually longer from the input port toward the output port.

14. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 13,

the atmosphere in the processing chamber is an inert gas atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower.